Quilting........

I have loved quilts since I was a child. At Gram Potter's when I spent the night, the bed was made up with quilts and afghans. My room was directly at the top of the stairs and I remember sunshine. It was a double bed - very lumpy mattress - but with the quilts, it was a nest. I still have one of the quilts. My father was an only child and this was his room growing up. If you turned right at the top of the stairs and went down the hall there was a guest room. I don't remember too much about this room. There were maple twin beds with crocheted bedspreads. I had one which I gave to dear friends who use it in their guest room. The pillows had cases with either crocheted or knit lace. I still have many of them.

I always loved antiques and when we bought the village farmhouse in Gorham, I set about creating a feeling similar to Gram's house. I'm not sure whether it was intentional or not but the house seemed to call for it. My parents had absorbed some of Gram's furniture and stuff and as they downsized, they gave it to me. I had a big house and was delighted to have it. Gram's oak dining room table was in my kitchen. Her china was in my china cabinet. Her silverplate was in the buffet. She collected a grape pattern by redeeming Betty Crocker coupons. Although, I no longer use silver, I have and treasure those spoons.

I went to an antique show and saw some scrap quilts. My favorite one was over $200! I said to myself, "I can make that!" Now, thousands of dollars later - sewing machines, sewing equipment, enough fabric to have a stash - $200 would have been a bargain! I took classes and I read books. However, it was not until the rotary cutter and ruler that I actually enjoyed the process or could achieve accuracy. I don't know how many quilts I have made or what happened to all of them but most of them are still being used and I'm still making them.

I have changed my style and tend to make brighter quilts. I like batiks and Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I like fabrics for children and quilts made with jelly rolls. I also buy quilt kits! Years ago I would have frowned upon that but now it's an issue of space.

One block wonders, whack and stacks and 4 patch posy quilts are fascinating and leftover fabric gets patched for the back. Fat quarters are a wonderful way to plan a kit and the books that show how are abundant.

I like to sew in the morning. If I don't get an early start, I don't start. Sometimes I listen to the cooking channel on TV but usually I just sew. A perfect sewing day is to sew with a friend, have dinner brewing in the crock pot or oven, and good bottle of wine to celebrate the progress.

Crock Pot Pea Soup

1 smoked ham hock
1 package dried split peas
1 onion cut in quarters
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled

Night before put in crock pot - fill 2/3 with water. Cook on low. The next morning remove onion and ham hock. Remove meat from bone and dice and put back in.

Chop 3 carrots, 2 stalks celery and 2 uncooked potatoes (optional)
Add to crock pot - salt and pepper to taste cook on low. About noon put your favorite bread recipe in bread machine. Voila!

Today is the big day.....

Well, I am officially 65 today! Medicare has had me at this age for months now. I may choose to celebrate my birthday for a month however I do not recall giving them the go ahead!

We finally had sun yesterday! We went to North Conway for a food shop and lunch with friends. We stopped at the Glass Cottage to see what vintage Fenton glass Lucy had and poke around some of the other stores. The shopping list was huge! The trunk is small. Sometimes I have to drive back with groceries in my lap. Jack drives and I have stuff by my feet and in my lap! I am trying to put together a tablescape with my Sascha Brastoff dishes so I am looking for compatible stuff.

I follow several blogs now and when I figure out how to share them I will. This blogging is a real learning experience. Some of them even have music playlists! I especially like the blogs that decorate tables and rooms with a sort of shabby chic feeling. As a "dish" person, I read them and want to go shopping!

Jack is making chili today and the cabin will have some wonderful smells. He starts with

and

and the browned meat. It cooked all day. The cabin smelled delicious! We will serve it Saturday night!

Sunday is "Bloody Mary Sunday". We will have our guests and our neighbors over and I will serve some light munchies. This Texas Caviar is easy to make ahead. It makes a lot. Serve it with Tortilla scoops!

Texas Caviar

Marinade:

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3/4 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

Bring ingredients to a boil and let cool completely.

Combine:

1 can black eyed peas (rinsed and drained)

1 can pinto beans (rinsed and drained)

1 can white shoepeg corn (drained)

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped green pepper

3 tablespoon chopped pimentos

3 tablespoons chopped jalapenos

2 scallions, chopped

Mix all the above in a bowl. Add marinade and mix well. Refrigerate overnight. There are many variations of this recipe. If there is any left, serve it with grilled chicken!

It's my party....

My birthday approaches. Friends from South Portland are coming on Saturday and we will sew and cook and laugh. If the weather is good, we will have cocktails on the beach and a cookout! However, the weather in June in Maine can be dreary and so far this year has been.

I have been reading other blogs and have really been enjoying them. One blogger talks about Food Network's Tyler Florence and participates in Tyler Florence Fridays. Neat idea! As I was trying to find a recipe for a chocolate cake I used to make in the food processor with a can of Hersey syrup, one of Tyler's recipes - Dad's Meatloaf with Tomato Relish - popped up. I read it to Jack and we went to the store and got what we needed. It was scrumptious. The wheat germ bread in the freezer is calling our names and a meatloaf sandwich is right at the top of my list of favorite sandwiches! That recipe can be found on FoodNetwork.com. It is a basic meatloaf recipe with the twist of adding a ketchup based relish of red peppers and onions to the mixture.

The weather is disappointing. One of my favorite ways to cook in the summer is grilling! Nothing fancy - just a good hamburger or steak or pork loin. I like to brush summer squash and zucchini with olive oil and sprinkle on some herbes de provence and grill. They can be served at room temperature with a splash of balsamic vinegar. Grill lots of them because the grill chef is apt to snack on them! Yes, Jack - you!

