Better luck next time

I’m going to cut to the chase and say this post might be a bit of a disappointment, since the dish I made wasn’t the greatest. But with changes I think it has promise, so I’m giving it a chance. (Plus, I took photos and didn’t want them to go to waste).

I started a new “diet” last week. I hate using that word even though I suppose that’s what it is. After years of relying on—and doing (mostly) well—on medication for my ulcerative colitis, I stumbled on an old book I purchased when I was first diagnosed about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. SCD is a way of eating targeted specifically for people with inflammatory disorders (UC, Crohns, IBS, celiac, etc.) It’s very similar to a paleo-style diet, except a bit less strict as some legumes are allowed whereas in Paleo they’re not. SCD is basically a grain-free, refined sugar-free, lactose-free lifestyle. The cons: no grains of ANY kind (even couscous and quinoa), no refined sugars (i.e. chocolate, booo!!!), and no lactose. But that still leaves a lot: pretty much all fruits and veggies, meats, seafoods, non- or very low-lactose cheese (which are in abundance, I’ve discovered!). I actually CAN have dairy if I make my own yogurt (because it needs to be fermented for 24 hours) and use that yogurt to make other items like ice cream, cream cheese, etc. I decided that if this diet can reduce my dependence on medication in any way, it's worth a try.

Consequently, I’ve been combing through cookbooks, pinterest boards, and recipe websites to find both basic recipes (how do I make pancakes?????) as well as more interesting meals. Tonight was a combination of Google + what I had in the cupboard. I decided to do a version of this guy since I already had beef, sundried tomatoes, and fresh basil. I nixed the pasta, but did have a homemade sour cream that I was planning on substituting for the cream cheese. I also figured I could use beef broth instead of the wine. Incidentally, I CAN consume dry wines, but just didn’t have any in the house.

I pan-fried the beef, deglazed the pan with the beef broth, brought to a simmer and added the sundried tomatoes, reduced heat and stirred in a good dollop of sour cream and the basil.  I served with a side of kale massaged with olive oil and garlic. And topped with goat cheese, because…well….why not?

 ^ Preparing the kale for its massage............The finished product ^

The verdict? It looked significantly better than it tasted. Unless you think it looks like shit. Then maybe it’s on par. Here is my analysis:

1) the beef I had was really stewing beef….so not the best quality. 2) I thought the beef broth would have been a decent alternative to the wine. Nope. Should have used chicken broth in that case. The beef broth tasted really “fake.” It reminded me of Campbells Beef N’ Barley soup, which is good.....if you’re 12. 3) The sundried tomatoes tasted great on their own, but this particular recipe would have been better with dried sun-dried tomatoes—not those in oil like I used. There was a bit of a flavor fight going on there.

The goat cheese was awesome. I’d eat anything with goat cheese on it.

So there you have it; not my best moment. I will have to post a recipe for the cinnamon-almond pancakes I made this week though. Now that was a success!

teaser...

just a couple snaps to show you all what is in the works,...

... my cousin is having a girl in July! I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get away from my usual blue/green/cream combo and try out this warm and spicy pink/purple/orange pallet. The quilt is a 'disappearing nines' pattern and will be about 3'x4'.... will post more when it's completed!

I hope spring has found you all! It has made its way to south eastern New Brunswick, finally... Now that the winter hibernation is over, I'm itching to get plants in the ground and kitchen cabinets painted and curtains made,... If you find yourselves at loose ends, help from abroad is always welcome ;)

much love,
m.

Wedding Attire

Wow. This post is late. Also, Wow. I haven't been on the blog in a loooong time. Maria, those quilts were beautiful! I'm a sucker for blue. Kim, delicious looking food as usual. Why are you in science again? Because, Chef Extraordinaire would suit you just fine as well. Mara, I love those nails....? HA! The hat is really adorable.

The last sewing I did was all the way back in January. I made Cora a dress for my sister's wedding. Beau got a sweet little matching bow tie. Now that I have started typing this, I don't remember the name of the dress. It was a Sis Boom pattern, I think? If anyone actually cares, I'll find it at that point. I know where it is, I am just too lazy to get it. I had bought this fabric when I was pregnant with Beau. I loved this particular FMF print, so I scooped it up when Denyse Schmidt re-released the line.

