Sew Half Crazy

2/28/2011

Seeing the Light

Heather 2/28/2011 0 Comments

There is light! I see it! I can almost touch it!

What pray tell am I talking about?

This.

My first crocus bloom.

Oh you thought I was talking about this?

I am.

I'm talking about both, and I can really barely contain my excitement, because I can't wait to move onto all of the other projects in the wings. I need to bulk back up my back log of material. :) I also can't wait for my garden to be in bloom. The irises, day lilies, hyacinths crocuses and hot pokers are all coming up!

Have a great day guys. Tomorrow I'm unveiling this beast!

Heather

2/25/2011

My Process

Heather 2/25/2011 0 Comments

Well, I've done it again. I've taken a basic idea and put my own spin on it. This may be what I do best. I got this idea from Sunny Anderson's recipe for Easy Salmon Pie. I want to do this entry a little differently, though, and show y'all my process for tailoring recipes. That's why tonight's entry is LIVE with play-by-play cooking madness. Prepare yourselves for rabbit trails and random thoughts. Here we go!

First I pour about two tablespoons of olive oil into a very large pan and let it get hot and shimmery. I pretty much always eyeball oil, and this is no exception. I also picked a really big pan because I know I want to wilt my spinach in there later. For now it’s meant for mushrooms.

Now that my oil is hot, I pour a whole package (8oz) of sliced, baby Portabellas into the pan and am going to let them get all brown and cooked up. Mmm, Portabellas, the steak of mushrooms...

While that’s going, I’ll to start grating some of my local smoked Gouda. Have I mentioned that smoked Gouda is my favorite? If I haven't, it is. My mushrooms are sizzling away pretty loudly, so I decide to take the heat down a bit. It is all the way on high, after all. While I’m grating here, the mushrooms are letting off the most heavenly aroma. I wonder if Mike is going to say something about that scent. He’s already asked if I’m trying to poison him. Okay, now my grating is done. I always worry when I get down to the end of whatever I’m grating because I usually end up hitting my fingernails against the grater and then I imagine what would happen if I or someone else found a fingernail shaving in their food. Yup, now I’ve made myself worried, so I check all my nails for grater nicks. Just part of my everyday ~~neuroticism~~ whimsical way I see the world differently.

Now comes the part where timing gets me. I have my puff pastry, but I don’t know if it’ll melt or something if I start working with it too soon, so I’ll just tuck it back into the freezer. Everything’s going to cook in the oven, so if the filling gets a little cool now, it won’t really hurt anything.

The mushrooms are done now, so it’s time for the spinach. I’ve just realized I meant to sauté up some onions with the mushrooms but totally forgot. I wonder if I can do them with the spinach, but it won’t be in long enough, so I’ll just use some dehydrated, minced onions. I cheat. Sue me.

Now for the garlic. I have recently come to know the pleasure of ~~whacking garlic cloves into submission~~ working with whole garlic cloves. I’ve usually always used the pre-minced garlic in a jar. Again, sue me. You do have to give them a good smack to get them out of their papery covering though, but I refuse to use a knife. I know I’ll cut some fingers off if I try hitting a knife simply to unwrap garlic. I use a wooden spatula instead.

Whap whap whap!!!

Me: "Oops, I broke it in half."

Mike: "Are you okay?

Me: "It's just garlic. No human or kitchenware casualties."

Mike is part of my process. He usually calls into the kitchen to check on me when things sound like they're starting to get out of hand. I have four cloves in all, two of which are really small, so it counts as one. That’s garlic-math for most of you that aren't acquainted with it. Two more tablespoons or so of olive oil into the pan and out comes the mincer. Some people hate these; I love it. I mentioned cutting myself whacking garlic earlier. Knives and I don’t do well together. Mike doesn’t even like me chopping stuff anymore. I usually end up losing a little blood. That’s why I mince instead of chop when I can.

Now the oil is hot, in goes garlic. Wait a moment or two to let it do its thing...stir it up a little…now the spinach.

A whole bag of baby spinach wilts down pretty fast into nothing, so I keep on flipping it around in the garlicky oil until it’s all wilted and sad looking. Have you noticed this trend? I tend to use odd adjectives for some of my food. Wilted spinach should look sad, pathetic, and darker.

See? Okay, now the puff pastry can come out. Crap. I just read the instructions and I’m supposed to let it thaw on the counter for 40 minutes. Dangit! For someone who likes to read as much as I do, I sure don’t do it a lot when I cook. Mike suggests we have dessert first right. I’m down with that, but we’re not going to eat until, like, 10:00 tonight. Oh well, that’s how it goes sometimes.

