splatgirl creates

Thank You!

2011-12-08T11:52:00.001-06:00

Did you make it to the show? If we met--if you're a reader or a client or a pal who stopped to say hi, I want to say thanks. Thanks for coming out, thanks for introducing yourself, and thanks for your general awesomeness. You all totally, utterly made my weekend. There's just nothing like the in-person experience to make what I do so much more fun.
And if you didn't make it, you're still awesome, but here's what you missed:

(don't you think I should get a prize for vendor with the biggest, craziest riot of color?)

The collective "we" thanks you as well--thanks for supporting local and handmade! In the interest of paying it forward, I've donated 10% of my sales to two awesome Minnesota charities.

Now--on to catching up! I'm hoping to have all pending orders shipped or ready to ship by mid next week, so if you're waiting on something, you should hear from me shortly. And if you're still thinking of something for gifting to self or other but didn't take the plunge at the show, please feel free to contact me. I'd love to work with you on that perfect something!

Ready?

2011-12-02T10:31:00.001-06:00

Let the craft shopping mania begin:

See you there!

From Someplace Deep in a Pile of Fabric...

2011-10-28T08:17:00.000-05:00

Whew. Climbing sewing mountain here. I just sent off a super cute bag to Sew Stylish magazine. It's a super functional and relatively straightforward-to-sew bag that is loaded with cuteness and fabulous details, and I think you're really, really going to like it! The project with full how-to and source guide will appear in the Spring issue. In the mean time, here's a tiny little peek:

In other news, I'll be at Cache at the Casket next weekend, November 4th through 6th. It's our senior year! Come check it out, and be sure and stop by and introduce yourselves--getting to meet y'all is always one of the highlights of the event!

And then I've just got to carry on for another minute about the astounding coolness that is Spoonflower. So. Much. Awesome. I've shown you some of what I've conjured with Spoonflower before, and here's another little bit of indie fabric designer magic put to use:

I got that tiki face fabric earlier in the year, and honestly, for the longest time it had me paralyzed with it's fabulousness. It's one of those prints that was always sitting front and center on my worktable but that I just couldn't manage to find way to use that I felt would do it justice. And then one day the stars aligned and it spoke. Those are the best kinds of days in the studio--when the noise in my head shuts up and things seem to design themselves.

Happy weekend!

Fall, check.

2011-10-07T22:09:00.000-05:00

Friends!
Where oh where has the Summer gone? We've had fun and leisure here at Splatgirl Creates. A little light on the leisure if you're asking me, but I guess that's kind of how life rolls, right?

I'm just checking in to say that if you don't hear from me for another three months, it's because I'm buried under a pile of fabric and leather. I'm excited to report that I'll be a vendor at this years' NoCoast Craft-o-Rama. It's December 2nd and 3rd at Midtown Global Market, and it's a fabulous, fabulous show that I've had on my not to be missed list since it's debut. I'm thrilled to be a part of what is always an amazing collection of artists and craftspeople, and I hope you'll come out and have a look. So put us on your calendar, yo!

Anyway, a brief, pet-intense review events since last we met:

It seems like just a minute ago I was smiling at PupCake and his joy in finding that part of his yard was finally suitable for sunbathing after a long, snowy Winter
And then at both my boys, taking advantage of a lovely, lush Summer afternoon
And thinking about showing off the cool new Greyhound-proof bed I made for the furry one,
which was promptly stolen by She Who Runs Things, aka M-Ah

And then in the blink of an eye, Fall turns up, or a week of 80 degrees masquerading as Fall anyway. Yikes. I'm not done processing tomatoes yet.
What have you been up to, and how has your garden grown this year?

Sucking up Summer

2011-07-12T19:36:00.001-05:00

You guys know about Spoonflower, right? They've been around long enough now that it's hard not to have come into contact with their realm of e-shopping awesomeness, but in case you aren't in on the whole wicked addiction, take my advice and go check it out. But be warned, it's a brothel for fabric whores, and you will not escape without buying something. But it will be so, so worth it. I promise.

A while ago I succumbed to...ahem....several of the gazillion awesome user-generated fabric patterns over at Spoonflower, and those fabrics have been burning a hole in my worktable ever since.

I've been hip-deep in sewing lately, keeping busy with day-to-day orders and trying to get my stock up to date and replenished for an upcoming show. And so I figured it was high time I got to work on doing something with some of that Spoonflower awesomeness.
Behold:

Seriously. Aren't those fabrics JUST. TOO. MUCH? And I must say I'm pretty darn happy with the bags they got made into, too. In fact, that purplely business is my new favorite color of leather, and I may or may not have made two of that particular beauty so that I can keep one for myself.

Anyway. Those are just a tease. I have several other new styles and a whole bunch of new leathers and I'll be premiering them all this Saturday at the Spirit of the Lakes Festival in Mound. Come have a look and a chat and a gawk at the locals (I predict they'll be in the beer tent). The art show is 11-7, with some pretty awesome fireworks to follow if you want to stick around.
And psssssst! There's mini-donuts. Just in case you can't make it another month until the state fair.

Boule'd

2011-03-07T11:47:00.002-06:00

You'll recall a couple of posts back when I told you about the new-ish Tartine Bread book and how much I love the technique tweak of using a cast-iron combo cooker as a baking cloche.
Well, I still love it. I've been doing about a batch a week using the Tartine formula, but I've also started using the combo cooker technique in place of a baking stone with other bread formulas wherever possible, because it just works that well. So we've been eating a lot of boule (a round shape bread, that is) vs. any of the other and less combo cooker-friendly loaf shapes. (So far, I have resisted buying the oval shaped cooker to use for batards, but I suspect it's acquisition is undeniable.)
I usually divide whatever that weeks' variation of the Tartine country loaf recipe happens to be into two or three large boules, but finally last week, a batch of grass-fed beef chili bubbling away on the stove and a batch of the Tartine bread being worked on the counter gave me an ah-ha moment and an idea that I don't know why hadn't occurred to me sooner.
Mini Boules! Perfect for recreating one of our old, back-in-the-day, before-certain-unnamed-casual-dining-restaurants-totally-skankified favorites, chili served in a bread bowl!

The loaves themselves came out so, so perfectly. The Tartine recipe uses one kilo of flour, and I found that makes eight mini-loaves that are just about perfectly sized for an entree soup or chili vessel. I cut a round out of the top center of the crust and then extracted some of the guts of the bread to make more room. If you can restrain yourself from eating these guts smeared with butter right then and there, you could save them for breadcrumbs for something else or just put them on the side with the plated dish. They're not pretty, but they're pretty yummy.

And finally, fill that cute little sucker up with your favorite chili or soup:

Yummy! Especially the last bits of chili-soaked, squishy, crusty bread bowl to tear apart and devour.

These worked perfectly for their intended purpose, but they're also the perfect size for two peoples' worth of bread to go with dinner. As a rule I stash my weekly bake in the freezer and I had taken to quartering a loaf before bagging it so I'd have just the right amount to serve with a meal for two. But a whole little mini-loaf is much more fun, and it survives a quick trip into the oven to re-crisp better than a portion of a larger loaf, too.

I feel a soup party coming on!

Winter Dinner

2011-02-14T11:15:00.002-06:00

Sometimes, when winter gets so boring you think your head might explode, you just need to have a party.

Sadly, taking a picture of the table was as far as I got with the photography thing

It was a lovely evening. Delicious food, delicious wine, amazing friends. We had green salad with spiced candied walnuts, pears and chevre (alas, my plan to do Salade Lyonnaise, the very French frissee salad with lardon and poached egg, was foiled due to not being able to find any frissee this time of year), local duck two ways, a cheese course of Stilton (paired with a delicious port, of course) and molten chocolate cakes for dessert. Comfort food at it's rich, wintery best.

Cook on, friends, cook on.
I'm off to order my garden seeds and dream about Spring while I listen to the snow melt.

Happy Valentines Day!

Another Post About Bread

2011-01-19T14:08:00.003-06:00

You know, I try to keep the cookbook acquisition to a minimum. Partly because most cookbooks these days are lovely to look at but not much more, but also because it's a slippery slope, the cookbook collecting, and I made up my mind a long time ago that I was going to limit myself to one cabinets' worth.
But when it comes to bread baking books, all bets are off. I think most bread baking books fall into the not very good trap just like any other cookbook genre--most are mediocre at best--but there are a few greats out there and every so often another potential great comes under my radar.
And I am helpless.
Especially so if they are sourdough-centric, because as you may know, I am a sourdough baking fanatic, and I'm always interested in a new technique or method.

Enter "Tartine Bread" by Chad Robertson. Tartine is a bakery of esteem in San Francisco, and although I have never been, I understand it to be among the best as far as artisan baking goes.
So I bought the book very shortly after it first came out which, unfortunately, was right before the pre-holiday crazy got going, and thus I haven't really had a chance to dig in.

But then the other day I finally found a minute, so I fed my starter and planned a bake.
Whoohooo!

Technically, it wasn't really "a bake" because it was only two loaves vs. my usual six or eight, but I'm thrilled with how they came out. These are the basic white country boule which is the recipe upon which a lot of the other Tartine bread recipes are based.
Gorgeous and perfect. Perhaps the most gorgeous ever to have come from my indoor oven and with a taste and texture that is everything I love about a well-crafted sourdough.

So the biggest revelation of "Tartine Bread" isn't the recipes and there's not any 100% new ideas or methods, but you will find a rather HUGE improvement on a couple of existing techniques. Rather than use the traditional method of baking on a stone or in a terra cotta bakers cloche, or the new-ish technique of cocooning the loaf in a LeCreuset-type stock pot ala Lahey's No-Knead recipe, Chad advises the use of a cast iron combo cooker, a skillet plus pot, two-pans-in-one kind of thing, as a baking vessel.
Similar to the no-knead wonder, only better. Much, much better.

The proofed loaf gets turned out into the shallow, skillet side of the cooker (so much easier and tidier and burn-free than that deep pot!!) and then covered with the pot side. Both have been preheated, and since the two are made to fit together, it's a fairly tight seal that keeps all of the steam in--the better to spring and rip and make crust with.

And suddenly, I find myself with a cast iron cookware storage problem in my never-gonna-outgrow kitchen. The link above is for the smaller 3 qt. version of the combo cooker, but there's also a 5 qt. which is the one I chose. And because I happened to be at Cabelas the other day (on a date! don't ask) and noticed they sell an OVAL combo cooker, I must have that as well. The better to bake my batards in, you know.
On the bright side, cast iron anything is such a workhorse in my kitchen--especially since the wood-fired oven came into being--that they'll definitely earn their keep, even if I have to build a storage shelf for them in the garage.

Bright Beats the Winter Blues

2011-01-11T15:21:00.005-06:00

How about a little colorful cuteness for a gray winter day?

I do do things in neutrals, really, but on a day like today or a week like this week or a month like this month, I crave the pop and freshness and attitude that bright color provides. I just can't imagine working on anything subdued when it's cold and windy and bleak outside. And just when I need it the most, inspiration arrives in the form of some new, gorgeously colored leathers that I couldn't wait to play with.

Check out these two new cuties, freshly installed in my shop:

Just what the handbag doctor ordered! You may recognize the style as that of my original Flap Bag. I've tweaked just a bit to work in leather and given it a couple of variations. The perfectly handy size and hands-free, cross body styling remains unchanged.
That yellow has made a few appearances before and is one of my perennial favorites, but the purpley-lavender? Hello luscious! I've been waiting for you!

New Year, New Swag

2011-01-04T16:38:00.002-06:00

If you've been paying attention to my Flickr stream or made it to any of my holiday show or boutique events, you've already gotten a sneak peek at these. If not, allow me to introduce another super fun new addition to the Splatgirl Creates accessory lineup:

The Perfect Little Clutch!

I've just listed a few of these, along with a new batch of Embellished Gadget Cases in my Etsy shop, so go have a look! And as always, I'm happy to custom make the perfect something. If you're interested in particular color, fabric or design for any of my items or have an idea for something fabulous, just give me a holler!

Happy 2011!

