Two September Recipes and a Project Photo From a Friend

First things, first. Hannah sent me a photo of her final block for this year's quilt along. Isn't it lovely? The fabrics are so cheerful and bright. Beautiful work!

I haven't done any actual stitching for the past several days, but I've made headway on some ideas. Both are inspired by the upcoming holiday, but I won't tell you much more.  No sneak previews this time around!

One project will be symbolic and very, very different from anything else I've ever made. This will be something that my grandmother would have loved. The other project is inspired by a childhood memory. That one has taken on a mind of it's own. I was going to make a mug rug, but it's turning into something else. Wish I knew where it's going.

The weather has turned cool and autumn-like again for the last couple of days, and it's put me in the mood to cook and bake whatever I can from local September harvests before warm days return for awhile. Today it was soup for lunch and cake for my afternoon snack. 

Veggie Soup

First off, I made a huge pot of vegetable soup. It's one of my usual soup recipes - raid the fridge and throw it in the slow cooker. Most of this went into the freezer in single serving containers. It will keep for several months. My hubby doesn't care much for soup, but thanks to the microwave, I can have instant soup for lunch whenever I like.

This is what went into it this time.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium chopped onion
1 sliced zucchini
1 sliced yellow zucchini
1/2 sweet green pepper, chopped
1/2 sweet red pepper, chopped
4 cloves minced garlic
About 2 cups chopped, cooked tomatoes (fresh or canned)
8 oz canned tomato sauce
15 oz chicken broth (mine was homemade)
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen baby lima beans (peas, green beans, or other vegetables would work as well)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 T chopped fresh basil (dill, rosemary, or thyme can be substituted)
2 - 4 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Place tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper, and 2 cups of water into the slow cooker. Turn to high.
2. Fry onions in one tablespoon of the olive oil until lightly browned. Add to the slow cooker.
3. Lightly sauté zucchinis and peppers in the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add to the slow cooker.
4. Cook four to six hours, or until vegetables are tender, adding water as needed.
5.  Add the frozen vegetables to pot and cook for another half hour. 
6. Serve.


Apple Cake with Strudel Topping

This is so good - moist and filled with fresh apple goodness. I like it best warm, but it's wonderful chilled as well. I've actually combined two recipes. The cake is a variation of a recipe from King Arthur Flour, and the topping is from an old farm cookbook in my cupboard. The cake will keep for several days refrigerated, but I'm planning to wrap individual pieces in plastic wrap and freeze them in a freezer bag. Not that I have much left to freeze. I wound up sharing almost half of it with my neighbors. The rest, though, will keep for at least a month. 


Strudel Topping

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats
1/3 cup flour
4 T cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

1. In a medium size bowl, toss the first three ingredients together with a fork.
2. With you fingertips, blend in the butter pieces until small clumps form and the butter is well incorporated, about 2 minutes.
3. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Cake

2 1/3 cups flour
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp Apple Pie Spice (I used 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, and 1/4 tsp allspice)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup softened butter
4 cups peeled, cored, copped apple
3/4 cups walnut pieces

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9" x 13" pan.
2. Mix all of the ingredients except the apples and walnuts together in a large bowl.
3. Beat until well combined. The mixture will be very stiff,  and possibly crumbly.
4. Add the apples and nuts, and mix until the mixture become a thick batter, somewhere between a cookie dough and a brownie batter in consistency.
5. Spread the batter in the pan, smoothing the top with wet fingers.
6. Sprinkle the strudel topping evenly over the top.
7. Bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 


Wishing you a super September week!

A Bit of Quilting and a Cookie Recipe

A Beginning Quilter 

Before I get to the cookie recipe in this post, I simply must show you photos of some work by a first time quilter. Seriously, first time! Amazing work. My first quilts are meant only to be hidden away and forgotten.

Deb had never sewn until she recently inherited a sewing machine that she didn't even know how to thread. So what does she tackle first? A quilt with traditional piecing, paper foundation piecing, fusible web applique with blanket stitching, and free motion quilting. What a way to jump in head first, and what a learning curve. Unbelievable result!