However, the weather was not going to cooperate and I had to cook the pork inside. I decided to cut the loin into medallions. It was delicious!

Sometimes I use recipes but most of the time I just cook. I read cookbooks like novels and buy cooking magazines to look at the pictures and ads. When I start with olive oil and butter, it just has to be good. Jack is a marvelous prep cook so I have the luxury of on-demand-dicing. So, with my olive oil and butter, I usually use minced onion or garlic or shallots or a combination. To make the dish above or something close to it, this is what I did. In a small saute pan, I melted some butter with olive oil and sauteed a box of mushrooms with fresh thyme leaves (3 or 4 stems) and when they were done I stirred in about a cup of chopped flat leaf parsley. In my all-clad grill pan, I heated olive oil. Because you don't need a lot of oil for this particular pan, I used a paper towel to spread the oil in the grooves. I cooked the medallions until they were done (165 degrees for pork) about 10 minutes. The medallions went on top of the mushroom mixture and I deglazed the pan with some sherry and that was it. Baby greens with Ina's vinaigrette, a bottle of wine and a good dinner was made.



Had we grilled the loin outside, I was going to serve it with a recipe that my sister gave my mother years ago - Posh Squash. I haven't had this for a while so if the sun ever comes out, I will make this and serve it with grilled meat. I make this in a Pyrex loaf pan.

Posh Squash

2 pounds zucchini or yellow squash or a mixture, sliced and steamed for about 8 minutes - still firm not limp
mix together and add
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated parm
1 medium onion chopped finely
2 eggs, slightly beaten
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes

cooking in the cabbage....

My grandchildren could not decide whether I lived in a cabin or a cottage so it became Mimi’s “cabbage” and the name has stuck. They know that there are cookies in the pantry and juice boxes in the refrigerator. The “washable” crayons are in the table drawer. Tiny pine cones and acorns are along the path that used to be a railroad track. But their favorite place is the beach. We can all sit and watch them closely as they run back and forth between the water and the neighbor’s swing set.

Saturday was a beautiful day. The air was crisp but the temperature was warm - a perfect day for making bread. I had all the ingredients for my wheat germ bread on hand. I had not made this bread for years and I had forgotten how easy it was. The cabin smelled wonderful and it was all I could do not to cut off the ends and slather them with butter.

It is a little more difficult to bake some of my favorites because I don’t have all the “stuff” at the "cabbage" that I have in Florida. But the cake I am going to make for this weekend doesn’t need all that. This cake is called Marian Beeson’s Party Cake and is deep, dark and delicious. Marian Beeson was a friend of Gram Potter’s in Sussex, NJ. Church suppers and socials thrived and this cake was always a hit. As I have been writing this blog, it is interesting to find out if the foods I remember loving so much were really that good. I know that my love of twinkies was misplaced.

Marian Beeson's Party Cake

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate

8 tablespoons butter

2 cups flour

1 cup boiling water

1 heaping teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together eggs, sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Melt chocolate and butter. Add to above mixture. Add flour and mix well. Then combine baking soda and boiling water. Add quickly to cake batter. Pour into a 9 x 13 x 2 inch pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Frost with favorite buttercream icing.

Sunshine

Well, the sun has finally decided to make an appearance. I was getting concerned about the window boxes and the pots of herbs and flowers. Last year the rains were so torrential that I had to replant everything.

I used to have perennial gardens and a good sized vegetable garden. I miss them but not the work. Gram Potter had wonderful gardens. They were well planned. The gardens on the side of the house were visible from the dining room and the side porch. They were colorful and something was always in bloom. The backyard garden was defined by a fruit tree at each corner with a lawn in the center. The shade under the trees called for hostas and other shade loving plants. In the center of the area was a bird bath. Behind this garden was the vegetable garden. I can remember digging up potatoes as a little girl. The tomatoes were wonderful. We would think nothing of taking a salt shaker into the garden and eating the tomatoes right there. I don't know what they have done to tomatoes but they are just not the same. Behind the vegetable garden was a barn. I can remember chickens but I was scared to death of them. Next to the barn was the berry patch. There were raspberries and black raspberries.









I have been working on my One Block Wonder. I am almost done. I want the borders to have hexagons so I will need a quiet morning and some coffee to do the math necessary for that to happen. Then I will work on the back. I won’t get this one quilted until it is almost time to go back to Sarasota because that’s where this quilt is going to live. On the floor in the cabin under the table I have a box of projects and if I can finish them all it will be a miracle. However, I will certainly try.

Tonight will be a cookout! Maybe we will even be able to have cocktails on the beach. I cleaned the cabin yesterday so today I can do what I want. I think my only domestic responsibility will be a marinade for the steak and salad dressing. The soy sesame marinade is a recipe that my friend Patti gave me years ago. She uses it on pork or chicken but I use it on steak as well. I keep a little container of toasted sesame seeds in the freezer.

Soy Sesame Marinade

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine or white wine vinegar
1/3 cup oil [use vegetable oil and toasted sesame oil mixed together for a more intense flavor]
1 tablespoon minced onion
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Combine and pour over meat. This can be done in the morning or the night before.

My favorite vinaigrette this year has been from Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris Cookbook. I love the simplicity of it. We are trying not to use bottled dressings so this dressing is perfect.

Green Salad Vinaigrette

3 tablespoons champagne or white wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

1 extra large egg yolk, at room temperature

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup good olive oil

In a small bowl. whisk together vinegar, mustard, garlic, egg yolk, salt and black pepper. While whisking, slowly add the olive oil. Toss with your favorite salad.