Dithering in Quilt Land

 

 

Hi! The snow storm was a fizzle, but the high winds mostly kept me indoors the past two days. Tonight I made meatloaf, roasted brussel sprouts with chestnuts, and a new apricot/ oatmeal bar cooky recipe. The house smells delicious and is toasty warm.

On the quilting front, there is confusion if not storm clouds. I finished the America Hurrah quilt top last weekend....I like it. Not exactly what I planned but okay. That's what happens with free-style piecing, I suppose.

So anyway my new issue is...what should the back be? I think I spend as much time choosing quilt backings as I do planning the entire front. It is after all the largest single fabric purchase and the largest amount of fabric I will use and later be seeing. My friend Mel pointed out to me that choosing a special fabric is NOT in keeping with the make-do aspect of quilting tradition. She recalls her mother re-using sheets and outgrown clothes. Whatever she had available. And I love that feeling of utility, of re-purpose and reuse. Mel said:"Not much went to waste in our house when I was growing up..."

On the other hand, most of the large yardage pieces of antique fabrics that I own are recycled backings of worn out quilts. And when I am buying a quilt, an attractive backing is a huge plus, not just to me, but to the collectible value. Years ago, when I first moved to NYC, my friend M got me interested in quilts because she owned and treasured a beautiful 1930s quilt that was appliqued tulips in the unusual colors of lavender, pale blue, Nile green...but what she especially loved was that the backing was a tiny sprigged calico with teeny tiny tulips in the same shades. Obviously this quilter put a lot of thought and effort into her design! [or it was a kit?].

I was so sure I had purchased fabric for the America Hurrah quilt! The piece I found, still in its shipping baggie, was only a half yard, though. Either I never went back and got the 6 yards I needed or, worse!--- it will turn up someday in a ''special'' spot. So now what?

I used to order a few sets of 6 yard backings, to audition...but the price of cotton fabric has skyrocketed recently along with the prices of raw cotton. So I have to decide and just order one. [oh okay, maybe two?] Or find something in my closet?

I found 10 yards of tiny red and khaki stars. Sort of vintage, as it has been in my closet for at least 10 years. [And maybe it is for  the sashings and back of the intermittently worked on lighthouse quilt? I forget.]

I wanted to incorporate these modern funky wonky stars that my mom gave me. And that does work nicely into the red. But...hmmm. Maybe it is just TOO MUCH?

Here's other options [no wonky stars] :

I love this indigo large scale print. Restful, right?

And for a whole week I loved this inappropriate Nantucket preppy whales print. It does go with the ships...but is c. 1985? and looks like awful golf pants. But I do love it.

Other ideas;  a nice Americana eagles prints?

Double pink?
Advice, ideas are appreciated!

love
     lizzy

gone to the beach...

 

 

She Sells Seashells

Hello everyone!

Seashells, Thrift shop china...two of my favorite things.

                                                                [sold]

Over the years friends and readers and buyers on my etsy and eBay shops have asked me about the bowls of seashells that appear as props on my selling photos.

The shells weren't for sale, I never listed them....

the shells are simply beach treasures stuck in a pocket and tossed onto the deck to dry.

Once in a while I'll paint the shells a nice chalk white. I arrange them in my favorite white crazed crackled chipped old bowls.

My beach tends to be very bare, just acres of plain white sand. The lovely large shells, or conchs as they are sometimes called appear only after certain storms...

usually just a few, one here, one there.

The bowl displays grow...add a sand dollar, a starfish, a fancy shell from a Caribbean snorkeling trip...maybe a bit of broken sepia china?

Never sea glass, the sea glass is segregated to the window sills, or the shelf with the ship model, the huge glass jars in the corners. The beach pebbles too have their place. (The pebbles are my secret favorites..I know each and every one, I hold them gently in the palm of my hand and  treasure their beauty....)

The shells act as paperweights, and door stops, too. Many are displayed in bowls, or on old china platters. Then I may add a lavender heart---two or three--- or maybe, in winter, an old and chippy mercury glass ball. Maybe a speckled plover egg [fake of course..]

And the bowls and shells serve as props for my photos.

If you live at the beach you don't want to bring too much home! One's gatherings become clutter or worse, beachy kitsch.

Like the shell strings I make each summer's end! And bestow on unwary friends at Christmas,lol.

Anyway. After H.Sandy, I found some lovely shells...and they're for sale on etsy, in my shop.

I added a couple bowls, platters...for tablescaping, as it is called.