 

And this is what she's making for her second quilting experience. Can't wait to see it finished. An amazing quilter has been born. Who knows what the future holds.

My Latest Obsession

Even though I'm in the midst of a Christmas baking frenzy this week, with flour flying and the kitchen looking like a hurricane went through, I can't get the idea of a quilt along row quilt out of my head. I keep chasing to the table between cookies going in and out of the oven to design different rows. As you can see, my table is covered in graph paper and other drawing paraphernalia!

It's starting to come together. I think.

My tabletop quilt isn't nearly this bright! Strange photo.

I seriously need to get back to my holiday preparations. I don't have time to play! Gingerbread cookies are waiting to be decorated, there's a cookie exchange party next Friday, the house hasn't yet been decorated, no gifts have beeb wrapped, and on and on!

Cookies

Along with the special Christmas cookies, though I did take time to bake up a batch or our favorite everyday cookies. I hope these will deter some of the early snitching of Christmas cookies as I'd like to save those until Christmas Eve.

The humble recipe I'm sharing has been a staple at our house from the time my children reached the cookie monster age. I chose early on to focus on making even their sweet treats as healthy as I could. The oatmeal, raisins, and walnuts in our family cookies provide a bit of nutrition along with the inescapable sugar and butter!

These have been our favorites for half a century now.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes 3 - 4 dozen cookies depending on size. I make them small, so I easily get 4 1/2 dozen.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t soda
• 1/2 t allspice
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t cloves
• 1 c chopped walnuts
• Additional sugar for cookie tops

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375°.
2. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment.
3. Put water and raisins into a pot and heat just until the water reaches a boil. Save 6 tablespoons of the raisin water. Drain the raisins and set aside to cool.
4. Place the flour, salt, soda, allspice, and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir to mix.
5. In a large bowl, blend butter and sugar until smooth.
6. Add eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time. Blend well after each addition.
7. Add dry ingredients to the large bowl and beat until smooth.
8. Mix in raisin liquid alternately with oatmeal. 
9. Stir in raisins and walnuts.
10. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a fork dipped in water. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of sugar on the top of each cookie.
11. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are lightly browned.

Autumn Pies

It's a cool autumn day and I reached a standstill, unable to decide which way to go with my latest sewing project. Sometimes you just need to take a break and let your mind settle on other things.

So, I baked pies this afternoon. One apple, one pumpkin, and one batch of leftover crust sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, rolled up and cut into little pieces just like my grandmother made for me when I was very small.

Alright, I admit it. My pie crusts are not at all beautiful to see. 

I simply can't get the knack of forming those pretty edges. I cut little hearts for the apple pie and twisted some 1 inch strips for the pumpkin pie. Not photo worthy, but it was the best I could manage today.

On the bright side, though, no one at my house worries much about the beauty of the crusts because they are too busy savoring the flavor and texture. You see, I have this special recipe. My crusts are light and flaky and downright yummy! 

I don't believe in secret recipes. Food is meant to share and so are the recipes. So here it is. 

Two little tricks for flakiness:  

1. Keep everything super cold. I even place the bowl and the flour in the freezer for about half an hour before using them. 

2. After the pies are filled, put them back in the refrigerator while you heat the oven. The colder the crusts are, the flakier they will bake. 

Master Pie Pastry

4 cups unbleached flour

3/4 cup very cold vegetable shortening

1 cup (2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter, cut in chunks

1 egg

2 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup ice water

To make by hand: Place the flour in large mixing bowl. Cut in the shortening and butter until you have a crumbly, uneven mixture of small and large lumps of flour-covered fat. Stir together the egg, sugar, salt, and lemon juice. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, stir in the egg mixture with a fork and drizzle in most of the ice water. Using a fork or your fingers, toss the mixture together to moisten the flour. Stir to make a soft mass and pat it into dough consistency. Add remaining (or additional) ice water as required to make sure the dough sticks together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead briefly into a smooth dough. Divide it into two portions, and wrap in plastic wrap or place in ziploc bags. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour if using immediately. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 days. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. (To defrost, leave it in refrigerator overnight, then leave it on the counter for 2 hours or until it's defrosted but still cold.)