***Dessert intermission.***

Okay, four minutes to go on the pastry, so the fish needs to come out.

It was in the freezer up until today, so it’s been running under for the last two hours. It’s cool, it was frozen and is wrapped in plastic under the water. We have mahi tonight!

I was away from my play-by-play for a while because it’s very hard to type and assemble at the same time. I took pictures, though! Now for a pictorial interlude.

Ahhhh, mushrooms. Sorry for the poor quality of these pictures. I took them all with my phone. Trust me, though, these baby Portabellas look amazing and make a great, little bed for my fish.

The Great Tower of Mahi! That's a beautiful site. I know this looks like a lot, but that puff pastry stretches really well. This one is mine because Mike requested no mushrooms.

This one is Mike's. Mine had cheese too, but he gets more since his is mushroom-less, which is a cryin' shame.

And here were my two pies all ready to go. These are really huge too. Definitely two servings in each one.

35 minutes later and out of the 375 degree oven. These look SO good.

See what I mean? How could you not want that? We had a really nice white Muscadine wine with it, which was perfect.

And we're back live with our puff pastry report! I know this stuff cannot be good for me with the amount of butter that's in it, but I really don't care. It is fabulous. Right here, right now, I submit that puff pastry makes everything better! You must try this. SO amazing and delicious. I couldn't have asked for this dish to be better. So that's the process. My mind goes to odd little places sometimes, but that's what makes it fun. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner to finish. Thanks for hanging out with me.

The battle is won!

Heather 2/25/2011 1 Comments

It may be almost 3 am, but we're done with laying the tile! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pass out. It's my morning to get up with Harrison. In about 4 hours. Joy.

I still won. Grout is tomorrow. I'm ecstatic. Can't you tell?

G'night y'all
Heather

2/24/2011

Never enough time...

Heather 2/24/2011 2 Comments

So my tiling project is taking far longer than I anticipated it would, but hopefully tonight we can knock out the remaining wall, and then do all of those cuts. Here's where we are now. :)

After getting my computer fix I will be marking a lot of tiles for cutting to save us some time tonight, but in the mean time I've been up to other things.

I'm starting things....that I may not be able to finish by myself. :) We all know by now that Valspar is giving away free samples, so I, of course, took advantage.

Enter Lyndhurst Mushroom for my hallway/common area.

Ain't she pretty. This color will hopefully encompass the downstairs hallway, go up the stair and then the 2-story foyer. No small job, but at least the color is perfect. :)

Have a great day guys!
Heather

2/23/2011

Dear Slate

Heather 2/23/2011 0 Comments

Dear Slate,
Bite my tile saw butt.
I win.
Sincerely,
Me

Chaos.

Heather 2/23/2011 0 Comments

I have been so good about my posts. I have been at least 2 weeks ahead for the last month. Until now. I mean I do have a post, but its not the post I planned on putting up. The post I planned on putting up may get shelved for a bit. Like 4 days. Well 3 days now.

I'm also disappointed. Disappointed that I am no longer ahead on posts and that none of the projects I'm working on are going very smoothly, hence why I've run out of posts. I was doing things so well. Getting stuff knocked out. Already working on Easter gifts for the boys. I was doing it! Till now. Ugh.

Here's why I titled this post Chaos.

This is after I moved everything from the back counters to the island. I did this because of this:

I was even prepared. Coffee and soda! Go me. Yay for being caffeine conscious.

This should have been straight forward. Who knew that slate wouldn't break easily. It nipped ok, but nipping can only go so far. This was the last picture before we entered hell. There are also only maybe 4 more tiles up as of right from this picture. Outlets suck.

We then cleaned up. Cleaning up what mastic, marble chips and slate pieces were left, and throwing them away.

I am going to go back to Lowe's and rent a tile saw. Take that slate.

PS - Mom, Steve, Thank you.

Heather

2/22/2011

Man Catching Beignets

Heather 2/22/2011 3 Comments

So I'm sure that most of us have seen Disney's The Princess and the Frog and if you haven't well then you're missing out, because I think it is a highly enjoyable movie. I love Prince Naveen's voice and Lottie is by far my favorite character. Well her and Mama Odie. You have to love a 196-year-old blind woman. :) So anyways the point of all this was at the beginning of the movie is a scene with Big Daddy, Lottie and Tiana where the latter was dispensing advice about how to catch a man and it was easily done through their stomach. Lottie then orders 500 man-catching beignets, hence the title of this post. See how that works. ;)

Bet gave me a copy of this month's Southern Living and inside was a recipe for beignets! I so love beignets, which is why I'm so excited to share it! So let's get this motor started.

