Our Illinois Urban Farmers

DH and I recently returned from an annual event.  Each spring we visit his parents in central Illinois, and help them plant their EarthBox planter with tomatoes for the summer.  This is tomato season #3 for them.  Longer term readers might remember them from last year, and their system of tying cages to the bench.

This year, they purchased a determinate variety of beefsteak tomato locally, and we brought another Sun Gold cherry tomato plant from Minnesota (an indeterminate variety).  We were a week or two earlier in planting the box than last year, given our freer schedule this summer.  We’re all hoping for good tomato yields and less cold and rain than they experienced last summer.

My quilts are in the photo on their website.    How cool is that?  Thanks to Annie Hager for setting this up.  I’m thrilled to participate.  I just wish I could get there in person while it’s up.  Mum- are you ready for a road trip?

This morning I mailed out Japanese Gardens II (above) and Ruth said “Let us Quilt.” (below).  They should arrive at A’s on Monday, in time for the show to be hung on April 30th.  A will be sending more promotion information shortly, so I’ll pass along more show details, if any of my adoring fans will be in or around Plymouth, NH this spring.

Grump Off

Due to the close timing of the claim postings and the availability of knitting time, a second grumpasaurus came into being today.  Now two grumpasauri will be traveling eastward via USPS.  I hope I’ll get a picture in return once these guys have new habitat.

Local Mom and other friends got to see these today at the UUF, and I’m pleased to say that the reactions were suitably favorable.

You think you can out-grump ME?????

UPDATE – April 5, 2010

Both Grumpasauri are on their way to new homes… one in VA, one in upstate NY.

Since I love to throw a dinner party, and I love to cook for people, for the past three years, I have offered a 5 course dinner for 8 in my church’s annual silent auction.  This dinner was for last year’s auction- we just took a really long time in getting the dinner scheduled.   The dinner actually happened in February, but as I was very busy then,  I didn’t get to posting it.  Oh well.

Menu

Course: Food /Wine

Amuse Bouche: Date-wrapped Kumquats

First Course: Carrot Soup with Fresh Cilantro / Red Bicyclette Rose 2007

Second Course: Fennel and Orange Salad with Olives and Sherry Viniagrette / Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2008

Third Course: Salmon Roe with Buckwheat Blini and Creme Fraiche / Segura Viudas Cava Extra Dry

Fourth Course: Juniper-rubbed Pork Loin with Poached Pears / Hogue Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Fifth Course: Individual Chocolate Souffles / Bonny Doon Framboise

I knew at the time things were going to be very busy, so this needed to be accounted for in all parts of the dinner. I needed to choose tasty menu items that I knew could be put together quickly, or partially made ahead.  I needed to be sure I could get the courses timed correctly, since I didn’t have the help of others for serving, plating, etc.  As any good chef will tell you, having a good plan, and getting as much done ahead as possible eliminates the need for as much crisis management when it’s time to go.

I often will try out new recipes for a dinner party, and I did in this case with the dessert, but this is a move that is NOT for the faint of heart.  All those wise, experienced cooks will tell you that if you are the tiniest bit anxious, stay with a familiar recipe you know will work, and will not stress you out.  The main reason that I tried the new recipe for dessert this time is because it comes from a book called The Best Make-Ahead Recipes (my emphasis), from Cooks Illustrated.  All of the other recipes were ones I have used before, and limited my active work time when it came to serving.

Due to the make-ahead nature of several of these recipes (soup, blini, souffles), and the slow, unattended cooking of the main course items, (roast in oven, pears in Dutch oven) I had enough time to prep the courses long before the guests arrived.  The afternoon of the event was spent first prepping items for cooking, and then prepping the rest of the items for service.

While the tags on piles of plates might seem excessively AR for some, I find that having them labeled and counted saves me lots of confusion when I’m doing the serving, and allows me to update my mental action plan as I go.  Due to a sudden outbreak of sickness, I was without my DH and Front-Of-The-House guy, so these prep steps made it much easier to get the table set, and to have things lined up and ready to go when the guests arrived.

