Monday, December 27, 2010

New Projects

Santa Clause (ie, my family...) was very generous to me this year for Christmas. I got kits to make two LARGE quilts. Both are quilts I saw made up and have absolutely LOVED and wanted to make. I will be a very busy the next year! I shouldn't need to buy anything but thread and incidentals!


One is called "ColorSplash" and it is made of Purple and Green Batik's (with a little peach-ey cream) and I saw it hanging at The Black Bear in Inlet, NY (near Old Forge) and ooh-ed and aah-ed over it for a year...then my mom told me that she had bought the kit for the exact quilt that was hanging on the walls, and was going to give it to me for Christmas...so I bought the fabric for the borders and the binding. I will wait until it is finished to spend the money on the 8 yards needed for the backing fabric! It is so beautiful....the one at The Black Bear is so much prettier than this picture!




The other quilt is just like something that my Great Grandmother Thornton would have made...the 1930's style fabrics and the dresden plate in the center--it is so reminiscent of the old, family quilts! I love it! I wanted to take the class at The Ivy Thimble, but it was only offered during a daytime class...and I couldn't take it because of work...darn having to make a living! So, they had one kit left, and my mom bought it for me for Christmas. I am very excited to make it!!! I love the colors and the fun fabrics.




I also got two other small quilting projects, one is a small, circular Christmas table-topper and the other is a neat wall hanging with sheep...I will post pictures as I get things completed....Wish me luck! Plus, my adorable niece, got me a gift certificate! How lucky am I! :-) She even wrote my name on it, and signed her name. So sweet!

Cheesecake Supreme

I have loved cheesecake since I was a pretty young kid. My dad taught me to make it and I have taken that recipe and tweaked it to make it my own over the last couple of years. Every year I make cheesecake for Christmas dessert. I typically serve it with a fresh raspberry drizzle and fresh raspberries as a delicious garnish! This year I tried making a sauce from frozen blueberries to serve with the cheesecake. It was delicious! Try it sometime! I forgot to take a picture of the finished product when plated on a nice platter and a picture of a piece with the blueberry drizzle...which is sad, because it looked fabulous...(almost as good as it tasted)!

Martha's Cheesecake Supreme!                                   

Crust:
     1 cup flour
     1/4 cup granulated sugar
     1 Tablespoon freshly grated orange or lime zest
     1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter
     1 slightly beaten egg yolk
     1/4 tsp. vanilla

     ***Combine first three ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. Add egg yolk and vanilla. Blend thoroughly. Pat 1/3 of dough onto bottom of 9" spring form pan, sides removed. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes. Cool completely. Attach sides, pat remaining dough up the sides of pan, about 1 3/4 " up the sides.

     ***Turn oven Temperature up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a baking dish filled with water in oven. Leave the pan of water in the oven until baking is complete. This will prevent the cheesecake from cracking and will promote even baking.

Filling:
     5 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese (Philadelphia preferred...)
     1/4 teaspoon vanilla
     2 Tablespoons freshly grated orange or lime zest
     1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
     3 Tablespoons flour
     1/4 teaspoon salt
     1 cup (4 or 5 large) eggs
     2 egg yolks
     1/4 heavy whipping cream

     ***Let cream cheese stand until it reaches room temperature. Beat in stand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and zest. Mix next three ingredients in a separate bowl. Gradually add to cream cheese. Add eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating after each just to blend. Gently stir in heavy cream.

     ***Turn into crust-lined pan. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 minutes; reduce heat to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and continue baking for 55 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Best served cold, with fresh berries and/or a berry sauce.

Tic-Tac-Toe Boards

On Friday night I finished making Christmas Gifts....and that is only if you consider it was still Friday until I went to bed. If Saturday begins at midnight, however, I didn't finish them until about 3:30am on Christmas Day. What is important, however, is that they were finished and SIMPLY adorable for Christmas and Scouty and Abe loved them!

I bought a kit at my favorite quilt shop, The Ivy Thimble,
during their annual porch sale. They only cost two dollars,
and the kit included everything you needed for the project
except for the fabric of your choice. When I was getting
ready to go out and get the fabric, I opened up the patern
and really tried to figure out what I needed...upon closer
examination, I discovered that the pattern was making it a
much more complicated project than was needed. I adjusted
the pattern, and went shopping. Patricia's Fabric House in
East Rochester was having a sale--25% off of everything, so
I went there for the fabric this time. It was my first time straying
from "The Thimble"...and I am still feeling a bit guilty about it.
Oh well...I will work through it. :-)

I had loads of fun picking out the fabric with Abe and Scout in mind and they turned out wonderfully! Abe's is a bit more complicated. Because of the bright colors, I didn't want to introduce a fourth fabric. The bold  blue has many bright colors, and the orange seemed like a perfect contrast to the main fabric. The white is where the tic-tac-toe pieces play. What made the board more complicated, was that I needed to incorporate the orange into the playing board, and not just use it as the inner border. So, I had to be careful with  measurments, etc. in order to get those little orange squares to  line up. Scout's was just one fabric on all the sashing of the board, and so it was less complicated, but equally beautiful. I chose contrasting colors for painting the wooden pieces. I also made coordinating draw string bags to hold the game pieces they were super cute. :-) Scout's fabric jump off the shelf at me! The different shades of pink, the butterflies, etc. I knew she would love it! Scout even played a round or two with Grandma (my Mom) on her pretty board. She just loved it.