This makes enough dough for two 9-inch double pie crusts plus one 8" or 9"single crust, or for 12 mini tart shells plus 1 double pie crust. Follow your pie or tart recipe for baking temperatures and times.

Enjoy!

Now, I need to get back to my sewing! 

Some days are just plain crazy!

Omigosh! This whole week has been a little bit insane around my house, and it's going to continue for awhile.

Today, for example, I've washed three loads of laundry, organized fabrics, placed and ironed templates onto 2 quilt blocks and a mug rug, and baked two batches of biscotti. It's only 1:15 in the afternoon, and the rest of the day looks to be filled with sewing. And writing this blog.

Why two batches? Who knows. Maybe because I had a huge bag of almonds?

Here's the recipe if you're interested. I absolutely love the crunch and the citrus flavor.  It's "almost Italian" because I've added an ingredient not found in traditional recipes. My addition keeps the biscotti crunchy, but it isn't hard as a rock like most biscotti.

Zesty "Almost Italian" Biscotti

1 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon orange zest

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup whole unblanched almonds

Beat sugar and butter together until creamy. Beat in eggs, extracts, and orange zest. Mix together flour and baking powder. Add to the batter and beat until well blended. Stir in the nuts. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least 1 hour (Can be kept up to 3 days). 

Shape the dough into 2 rolls about 10 inches long, and 2 inches wide. Flatten to 1 1/2 inches thick and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350°  for 20 to 25 minutes, or until firm and lightly browned. Remove the pan from the oven and cool slightly.

Transfer baked rolls to a cutting board and slice diagonally into 1/2-inch thick pieces. Arrange, cut side down, on the baking sheet and return to the oven. Bake an additional 8 – 10 minutes on each side to toast. Cool on wire racks.

On to other things. The new California baby has arrived! I haven't seen photos yet, but everyone says she's beautiful, just like her big brother and her big sister, with a full head of glossy black hair. So my package is off. It went our yesterday. This time around it was all baby blankets. I sent these four. 

A simple little fleecy blanket with satin binding.

The soft flannel doggy blanket from my "Doggy in the Window" pattern. 

I often crochet in the evenings. It's so relaxing and I can do while watching television or carrying on a conversation with my hubby. As a result, two crocheted blankets were in the package. (And I have more, both finished and in the works. I'm always prepared when a baby shows up.)

A lovely, soft, crocodile stitch blanket.This one took forever! The pattern is free from Bernat. You can find it through this link:
http://www.yarnspirations.com/pattern/crochet/crocodile-stitch-baby-blanket

This is "Wee Ones" from Churchmouse. My daughter bought the pattern and shared it with me, so I don't have a web address.

That's just the easy stuff. I told you that there will be changes coming to my guest bedroom and my sewing room. Here's the scoop. I need more sewing space. My daughter is moving and needs more beds. We almost never use the guest bedroom and it's larger than the shared office/sewing room that I now have. So.... I won't have a guest bedroom, but I'll have a roomier sewing room, my hubby will be able to work without tripping over sewing, and my daughter gets a pair of twin beds. It's a win-win-win.

Furniture moves next weekend, and it's been a busy week. We've gone through everything in both rooms, organized "stuff", taken things off to the City Mission, hauled things out to the trash, and generally turned the downstairs upside down and inside out. Oh, and I've made a couple of fun purchases. Eventually we'll likely get a hide-a-bed, but for now we're just fine.

Nothing will be exactly right overnight. It will take a long time, I'm sure,  but I'll post photos of the progress from time to time.

That's it for now. Quilt along pattern blocks are calling my name! 

LOUDLY!!