The last thing I prepared before the guests arrived was the first thing they were served- the amuse bouche of a date-wrapped kumquat.  This was solely because I saw the kumquats at our local food co-op while I was shopping for ingredients, and the store always carries pitted dates.  I hadn’t previously planned on an amuse bouche, but they are fun to have.  Kumquats, with their bright tangy citrus taste, would also foreshadow the citrusy salad, with both navel and blood oranges.

This soup recipe is of Indian origin, and has a hint of cayenne and cilantro to balance the sweetness of the carrots.  It’s a thin soup, so it is light, but the spiciness tends to whet the appetite.  I expect I will pair this with rose more often, particularly as the weather heats up.

The salad is one of my favorite winter salads.  You can mix and match the kinds of citrus with what is available.  The licorice flavor of fennel and its crunch are balanced with the sweetness of the fruit, and the brininess of the olives.

I don’t have any pictures of the Salmon Roe and blini course, or of the Pork Loin and Poached Pairs plated.  I think this was due to the amount of assembly that was required for each of these dishes.  Not that it was difficult, but that it did take some time to do, and I decided that serving food at the right temperature to the guests was more important than photos.

I did snap this picture of the meat when it came out of the oven, though.  Doesn’t that look good?  Imagine a slice of this with two purple (from the red poaching wine) pear halves on a plate, and you get the idea.  Both the pork and the pears were cooked with pepper and juniper berries.  The pears also poached with star anise.  The pork also had rosemary, thyme, and salt in its rub.

I didn’t get a picture of the desserts all plated, but I did take a photo of one of the souffles I saved and baked a couple days later.  More detail to follow on that in a later post.  I can say, however, that there wasn’t a hint of any of this left over in the guests’ dishes.  And they had no difficulty with the deliciousness that is the Bonny Doon Framboise.  I suspect that several bottles of this were purchased the next day, given the rave reviews.
In sum, the great group of people who shared this dinner were so appreciative, and especially liked the pairings of the wines with the food.  I am pleased to say that the dishwasher handled 90 % of the cleanup, and I did not feel exhausted  afterward.   Doing the dessert 2 days in advance, and then making the blini and soup ahead of time were so important to how this whole meal came out.  There were no panicky moments or streams of expletives wafting from the kitchen, and nothing was left out, forgotten. Boy, I love to throw a dinner party.

Happy Choir Members Decked out in New Stoles

Look!  We finished the UUF Choir Stoles project.   You may remember a prototype from the blog many moons ago.  Here are Ellen, Kathy, Becky, and Gayle sporting our results.  We made two sets of 16 stoles, and they are reversible, so we have four options.  The two ladies on the left (Ellen, Kathy) are wearing stoles from the same set, and the ladies on the right (Becky, Gayle) are wearing stoles from the second set.  You can click on the picture for a larger view.

Even More Options for Wearing Stoles

In this photo (again, click it for a larger view), each woman has reversed her look, and Ellen and Kathy have decided to reverse them from front to back.  Can you tell they like these things?  If only you could hear them sing, too.

All in all, I think we used about 5 yards of each of the solid color fabrics, and at least 2.5 yards of the three batiks.  We used about 1 to 1.5 yards of each of the black and white fabrics, since we had more prints for those.  With about 9 or 10 yards of  plain white muslin for the foundations for piecing, this took a fair bit of fabric, but it was  a fun project.  We had two workdays in La Crosse at the Fellowship, and then Kathy and I each did some work at home to finish them off.

Special thanks to all who helped on this project.  I know I’d miss a name or two if I tried to list them.

This has been a real boost for me (using my skills for a great group of people), and a boost for the choir.  They look so great as a group, and I’ve heard they behave better when dressed up. *SMIRK*

Since our choir members wear black and white when performing, we came to the conclusion that it would be cool to have black and white stoles, but it would also be very cool to have colorful ones, too.  Of course, that immediately doubles the quantity of sewing, unless we make them reversible, which makes the sewing more complicated.