2011-01-03T16:26:00.002-06:00

I spent a bunch of last week engaged in the arts.
The pastry arts, that is.
Perhaps you already know that I am a croissant and pastry whore, and that homemade croissants aux amande are one of the specialties of the house here at Splatgirl Creates. I know I've carried on before about how a fresh croissant is one of my favorite things, and whined that the only way that ever happens around here is if I make them myself...which I do with regularity, because having a bag of shaped, unbaked croissants in my freezer makes me feel like a total smartypants.
Anyway, my obsession with sourdough baking naturally led me to wanting to take the leap from my always reliable, stand-by croissant recipe to a sourdough one, and I figured the need for a whole bunch of croissants for my annual new years' brunch was the perfect opportunity for a little R&D
I took the plunge with the Tartine bread baking book's version of sourdough croissants. If you' haven't seen this fairly recent addition to the bread-baking book lineup, know that it's gorgeous and useful in equal measure, and that I've had great results with the boule recipe. But sadly, the croissant recipe was a huge disappointment. Like HUGE. And if I didn't have a fairly high level of experience with croissants and laminated doughs and a great recipe for comparison that I know works, I would probably blame myself for the failure. But it's so bad and so wrong, well, I just think it must be wrong.
Good thing I planned ahead for a trial-run.
On the bright side, the not-buttery-enough-to-be-a-croissant-things I ended up with made a pretty decent ham and cheese biscuit, so all was not lost. And also on the bright side, it was all the nudge I needed to convert my stand-by, yeast leavened croissant formula to sourdough...with fabulous results.
Here's the finshed pastry bonanza on my brunch buffet:

Those are the ham and cheddar biscuits on the left, with banana muffins, assorted danish (my first foray into this genre), and the house specialty almond croissants completing the lineup.
When I composed the basket and set it out, I said to Boy "doesn't this look like we are someplace really special?"
and he said "we ARE!"
Gotta love that Boy.
Here's the rest of the spread we and our guests enjoyed on 1-1-11:

Here's to a delicious new year! And as my sourdough pal Jay says, "bake on!"

Note To Self

2010-12-20T13:14:00.001-06:00

Leftover ham bits go ON TOP:

Duh, Mom.

Happy Gadgets!

2010-12-09T16:13:00.004-06:00

Just a quick check-in to show off these fun gadget cases--one of the latest additions to my accessories lineup. They're debuting on Etsy today!

I've sized this design to accommodate everything from an iPhone in a silicone skin to a digital camera to a bundle of cash and your lip gloss for a night out and included a D ring on the back for pairing with one of my mini-wristlets or attaching to your keyring.

Perfectly gift-able! Get them while they're hot--these are all one of a kind!
(I'm also doing a plain version in the leather color of your choice, just give me a hollah)

Totally Not Kosher

2010-11-11T17:15:00.002-06:00

So the other day I took delivery of half of an organic, pasture raised pig. It's not something I've done before, this bulk purchasing of meat, but we have a like-minded neighbor, foodwise, and after a few conversations about the extra effort involved with obtaining what I refer to as non-skank meat where we live, we both decided we should pursue a straight-from-the-farmer approach.
It has been an interesting adventure, and although we've only just eaten a pound of the porky booty, I'm thrilled with the outcome.
One of the bonus points to the whole thing are that I got to communicate directly with the processor and give instructions for how I wanted our side of pork processed. There were MANY questions on their part, most of which I didn't really have a specific answer to, but fortunately the person at the shop was patient and helpful. Anyway, one of those questions was "Do you want the lard?"
YES! Of course!
Well, little did I know that "the lard" straight from the butcher is a whole bunch of unrendered lard. A WHOLE BUNCH.

I know, Fight Club, right?

So after a little googling to get the low down on rendering lard, the big wad of fat and I had a standoff in the kitchen.

And because I was too lazy to go out and buy a big turkey fryer pot, it went into all three of my largish stock pots.

And we were off and rendering.

and rendering

and rendering

Pretty much the entire afternoon later, I have three gallons of freshly rendered organic lard and two quarts of cracklins. Delicious booty that it would be nearly impossible to purchase anywhere.

A totally worthwhile project. Slightly messy, but only because I accidentally let the pot of cracklings boil over which resulted in Lake Pork Fat on my rangetop. Oops.
Anyway, I'm already looking forward to the tamales and the fried chicken and all the other delicious lardy stuff. And I'm wondering what popcorn would be like popped in lard instead of oil?

And in case any of you upper midwesterners are interested, the side of pork came from Good Earth Farms in Miladore, WI. The farmers, Mike and Deb, could not have been easier or more pleasant to deal with. We've received poultry from them already, and are waiting on a side of beef as I type. So far, everything we've eaten has been delicious. I swear you can taste the fresh and happy in their meat.

Now Hear This

2010-10-26T10:55:00.004-05:00

A public service reminder to support your local artisans and craftspeople this gift-giving season!

Check out Splatgirl Creates Handbags and Accessories live and in the flesh (or in the fabric and leather?) this holiday season.
I'm proud to announce my third year at the ever-popular, ever-fabulous Cache at the Casket Art Show, November 19th and 20th:

If you've attended in previous years, you know there's always great music, refreshments, interesting people and covet-able art in a wide variety of genres. It's a great venue and a fun way to spend an afternoon or evening.

In addition to the Cache show, I'm pleased to be a part of another local-to-me artists boutique pop-up shop in Excelsior:

I'm hard at work with my hands on a whole crop of luscious new leathers and suedes and I'll be showing off several brand new designs along with all of your perennial favorites at both venues, so do spread the word and come and check me out, won't you?

Fire, Bread and Soup

2010-10-11T16:32:00.006-05:00

"Hello Fall?"
"This is October 11th calling. We're wondering when you're thinking of showing up"

It's weird, having 75 and 80 degree, windows-and-doors-wide-open weather this time of year. Not that I'm sad about it. But still. Weird. And it's lulling me into believing I've got PLENTY of time to clean up the garden beds and do all those other last-minute outdoor chores which really means I'll probably get screwed and end up doing it in a snowstorm because I've procrastinated for so long. But I've still got peppers and tomatoes and squash growing out there so I'm disinclined to go ripping everything out until it's dead, you know? And did I tell you we're building a shed...? Plenty of time and nice weather left for that, too, right?

So even though it's like 78 today I'm getting my soup on anyway, because it's October and there is only so much soup weather in a year, and because I DO love me some soup.

As I was prepping and tending a couple of batches of bread for a wood-fired oven bake I figured I may as well get a move on getting dinner together while I babysat dough.
Pulled from my fridge and freezer were: butternut squash puree leftover from my squash gnocchi with sage brown butter project from last week, assorted WFO roasted root veg from last weekends' firing, a gallon or so of homemade chicken stock, some mirepoix veg from our CSA share, fresh ginger, and a too-mushy-to-eat-fresh big Zestar! apple.
All this stuff simmered together for a few hours and hit with the immersion blender= deliciousness in the making.

In the mean time, bread was proofed, the WFO was fired, and baking commenced. I've been into the new book "Tartine Bread" the last week or so, and today (and part of yesterday to start the dough) I did a batch of baguette and a batch of the sourdough country boule.

The boule I haven't tried yet. The baguette is sort of eh. The recipe says to portion the dough into two or three pieces, and I did three which turns out to be WAY too big to be anything even close to a baguette unless you're making them like five feet long--which I was not. And the flavor, eh. I'm hoping they'll improve with a little rest time.
The boules are my second go around with this recipe, and if they're anything like the first batch, they'll be fantastic.
I'm still not quite there with the look on either style of loaf, but the practice is delicious :)

So the breads came out and in went a diced up random assortment of stale crusts and ends I had stashed in my freezer tossed with some olive oil, garlic powder and salt and pepper to make croutons for the soup.
After that, a skillet full of pecans for the arugula and sage pesto I was dreaming up as another garnish to brighten everything up.
And voila! Dinner:

Considering it was all mostly an afterthought based on leftovers just thrown together, amazingly good.

Houseplant Takeover

2010-09-16T16:38:00.004-05:00

I've owned several sago palm houseplants over the years. Mostly they just sit around and do absolutely nothing for years on end, being so boring as to either make you forget to water them or decide they are dead and throw them away.
But they're architectural and non-messy, so I like them despite their boringness.

Recently in my world of ownership of two boring sago palms, however, A DEVELOPMENT!

That is a new set of leaves!
Holy crap, and yikes. I'm thrilled one of my pair of palms actually did something, but I'm not sure I'm on board with this whole tripling in size thing. I seem to be having an issue with houseplants bossing me around lately, just ask the 14+ foot bird of paradise and anyone who has paid my living area a visit recently.
Anyway, how weird that these new leaves are completely different than the existing leaves in their appearance. I assume this is due to the conditions here at Modern in MN vs. those of wherever it lived before I was it's momma, but still....very strange, in a prehistoric, Invasion of the Body Snatchers kind of way.

Puttin' Up

2010-09-09T16:17:00.004-05:00

Help.
I'm drowning in garden goodness, although at this point in the season I have to admit "goodness" isn't exactly the right term. Overwhelming is more like it.

Here's a run down of what I've picked, processed and canned just in the last TWO DAYS:
2 pounds of hot peppers
12 pounds of tomatoes
5 pounds of carrots
6 pints of chow chow relish
and 15 pounds of cukes still await, yikes.

The spicy carrots and chow chow relish recipes came from that great book in the photo, a fabulous gift from my fabulous pal Knit-Whit, and just in time for canning crunch time!

Adding this to my totals so far this summer:
60 pounds of tomatoes(!!)
endless pint jars of dill and bread and butter pickles
8 or 10 pints of dill and spicy green beans

I'm running out of room to put all of this stuff, really. Imagine shopping for canned goods for an entire year, all at once, and that would be what I'm dealing with. Or at least that's the hope, but suddenly my generously sized pantry and plentiful cabinet space are not all that.
Technically, most of the tomatoes ended up going into the freezer...faster and easier than canning, but that did mean that I had to go out and buy and then excavate a spot in the garage for a big auxiliary freezer.
Forced garage tidiness, it's a good thing.

So lots and lots of good stuff to eat over the winter, but holy cow I hope I'm done dealing with the tomatoes and cukes. And here's hoping we don't get sick of pickles.

Growing Update

2010-08-13T17:05:00.003-05:00

Garden porn, anyone?

This is just a small sampling of the bounty from my garden....

FROM TODAY

To start with, that's a gallon bag of green beans. I thought they were done for the season and the next minute I look and see they are busting out everywhere. Again.
And six big cukes to go with the dozen that are already waiting for some attention in my fridge. Cucumbers. Look away from them for .05 second and there are ten more huge new ones that just grew.
The tomatoes are a mix of San Marzano, Amish Paste and Italian Heirloom, all intended for "putting up".
I'll tell you all about that adventure later.
The big yellow-ish ones are an eating tomato called Hillbilly Potato Leaf, and they are a beautiful and delicious work of art. Remember that bread from the WFO I showed you a few weeks ago? With some mayo and salt and pepper, those suckers make the best and most gorgeous lunch you will ever eat.

The putting up tomatoes, post the tomato carnage that is peeling and seeding, made for fourteen pounds of tomatoes to hit the freezer.

JUST FROM TODAY.

Tomorrow is just a day away.

Welcome to my life. Processing tomatoes. It's what I do.
And cucumbers.
Anyone need any pickles?

I might be 1/3 of the way through the crop.

So far, the goal I set for this season's gardening adventure, that of being able to put up enough of this stuff to last us through until next summer...not looking like a problem. In fact, if you don't hear from me about gardening, say, anytime in the next five years, you'll know our stash has held out.

Now if you'll pardon me, I have to get back to my food sealer.

Street Food Friday

2010-08-09T17:52:00.003-05:00

So, at long last, the Twin Cities finally get street food! Recently legalized and suddenly a big, awesome thing, justlikethat.

Boy and I took a quick little field trip downtown to check out a couple of the offerings. First, it was Chef Shack. I missed getting my hands on the last of what looked like delicious tamales by half a minute, but we did partake of some pretty awesome grass-fed braised beef tacos, a dose of the much-anticipated Indian spiced mini donuts, and a couple of Arne Palmers:

Everything was delicious, and we had a great time hanging out on the corner and people watching.
It took him quite a while to decipher the menu, but PupCake insisted we chase the tacos and mini donuts with a lobster roll from the guys at Smack Shack who were parked at what they told me is their permanent location on 1st. Av. N by the Fine Line.

It was pretty good and I'd never complain about a whole bunch of lobstah on buttery, toasted bread on a gorgeous Friday afternoon in Minneapolis, but the shrimp po'boy the person in front of us in line ordered looked better...amazing actually. That is going on my must-try list for next time.

I'm looking forward to seeing where the food truck movement takes us! If you want a quick, fool-proof way to find yourself a food truck lunch any day of the week in either downtown, checkout the tcstreetfood feed over on Twitter, or the website a fellow street-food enthusiast has been so kind to have started.

Bread, Cheese...and Tomatoes!

