Baby Pineapples ~ A Finish!

Good morning! I have a sweet and cheerful quilt finish to share on this dismal day.  [Must I put away my shorts and flipflops? Already!?  A quote from friend Mel: "Summer disappeared so quickly---unused." How sad is that.]

The good news is Baby Pineapples [BP] is finished except its very minimalist label with the the child's first name and the year. The parents/ recipients do not like my sappy ''wishes and hopes'' type labels AT ALL, as many people do not.

The magic of the washing and drying final quilt step! Scary but it made this quilt come alive.

The quilting is lovely, hibiscus flowers, just what I asked Lori C to do, but the result was a little flat and plastic.

The flowers showed up beautifully, unwashed.

But here it is after washing and drying! I love the texture and dimension.

This is the inspiration fabric, used on the back, oddly boho but fun for a tropical princess's big girl room.

Beautiful rose, soft green, and mango

Some pineapples in batik snuck in.

I forgot to press the binding before hanging the quilt for photos. It will be smooth when ironed. The 1" wide binding, which I haven't done in years, was oddly difficult, as were the modernist mitered corners, ugh.

The quilt ''could'' have been  bigger---it is twin sized now.  Here it on the wall. Bigger than a crib quilt anyway.

But this used every scrap of the grey and turquoise solids, so hard to source during the earliest crisis days of the pandemic, back in March and April. I think I ordered every pale grey available to online quilters, but none were a match. Ugly and uglier. The pool blue used all but about 6" left of the binding, so I guess the size is meant to be. I am guessing the child will be clamoring for Disney Princess of the year as soon as she fits her big bed anyway. Maybe the mom can use this as a throw?

I used my own pattern, drawn out on graph paper.

I plan to make this again in blue and white. I was going to do paper pieced spiky stems but I am working on a small project with paper templated cable stitching and the paper removal is a nightmare. Hard to tear off, messy, ugly. So now I m not sure. The original pieced stems were tedious but easy.

A project for a snowy day.

*********

I cut the last few summer flowers yesterday because a storm may be coming. They are sweet but what a poor showing I had this year. 

**********************

My Jeep had a flat tire yesterday. So stressful. Why do cars no longer have spares? Seems it was maybe just  the colder temps creating low inflation, but I'll be venturing out now. How scary! Must grocery shop before the big rains come tomorrow.

********************

Mo has been practicing wearing his costume all week. I didn't tell him there is probably no celebration this year. Usually we parade around the block, giving out doggy treats and and Reese's cups to other dogs and parents.

Another simple joy bites the dust of the new virus world.

I made a few new painted shells for the Covid support art installation. Didn't put the out yet as the flat tire wasted all of yesterday. I slathered the designs with clear-dry Mod Podge. Will the ''permanent'' markers' color survive?

Add caption

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

Something for the Weekend ~ Squash and Bacon Tart ~ Fantasy Outings ~ and A Project

 

Hi! I am thinking I'll get back on schedule, with one of my Friday---yes, should be Thursday---updates. The weather isn't cold here but it grey and drippy with a week of fog. Oh my bones are complaining!

This is a recipe from a UK blog, Bovey Belle/ codlinsandcream2, in Wales.  Her daughter made this tart or galette with chorizo sausage and blue pumpkin, but I think I prefer the original which is butternut squash and bacon. 

Recipe link at end of this post. ***be sure to read my recipe notes at the end before you try this recipe!

The recipe calls for 1" dice squash. Probably best purchased pre-cut, but I like my squash fresh and I like the outer skin left on. Here's a hint for safely chopping a squash. I put the squash on a dampened towel. I save and hot water wash worn out  towels for use in the kitchen. Probably a few tea towels layered would do, though the squash stains orange.

I microwaved my squash instead of sauteing which seemed like it'd be a big fat mess. Pinch of olive oil , a few tablespoons of water. Microwave in 3 minute increments---mine took 7 minutes. The squash need not be entirely soft as the galette bakes another hour at  375*.

I caramelized a sliced sweet onion til glassy and soft, a bit brown on the edges; added the garlic, plus the paprika, black pepper Worcestershire sauce; I used tarragon because I dislike thyme; and a tiny sprinkle of roasted cinnamon powder. Pinch of salt; remember the bacon is salty.

The bacon is a package of thick cut Boar's Head microwave bacon. You can use the bacon you like best.  I mixed the veggies but left the bacon separate while everything cooled down. Be sure to plan for this cool down step! Set my schedule back a bit. Maybe the tart will be a bedtime snack, I wondered.

Since this is an experimental try out dish, I used a pre-made pie crust, reshaped. No sense spending time on handmade crust if it is a FAIL, right.

Hmm. One crust was too small. 

I combined the two pre-made crusts, refrigerated them one hour and re-rolled. Not the prettiest but functional.

Filled and shaped and sprinkled with parm as recipe calls for. It seemed very dry, s o I dotted on some butter.

Out of the oven now:

Baked much shorter time than recipe, maybe 40 minutes at the most.

How beautiful.

I will be back with a taste result in a few hours.

****Recipe critique: 

_Taste was delicious. 

_Crust, the pre-made---was exceptional, flaky, crisp, tasty.

_However the filling was much too dry! I added cider to my hot wedge of the tart; during the making stage of the filling, it needs to have something moist added, like 1/2 C of broth, diluted gravy, or cider, or even water. Possibly this would make the crust soggy tho?

_And the parm should be added during the final 5 minutes; baked the entire time it becomes hard and twiggy. Use more, too.

_I would make this again but only as a first course/ appetizer for a holiday meal.

**************

My friend L is one of the few people in my social bubble, but she is back at work so no weekday outings for us lately. We hope to get together on Sunday instead. She has a way of  texting on her way to pick me up:What is on our list [itinerary] today? So I plan ahead. Here is my fantasy outing for a long, busy, fun day out. 

Working along in a big circle:

-Big flea market! Open for a few fall dates. My favorite thing!

-Home Goods. Maybe I'd find a new mercury glass pumpkin?

-Trader Joe's. Stock up on pumpkin spice everything, and stocking stuffers for gourmet friends.

-[run into the nursery for some pumpkin orange pansies and a warty pumpkin for my front door step?]

-Fancy health food store for iron supplement and vitamin supplements and fresh cauliflower and vegan oatmeal.raspberry bars. Flowers for L just because she's my best friend.

-The church fair ! Is it open on Sundays now? Must investigate.

-Back home over the bridge to the new Dollar Store. You may pooh pooh Dollar stores but we have never had one here, so we're intrigued. 

-end the big circle with a glass of wine and sweet potato fries at the pub in rhe village. They the Best outdoor space around.

Oh my, I'd be exhausted but how fun to imagine, like what used to be. I hope you're inspired too, to do fun but safe activities this Autumn.

***********

Last:  a tempting project from TQC, for next winter. here

With fabric running  almost $11.oo a yard, it is priced quite reasonably---but with a few additions, like that pumpkin stripe:  HERE  ...I could get by with just buying the pattern. Or maybe I'll start my Christmas list!

have a good weekend.

PS Please come visit me on Instagram!? My followers count is pathetic, and even has gone down. How mortifying is that, hee hee hee.  my Instagram

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....

Today Mo and I finally found goldenrod in bloom in the upper swale only. Visible by peeking around a space in the extra high winter sea wall that was installed the other day.

Mo adores this funny drainage cutout. He peers through it and barks at who knows what.

Galette recipe: HERE