New Orleans Beignets

Grocery stuff: 1 (1/4 oz) envelope dry yeast

1-1/2 cups warm water (105 - 115 degrees)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup evaorated milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup shortening

6-1/2 to 7 cups flour

Vegetable oil

Sifted powder sugar

Cooking Stuff:

1. Make the yeast mixture: Combine yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, and 1 tsp. granulated sugar in bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer; let stand 5 minutes. Add milk, eggs, salt, and granulated sugar.

2. Form a dough: Microwave remaining 1 cup water until hot (about 115 degrees); stir in shortening until melted. Add to yeast mixture. Beat at low speed, gradually adding 4 cups flour, until smooth. Gradually add remaining 2-1/2 to 3 cups flour, beating until a sticky dough forms. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl; turn to grease top. Cover and chill 4 to 24 hours.

3. Roll and cut: Turn dough out onto a floured surface; roll to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into 2-1/2 inch squares.

4. Fry until golden: Pour oil to depth of 2 to 3 inches into a Dutch oven; heat to 360 degrees. Fry dough in batches, 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on a wire rack. Dust immediately with powdered sugar.

These were good, but a bit bland so I topped them with honey or chocolate sauce. I couldn't decide which was better. :)

2/21/2011

Pier 1 ain't got nothin'

Heather 2/21/2011 3 Comments

Pier 1 ain't got nothing on me! If you guys 'like' my facebook page, then you'll know that I received a Pier 1 catalog a few weeks ago and in it was quite a surprise. Look and see for yourself :)

Do you see what I'm talking about? Oh wait...no you don't because I haven't shown you the funny part yet. Well then here it is!

Doesn't that fabric look awfully familiar? Check the 2nd picture at the top. Yep, its the same fabric! I bought this fabric about a year ago from Hancock Fabrics on clearance! I bought about 6 yards of it. I don't know why, but I did. I know why I bought the fabric, just not so much of it. Ah well. Ancient history now. Anyways, I too am making this oh so pretty fabric into a pillow, but I also have a chocolate suede to pair with it. Oh and red lipped cord for accent. Confused? Don't be. I'm making a simple color block pillow. So with out further ado lets get this motor started!

First you need to figure out what size pillow you want. I'm doing two 20" pillows because that's what the pillows I'm stealing the stuffing out of are, and I'm lazy. 20 is an easy number to accommodate. Secondly we need to figure out how big each 1/4 needs to be, but this is simple. Since I'm breaking my pillow up into four quadrants, and each quadrant needs to have a 1/2" seam allowance simply add 1" to every dimension for the front of the pillow. So instead of four 10" squares, I'm going to have four 11" squares. The back should be cut out so that it's 21" square.

The rest of the basic construction is easy. Sew up two squares on one side. Then sew up the other two squares to each other. Then sew both those pieces together. I wanted my color blocks to be diagonal from each other so I just had to make sure that my squares were arranged correctly when I stitched them up. I found it easier to remember if I kept laying out the pattern and double checking to make sure I had everything correct as I went.

I added the cherry red lipped cord for some added interest. I pinned the cord even with the raw edge of the front of the pillow. For the corners I snipped to the cord and just bent the cord around. I like the corners accented when I add a trim.

I'm going to try and explain how I hid the cut ends of the lipped cord, and hopefully I get it right. :)

Cut your ends so that they overlap each other. You don't need much, but I would say an inch is probably the best so that you have room to work.

Do you see that clear thread? Its mono filament and you need to snip that, because you need to separate the lip from the cord.

Gently unwind the cord from the lip. Try to arrange it so that all of your pieces are facing away from you. I find that this makes it easier to work with. Try not to untwist the cords too much.

I work from right to left, but you could also do this from the left. You will want to anchor the right most cord down so that it overlays the cord next to it.

Then you want to anchor down the 2nd cord from the left. I do all of the anchoring with my fingers and then pin them in place after they are all in place.

Then gently wrap the left most cord around the right cord and anchor them down. This may take some finagling but it can be done. Just watch out for the unraveling. You can see in my picture that one of my cords was desperately trying to unravel.

Pin everything down and secure with as many pins going as many directions as you need.

Then stitch around the lipped cord with your zipper foot. I, personally, start about 3 or 4 inches from the combined edges and then start stitching. I don't want the pins working loose as I rotate the pillow around which is why I do them first.

Here is what your lipped cord should look like after you've stitched the ends down.You almost can't tell that I've done anything to them. :)

Now just finish the pillow as your normally would, but make sure your stitching line follows the stitches from sewing down the lipped cord. You don't want to encase the cord in your seam! Oh and be sure to clip those corners! You don't want bulky corners!