The original pattern had you cutting out 64-2" squares, so you had four tiny little white squares to make up one white square. That seemed like an awful lot of (unnecessary) cutting and stitching to me...especially for a kids game! In the end, I cut 3.5" squares for the the white pieces and the sashing was cut into strips that corresponded. After piecing the top together, the finsihed size was closer to 20"x20" than the patterns noted 17"x17". I pressed the gridded inerfacing that was included in the kit, and decided I didn't like the batting that was included. Thankfully I had enough of the "warm and natural" batting to make two 20"x20" square innerds to my two tic-tac-toe boards.

If anybody wants my specific measurments for the boards, etc. then just e-mail me and I will get them to you!




Monday, December 20, 2010

Christmas Cards

At work some of the residents at the nursing home have been really into making some homemade Christmas Cards this year. I have taken in a bunch of my stamping supplies and we've played in paper and rubber for a few days...I wish we had more time to do it...but at this time of year, there are so many things going on, it is difficult to find the time to do more cards with them. Last week I took the time to work at home on some of my own Christmas Cards. I've been really into embossing with Gold Glory (Stampin Up!) embossing powder with dark hunter green and deep burgundy papers. I hope you enjoy...these are just a couple I've made.

The Quilting Bug...

My mother has picked up quilting again the last couple of years and since I moved back to NY last year, I had been wanting to do the same. I took a beginner quilting class this past summer and made two of the beginner quilts at the same time. 


The quilt shop I go to the most is The Ivy Thimble in Victor, NY. It is the best area quilt shop! Not only do they have amazing fabric and samples, but the staff is so knowledgeable and helpful! They have wonderful sales and everytime I go there, I feel like I am a friend, not just a customer. 


After taking the Beginners class from Cindy, I signed up with my mom to take a Saturday morning class with Barb. We made a quilt called "Diamonds For Judith". I liked that quilt so much, that I bought Christmas fabric to make a second quilt out of the same pattern. 
                                                       
I had the first one quilted on the long-arm machine 
there at the store, and the Christmas one is there now being quilted.


I also took a Paper Piecing class from Pam where I learned so much! I love the technique, and the wall hanging I made is just beautiful, if I do say so myself! I am excited to make another one with the same pattern in different fabrics! I think it would be really pretty in patriotic colors for Scout for her birthday--since she is a Flag Day baby.

I haven't taken a class lately, but I am hoping to take on over 6 months that begins in January and focuses on applique. I bought a new sewing machine and it is amazing. 


I've also made a few aprons and table runners. I have fabric to make two other quilts and as soon as all of the Christmas gift projects are completed, I will start working on one of those! 

If you've ever admired a pieced quilt and thought it would be neat to make, but didn't think you could, trust me! You can do it. Just go to a good quilt shop and take a class. It is amazing how simple it is once you are taught by a good teacher! Once you can make a simple sampler like the beginner quilt, you can do practically anything. 

Happy quilting!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Raspberry Chocolate Pavlova

I tried this recipe this past summer. It is from the June 2010 "Food Network Magazine". I had never tried one of Nigella Lawson's recipes before, but since trying this one, I've found several of hers that I want to try. It is SUPER easy, and looks so fancy when all is said and done. I made it when Strawberries were at their peak, so I put strawberries on top the first couple of times I made it. Then I have made it with a combination of fresh Blueberries and Raspberries. It is good every time!

Do be sure to spend the money on some good chocolate and cocoa. And if you don't have superfine sugar on hand, don't buy it! Just process a cup plus two teaspoons of regular granulated sugar in a food processor to equal 1 cup of superfine sugar.  See the recipe (and picture...) below.

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova
Active: 35 minutes | Total" 1 hour 35 minutes (plus cooling time) | Serves 8-10 adults
--Nigella Lawson, Food Network Magazine, June 2010

FOR THE MERINGUE
6 Large egg whites
2 Cups superfine sugar
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 Teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
2 Ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

FOR THE TOPPING
2 Cups heavy cream
4 Cups fresh raspberries
1-2 ounces dark chocolate, curled/grated

1. Prepare the Pan: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment. Draw a 9" diameter circle onthe paper with a pencil, tracing a round cake tin that size. (Hint--Flip the paper over, so your meringue doesn't touch the pencil marks--you'll still be able to see the circle.)

2. Make the Meringue: Beat the egg whites with a mixer until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar, one spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny.

3. Add the Chocolate: Sprinkle the cocoa , vinegar, and then the chopped chocolate over the egg whites. Gently fold everything with a rubber spatula until the cocoa is thouroughly mixed in.

4. Shape the Meringue: Secure the parchment to the baking sheet with a dab of meringue to each corner. Mound the meringue onto the parchment within the circle, smoothing the sides and top with a spatula.

5. Bake the Meringue: Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 300 degrees and cook for one to one and a quarter hours. When it's ready, it should look crisp and dry on top, but when you prod the center you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers.

6. Let it Cool: Turn off the oven and open the door slightly; let the chocolate meringue disk cool completely in the oven. When you're ready to serve, invert onto a big flat-bottomed plate and peel off the parchment.

7. Decorate the Pavlova: Whisk the cream till thick but still soft
and pour it on top of the meringue, then scatter the raspberries on 
top. Coarsly grate/curl the chocolate haphazardly over the top so
that you get curls of chocolate rather than rubble, as you don't want
the raspberries' luscious color and form to be obscured. You want
the pavlova to look like a frosted cake.