2010-07-27T18:42:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the pause. I've been eating the most perfectly delicious tomatoes from my garden and I sort of went into a tomato trance. Has it already been said that a garden ripe tomato is the most perfect food in the history of the universe? If not, then I'm officially sayin so now, because these babies hit all the flavor notes like nothing else I know. And I'm not even THAT much of a tomato person, really, but yea, they're pretty unbelievable. And fleeting, so eat up, right? Unfortunately I have no idea which of my four or five heirloom varieties I've been so entranced with, only that they're tomato crack.
Anyway
Still obsessing about Paris, and it sure was fun watching the last stage of the Tour de France on Sunday and getting to see "our" apartment and lots of the places we strolled.
One of the obsessions I brought back with me is Eric Kayser Baguette cereales. Depending on who you ask, EK may be the best bread in Paris, a factoid that I cannot confirm but suspect to be true. I sort of haven't been able to shut up about it or get it out of my head, and project #1 since my return has been seeking out a recipe and trying to reproduce it.
Here is my first attempt from Saturday, a bookend WFO bread bake sandwiched in between pizza lunch and a whole lotta pork shoulder:

The round loaves are pain campagne ala Daniel Leader's book Bread Alone, which i have made a few other times, albeit with a less lovely result.
I must say, the baguette cereales, or batard cereales as mine are closer to, is about the best bread I've ever baked, but SO not as good as the real thing. Perhaps due to missing the amazing French butter with big flakes of fleur de sel in it that I cried to leave:

I used a recipe from over at the Fresh Loaf website which is an adaptation of the recipe from Eric Kayser's bread book which is published only in French (and that I am thinking of buying anyway).

Both the original and the adapted recipe call for flours that I really have no way of obtaining, so I just punted and used my stand by King Arthur bread and Bob's Red Mill organic AP. The result is delicious, but needs some more R&D to come closer to the real thing.

Another thing I haven't been able to get out of my head is the amazing French cheeses. I've always thought that this U.S. ridiculousness that is the ban on raw milk cheeses is just that, but now that I've tasted some of the real thing, I'm really pissed off. It's like I never tasted cheese, ANY cheese, until I went to France, and that I'll won't get any truly amazing cheese until I go there again, not that I shall stop looking!

This St. Marcellin made the biggest impression on me. Perhaps it was nothing special by French standards, but as one of my first real raw-milk cheese lovers, I shall never forget it. When I was buying it, the non-French speaking customer next to me was asking the cheese guy (in English) whether she could pack some in her luggage to take home. His reaction was a hilarious blue streak of shouted and gesticulated French, and even with my seriously limited French vocabulary it was pretty clear that he was dissing the stupid American rules, too. On the other hand, more for them, and a good reason for me to go back!

My Bags Are Packed

2010-07-16T20:00:00.004-05:00

Yo!
I'm sorry, I'm a little behind with the heads up on this. I'll be at the Mound Spirit of the Lakes Festival tomorrow, Saturday July 17th, from 11am to 7pm, showing off a whole lotta new, cool stuff!

Here's a peek at just a few of the many great bags I've been crafting up:

Come and check it out, won't you?

The Best Date I've Ever Been On

2010-07-10T09:59:00.001-05:00

So I turn 40 this year.
Yep.
Truth.
My apologies to those of you who who envision me as a 20-something hottie hipster.

To celebrate the milestone, I asked for "princessery' from Boy...and said that I wanted to be surprised. He's not a big planner, you see, so in the interest of princessery, I knew I'd have to give him plenty of heads-up.
Anyway, when I got a call at home one day, Boy asking about my schedule for June, I knew something good must be up.
He aims to please, but as much as I truly wanted to be surprised, when it came right down to it and I was given a set of dates to put on my calendar, I realized there was really no way I could deal with packing for some unknown destination and activity. So at my request the itinerary was revealed a couple of weeks in advance...to much screaming and clapping and jumping up and down by me.

Because what 40 year-old hottie hipster wouldn't want to go to Paris? Excellent, excellent work, Boy. The best surprise EVER!

And can I submit my request now for being taken on a surprise trip for, say, my 42nd birthday?

So I showed you Julia at the Smithsonian the other day. That was our quick little one day warm-up stop on the road to Paris, and for this food and cooking and eating enthusiast, there could not have been a more fitting Paris prelude than a visit to the kitchen of she who introduced us all (Americans, that is) to the idea of food and cooking and eating enthusiasm. Heck, she practically invented the hobby of food.

So Paris...It was the first visit there for both of us and we're already looking forward to going back. It took over my senses like a drug and unlike anywhere else I've ever been. It was amazing and overwhelming, and without a doubt, the best date I have ever been on.

Huge, HUGE props to my most excellent Boy. It was princessery by definition, and I can't imagine a better trip anywhere, ever, or with a better companion.

I have lots more to share, coming soon.
Like croissants.
And wine.
And dairy products.

The Temple of Julia

2010-07-05T12:36:00.002-05:00

Did I ever tell you I have every episode of "The French Chef" on DVD? Way before the blog and the books and the movie, I was a Julia Child fan. I cried when I read that she died.
Some of my earliest memories are of the early days of Julia cooking on her PBS show and of my mother and the whisk Julia brought into her life, conjuring up some "exotic", "new" dish Julia must have shown her. All of which is kind of interesting since I'm pretty sure we didn't have a TV when I was a kid.

Did you ever see the Chicken Cacciatore episode? I remember seeing and smelling that bubbling away in pan in my mothers kitchen. Or maybe it was the Coq au Vin.

Anyway.

Me and Julia, we go way back. And after waiting and wishing for years, I finally got to go see THE kitchen at the Smithsonian. Julia's kitchen. It was something I had been wanting to do forever, and the fabulous Boy surprised me with the trip as a pre-trip to a week in Paris. I though I was going to blow a gasket when he told me and I completely flipped out and screamed and cried and clapped and jumped up and down, and I wasn't sure what to be most excited about!

Needless to say, we had a fabulous time in both places and came home exhausted and happy and with lots of new ideas, inspiration, great swag and a few extra pounds.

Hello treadmill.

Anyway, here was one of my favorite items from the Smithsonian exhibit. "Ecole des Trois Gourmandes" is the name Julia and her pals made up for their cooking school in France. As I understand it from reading her memoir, the name and the patch were kind of a joke, but it persisted and you can see Julia wearing hers-presumably this one- in the early episodes of "The French Chef"

Because I am a geek and a lab glass addict, I also loved that Julia had a collection of her own:

and a little piece of Minnesota to hold her tools:

and an undercounter ice maker:

As a cook, I've always been fascinated by how much I can learn about someone by looking into their kitchen, and that Julia did many of her shows from this very kitchen was always one of the reasons I enjoyed watching. I loved it most because it's a relic of her real life, but getting to see it as the set that appeared on all those shows was fun, too. Getting this up close and personal look at her space and her stuff, the place where the magic of Julia came to life, was a real treat. She was a real gem, that Julia.

Thanks Boy! We had a great trip, eh?
More to come about the Paris leg. It was a dream!

Happy Independence Day!

2010-07-04T08:55:00.001-05:00

I know, theirs isn't for 10 more days, but did I tell you I was going to Paris? I was, and I did, and it was fabulous! It was my first time there and my first real vacation in a really long time. I'll tell you more about it and show you all my delicious swag later, but for now I have some of my photos up on Flickr here.
We made a quick pre-stop in DC to visit Julia's kitchen at the Smithsonian which I had been wanting to do forever. It was awesome, but what turned out to be my favorite part of that leg was seeing the original star spangled banner, circa 1814. It's pretty incredible to see and has an even more incredible history, and you can get a peek of the exhibition here. Go take a look. No better day than today!

I had forgotten how much work it is to go on vacation. Whew. I need a vacation.

My garden is going nuts! I have an insane number of tomato plants and they're all looking good. So far the not cute but functional fence is doing it's thing, but the deer are creepy tame around here this year so you never know. They actually walk TOWARD us instead of running away. I'll try and do a full review soon, but here's where we're at two months in:

Happy fourth!

Deer-1, Splatgirl-0

2010-05-10T12:06:00.003-05:00

In gardening news, chalk one up for the deer.
I guess I should be thankful I've been served fair warning that I need to get a fence up now rather than having had an entire garden dined upon later in the season, but still, argh.

So much for the wishful thinking that putting the garden beds close-ish to the house would discourage the wildlife from feasting.

Those bare stems used to be some lush little strawberry plants. Why they were selected for snacking over the smaller ones I've no idea, but convenient that the diners were kind enough to leave their stamp--er, footprint--on things so I know not to blame the dog, isn't it? Not that PupCake is an innocent in this game...he's sampled his share of plants this spring, too, but he seems to favor potted or to-be-potted annuals over fruits and veg and I think I have him convinced that bad things happen to doggies who romp in garden beds.
Ironically, the unharmed plants are those that I endured a rainy Fridays' worth of insanity for at the Friends School plant sale at the Fairgrounds last week.
(note to self: I don't need anything that bad, ever.)

Anyway.

My neighbor seems to have fence-less garden good luck with Irish Spring soap shavings, so I guess I'll have to make a run for some of that and cross my fingers until I get another free weekend for the fence project.

I've Been Published!

2010-04-27T11:21:00.005-05:00

Yikes, Spring. It seems like I got zero warning before life reverted back to the overscheduled insanity that is the warm weather months.
Good news: the garden situation is now top notch! Huge thanks to my garden angel Linda for the lend of a super nice tiller, a boat load of composted horse manure from her farm, and some very sage gardening advice. Also for the "Egyptian onions", which, after a quick peek at the internets, are aka "walking onions". A perennial onion, who knew? More on that later for sure.

Anyway, one of the exciting events that you may have gotten a sneak peek about if you follow me on Twitter or Flickr is my authorial debut:

Needless to say, I'm ridiculously excited about this. My first published piece! What you see above is by moi... I'm a contributor in this seasons' Taunton's Sew Stylish magazine! On news stands now, it's the Spring 2010 issue and it's absolutely LOADED with fantastic projects and tips to add to your sewing repertoire. Do go pick up a copy, won't you?

There Has Been Gardening

2010-04-11T18:27:00.003-05:00

Or pre-gardening. The hot, sweaty, dirty hard work part of the gardening deal, that is.

....wait...
That's ALL the parts of the gardening deal, isn't it?
Somehow I always manage to forget that.

We tilled. Or rather the Boy part of we tilled.
We hauled and cut and bolted.
We dug. Or mostly, the Boy part of we dug.
We cursed. Our hard, heavy clay soil, yikes.

That Boy, he is SUCH a trooper. This is probably weekend #674 that I have roped him into hard labor for one of MY projects, and he has never complained or gotten cranky or impatient. It's one of the 674,000 reasons why I adore him.

Anyway, voila! We have garden beds!

That weekends' worth of effort is six 4'x 6' semi-raised beds. I think the worst part is done, but I'm sure I'm kidding myself, because there is a LOT more digging and soil prep left to do. I'm guessing at least a couple of loads of compost and some other stinky good stuff plus lots more tossing and turning and churning and I should be all set to start feeding the wildlife.
Because what you don't see is the fence part of the show, and that's because I'm still on the fence about the fence. What to use for posts? I wanted big, 3" diameter bamboo poles but they are proving a pain in the butt and expensive to get here so I might have to settle for plain old wood posts. And do I need to dig the fencing material down into the dirt a ways to keep out the little critters? Is 4' tall enough to keep the deer out?
Do I really have to dig more holes? It seems like the defining event of summers around here ever since we arrived has been digging holes in dirt that doesn't want to be dug. Ugh.

Yogurt Baby Report Card

2010-04-02T09:41:00.003-05:00

Last time I spoke of and showed you the towel-swaddled lump that was my first batch of homemade yogurt, and I figured I had better get back here with a follow-up to that project so you didn't think I was overtaken by rampant lactobacillus or something.

While Y.B. was incubating in the heating pad and towel swaddling, I was experimenting with my oven on proof setting as a possible alternative environment since my heating pad wouldn't work on low like I wanted it to. On my oven at least, all pushing the "proof" button really does is turn on the light (meaning every oven technically has some version of a "proof" setting), and that turns out to be just about exactly right for yogurt incubation. Ideal is 90-110F, and mine was running right around 100F, so I ended up abandoning the heating pad and putting the jars in the oven instead. SO much easier than trying to regulate the temperature with my flaky heating pad and a bunch of towels.

Whew. Anyway, it totally worked!! Delicious, yummy homemade yogurt!

That's my typical breakfast, with a very exciting dose of freshly made olive oil/apricot/coconut granola--another one of my homemade obsession foods.

I have to be honest and say that the whole reason I wanted to start doing this whole yogurt making thing is laziness, not quality or taste or anything fun like that. It was just getting to be too much work to track down organic yogurt from a non-corporately owned label every time I needed to get a re-up (I eat plain yogurt almost every day). So it's not that homemade is necessarily any better or different than what you can buy--although it is free from stabilizers and other weirdness that some brands use. It is MUCH less expensive, however. I just checked now and I was paying $4.69 for a quart of Stonyfield (corporately owned) plain organic yogurt vs. $3.99 for a half gallon of organic 1% milk from a co-op dairy label. So that means homemade yogurt works out to be $2 a quart, or less than half the price of prepackaged. Yowza. That's a pretty decent savings for 10 minutes of effort and a an overnights' worth of lightbulb use.