Ironstone platters with beach roses, sigh! How perfect.....

Now my friends and customers can have their own displays, no beach hikes required! In fact, not even a beach...

      love

               lizzy

.................gone to the beach...

 

 

 

Weekend Food and It is March Already?

Yes indeed, March snuck in like a lamb, at least here at the beach...but winter is still very much with us and despite the calendar, the world seems endlessly cold and grey. And that is if you don't have mounds and mounds of snow.

Hi! If you had last week's blizzard [s?] at your house, I do hope all is well, cozy and warm. The weather just seems perfect for delicious hot fragrant comfort food, so today we'll make classic Hungarian goulash and spaetzle. Yum!

The goulash is essentially a very simple stew. I was inspired to make it recently because I found lovely sweet Hungarian paprika at Savory Spice, when I was ordering the  seasonings for the chili verde.

You do need nice paprika for this...I haven't found truly wonderful paprika since I left Brooklyn Heights and its gourmet spice shops...but you can get a fairly good version in most markets, just look for the red old fashioned tin, and be sure it says "Sweet" [not hot!] on it. [Szeged is the name of the maker, I believe.] Or Savory Spice .

The recipe is old, from a tattered James Beard cookbook my mom gave me when I was in college.
[Yes, I cooked in college, somehow it is always ME who does the providing of sustenance. Too bad I hate to cook....] Nevermind! This is easy and delish!
You need good beef for goulash. Please do not buy ''stew meat'' unless that is all you can afford!
The better the ingredients, the better the result, so true in all cooking!

I usually buy a sirloin steak/ London broil  and cube it myself.

Cut in 11/2" cubes.
Toss with flour, paprika, tenderizer, salt, seasoned [or plain] pepper.

Saute in batches, in a combination of oil and butter. Get the cubes nicely browned.

Add a large can of tomato puree, 2 Cups of beef broth. Some red wine if you have it? You can use what you have on hand. Water to cover. Stir....
Here I used crushed tomatoes and consomme, plus leftover brown gravy, leftover wine.....

Stir in the rest of the flour paprika mixture. I add more paprika...and 2T. of sugar or sweetener.
No onions, No garlic. You can add mushrooms, whole, if you insist.
Stir gently to mix the browned bits into the mix. Cover with foil, then the dutch oven heavy lid, bake 3 hours at 350.

Or at this point transfer to your crock pot and slow cook it for about 8 hours on Low? I like to cook dishes like this ahead of time, so that I can refrigerate overnight. I cool it off and put the whole thing right in the fridge, on a teatowel...
The flavors meld nicely..and I skim off all the excess fat and oil.

Reheat gently. And while you're reheating.... you must make spaetzle! {Or boil up some whole wheat noodles!} Spaetzle is  a noodle/ dumpling, of I think Swiss origin. Pronounced Spetz'-lee.

Mix 2 beaten eggs into 1 cup of cold water.

Pinch of salt. Slowly add flour until it becomes a sticky dough.

I work in the [well-cleaned] sink so it is less messy.

It will be hard to stir, but keep mixing...big circular sweeps with your stirring fork,
until what my mom called rubber bands form. You'll see the noodle dough changes, becomes shiny and makes long swirls? refrigerate while you bring salted water to a boil.

To form the dumplings, hold the bowl in your left hand [or you know, reverse for lefties!], tip it over the boiling water and just as the dough slides to the edge, chop off a small bit with a sharp knife held in your other hand. Keep doing this until the water is full. Remove with a slotted spoon to  colander, then a heated bowl. Takes a few batches but it is easy and fast to do. The dumplings cook almost instantly, I let them all rise to the top of their cooking water and then wait a moment or two. Practice, practice! The smaller the little bits you chop off the finer the dumplings. Up to you. Mine in the pix are too chunky,lol.

Serve with the goulash,and a big blob of fat free sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. I like a green veggie to go with, usually steamed broccoli.

MMMMmmm. Smells so good. Warms your tummy, and your wintry soul. Lots of easy to reheat leftovers, freezes well too.

enjoy.

le Creuset Dutch Ovens here  also at Williams-Sonoma. And you might find a great buy in an odd color at Marshalls or T J Maxx. Mine is 5 1/2 quarts. And it is at least 20 years old.

love

           lizzy

 

         gone to the beach..... [to walk off the goulash!]

 

 

 

a couple real recipes in case you need them, but they're more complicated!

here

and a fancy James Beard one here