The construction of the dress had a steep learning curve. I have never made anything with a liner. The bodice was lined, but the skirt was not. I decided to line both. I also wanted the skirt to have more volume and be way above the knee. Think Shirley Temple style. It baffles me that there aren't more dresses like this on the market for little girls. It is all about current trends, but I'd like to keep Cora little as long as possible. The cummerbund piece was only a detail on the front of the dress. I thought it looked a little odd that way, so I extended it all the way around. I also made ruffled butt bloomers in the same pink accent fabric since the skirt was going to be super short. In the last year, Cora has grown a ton, but hasn't gained any weight. Because of this, I had to add darts in the back to pull the bodice in a bit. I also had the bright idea to use black thread to sew the thing. Basically, I was too lazy to go to the store and buy thread that would blend in. As a result, I have dark contrast stitching, and it looks like shit since I can't sew straight for the life of me. Overall, I love the dress. Cora looked super cute. The bow tie for Beau was one of the easiest things I have ever made. He looked so cute with it. I highly recommend bow ties for any boys in one's life. Freaking adorable.

Alas, I have terrible photos of the creations. Of course, I didn't take any photos at the wedding. I thought the photographer would get one of our whole family, but it didn't happen. So, we're left with crappy iPhotos and one I stole off of facebook that Cora just happened to be in.

Mid construction

Finished project

blurry side view. The waist band didn't line up perfect. Oh well. There was a zipper on the other side that looked terrible. I hate zippers. I will never figure them out.

Seriously. A flowery bow tie to match his sister. So freaking cute.

The closest we got to a family photo. Lee's iPhone taken while I was getting ready. I have to give him props. He got the kids ready all by himself. The only problem was Cora's dress was on backwards. I was impressed it was on at all.

The only full length shot of Cora. Ruffled socks, mary jane's, and a short skirt. She looked so sweet. I really don't think I was being overly biased either. :)

That is all the crafting/sewing I have done in 2013. I really need to start and finish Beau's quilt. I've been getting the sewing itch this week. Maybe I'll have it started by Monday. :) On a side note, we've been enjoying the incredibly nice weather, house hunting, fishing, birds, and all things spring. As most of your know, we lost our dog, Reggie, about a month ago. He was 15 years old and about a day shy of ancient. It really sucked. Pretty much every major event of Lee's life and a good chunk of mine, Reggie was there. Reg was there when Lee turned 16 and in the passenger seat when he took his first solo spin in his Blazer. He was there for Lee's high school graduation. He was there for both of our college graduations, wedding day, birth of both kids, moves to and from Canada, pretty much everything. 80% of our vacations we drove so he could tag along. He used to wait outside with his tennis ball while I took my summer classes in Wyoming. He was one of those dogs. I'd be lying if I said we didn't still choke up when thinking about him. And then Subaru puts commercials like this on during March Madness and Lee and I are bawling our eyes out.


 And with that, I am signing off. Miss you all tons. However, see some of you soon. May 9-12, I'm in Edmonton for some socialization! Just me. No kids. No husband. YES!!

My next craft project

We should all do this. And then probably send the results to regretsy.


I'm partial to the chick tips, myself.

one stitch at a time..

Lovely ladies!

I FINALLY have something to share with you all. 4 years in the making, I have finished a quilt - 2 quilts, actually! Not the quilts I set out to make when I purchased the fabric in Edmonton, but quilts all the same.

I had initially bought the Timber line to make a big quilt for Tyson and myself,...in 2009.

...Then I scaled that back to a 'curling up on the couch' quilt for me,.... in 2011. In 2012, I cut a bunch of the fabric for said quilt, and in 2013, I finally decided that I NEEDED TO FINISH A PROJECT and scaled it down to a baby quilt for a friend and put the darn thing together....

BUT FIRST, a week before I finished that quilt, I managed to assemble another one, for yet another friend (Miranda), who (shocker) is having another baby.  This has been the story of my life lately: Friend gets preggo, Maria plans celebratory quilt! Maria cuts fabric for quilt. Maria becomes indecisive about entire quilt-making process and puts fabric away, Maria decides she hates sewing, Friend delivers happy healthy baby, Maria is over joyed for friend, but sends sleepers/receiving blankets/onesies because quilt unfinished in pile under bed.

This repetitive cycle had to stop. For a myriad of reasons (many of which we should discuss 'in person' with tea), I needed to finish a gift for a friend and her baby.