If you want to try this, there are lots of methods and recipes online. There's just four very basic steps and no special equipment is required other than a thermometer.

heating the milk to 185F
cooling the milk to 110F
innoculating the milk with a spoonful of yogurt
incubating

It needs to incubate for several hours or overnight, but the actual prep time is just a few minutes. I used the double boiler method for heating the milk but next time I don't think I'll bother. And as I said, I eat plain yogurt so I left mine as is. If you want to add sweetener or fruit or something you can do that either before or after incubation. I said there's not much difference between homemade and storebought plain, but I can imagine adding homemade preserves or fresh or frozen fruit would be a huge improvement in taste vs. the flavored/sweetened supermarket varieties.

BuhBye Corps

2010-03-30T14:42:00.002-05:00

So one of my goals for this year is to get off corporate food. Like ENTIRELY. Actually, my goal is to get off everything corporate.
I know. I've sort of lost it, right?
I am just SO OVER IT, this greedy big business capitalism thing. It's started to stink, and I can't ignore it any more.

Anyway, I'm focusing mainly on food because it's doable and lots more practical and immediate than, say, not buying gas or electricity or that kind of thing.
And in pursuit of this goal, I've had to find alternatives to the major label organic canned and dairy foods I have been used to buying. We eat little to no processed food which definitely makes things easier, but still. I shall not name names, here, but did you know that by far MOST of the most popular organic brands are owned by just a few corporate food giants? Now I'm not sure how that sits with you and I'll spare you my rant about the many reasons why I find it objectionable. Let's just say that what it really boils down to for me, I think, is that I have a problem with with the intentions of these companies.

So my problem has become finding smaller, non-corporate label organics to replace the things I use regularly like canned tomato products, yogurt, canned beans and the like. They're out there but in my case, harder to get by being farther away which, realistically for my life, is not something I want to commit to chasing down every week. Plus there's less to choose from as far as varieties in these brands.

My solution to this, ironically, has been to decide to make even more work for myself, and all of this also happens to coincide with me deciding that this is the year I need to get on the vegetable gardening bus, like for real. So I have a grand and abundant garden plotted and in the works, the plan being to grow and can/freeze enough of the staple items to last a year.

In my head, that is.
And have I mentioned I've never canned anything before much less had the opportunity to vegetable garden on a non-space restricted scale?

bwaaaaahhhhhaaaa

Here's the extent of "the garden" so far:

and a first foray into the great outdoors, making good use of my new (at long last) patio furniture:

Turns out seeds do work as advertised, and if I can keep them away from the punkass M-Ah muncher long enough to get them established outside, I'll be cheering, because there have already been a few casualities. What is it with cats and grassy young plants?

Incidentally, the facts above about corporate food also apply to seeds which is exponentially more scary. If you're a gardener, take a chance to read up on it and choose your suppliers accordingly.

Here's how I've solved the yogurt procurement dilemma:

I'm calling that my yogurt baby. It's my first. I hope it grows up to be healthy.

Bring on Spring!

2010-03-03T11:09:00.003-06:00

PupCake has had spring fever for about a month. I think it was the first morning we went out to potty and heard birds singing that set him off, and ever since he has wanted to do nothing but frolic and sniff and rub his face in the snow. Huge change from my usual sad winter dog who is ALL business about doing his business and then practically drags me back into the house all shivery-like.
My own personal little Punxsutawney PupCake. And yea, I did have to google the spelling of Punxsutawney just then.
He is SO ready for a little of this:

Bring on Spring!
What have you got cooking, on the stove or otherwise, for the warm season?

Do you have your CSA share all lined up? If you need help finding or choosing a farm in your area-anywhere in the U.S.-, check out localharvest.org. That delicious weekly box of fresh veggies will be the best thing about your whole summer, I promise!

My outdoor to-do list is already a little out of control. At the moment I'm OD-ing on vegetable garden planning and feeling a little panicky, as this shall be my first official year at that sport in this place, and really, I've only ever grown the basics before anyway. Intimidated and overwhelmed is probably a better description, and being that we are a wild critter-rich environment here at Modern in MN, I have to plant a fence first which complicates the whole deal. I think I've narrowed down my choice to bamboo uprights and a top rail with some kind of wire infill so as not to block the light. Should be interesting.
So my gardening goal, in addition to having week-to-week fresh stuff for the table, is to grow enough of the staple items (and then process and can them, yikes.) to get us through the winter. Mostly we're talking tomatoes and salsa ingredients and fall storage stuff like onions, potatoes and squash plus dry beans and several sorts of pickled things. Because I've never met a pickled veg I didn't love.
Again--this should be interesting, and if you don't hear from me for a while you'll know why, right?

Incidentally, did you read the fascinating article in the Times about aquaponics? I am SO putting that on my future to-be-explored list.

Anyway, in between working and weeding and cooking, I'd also like to get a wee shed designed and built out back. Something quaint yet modern that ties into the fenced garden area and has that enticing destination feel about it. And an outdoor fireplace. And a seating area. And lots of flowers.

Whew.
It's going to be a busy season.

Doh!

2010-02-16T09:40:00.002-06:00

or more specifically, sourDoh!
oops.
Anyone need some sourdough starter?

Heelllllooo! Long time no see!
I promise, I have not forgotten about my promise to bring you a super fun giveaway, but I'll need another minute on that.
Meanwhile, head over to Modern in MN to see what's been keeping me busy!

Got Uniform?

2010-01-20T13:37:00.003-06:00

Kicking off the craftiness for 2010!

One of the first projects to roll out of my studio this year was for my most awesome pal Knit-Whit. She commissioned a bag as a birthday gift for her mom, with the idea to recycle some of the military uniform cast-offs she had gotten from her brother. Needless to say, I got excited about this great idea rightawayquick because Bro in question is currently serving in Afghanistan and it seemed like an absolutely perfect way for their mom to be able to keep a piece of him close at um...hand.
Anyway, HUGE props to my crafty pal for the great idea!

Here's the finished object, one of my much-adored Flap Bags:

Right from the get go, I knew I had to figure out a way to incorporate the name patch, and that ended up front and center with a D ring for a little bit of flair. Along with a repurposed button placket and a couple of super cute fabrics chosen by Knit-Whit to coordinate with the mil-spec camo, the end result is the perfect mix of tough and girly.
And the back:

That's a pocket taken straight from the pants leg, because something with as genius a design as a military uniform cargo pocket just doesn't need any help. And in this case, it's an added bonus because it almost doubles the capacity of the bag.

I understand it was well received by Mom, and it was so much fun to create that I just couldn't stop!
Here's what happened next:

Another one of my most popular styles, the wristlet clutch.

And the pair, almost too cool to give up!

Happy Crafting in 2010 and stay tuned, because I'll be announcing my first give-away of the year soon. Can you guess what it might be? It's GOOOD, I promise!

Eighteen Days Late, but still...

2010-01-18T12:42:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year!
Whew! We kicked things off here at Splatgirl Creates with our annual New Year's Day brunch, and I think I'm still recovering!

Above is one of the many versions of my usual spread and below one of my new-ish favorite additions to any party buffet, the DIY waffle bar complete with strawberry compote and fresh whipped organic cream:

Because when doesn't a waffle hit the spot?

Cheers to every day being as lovely as 01/01/2010!

Pizza Craving

2009-12-26T15:22:00.002-06:00

Normal folks would just call number on the magnet stuck to their refrigerator and wait for their pepperoni and pineapple to show up on the doorstep. Here at Casa Splatgirl, that's not quite how we roll.

Somehow, in my world, it's become completely logical that the step that follows deciding we must have pizza is busting out the snowblower and blazing a trail across the patio to the WFO:

ahhhh.
My hero.
Whether it's for love of Girl or pizza I don't know, but I guess I'll keep him either way :)

Wallet-y

2009-12-16T17:16:00.002-06:00

I've been promising this for AGES, and I've been working on it here and there for just as long but sometimes the simplest-seeming things can be the most complex. When it comes to the underappreciated yet used by everyone accessory the wallet, simple yet complex is definitely true. Anyway, after a whole lot of messing around and more do-overs than I can remember, I've finally arrived at what I think are a couple of awesome mens wallet designs.

First, the flip out. This style can be sort of hard to find, and since it happens to be Boy's favorite, I figured I had better figure out how to keep him supplied, you know?

This version is lined in one of the awesome "Germania" fabrics from Jay McCarroll:

same style, less bright:

Then, a standard bi-fold style with velcro closure:

still loving the robot fabrics!
And because I can't go a day without making something with an inset, robotic goodness+ bling:

All four are in the shop now!

I've Got Baggage!

2009-12-14T17:30:00.003-06:00

Whew. I think I've finally gotten caught up for a minute with the crazy holiday to-do list.

I have to give you guys a huge round of applause and BIG, BIG thank you for making this my absolute best season ever...and it's not too late for you last minute shoppers, because I've just added SEVEN new bags to my Etsy shop!

Do go check them out, won't you? And if you're looking for something special, be it small or large, I've got lots of other stuff in stock and I'd be happy to help you pick the perfect gift.

I wish I could show you all of the cool stuff that's left here in the past few weeks, but I've been so crazed that lots of things aren't ever making it to the photo department these days. I think I need an assistant, and let's not even get started with the cooking and baking photo ops, because I have been even worse on that front.

Anyway, I do have evidence of a few cool things that have come out of my studio recently...
Just packed up for shipping to a local client, a custom-designed orange Buckles Bucket:

and another fabulous incarnation of the "Volumes" fabric:

This is one of my most favorite wee bags of the season, and it went to a fellow artist at the Cache at the Casket show before it even had a chance at it's photo-op (alas, the sad photo):

In that same inset-obsessed genre, something you want to lick:

And more greenery:

See, I said it was WHEW, and that's just the tip of the iceberg!

Hope everyone is enjoying the season, crazy as it may be!

Black Friday Fallout

2009-12-08T14:41:00.002-06:00

Announcing the arrival of some totally awesome treasure:

Laugh at me if you must, but I have been pining away for an obnoxious pair of cowgirl boots for YEARS. I oogle them online constantly (darn you zappos), but the ones I like are always crazy expensive and being just a cowgirl poseur myself, I could never really justify buying a ~$500 pair of boots. But then it was black Friday and I was sitting around being lazy and some random twitter comment gave me the shoe shopping bug. So I was over at 6pm.com (they're the sale zappos site if you didn't know) where I might possibly have been buying other shoes, too, when I saw these very expensive boots on sale for like 75% off and the deal was done. And after having to return the first pair I got because it was damaged (props to 6pm for having the same great customer service you know and love from zappos) and then waiting and hoping the LAST PAIR of my size would be ok, they arrived, and they are in fact, ok. AND I LOVE them. And they fit, which I was super skeptical about being that I have some wideass cavegirl feet.
Obnoxious boots, HURRAY!

p.s. cowgirl boot soles are slippery! anyone know what I do about this?

Monkey Bread

2009-11-23T15:43:00.002-06:00

Do you know it? I've been craving it like crazy, and you'd think, given my slightly obsessive addiction to all things carmel-y and gooey and doughy and all, that I would be fluent in the language of monkey bread. But for whatever reason I have NEVER made it myself. Unbelievable, I know.

Anyway, I had to go on a hunt for a recipe which included wading through many, many imposters, the most offensive of which are made from canned biscuit dough.
Gasp. I know. Like a swear word...right?
And my grandmother used to make it using frozen bread dough (sorry, swearing again) which, obviously, I just could not abide, particularly given my recent obsession with all things bread baking.
So I ended up sort of punting and chose the all purpose sweet dough recipe from Mary Ann Esposito's book "What You Knead" , a sauce borrowed from Alton Brown's recipe, and the trick of dipping the dough blobs in water (instead of butter, which IIRC is what my grandmother used to do) stolen from the King Arthur website before rolling in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar and tucking into the tube pan I had to buy just for the occasion.
Because even with the insane amount of kitchen real estate devoted to baking at my house, I have not been in possession of a tube pan since sometime back in the 80's when my first one met with an unfortunate event and I never bothered to replace it.

Ah, the unfortunate events of the 80's. I know at least some of you will understand.

Anyway

It turned out beautifully, at least looks-wise. And the caramel/cinnamon/sugar component part was delicious, but I think I'll try another dough recipe next time. I was anticipating something that baked up fairly toothsome and chewy like regular bread dough, while the recipe I used produced a very tender almost cake-like dough. Delicious enough and surely right proper for a sweet dough, but not exactly what I had in mind based on my childhood memory. Still, it was pretty great, because as I've said, in my world it's hard to go wrong with any form of sugar and cinnamon and dough.

BTW, did you know that monkey bread has a savory version, too? I saw several recipes that called for herbs and cheese, and I think that sounds like something I need to try asap!