Gotta run!

Chicken and Rice Soup for Whatever Ails You

We had such a fabulous time at my party the other night, but I'm afraid that I overate. It was the chips and dip that finished me off. What is it about crispy potato chips? It didn't help that the dip was fabulous! Thank you, Midge! That wasn't meant to be sarcastic! The dip was awesome!

Not surprisingly, I awoke with an uncomfortable tummy. My digestive system just isn't what it used to me. That cast iron stomach is only a fleeting memory.

Yesterday, I mainly ate broth and yogurt. I was better this morning, but still feeling some after effects. That's where the chicken soup comes in.

This particular soup is very much like one that my grandmother used to make. It's great for tummy woes, colds, and whenever you need something light and nutritious.

Grandma wasn't much with a needle and thread, but her cooking was fantastic. Mother, on the other hand, was a remarkably skilled seamstress, but she couldn't cook. I was fortunate to have both mother and daughter for teachers.

You know how I cook - a bit of this, a pinch of that, a handful of the other - so that's the way this recipe reads. Add, subtract, substitute, design it to fit your taste buds.

CHICKEN AND RICE SOUP
A light, simple soup that's easy on your tummy.

Ingredients:

1-2 tablespoons olive oil
One small onion, chopped
1/2 - 1 cup diced chicken breast
About 1/2 cup diced carrots
About 1/2 cup diced celery
1 garlic clove, chopped very fine
1 can of chicken broth
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup rice
A handful of lentils
1 - 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1 medium basil leaf
A sprinkling of dried onion flakes
8 or 10 whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
4 or 5 cups of water

Directions:

1. Saute the onion in the olive oil until it becomes very lightly browned and  translucent. Add the chicken and saute for two or three additional minutes.

2. Add the carrots, celery, and garlic. Saute for another two or three minutes.

3. Add chicken broth, parsley, onion flakes, vinegar, peppercorns, bay leaf, salt, rice, lentils, and water.

4. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to medium low and simmer for about an hour.

Yum! 

  

Honey Wheat Bread

I did find time to bake bread for my party! I really like this recipe. It's very easy to make and it reminds me so much of the whole wheat bread my grandmother used to bake. She also made delicious white bread, but the whole wheat was always my very favorite. 


The following recipe is for 2 loaves. I almost always double the recipe and give two of the loaves to friends. I slice and freeze the rest to keep it tasting fresh.
The bread freezes well and will keep for about a month.







Ingredients


• 1 envelope yeast
• 2 cups water warm water
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups white flour


Directions


1. Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water.
2. In a large bowl, combine butter, molasses, honey, and salt with the remaining warm water. Stir. Add the yeast mixture and mix with a wire whisk till blended.
3. Add 2 cups of whole-wheat flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well with wire whisk after each addition. 
4. Add the 2 cups of white flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Use a wooden spoon to mix until the flour is absorbed. 
5. Add the remaining 1 cup of whole-wheat flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon till it’s well incorporated.
6. Turn onto a floured surface and knead briefly, adding just enough flour so that dough stops sticking to hands. The amount of additional flour needed will vary greatly depending on humidity, temperature, and the flour used.
7. Cover the dough and Allow it to rest 5 minutes.
8. Knead 5 – 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the kneading board. (Look for “broken blisters” on the surface of the dough to show that it is ready.)
9. Pour 1 tablespoon of oil or melted butter into a bowl. Spread over the inner surface of the bowl.
10. Place the dough into the bowl, and turn so that it is covered with a thin film of oil. Cover with a towel, place in a warm place, and let the dough rise for about 1 hour or until double in size.
11. Punch the dough down, divide it into 2 equal parts and shape into loaves.
12. Place the loaves in greased loaf pans, cover lightly with a towel and let rise until double, 40 – 60 minutes. The center of loaf should rise slightly above the rim of the pan.


Bake at 375º for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the bottom of loaves sounds hollow when tapped. Turn the loaves and cool them on a wire rack.