More brainstorming ensued, and KS and I each agreed to make a prototype stole using the basic pattern B had, and that we’d meet again in a month, and hatch the final plans for a group sewing event.  I went home, trying to figure out when I’d fit this prototype in. Yesterday was my opportunity- DH’s book club was meeting at our house. When DH’s book club comes to our house, it is customary for me to be out of the living room,  so it was a perfect time for me to fire up the Bernina and the Rowenta, and start working.

Here’s a view of the result:

Prototype Choir Stole, front view

And the view from the back

These are made of 100% cotton fabric.  The pieces of black and white prints are sewed onto a muslin foundation,  and trimmed to the edges.  It’s basically like foundation paper piecing without designated sewing lines.

After sewing, flipping, ironing, and sewing additional strips onto the foundation at random angles,  I made a second layer of solid muslin to sew around the edges, and then turn right side out, so all of the edges are finished.

The strips of patterned fabric were cut about 3 inches wide, and the strips varied from 6 to 9 inches long, depending on the width of the foundation at various points.  I’d guess the piece at the point in the back is a bit longer than 9 inches.

From adjusting and cutting the paper pattern pieces to taking the photos took me about 2 hrs and 20 minutes, including cutting the strips of the print fabrics, so, if we were to do this with a group of volunteers,  dividing the jobs (cutting strips of print fabrics, sewing, trimming, and pressing, I think we could make the 16 stoles we want in about 5 hours with a group of 6 to 12 people.  Especially if someone else provided food and bev… and we had cool music to work to…..

(My Brain Flips to Volunteer Project Mode)

We’d have two cutting stations with rulers and rotary cutters,  one or two ironing boards, probably 4 to 6 sewing machines, and we’d be right there.

Before everyone showed up, I’d need to figure out how to explain each of the major sewing tasks (shoulder seams,  flip and press sewing to the foundation, then sandwich and sew around edge for finishing), the major cutting tasks ( Rotary Cutter 101, strip dimensions), the major pressing tasks (pressing shoulder seams open,  pressing seams open on strip piecing, pressing the turned stoles), and the hand finishing tasks (whipstitching vs. blindstitching).  OK… that’s not so bad.

Then we’d need equipment lists- what we need in total, what I’ll be bringing from my treasure trove of stuff. That’s a list for later.

Furniture setup at the UUF- big tables for sewing, ironing boards, cutting stations, power strips. Check.

Potential rough spots:  willing volunteers with old unworkable sewing machine that hasn’t been out of its case since grandpa was a pup……  How do I tactfully explain that while I can teach them how to sew these choir stoles, I can’t do sewing machine repair, and I’m not willing to be responsible for making their machines work on the day of the event……

OK. Have all sewing volunteers call for the pre-event interview:

(Scenario 1)

ME:  So, you want to help us with the choir stoles project.  That’s great!  Do you have a sewing machine you’ll be bringing?

VOLUNTEER:  Well, my friend has her grandmother’s old machine… I think I can borrow that.

ME:  Have you used that machine before?

VOLUNTEER: No, but she knows where it is in her mom’s garage.

ME:  Have you done much sewing before?

VOLUNTEER:  Not since 5th grade.

ME:  Why don’t you come without the sewing machine.  We’ll need help picking out fabric combinations, and cutting the pieces out.  And you know how to use an iron, right?

VOLUNTEER: I think so.

ME: Great!  There will be plenty of things you can help us with.  This is going to be really fun.

(Scenario 2)

ME: So, you want to help us with the choir stoles project.  That’s great!  Do you have a sewing machine you’ll be bringing?

VOLUNTEER: Yes. I haven’t used it much since I made my daughter’s wedding dress.  It’s not a new machine, though.

ME: (inwardly jumping up and down with excitement):  May I ask a semi-serious question?