Crazy Sewing Girl, Checking In

2009-11-09T21:25:00.003-06:00

I'm a bit late with and because of this:

Here's link to the Casket Arts website if you need directions

I'm pleased to be a part of Cache at the Casket again this year, and I have TONS of new, super cute stuff that I can't wait to show you! Come see me this weekend, won't you? I think I'll be in the 2nd floor common area again, just like last year. Just look for the crazy bright stuff :)

Another Bread Baking Post

2009-10-12T21:14:00.003-05:00

I finally got around to getting to the bookstore, where I haven't been pretty much ever since I started the whole Paperbackswap.com thing (which I still am completely loving, and if you say splatgirl when you register, I'll get a credit!). But I was jonesing for the new Peter Reinhart Whole Grain Breads cookbook, and the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book, which I am perhaps the last person on earth to get, so I had to bite the bullet and fork over the...um...dough.
Ahem.
Turns out the Artisan Bread in 5 book is really not worth it for me, as there's nothing particularly special about it once you get the whole make dough in bulk and give it a long retard in the fridge thing. But the Peter Reinhart book is great, complete with all of the obsessive but very useful detail and technique I was familar with from my first P.R. book, Bread Bakers Apprentice. And so I set right out to make something from it.
I chose the 100% rye bread recipe to start with because rye is Boy's favorite and he was so patient and polite about my fruit and nut bread experiments despite being not so much with the fruit and nut breads.
Anyway, I think it came out pretty darn awesome.

These loaves were dense and flavorful and the PERFECT vehicle for a little reuben dip action. Or a meals' worth of reuben dip action, actually. Sliced thin and toasted just a bit, it was like what you wish those stale little square cocktail rye breads would be but never are. It was cocktail rye done fabulously, deliciously right, and was amazing just toasted and slathered with butter and for a ham and cheese, too. Next time, I'm going to make sure to have some lox and cream cheese in the house, because that would have been even better.
Bake on, friends, bake on!

Happy Meat

2009-10-05T10:37:00.004-05:00

So it's Monday and I think I'm just the tiniest bit crabby because it's been raining for like a week straight which is keeping me from getting the stuff done outside that I'm feeling anxious about, what with it being fall in Minnesota and all. Because we feel something is urgent when it gets to be this time of year here, don't we?
So with that in mind you'll forgive me when I start rant about food, right? But more importantly, you'll listen, because this applies to YOU. To me. To everyone.

First, let's start off with something happy. Happy meat! Steaks from the cow who wandered around and lived it's life at the farm next door, butchered in the town next door to that and sold at the same place it was raised. It doesn't get any better, and I can't wait to grill these up:

So then, did you happen to see this article in the NYT? It's about the disgusting practices of industrial-scale slaughterhouses and commercial beef processors that led to a St. Cloud woman's permanent disability due to e. coli infection, and it will make you want to barf and it will make you angry. But it's important and enlightening, so go read it, I beg you.

So it's good, and DISGUSTING, to know exactly what goes into those "meat" products you buy at the store. And the players in this game can and do stand around pointing fingers at each other and fighting about who's responsibility testing for e. coli contamination should be, but THAT IS ONLY PART OF THE PROBLEM. What I think the article misses is the fact that industrial agricultural practices, namely feed-lot "finishing"of beef cattle, are what gave us pathogenic e. coli in the first place, and if we'd quit doing that and quit eating that, we'd have a lot less to worry about. Likewise anything that's been slaughtered and processed on an industrial scale. IT NEEDS TO STOP, and the only way I can see that it might, like ever, is if we stop it.

So MY point here is this: lets redouble our efforts to get off industrially raised and processed meat, eh? I know, it's more expensive to buy pasture raised, non-industrually produced meats and it probably takes more effort to get them, but it has an impact that goes way beyond being safer and healthier and I think it's the single most important thing you can do with your own personal part of the food chain and your food dollars...right after getting hooked up with CSA or local farmers markets for your produce.

I've been doing fairly OK with the happy-meat-only goal I set for myself a few years ago. Not 100%, but probably 80% of the meat I buy these days is pasture raised, organic and most often local. What's harder is the eating, because it's harder to control for that when you're eating out and I'm not the kind of girl who would ever say no to a nice hunk of slow-smoked prime rib or pork shoulder at a BBQ with friends, even if it did come from Sams Club and an animal that stood around in a crowded poop swamp for months eating antibiotic-laced GMO corn. So while I've never been a big restaurant steak or burger eater anyway, there's always those times that I just have to give myself a break. And then I might just try and find a way to start a conversation about the provenance of meat, because I'm an annoying bitch that way.

So, how about setting a happy meat goal for yourself and your family? For me, yes, it does cost more and take a bit more of my time, but the result of those facts at my house is that we eat less meat, which is a GOOD thing, even if it does take a bit of getting used to and a change in thinking. It's totally do-able, people! If you need a place to start, check out the Local Harvest website or these local sustainable farming resources.

Splatgirl vs. Ciabatta Bread, Round 1

2009-09-17T15:42:00.003-05:00

Now that I've got my wood-fired oven up and running and have started to get a handle on the whole pizza making thing, I'm working on dipping a toe into bread baking. Being a "bread baker" is something I've always aspired to do but never really fully embraced mostly because I've had limited success with so many of my previous attempts. This time, however, I think I'm well and truly committed and willing to work through whatever failures I encounter just because playing with fire and smoke and hot bricks is so darn fun and it's a way to make the most of a nice hot oven in the aftermath of a pizza cooking event. And because what I really love are those crusty artisan breads and a WFO is absolutely perfect for that type of baking.

I decided I'd start with trying to master my most favorite kinds of breads, and toward that end I've been cultivating a wild-yeast sourdough starter. As those of you who are bread bakers know, starting a sourdough culture from scratch takes time and patience. I've tried before and failed, but this time it actually seems to be working which is just the kind of early encouragement I needed! I've only just barely gotten it to a point where it's ready for an actual attempt at sourdough bread (tomorrow, with full report to follow) but while waiting around for my little yeasties to grow and thrive and sour, I've been reading and researching like crazy, trying to really understand all the howto's and whatfors of bread baking instead of just blindly following recipes as I've tended to do in the past.
Anyway, in the course of that adventure I came across a recipe for ciabatta that sounded so foolproof and simple that I knew I just HAD to try it. Because really, it's my favorite bread for just about anything and to say that my previous attempts at home-making ciabatta were limited succeses would be drastically overstating things. In fact, those loaves have been some of my most miserable failures. But as of today, my ciabatta world has shifted, and I'm exceedingly proud and happy to report ciabatta success!

The recipe comes from The Fresh Loaf website, which is a new-to-me and completely awesome resource on all things bread baking. It's basically a very, very wet, batter-like dough that, by beating the daylights out of in the Kitchen Aid, turns into a wobbly gluten-y wonder that requires nothing more than a couple of hours worth of rising and proofing. I thought the recipe seemed pretty amazing, and now that I've made it, I'll say that it IS pretty amazing. I'm certainly no expert, but it seems like the effort to results ratio is well into the realm of fabulous with this one. You can find the recipe here.

I neglected to take a picture of the various states of the dough, but as I said it starts off more like cake batter and is transformed by A LOT of whapping about in the mixer to a jiggly blob that holds together quite strongly but is still very, very sticky and wet. Here's my proofing loaves:

All I did to get to this point was mix and then do a bulk ferment in a container on the counter until the dough had tripled. Then I dumped it out of the container onto floured parchment and cut and nudged it into three portions with my dough scraper, being careful to degas it as little as possible. These sat to raise for about 45 minutes before being flipped onto another piece of floured parchment on my peel and then shoved off into a hot oven:

For the sake of time and R&D, I baked these off in my indoor oven on a preheated baking stone with the temperature at 500. As you can see, I think I went a bit overboard with the flour, but that's an easy fix. And my crumb didn't come out quite as open and loose as I think it should have, which I'm taking to mean that I should have let the dough whap about in the Kitchen Aid a bit longer. I mixed this batch on speed 6 for about 15 minutes, so I guess next time I'll go for 20 or 25 and see if that gets me bigger holes. And yea, there DEFINITLEY WILL be a next time, as in probably tonight or tomorrow, because the end result is ridiculously tasty for what little time and effort it required, and this is by far the most successful I've ever been with a ciabatta. I can't wait to try it in the WFO!

Check out the best part of the whole endeavour...a delicious tomato/arugula/cheddar sandwich for lunch:

I'm darn pleased with myself and I can't wait for Boy to get home so I can show off my mad skillz. Good thing the recipe made three loaves or he might have missed it!

It's Handbag Porn Hour!

2009-09-15T13:16:00.002-05:00

Now that it's found it's home with new owner Meleah, another reveal of another uber-fabulous bag!

Because she's a local girl, Meleah was able to come to my studio and make her material selections in person. She got to work on perusing my fabric piles while I got to work munching on the delicious chocolate biscotti she brought along. She didn't really need me anyway, because she's obviously got a great eye and make some selections she did! She said she wanted something crazy and bright and fun and I think we succeeded on that front!

I'm beyond honored that Meleah chose me and my craft over diamond earrings to celebrate her wedding anniversary, and that her fab husband took the cue and then took the time to track me down and get her a Splatgirl Creates gift certificate. I think my Boy could use a lesson from hers!

The Special K Diet

2009-09-10T22:51:00.003-05:00

So those Pacific Northwest peeps might have their Nanimo bars and their pink cookies and their Clover coffee on every other corner, but apparently that good old midwestern favorite, that addictive little pot luck gem that we take for granted, the Special K bar, is something unheard of. Who knew?

Anyway, that everyone's favorite Pacific Northwest resident Mariko didn't know about the Special K bar is the sole reason this photo exists. Because if it weren't for her demanding to see this mysterious treat, I'd just as soon have forgotten about them. But not because they weren't good. (she also got me to tweet the recipe, which is something of a thing. recipe tweeting, I mean, and for the record, it's much harder than you'd think. recipe tweeting, I mean.)

Boy was gone last week and without him here to distract me or bring me to my senses, I was having a little obsessive battle of wills: Me vs. my sweet tooth. Yes, me. Really. I was craving Special K bars like a madwoman.

Here's how it went...
Boy's absence, day 1: thinking to myself how much I'd like a Special K bar. Special K bar. SPECIAL K BARSPECIALKBARSPECIAL K BAR SPECIALKBAR

Boys' absence, day 2: trying to convince myself that I don't need to make Special K bars, but then deciding that I should walk my mail up to the post office and stop at the grocery store for the ingredients I need to make the bars I'm not going to make so that in case I decide to make them I'll feel 1% less guilty about it for having earned a little exercize offset. Walk dog 4 miles after dinner, then feel extra smug about exercizing twice in one day AND not making Special K bars. I am SO the boss of you, sweet tooth.

Boy's absence, day3: make deal with self: go running. A good long hard run, and THEN you may make Special K bars and have one. Return from good long hard run and discover, for the first time all week, I am no longer obsessed with eating a Special K bar. Wonder if I might be getting sick.

Boy's absence, day 4: Wake up with a wicked Special K bar craving, likely due to having been reminded of such by the previously obtained ingredients left out on the counter. I think the butterscotch chips are speaking to me. Yes. They are definitely speaking to me.

Boy's absence, day 4 1/2: I fought the bars and the bars one. A half-batch. Thin, and with a thin coating of chocolate/butterscotch just like I like. Eat one. Eat another one. Repeat.

Boy's absence, day 4 3/4 : Eat one. Repeat. Repeat. Follow with special bed time treat of Special K bar.

Boy's absence, day 5: Wake up to a breakfast of four Special K bars. BEST MORNING WITHOUT BOY EVER. Feel like a slave to sugar. On the other hand, I put them on a plate, so that makes them more nutritious, right?

Boy's absence, day 6: thinking it would be sad for Boy to come home to stale Special K bars so decision is made tha the remaining two rows must go into the freezer, right after I have just one more. Repeat day 5 breakfast. Is that the freezer speaking? Remove remaining now frozen bars from freezer. Repeat day 5 breakfast for lunch. Have a nectarine just for kicks, followed by another Special K bar. And since there are now only three left in the bag, it would be best just to finish them. Right?

Special K bars? What Special K bars?

Labor Day

2009-09-09T19:28:00.002-05:00

What else to do on a lazy Labor Day than get the wood-fired oven going and make some pizzas!
I had some leftover pulled pork from a shoulder I smoked a while ago, and I decided it was time to put that to eats and celebrate with some jerk. Jamaican jerk, that is.

Jerk pork pizza, anyone?
These got some of the pork, a drizzle of reduced jerk marinade, sliced shallot, a mix of aged cheddar and mozz, some EVOO and a scattering of chopped scallion after cooking. And I mixed up some spicy slaw to top it all off. Sort of like a pulled pork sandwich except easier to eat and much, much better!

At this rate, it won't be long before we're all pizza, all the time here at Splatgirl Creates. In case you haven't figured it out yet, wood-fired oven=best project ever completed.

These Are Cute, Like a Baby Gorilla!