Nothing motivates me like a hard deadline. And I don't mean a due date. I mean a baby shower. One where you have to show up with a gift or fear intense ridicule from friend and friend's mother/mother-in-law. So I set to work on this:

 

Which became this: 

I was really happy with the outcome and I think Miranda was too.  The fabrics I used were all from my stash and included some of the timber line, some Amy Butler, some Joel Dewberry I think, and some leftovers from table runners and purses that I made a million years ago.  I was stumped when it came time to quilt the thing, and time was running out (at this point, I had 2 days until the shower), so I asked Linnea.  She came to my rescue and suggested the wavy line quilting, and I'm sooooo glad she did. It was perfect! Easy, quick, and complemented the subtle 'nature' theme (birds, leaves, flowers,.. waves!).  The back was just a cream flannel - nothing fancy, but the quilting looked great on it.  I didn't have any fabric that I wanted to use for the binding, so I ended up just using some pretty blue bias tape.

I hand-stitched the binding on during a February blizzard, cats curled up next to me, Downton Abby on the tv, fire in the wood stove, cup of tea on the coffee table. It was sensory heaven.

Which brings me to quilt number 2, the Timber quilt. After finishing Miranda's quilt in record time, I felt like this came together pretty quickly! I wanted this quilt to be random and linear:

And I think it turned out great :)

Again, for convenience and speed, I quilted in random wavy lines and used a cream flannel on the back.  I have a friend in mind for this quilt, but for now, I'm keeping it on display so I can enjoy it for a little longer.

After a challenging Fall, completing these quilts has been so therapeutic for me. It took me a while to get to a place where I wanted to be creative, but having surmounted that obstacle, the reward of crafting has been tremendous. There is a great deal of peace that can come from making something from nothing - the order of measuring and cutting, the visual pleasure of piecing together beautiful textiles, the hum of the sewing machine, the repetitive rhythm of hand-stitching. I'm glad I found my way back to something that makes me so happy.

Much love from the east coast,

maria.

Tomato pesto galette

I've been following a number of beautiful Swedish blogs (via the magic of Google Translate) and one of the lovely blogs, Matgeek, is having a contest to whip up a dish featuring tomatoes (well, that's what I hope it says...Google translate doesn't always get it right...). 

The first thing that came to mind was a tomato galette I had made ages ago, possibly even for a girls' night?  I can't remember. Either way, I really loved the dish and wanted to make it again.

The actual use of tomatoes is really simple, but they really shine in this recipe since they are used whole and I love the way cherry tomatoes explode. Also, some guests from the Netherlands just brought us a a whole whackload of amazing cheeses (they clearly know us very well, it seems), and one of the cheeses was a goat cheese infused with herbs (sorry, no name or identification) that were basically made to be part of this dish.

The actual dish is quite fast to put together, which is absolutely a necessity during these long days of thesis writing. 

Here is the rough recipe:

TOMATO GALETTE

Basil and black pepper cornmeal galette crust

100 g    white flour

50 g      whole wheat flour

50 g      coarse cornmeal

chopped basil

lots of black pepper

salt (amount dependent on the saltiness of your butter)

85 g      chilled butter

50-75 g ice water

Mix your dry ingredients.

Cut butter into dry ingredients until olive-sized.

Drizzle in cold water, bringing dough together until just forms a shaggy ball (I like to keep my butter chunks still intact, so I don't really work the dough much at this point, almost like puff pastry).

Chill for an hour or so.

Tomato pesto filling

Cherry tomatoes (pierced...just in case they explode)

Pesto (I did a basic basil, garlic, parmesan, toasted pine nut, olive oil with a little lemon zest)

Cheese (anything goes...I've done this with sharp cheddar and soft goat cheeses as well)

Cooked crispy Bacon

Roll out the dough into a thin circle-like shape.

Spread bacon along the bottom.

Mix together tomatoes, pesto, cheese.

Pile in the middle of the dough, then wrap the edges up, brush with milk

Bake in oven at 175C until golden brown, serve with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar to add a touch of sweetness.

Enjoy!

xoxox

Elephants on Parade

This project came about through laziness. I began to crochet a baby blanket for my girlfriend in Idaho who is due with her first little one anytime now. I quickly realized it would take me waaaaaay longer than I wanted it to, so began the hunt for a new project. Hats are generally pretty quick (especially for newborns!) so I found this little cutie on Ravelry.

Once I finished the first row of elephants, I decided to finish off with stripes instead of doing the second elephant row in the pattern, a) because the hat was knitting up a bit tight due to my inexperience with fair isle knitting and b) I needed to get this thing DONE!

All in all, it was a quick project, knitting up in fewer than 3 hours....a nice alternative to the never ending baby blanket.  I lined it in fleece, which I also discovered I need a lot more practice doing. But I think it will do the trick to keep a new little head warm and super stylish. :-)

I'm hoping to go visit my friend sometime in early April to help her out with the baby.  I'm also hoping to take Lara along...........updates to follow!