VOLUNTEER: OK…. I mean, I’m not a great seamstress…

ME:  Don’t worry.  If you can make a wedding dress, you’re overqualified for this project, and we’ll be lucky and estatic to have you.  When was the last time you had this machine out of the case?

VOLUNTEER:  Oh, a few years ago.

ME:  Do you have time to take it out and make sure it threads well, and the tension is OK before the group event?

VOLUNTEER:  Sure.  I can do that tomorrow.  And if it doesn’t, I’ve got plenty of time to take it to Sew & Vac for a cleaning before we get together anyway.

ME:  You’re my hero.  This is going to be really fun.

And I mean it.  This is going to be really fun!

In sum, we had lots of fun, but we didn’t get to all of the items on our agenda.  Most of the reason is driving and traffic related.  Allow me to set the scene for you.

How much of the day looked, but not all

We are currently in Minnesota’s less publicized season (road construction) that has not yet featured largely in a Coen Brothers movie. Cone zones and detours are a major feature of this season, which can do heck on the timing on road trips.  None of the three amigas on this trip actually LIVE in the Twin Cities, nor have we lived there in the last 25 years. Each of the three of us have our own foibles, which don’t make road trips DANGEROUS, but just slightly more challenging. For example…. ability to see (or not see) signs at distances, inability to hear what others are saying in a right ear, inability to operate our own cell phones, inability to determine from terse directions whether that was 7th Avenue in St. Paul (near St. Paul Farmer’s Market, evidently), or 7th Avenue N in Minneapolis (home of the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market) – trust me, they aren’t the same road – and you can understand why we spent a lot of the day driving.   I can, however,  tell you that the same University Avenue which goes North-South in Minneapolis does become the same University Avenue that goes East-West into St. Paul.  How we got to the N-S part from the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market on 7th Ave N to University Avenue is our secret.

Yes, we did end up circumnavigating the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market, which is held at an underpass site near one of the major highway interchanges.  Why didn’t we stop and look?  First, because there was no place to park (this farmer’s market attracts a MUCH bigger crowd than the one I go to at home), and secondly, according to J, the one in St. Paul is better.  We were willing to believe that, so we got back on the highway, you guessed it, going West instead of East.  Here’s where sign reading and terse directions got us lost.  After a phone call or two with R, we set a time to meet for lunch, and found ourselves on University Avenue, going south, back into Minneapolis, where we drove by the North Minneapolis Farmer’s Market between stoplights.

At least on this street, we came to a landmark that I knew- Surdyk’s liquor and food market.

J in front of Surdyk's, where we went cheese and wine tasting

In order to prevent a blood sugar meltdown, we did what any sane person would do… go in and taste cheese!  J got some of her favorite Swiss and a good smelly blue from Wisconsin, and I purchased a couple I hadn’t had before – A Goodhue cheddar made in Minnesota, and a lovely goat cheddar from Carr Valley in Wisconsin.  Lest you think we are holier than thou locavores, I also took this opportunity to buy some Speck,  a case of Dolcetto (which will be the house red for a while) and a few lovely bottles of Umbrian rosato for these steamy summer evenings.    So my goal of stocking up on wine was reached, even if we still didn’t make it to the St. Paul farmers market yet.

Soon, as it was about 12:15, and we had a 1:30 lunch appointment, we got back in the van, to forge forward towards St. Paul, in hopes to at least SEE where the Farmer’s Market was.  We got back on University, now heading east, toward the capitol.  With a few more cone zones and one way detours, we drove by the new football stadium at the University of Minnesota, which is a lovely new facility, but not our destination.  We were finally diverted back to University, where we drove out of Minneapolis and into an Asian section of St. Paul, where we drove by an Asian farmer’s market. We gave ourselves a time limit of 1PM, and we got as far as….. the Capitol.

Note the blur of the road sign... we were on a mission.

We had to turn around, since we knew we’d likely have one-way issues getting back to our designated lunch location, and one of our planned stops:  The Holy Land.