2009-08-31T21:11:00.004-05:00

A while ago I got a note from fellow blogger, Splatgirl Creates client, and Etsian Liz. She had an idea for a fundraiser project combining her beading talents and my affliction for designing stuff for MOO cards. As a vehicle (hehe) for some special MOO cards she's created, she asked me to make a keychain-style MOO card sleeve that she could embellish with beads or charms and then offer for sale, with proceeds going to the gorillas of Virunga National Park in the Congo. I was flattered and thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in her project!
After a little R&D, I whipped up a streamlined, low-pro version of my key fob MOOpocket, designed with a window on one side that will eventually showcase the gorgeous gorilla-themed MOO cards Liz has created:

For want of a better name, I temporarily nicknamed them them MOOTabs, but hopefully Liz will come up with something more clever. MOOmates maybe? Get it? Anyway, I'm anxiously awaiting a peek at the finished product once Liz has a chance to work her bead-ie magic!

Check out Liz and her creative awesomeness on her blog, and keep an eye out for her Gorillas of Virunga fundraiser, coming soon over at Liz's lovely Etsy shop.

A New View!

2009-08-24T15:14:00.003-05:00

Maybe you've already had a peek at this via my Flickr stream, as I've had some photos hanging around there for a couple of weeks with the intention of getting a detailed DIY run-down written and posted. At the rate time has been flying around here, however, it'll be winter before I get around to that, so I'm giving you the happy finished product post first, instead.

While summer is still in full swing... a couple of views of our almost complete "new" outdoor room!!

from above:

The biggest and most time-consuming portion of the new room was that red thing, aka the shade sail that I designed and fabricated myself and installed with the help of Boy. It's something that had been on our to-do list since we've moved in so I'm thrilled with a capital T that it's finally done. It wasn't easy or quick, but if I had known what a transformation this one simple thing would give us, it would have happened two years ago.
We went from a hot, bland and boring concrete patio to an actual outdoor room that we are LOVING getting to hang out in, and just in time, since we're out there more than ever now that the wood fired oven is functional. Even better, it's helping to shade the interior of the house and keeping us (mostly) happily A/C-free for yet another summer.

If you haven't seen them already, check out my in-progress pictures of theDIY shade sail project on Flickr. And yes, I still hope to give you all the down and dirty on making your own shade sail in a bit.

Doesn't it make you want to come right over for a mojito? Bring your favorite toppings and I'll make you a pizza!

The rugs are by Koko from outdoorrugs.com because they were priced right and darn cute. I was also oogling the lovely outdoor line by Dash and Albert which are GORGEOUS in person but alas, my patio is large and the two rugs I would have needed were more than I wanted to spend at this point.
My next project for the space is going to be some prep tables for the cooking area and different patio furniture, and my plan is to leverage the awesomeness that is IKEA once again but using their UTBY line of stainess table bases and legs with some more DIY concrete tops. Because I haven't spent enough time screwing around with concrete yet this summer. And because modern patio furniture costs a mint that I don't feel like spending. Definitely more to come on that project soon.
So now that the lower patio is becoming something, I've been inspired to start working on the lower roof deck area as well. It's another hot, boring space that I've always had a vision for but have yet to get to work on. It'll mean making another shade sail which I'm not exactly looking forward to, but because the impact-to-effort ratio is fairly high, I think I can suck it up one more time to do battle with another 400 square feet of unruly fabric.

Coincidentally Speaking

2009-08-20T11:06:00.007-05:00

Some soon-to-be-married friends of ours invited us on a celebratory adventure on that thing, the Pedal Pub last weekend.

I know, what a crazy fun idea, right? It's basically the perfect combination of two of my favorite, most obsessed-about things: exercize and cocktails.
What could be better?!
It was a blast, but not being a cyclist means my butt still hurts. But it was a fair trade, trust me.

Anyway, a couple of super fun coincidences that I have to share...

Boy and I spent the previous afternoon at a family picnic, and after having eaten a bunch of food and consumed two gin and tonics, I was sleepy. I said "someone needs to invent coffee beer!"

Fast forward to the next day on the Pedal Pub: the almost-groom opens the cooler full of adult beverages he had brought and offers up, much to my surprise and excitement, a Surly Coffee Bender:

Hello Splatgirl, your wish has been granted!!
The conversation that followed with folks that are much more beer-ie than I informs me that there are acutally several coffee beers out there, which a quick Google confirms. Like Surly, most of them seem to be local, so your mileage may vary. I can tell you that the Minneapolis-brewed Coffee Bender was surprisingly delicious and it's one that I'm definitely going to pick up next time I'm on a beer run at someplace other than my lameass city-owned liquor store.

OK, so imagine that I really have three favorite things. And at this point, two of them, exercize and alcohol, are already being partaken of. So what could possibly make the event better, you ask? Because yea, it really does get even better...

Our groom, with what was quite possibly the most genius party snack idea ever other than mini Bombay Sliders....

It was !!!!BACON!!!!
YES!! BACON!!

Our host had cooked and stashed delicious crispy bacon in a cooler with a hot pack, and it was the most freakin' perfect goes-with-drinking-and-exercize snack food since the invention of the tortilla chip. Seriously people, can you even believe what a ridiculously great thing this was, as we're pedaling along and sipping cocktails? TO HAVE BACON TO MUNCH ON?

Let me just proclaim that from this day forward may no cocktail party ever, EVER go without cooked bacon as a snack.

It was stupid awesome.

So a couple of days later my neighbor comes over and asks how the Pedal Pub adventure was, and I'm telling her "it was so much fun...cocktails and exercize all at the same time...you know, two of my absolute most favorite things."
And....I shit you not, she said: "so about the only way that could have gotten any better is if there had been bacon?"

BWWWAAAHHHHHHH!!! THERE WAS BACON!!!

Classic.

p.s. did you know you can get gin and tonic in a can, too? And champagne, with a straw! Clearly I have not been doing enough drinking outside the home, as I had no idea such fabulousness existed in cans.

At Last, Evidence of WFO Cookery!

2009-08-17T16:17:00.003-05:00

Have you been following along with my wood-fired pizza oven build over at Modern in MN?
If you have, then you already know that we officially have oven! YIPPEE!

It was several weekends' worth of very hot, backbreaking and often tedious work that had me wondering what I was thinking for a while there, but now that it's done and usable, I can tell you already that the whole undertaking was TOTALLY worth it. Whooda thunk.

So in every spare minute we've been able to find in this crazy busy month, I've been prepping ingredients and making dough and and stoking fires, and I think I've managed to turn out some pretty fabulous practice if I do say so myself. I'm still just a beginner at this whole WFO cooking thing and there's definitely a learning curve, but I suspect it's just going to get better and better.
And I am SO in love with everything about the whole darn deal already that I can't imagine life without my own backyard wood fired oven. It's that fabulous, really.

Anyway, between trying to master the whole 90 second cooking time thing and the fact that my hands have typically been covered with dough and sauce and toppings as I play pizzaiolo, pictures have been in short supply. But luckily for all of us, my lovely pal Knit-Whit and her boy came over last Friday and she was able to capture and document evidence of WFO pizza cookery.
I hope you're hungry.

Trying to take a picture before someone snags a slice is futile:

blasphemous topping overload:

Boy made this one. Mozzarella two ways, anyone?

and for dessert, pizza cookery in action:

Banana, nutella, pecans and a sprinkling of brown sugar that goes all melty and gooey in the oven. Ridiculously delicious. Who wants a slice?

So far, the only complaint I've heard is running out of stomach space too soon, but I'm going to keep practicing anyway. And as soon as I have some time to get to work making a door, I'll be able to experiment with post-pizza-fire cooking of breads (day two) and roasting stuff (day three). Here's to the U of Splatgirl degree in WFO cookery!

Red and Shiny

2009-08-13T16:23:00.002-05:00

I love these shoes so much it should be illegal.

They are like the perfect storm of shoe cuteness, and I am dizzy over their fabulousness.

I'm showing them to you because they are new, and because it's been a very, VERY long time since I've found a pair of fabulous, frivilous shoes that I absolutely couldn't live without.

These shoes have made my decade. And all for a measley $80.
I'm a simple girl, what can I say.

I think If I were to inventory my last twenty shoe purchases prior to last weekend, it would be 8 or 9 pairs of Keens, several pairs of running shoes and maybe a pair of Target flip flops.
Because really, other than running, the only time my Keen flip flops leave my feet in any given week is if I am in some sort of trouble or have an appointment and need to dress like an adult for a couple of hours.

This from a girl who used to be a major shoe (and shopping) whore.

I can't figure out what happened to me, even still, but several years ago I went from being a shopping maniac to hating shopping with a passion. It was like flipping a switch. And while I have less to wear now, I never go anyplace anyway so it sort of works out. And my pocketbook is much, much happier.

They hurt my feet, these shiny new red shoes (as frivilous shoes are wont to do), but I will forgive them because they are just so freaking adorable.

So yea, if you see a crazy girl hobbling down the street wearing these shoes, it is probably me.

The Old Lady Still Has It

2009-08-12T14:44:00.002-05:00

I reeeally need to get one of these pronto. The reason will become all too clear if you read on.

So, as you may have seen over at Modern in MN, the wood fired oven is officially up and running! Over the past week or so we've been hanging out on the patio in the evenings, enjoying a smore or two while working our way up from small, not-so-hot curing fires intended to heat the oven up just enough to gradually drive out any remaining moisture, to full on, raging infernos that have flames shooting out the front of the oven and get things hot enough to char a pizza crust completely black in less than a minute. So much for running back into the house for a split second to grab my tongs.

Anyway, you'll recall our two indoor kitties, right? Well, early in the spring when we started leaving the sliding doors open most of the time, our younger cat M-Ah figured out that she could open the screen door by pushing on the back edge of it. So we started making sure to keep it latched to prevent this, but it took her all of half a second to figure out that if we were outside, the door wouldn't be latched, a fact that she continues to exploit about ten or twenty times a day.
This is otherwise known as every time we go outside, she does, too.

And now the dog knows the trick, but that's another story for another post.

Anyway, my 17-ish year old Angela, who, it should be noted has no claws and almost no teeth left, and who has NEVER been an outside kitty, is M-Ah's partner in crime. Unlike the dog, she's too stupid to have learned the screen door trick from her sister but she's smart enough to be the first one out the door as soon as soon as it gets opened. Because it takes pudgy M-Ah a minute to un-wedge herself from between the back edge of the screen and the glass before she can benefit from her own labors.
So we've just learned to accept that the cats will get out and because they never go far, we don't really worry about it anymore. (And honestly, as harsh as it may sound, if that's the way my little old lady wants to get to the end of her life, I guess that saves me the drama of deciding when it's time for the one way trip, you know?)
Anyway, there we are, enjoying another gorgeous evening, relaxing and having a beer out on the patio, when all of the sudden Boy mumbles something, jumps up from his chair and grabs Angela in mid-scamper heading back into the house.
Hello Boy? Since when do we want the kitties to NOT go back into the house?

Well, woot woot for Boy, because here's when:

So much for being a mild-mannered, helpless indoor kitty, huh? And have you tried prying a freshly killed mouse from a cats' mouth lately? Not. Fun. Turns out those two remaining teeth are still pretty sharp.

Chicken and Waffles, the Pilot Episode

2009-07-27T14:18:00.002-05:00

Warning: Take your Lipitor before reading this post.

So. Fried chicken?
I know that here in the midwest we're not exactly fried chicken experts, but I had been craving some in the most intense way for a couple of weeks and not a single venue was coming to mind where I knew I could be guaranteed fried chicken that would be homemade and tasty enough to be worth the calorie bomb. It's a sad state of the affairs of food when homemade fried chicken is scarce...in any part of the country.

And then, on a totally different but just as fat and cholesterol-laden subject, my neighbor, or rather my totally awesome neighbor offered to get me a re-up on Lorentz Meats bacon on his way back from a dirt-biking adventure in Cannon Falls. Because as you've heard me whine about before, I can't get the stuff around here ever since Coborns took over Simon Delivers, and I'm addicted. And my 20# stash from the last days of Simon Delivers was running frighteningly low.

So bring me bacon my totally awesome neighbor did...eighteen pounds worth! And as a means of repaying his willingness to be my bacon enabler, I offered to have him over for brunch, along with his lovely wife and daughter, and then I invited my other appreciative-of-bacon-pals Ms. Knit-Whit and her man over too. And then I started wondering what to serve alongside a big pile of bacon.

Hello? Waffles anyone?
We've been on a little bit of a waffle bender around here as I'm sure you know. So that part was obvious. But what goes better with waffles than FRIED CHICKEN? AhHA! Menu planned.