In case you think we’d completely lost our minds and were rushing toward the airport for a trip to Israel, I’m referring to a local establishment that is growing by leaps and bounds… Here’s a link to the Holy Land conglomeration of stores and enterprises.  It was started by a Muslim family in 1987, and has grown from a small grocery store and Halal meat market to st0res, commercial bakery, catering, and restaurants.  Their products (particularly pita, baba ganoush, hummus, and falafel) are available regionally- even in our little burg at home!)  Several former employees at the Holy Land have also branched out to start other local businesses on Central Ave. in North Minneapolis.  R has lived in the area for a long time, and this is a favorite lunch spot for him.

The Holy Land is a great place to go for middle eastern classic ingredients.  They bake all kinds of flatbreads.  I’ve seen Ethiopian breads along with Greek breads, Syrian breads, etc.  They have a counter with at least 8 types of Feta cheese, and as many varieties of olives and other condiments.  The Holy Land is the first store where I’ve seen fresh almonds, in their furry green pods.  The butchery case has chicken and typical beef cuts, but also several things you don’t see in shrink wrapped trays every day:

Do you think Tony Bourdain would like the lamb hearts?

How about some lamb tongues or beef tripe?

Actually, the label on the left says “BEEF STOMACH”.  No sugar coating it here.

I didn’t buy any meat, but I did stock up on breads, olive oil, and Jordan Almonds.  (This is where we got them for our wedding favors two summers ago.)

For lunch, J and I had gyros (J the sandwich, me  the plate with rice), and L had the stuffed grape leaves plate with hummus.  The food was delicious, and I had plenty left over to bring home to share with DH.

After lunch, R took us to two establishments in St. Anthony, MN, which were both fun for the foodie set… we went first to Annona Gourmet, where you can taste olive oils, vinegars, and salts.  They had some lovely infused oils, and several oils from different parts of the world.  I purchased olive oil infused with Persian Lime, which the proprietor assured me is excellent with fish.  I see some salmon in its future. L got some of the Blood Orange infused oil, which we were assured makes great viniagrettes with some of the flavored vinegars.

After some interesting tastings, we then went to Tea Source, which has a store in the same shopping center.  These folks are very knowledgeable about teas and tisanes, and have been in St Paul for 20 years.  I tastes a mango green tea, and a lovely black tea with a subtle taste, but a surprising almond flavored finish.  They do mail order, as does Annona.

Our final stop of the day was at IKEA, on our way home, where we had lots of fun looking through the rooms, trying out office chairs, and playing “spot the real one” in the plant section, among other things.  Then for the drive home, which was as chatty and informative (and opinionated) as the ride up.  J and L dropped me off at home about 12 hours after we left.  We’re already planning for another one of these… September maybe?  Hopefully some of the construction will be completed by then.  And I’ll be sure to make some maps of the St. Paul Farmer’s Market, so we’ll get there.

Raizl is about to have her bat mitzvah.  She’s a fun and funky thirteen year old, and she’s done some odd jobs for us, like watering our plants when we’ve been out of town.  She’s a very polite girl, and she’s starting to come into her own.  When her mother approached me about making a quilt for her bat mitzvah gift, I was slightly overwhelmed, particularly when I found out that Raizl had asked for it specifically.  Not just a quilt, but one made by me.

When C (her mother) and I met to discuss it, we spoke a bit about size and price, and the kind of quilt Raizl would like.  I was pleased that a wallhanging was desired, since that is what I am most comfortable with.  Traditional block-based quilts are not what I am used to making, so I began to relax a bit.  We then went on to discuss color and theme.  C mentioned the color scheme of the other quilt Raizl has (her baby quilt), and how some of the same colors would be incorporated into the invitations to the event, which have a stylized striped prayer shawl on their border.  These were suggestions to me, and as C said, I had free reign to interpret them.  I liked the idea of incorporating symbolic textiles, but I wasn’t sure what direction to take them in.

I spent a month or two mulling these ideas in my head, as I tried to figure out how to match the colors and subject with the girl I know.  I decided I needed to talk to Raizl herself, and take a few pictures, to see what became of it.  Raizl and her parents have two dogs (a dachsund, and a Boston terrier).  She’s also a swimmer (much like my niece, K, who’s of similar age), and she plays the cello.  I took pictures of her swim trophy from this year (Most Improved), her dogs, Raizl with the cello, and with a large fluffy scarf, to see if any of these things would suggest good quilt images.

Raizl's Bobblehead Swim Trophy

 

Raizl with a linen scarf, to suggest ideas

First Tracing of the photo

Tracing enlarged 200% with gridding

My next step is what I learned from Ruth B. McDowell, an amazing quilt artist from Massachusetts, and also an MIT grad, for trivia fans. Not only do I love the way she works, I love that she can explain technical details of piecing clearly in print. 

The next step is to alter the picture to make it pieceable.  I decided that it would be best, given my time constraints, to make this image with straight seam piecing, since they are quicker to put together than curved seams.  I used another layer of tracing paper over the image, and used a ruler to simplify the main lines of the image, and divide the image into sections that are pieceable.  For more details on how this is done, refer to one of Ruth’s books, which can explain it much better than I ever could.

After determining the pieceing lines,  it’s time to make templates.  Using freezer paper shiny side up, I duplicated the lines from the tracing paper onto the freezer paper with a fine tip Sharpie marker.

Creating the Freezer Paper Templates

After tracing the design lines, I labeled the pieces on the rough side of the paper with a pencil. This is also the time to mark any connection points or lines to match pieces together. I labeled the pieces with letters, to represent the features of the picture (one letter for background, one letter for skin, one letter for shirt, one letter for sleeves, one letter for the wood part of the cello, etc.) before cutting the templates apart. I also marked major sections on the original tracing for piecing sections. Then I cut the templates apart.

Next came the most creative part of the process- auditioning the fabrics for each piece, before sewing them together. This is a major reason I love this technique for piecing, besides the fact that you are assured to get an accurately sized top when it’s all together!

Auditioning fabrics before sewing

Auditioning Fabrics, again

 I ironed the template pieces to fabric, and added seam allowance around the template with a small rotary cutter, and then pin the fabric to its position on the original tracing, which I have placed on a piece of foam core.  After I’ve selected fabrics, I look at the piece through my color filters (clear red plexiglass and clear green plexiglass) to make sure the values are correct,  in case I want to make adjustments.  There’s a little waste if I have to recut a piece to get the right colors to come forward or move back visually, but it’s a small amount, considering the size of the pieces, and the advantages of auditioning more than one possibility.

Once I have all the fabrics selected, pieces cut, and pinned to the foamcore,  I start sewing the pieces together.  With straight seams, I can usually leave the freezer paper in place, which adds some stability, and visual cues of what goes together.

Sewing the sections together

After I sew a section, I pin it back on the foamcore, mostly to show the progress, partly to make sure I’m not missing something. Again, this process is easier with straight seam piecing than curved, because the pieces fit together quite easily.    This had eight or nine major sections, with the neck of the cello being the divider down the middle.  Once the sections were together, I sewed the left side to the neck of the cello, and the right side to the neck of the cello, and the top was togther.

Raizl Sewn Together, approximately 18 x 24

At this point, I had very little to trim to square this up.  I could have finished this without borders, which I often do for pictorial quilts, but in this case, I wanted to incorporate a reference to the striped prayer shawl, and have a few more colors that C had mentioned in the piece.  I had pieced together some stripes of different fabrics earlier, before I had decided on using the cello picture, and it worked out well to cut those stripes into sections for a border.

With The Striped Borders

With the borders, the piece is about 22 x 25.

Here are a couple of detail shots of the hands and face to show the piecing. 

Piecing Detail of Hand

Cello Neck Detail