So a fried chicken and waffle and bacon feast it was:

I had actually never made fried chicken before, which seems crazy since it's one of those things that's probably better when it's homemade no matter what and I am all about the homemade goodness. I used Art Smiths "Two Day Marinated Fried Chicken" recipe because I understand him to be the unofficial (fat white guy) king of southern cooking and I remembered seeing him talk about it on Oprah once years ago. It turned out pretty dang good, or at least good enough to make me certain that it won't be the last batch I make.
For the waffles portion of the event, I mixed up two different batches of yeast batter for a taste test. One was my stand-by Belgian Waffle recipe from the Joy of Cooking that I told you about recently, and the other was Mark Bittman's overnight yeast waffle batter because Corgi Mom (hey you!) says she likes it better than JOC's.
So we gorged on waffles topped with delicious options like warm strawberry compote, carmelized bananas, toasted pecans, fresh berries, local maple syrup and freshly whipped cream. The fried chicken hit the spot, and the six of us managed to eat our way through two pounds of bacon. But don't worry friends, I won't tell anyone we ate all that bacon.

Turns out the word on the street claims there are a few local places to get good fried chicken and waffles, but now that I've tasted my own, I'm not sure I care :)

Holiday Ketchup

2009-07-12T11:59:00.004-05:00

or catch up, since no ketchup was actually consumed in the creation of this post...

I finally saw fit to dose out one of the last episodes of the "Spain, On the Road Again" series from PBS. I've had them saved on my DVR for months and months, and every episode is just such insane eye candy that I was having to ration myself so as not to cause brain implosion with my lust for all things Espana.

Anyway. It was the Valencia episode, and G.P. and Mario paid a visit to the official "Zen Paella Master", who showcased a completely NOT by the books method of cooking Paella that I just had to try rightawayquick. It seemed like blasphemy, this zen masters' method, but since I've cooked quite a bit of paella in the past and never been 100% satisifed with the results I figured it would be well worth the try.

So, finding ourselves free for the long Fourth of July weekend, I took it upon myself to plan us a little paella feast, made a run to replenish my stock of Bomba rice and pimenton and busted out my paella pan and burner.

Check out this deliciousness, complete with a freshly muddled mojito and some amazingly crisp, sweet snap peas from our CSA:

not only is it the best looking pan of paella I've ever made, it was the tastiest and most perfect, too! Turns out the zen master is on to something with his method of adding the stock to the sofrito and bringing it to a boil before adding the rice.

In fact, that shrimp and scallop batch was so amazing that we ate every bite of it and still couldn't stop obsessing. So I had to make another pan for Sunday dinner the next night, this time with chorizo and artichoke hearts and the snap peas cooked tender-crisp:

Best and most delicious of all, it was absolutey zero effort. Seriously like 30 minutes of work total including prep! I'm waiting on my re-up of saffron or I'd have made it again already, because it's really the perfect, cook-outdoors summer meal that I don't think I'd ever get sick of.

Kitty Undertail

2009-07-02T23:30:00.002-05:00

Admit it.
You cat people have always wondered just exactly how they curl those paws up underneath themselves when they turn into muffinkitties.

The secret has been revealed.

Now if that's not a reason to have a glass floor, I dunno what is.
And since we're on the subject, I still find it curious that dogs, whether it be ours or visitors, won't set foot out on the glass, while cats seem totally unaffected by it. What does that say about their respective intellegence, do you think?

Fresh Strawberry Patch Strawberries

2009-06-30T22:13:00.003-05:00

I had the opportunity to go strawberry picking the other day, and although I only spent an hour or so in the patch, I managed to pick seven and a half pounds of berries!

What a treat!
Before they even had a chance to lose their sunny warmth, I got to work whipping up some treats. The bowl- half what I picked-went straight into one seriously delicious pie, complete with homemade crust and fresh organic whipped cream. It was the most gorgeously red, fresh tasting strawberry pie I've ever made, and definitely worth the stiff neck and sunburnt shoulders.

Then, finding myself burdened with a post-pie leftover half pint of whipping cream, I cooked up another batch of strawberry sauce and some hot Belgian waffles to give that cream something to be plopped on top of. We ate them...many of them...for Sunday breakfast.
MMMMMMMm
And the added bonus is, the batter recipe makes a ton, so there was plenty to tuck away in the fridge for Monday's breakfast.
And Tuesdays.
And Wednesdays, even.

Anyway, I told you once before about my affair with the yeast batter Belgian waffle, and this most recent go-around has reminded me of just how worthwhile it is to spend that bit of extra time making them. It's seriously the best most delicious waffle you'll ever eat, like eighty bajillion times better than an ordinary baking power leavened waffle.
Or an instant mix waffle? Phuleeze. You don't really use that, do you?
But instead of it taking five minutes to throw some batter together, it takes ten, plus you've got to let it rise for an hour.
It's worth it, I promise.
Plus, that hour gives you time to make your fruit sauce and whip the cream :)

I use the Joy of Cooking Belgian Waffle recipe, but this recipe is the same. It's one of the reasons I always make sure I've got at least a couple of packets of yeast in my pantry.
Because you just never know when you might get a Belgian waffle craving.

Sawing and Sewing

2009-06-29T11:25:00.004-05:00

Gosh all fishooks has it been a busy couple of weeks!
The wood fired oven project is in full swing and was actually starting to start to look like something!
Yet I say "was" because I spent most of last week covered in mortar and brick dust and sweating my butt off and making fairly decent progress despite the withering, 95+ degree heat. Decent progress right up until the "cheap" 10" wet saw I bought from the cheap tool place finished eating its first blade, that is. I can't say I was expecting greatness from a cheap tool store wet saw, but still.
Anyway, at about 25% of the way through my project, I was looking at ~$200 or so just in blades, and suddenly my "cheap" saw was only a hundred bucks or so less than it's quality counterpart which, needless to say, put it solidly in the "useless piece of junk" category.
So it went back to the cheap tool store for a refund which leaves me saw-less until my new one arrives. I'm replacing it with the real thing, the pro's favorite, a Felker FTS-150. A big girl tool to be sure, and yea, I'm one excited tool geek.
Rest assured, I'm sure it'll be back to 95 and wicked humid as soon as I'm ready to get back to it, but I'd like to think not having to battle with a piece of junk tool will help me keep my cool.

I've also been hard at work on a brand new handbag pattern that's been rattling around in my brain for months. It's a two-handled, satchel style with a wide-ish bottom and a zipper top. I pretty excited about it since it incorporates a couple of new techniques and features I've been wanting to, um, get a handle on.
Ahem.

Anyway, the prototype you see above has been with me in test carry stage for a couple of weeks, and I must say I'm absolutely loving it. It's big enough to hold lots of stuff but not too deep and it's easy to get in and out of but secure. It sits up nice and proper with a wide, firm bottom (the final, for-sale versions will have feet) which is something I insist on in a satchel-style bag. Enough structure to keep it nice and tailored and neat looking without being hard and stiff. Plus, the tubular leather handles feel great and are just long enough to allow the bag to be thrown over a shoulder when you need your hands free.

With a few tweaks, it's a swimming success that I'll be adding to my permanent lineup in either fabric+ leather or all leather. I'm hoping to have at least a couple for sale in the shop very soon.
And speaking of for sale, take notice locals...I'll be at the Spirit of the Lakes Festival on Saturday, July 18th, 11am-7pm in Mound. Do come and say hi and hang out with me for a bit on the shores of beautiful Lake Minnetonka, won't you?

p.s. check in over at Modern in MN for a more detailed oven update+ photos shortly.

"Please Use the Victoria Beckham Lens"

2009-06-13T12:35:00.004-05:00

Whew! It's been a crazy couple of weeks!

Firstly, a progress report on the wood-fired pizza oven project over at Modern in MN. The insulation materials I was waiting for arrived this week, so I'm on to the dome-building portion of the event which should be interesting. I'm hoping to get a start on it next week.

Then, a couple of gorgeous custom bags that have left the building bound for their new owners. I'm telling you, sometimes it seriously pains me to actually have to let go and sell this stuff! One of my absolute favorites was this sling backpack for Misti in Austin that came out so incredibily delicious looking that I wanted to lick it:

And this bucket bag commissioned by a local gal in buttery soft purple leather. What with it being ALL ONE COLOR and all, I wasn't super excited because you know how I am about my colors, but it turned out beautifully and the finished product really suckered me because it was so attractively slouchy and yummy feeling:

she picked a fun purple and green print for interior accent, and I couldn't resist using it in a modified version (with zipper) of my quick welt pocket:

And then, most crazy of all, I finally got to hook up with Marike, a journalist from Germany who first contacted me way last summer about coming here to do an article on me and the house. I was and still am certain I'm not all that interesting, but I immediately said yes because I thought at the very least it would be a fun experience. So we finally got to meet in person this week after several months of email exchanges, and she came with Claudia, a German photographer who is based in New York. We spent the day here at the house chatting and taking photos....and eating, of course. I made them my world famous chocolate chip cookies because I suspected it would be something they hadn't had before. That turned out to be a winning bet, and they both said cookies of any sort are not a big thing in Germany. I guess they are all about the cakes. Who knew.

Marike brought me the current issue of Brigitte Woman which is the magazine she's doing the article for, and she said her piece on me will run in one of the fall issues. Any German speakers wanna sign up to come here and read it to me when it comes out?
Anwyay, I had set my camera out specifically so that I would remember to take some pictures of them, but I forgot. So UBER BOO! I guess I was a little preoccupied...have I mentioned I HATE having my picture taken? And there's nothing like knowing every nook and crannie of your house is going to be photographed to put the fear of the cobwebs and dust bunnies in a girl...

PupCake Gets Paid

2009-05-28T22:05:00.004-05:00

"Mom! Hey mom!?!"

"Dad jwust gabe me my bow wowance!
Weeehahh!
Mes is wrich, wrich I say! An I know jus wat I wanna spwend it on!"

"Can we go to da dog park?"

yes baby, we can :)

Dishing on Deep Dish

2009-05-22T18:58:00.004-05:00

Yep. It's another post about pizza.

I've been craving deep dish pizza for a couple of weeks but there's just no place to get it that I know of anymore. We used to have Uno, but it went away years ago, and Green Mill was always pretty good up until a couple of years ago when they cheapified their dough and ingredients so far that it totally crossed the line for me and we stopped going. They were never the same once they expanded their menu to all sorts of dishes that a pizza place has no business messing with.

Anyway, I was thinking out loud about this last night to Boy. In bed. Because as I've told you before, food is our pillowtalk.
And I said "but I've got to find some sort of pan like they used at Green Mill so I can get the crust right. Like cast iron or something."
Because I used to do a wicked deep dish spinach and mushroom years ago but in a flimsy aluminium deep dish pan and the crust always came out anemic and not crusty even when the top was over browned. And that always made it not so good for me, which sucked, because it's a lot about the crust. It needs to be a crusty, chewy crust.
And then Boy says: "You should use one of your puffy pancake pans."
Translation: Boyspeak for the cast iron skillets I use to bake dutch babies for breakfast.

me: "AHHA! That is a fabulous idea! Like, duh. I'm SO totally doing that, like tomorrow"

So cast iron skillet baked deep dish pizza for dinner it was.
And I come to you having just consumed most of said pie, with the help of Boy. And I can tell you that it was a fabulous thing, especially considering I totally punted and used the same pizza dough I use for thin crust, just more of it. And as I said, it's a lot about the crust.
All told, it was WAY closer to what I was hoping to achieve than I had been expecting, actually. Especially what with it being my first attempt and all.

For the guts part, I went with Italian sausage, onion and mushroom, minus the mushroom for Boy. And since it was deep dish, the order of operations was crust then cheese, then toppings and grated parm, then lots and lots of unadulterated diced canned tomatoes with a generous sprinkling of chopped garlic, dried oregano and basil added.

Here's the in-progress:

And the finished product:

Baking it in the cast iron skillet made the crust perfectly brown and crusty on the outside and chewy and pillowy on inside just like I was hoping for. I used a full batch of dough but in hindsight, I should have stuck to my gut on that one and only used 3/4 of the batch because it got a little thick on the sides. I was having a hard time getting it to stay stretched up the sides of the pan, so next time I'm going to stretch it up and over the edge just a bit while I add the fillings and then sort of tuck it back down once it's ready to go in the oven.

Anyway, here's the unofficial recipe:

Cast Iron Deep Dish Pizza

Splatgirl's part whole-wheat pizza dough (recipe for a double batch of dough can be found in the comments of this post. Portion it into eight balls, use three for this recipe and freeze the rest individually in ziplock bags)
1 lb. Italian sausage, cooked, drained and cooled
1/2lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced and sauteed
1/2 medium onion, diced
8oz. grated or sliced mozzarella cheese
3 large cloves chopped garlic
1 1lb 12oz can diced tomatoes with basil or fire roasted (I like Muir Glen brand for any canned tomato product)
grated parmesan
2tsp. dried oregano
2tsp. dried basil

Equipment: 14" cast iron skillet, or two 7-8" size for individual pies.
Preheat oven to 350.

If your skillet is well-seasoned, oil it. If it doesn't have 20 years of use on it, grease it with shortening. Stretch the dough by hand until you have a large disk, then lay it into the pan, continuing to flatten and pull evenly into shape and up the sides of the pan. Let it sit for a few minutes to relax if you're not getting it to cooperate all in one shot. You want to be able to drape it over the edge of the pan just a bit to keep it in place while you add fillings.
Add mozzarella, then the cooked sausage, diced onion and sauteed mushroom. Grate on a generous sprinkling of parmesan. Spoon tomatoes over, covering the filling but not the edges of the dough. Add chopped garlic, basil and oregano and run the back of your spoon over everything to settle and cover the garlic and herbs. Tuck the edges of the crust back inside the pan if necessary.
Bake in a 350 oven for an hour or until crust is nicely browned and topping is starting to bubble a bit in the center. Let sit a few minutes before cutting and serving.

Of course you can change up the fillings to suit. I'm going for sausage/spinach/mushroom next time, possibly with goat cheese.

Super Sunny

2009-05-19T19:32:00.004-05:00

So I just set out planning to go for a run, but I only made it as far as the driveway before I decided I needed to go back in and wait for the sun to set. Checking the weather on the internets, it's 92! And this after a chilly, 45ish last Saturday where I was wearing long pants and a jacket all day. Totally weird.

In the mean time, the latest from my studio. I finally got up the nerve to use some of the delicious yellow leather that I've had squirreled away for months. It's my favorite color...of leather... so when I scored it I knew it was going to have to be reserved for only the most special of items.
Anyway, when I was digging around in my fabric stash for inspiration, I found a fat quarters' worth of this cool butterfly fabric, and when I saw it next to the yellow leather, the deal was sealed:

It's based on my wristlet clutch design, only slightly bigger and with a leather/fabric wristlet instead of a webbing one.

Fresh and bright for summer, and who doesn't love a butterfly?

Pizza Porn

2009-05-05T22:07:00.004-05:00

Two quick weeknight veggie pizzas! First, mixed veggie:

and second, mushroom and carmelized onion:

Take your pick!

Both were made with a cheesy white sauce instead of a tomato based one. Basically, I made an extra thick, spreadable bechamel sauce and melted in a couple of handfulls of cheese, in this case white cheddar and parmesan. (If you wanna get all Frenchy, this is technically called sauce Mornay.) There's a recipe here for basic bechamel sauce if you need it. Double the flour at the beginning and add the cheese last. If it needs thinning out once the cheese is melted, whisk in a little more cream/milk/water. You're going for runny peanut butter consistency.

For the veggie pizza, I chopped up whatever I could dig out of the produce drawer: broccoli, thinly sliced summer squash and zucchini, carrot, shallot, fresh basil and roasted red pepper. The mushroom version was sliced baby ports, rosemary and a smattering of leftover carmelized onion. Both got lots of fresh chopped garlic and a sprinkling of mozzarella plus a finish of fresh chopped parsley and sea salt. Boy, who only tried the veggie version on account of his hatin' of mushrooms, proclaimed it "really good". I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so yea, really good and a welcome change from 'plain old' red sauce.

And speaking of pizza, things are on their way to going superdelicious in the pizza and bread category here at S.C. Check out what's up in our back yard over at Modern in MN.

New Handbag Porn

2009-04-27T14:33:00.004-05:00

First, a fabulous custom-sized sling bag:

This one went out this morning to Cathy in NY, who's a mom on the go. She plans to use it as a diaper bag which I hadn't considered before but...duh...what a great idea, and so much more convenient and interesting than a plain old tote or shoulder bag.
You know I'm forever on the bright and fun bus, so I loved her choice of fabrics. That dotty stuff is still one of my most favorites, and I don't think I'll ever get sick of working with it!

Then, about to go into my Etsy shop, a very spring-ish combination of my some of my favorites, namely orange leather, Amy Butler, and stripes:

This one's been on my worktable for a couple of weeks, getting attention in little shots here and there between the other projects that have been keeping me busy. I tend to be a "can't wait to see it done" kind of girl...delayed gratification is really not what I'm good at...so needless to say I'm cheering to finally have gotten this one finished up, photographed and ready for a new home.
Am I allowed to have another favorite? Because I think this is it.

Hope everyone is filled with Monday joy ;)
Just a quick update on your friend and mine, Watson the Vizsla: I'm still waiting for confirmation, but it seems he has found himself a home! We were happy to hear that news, but we've sort of gotten attached to the little smarty pants so we'll be sad to see him go. From what I understand, he'll be heading to the other side of the cities next Monday, meaning we get to enjoy him for another week before sending him off! Yay Watson!

When in Doubt

2009-04-21T11:09:00.002-05:00

...take your cue from the host and act like a Greyhound:

This is Watson, our guest since last Friday. He's a crazy-smart, crazy Vizsla. He's happy to be at your heel, unflinchingly intent on supervising your daily run and he'll do the job of fetching a ball at top speed until your arm wants to fall out of it's socket, and none of that will make any noticable dent in his energy level. Even so, I think we might be starting to rub off on him here at casa PupCake. He's a fantastic dog who made a mistake and is in need of a bit of a behavioral tune-up and a new home. If you're a high-energy dog person and you're interested in Watson, contact me.

Then: Warning... MAJOR MEAT PORN AHEAD!!!!
(aka, real women bbq pork shoulder)

I've been working the cook ahead and freeze thing fairly regular these days, and the fruits of my latest labor will be around for a while.

This is the cooked result of ~14lbs of pork shoulder I threw on the grill and let hang out there with some woodchips for the better part of a day.
It came out really amazingly delicious with just about zero effort, and talk about freezer stash.
I shredded all that luscious, succulent meat while I fantasized about tacos and bbq sauce and warm toasty buns:

I read in a recipe someplace that with pork shoulder, the yield of cooked meat is about 60% of the uncooked weight. I didn't weight this when it was finished, but I guess by that figure I ended up with ~8 lbs. of tasty goodness for dinner and leftovers plus two party-size tubs for the freezer. Just in case you and 10 of your closest friends were planning on showin up unannounced and hungry, no worries, I'll get you fed.

But really, pulled pork is the perfect leftover meat because it's tasty in about a hundred different ways and it's quick and easy to pull out of the freezer and heat up in the microwave after work on a weeknight. I told Boy I think it's my desert island meat and preparation method.

We went round one with some tacos with fresh pineapple-black bean salsa and sharp cheddar (also fantastic as nachos) and round two on a bun with bbq sauce and a side of creamy cole slaw. Yum.

So this is me encouraging you not to be afraid of the big cuts of meat, because they're inexpensive and often the most tasty. All I did to this was give it a rub with some bbq seasoning and threw it on the grill, low and slow and basically forgot about it, but the oven would work fine, too. Think ~250 degrees for several hours, until the internal temperature is 190 degrees or higher. And don't you dare go cutting off all that fat on the outside before you roast it, because that stuff turns into tasty, crispy fluff and is really a lot of what makes the whole deal what it is.

P.S. if you can suspend your meat-ethics now and then, Costco is a great place for whole pork shoulder. Grocery stores ususally have them cut up into smaller pieces and priced like steak.

Notes on the Arrival of Assorted Good Stuff

2009-04-02T16:48:00.004-05:00

Just a quick update/follow-up to my previous post about Paperbackswap.com.
If you read that were and were skeptical or curious about whether it actually works or about what kinds of books you could actually hope to get, here's a peek at what we've received so far:

A pretty decent looking pile of stuff, no? And that shot isn't even including the two books I've already read and re-posted. With the exception of one book with water damage that shouldn't have been swapped (and that I requested and recieved a credit refund for), everything that's shown up has been new or like new. Nothing old or dirty or don't-wanna-touch-it creepy looking, and all for nothing!
I must say, I've been pleasantly surprised, and not only am I loving the whole swappy-recycling-ness of the site, it also sort of restores my faith in humanity a bit, this whole trading thing. So if you've signed up but not posted any books or done any swapping yet, get over there and do it. You won't be sorry.

And then, remember yesterday when I complained about being impatient with messing around with graphics programs on the computer?
I believe that problem has been solved by todays' visit from the UPS man:

...or it will be just as soon as Boy comes home and makes it work with my Linux machine(s?). Because I was given semi-explicit instructions not to try and get it working myself, which was either him being nice and keeping in mind that I am the person who washes his undies, or him worrying about me just screwing stuff up and making more work for him, I'm not sure. But whatever. T-minus a couple of hours to graphics tablet goodness! EEEEEEEEeeeee!

Do I need to warn you to prepare yourselves for impending digital art geekery?

Cooking Up A Quilt Design, Etc.

2009-04-01T18:19:00.006-05:00

First, something quick and easy and yummy. My new favorite salad topping, pickled garbanzo beans.

Because we love garbanzo beans, right? And you know we're all about the condiment here at Splatgirl Creates.
These are a great way to hearty-up a green salad, and they keep in your fridge for just about ever, getting tastier the longer they sit. Like three bean salad except with only one bean :)
Just drain and rinse a can of garbanzo beans and put into plastic container with a tight sealing lid. Dump in a 1/2c. or so of your favorite vinegar. Seasoned rice vinegar is nice, but I ran out so for this batch I used apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar instead. Add about a teaspoon of salt and the seasonings of your choice. I reached for my quick and easy seasoning answer to lots of stuff, Penzeys Sandwich Sprinkle, but something spicy or curry or smoky would be lovely as well. Close up the container, give it a good shake and tuck it into your fridge to let steep for a couple of days. Then just start spooning them over your favorite salads. Like I said, they keep for just about forever and just get better the longer they sit.

So then, you'll recall I've been mumbling for a while about getting started on a quilt for my very own, and maybe you saw the mockup I posted to Flickr the other day:

It was a quickie because my patience for screwing around with graphics programs is fairly limited, but just enough to give me an idea of where I thought I wanted to go in terms of color and general style. And today I managed to sew up a little sampler of that digital mock-up:

You can see where I marked and started to applique on the red dashed line, and that I gave that idea up in short order. Those bits were really freakin small, my applique skills sort of suck, and I decided it wasn't a method that was going to get me what I was after.
Anyway, you get the idea.
And then I went back to the drawing board, because I decided that once I tweaked that pattern and made it big enough to be the ~90" x 100" that I'm planning, it was going to be too boring and with just too much orange. Not enough action on the center of the bed.
With the quilt, I mean.

So here's my round two from today with the same general idea:

I'm liking this one much more, but unless I can come up with an interesting way to piece or quilt it, it's still lacking something for me. More columns of narrower stripes? Maybe a thin red horizontal line through the center? Add in a print? (I have several prints that look awesome with these colors, so I'll definitely plan a print or two for the backing.)
I'm annoyingly indecisive, I know, but do give me credit for the fact that I think I've actually decided on these colors. For me, that's half the battle, because you know how I love me some colors.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Banishing the Big White Studio Wall

2009-03-27T20:09:00.003-05:00

My studio. Back when I painted it Racer Pink, I purposely left the biggest uninterrupted expanse of wall in the room white. And I've had a rough idea in my head about what I wanted to do with that (still) big white wall for ages, but other projects and the inability to nail myself down to specifics kept me from acting. But today, I finally got around to spitting a little bit of that out.

Because sometimes, you just gotta slap some paint on the wall:

I'm indulging my inner wannabe graffiti artist and while I have to point out that I am lacking the insane artistic genius that many of those who create public art possess, I think this will end up to be something pretty cool. It certainly helps that I'm not forced to work under pressure or to complete it under the cover of night and threat of arrest.

To be sure, it'll be a work in progress for a while. Here's the planning sketch I did this afternoon to give myself some direction:

I've done several other whole-room murals in the past, but those required a fair amount of pre-planning and sketching, and the subject matter was mostly dictated by the client. In this case, it's all about whatever my brain spits out, and I have to say that that getting out my big artist brushes, taking a deep breath and just going for it with no rules...on the wall...is crazy fun. Exciting and satisfying.
I'll keep you posted.

The Faux Creamy, Faux "Recipe": Baked Potato Soup

2009-03-26T14:29:00.005-05:00

I say "recipe" because as is typical with my day to day cooking, I didn't really use one, but I can tell you what I did. This makes more or less a double batch of soup, a big stockpot full, enough for eating and leftovers plus plenty to freeze for later.

Faux Creamy Baked Potato Soup
1 head cauliflower
1/2 lb. bacon, diced, plus a few slices extra for garnish if desired (or what the heck, use a full pound if you're feeling naughty)
1 large onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 c. white wine, cognac or cider vinegar
3 or 4 quarts chicken stock
1-1 1/2c. heavy cream
2-3 T. fish sauce, soy or worstershire
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes, cut into 1/2" dice.
Salt, pepper and seasonings ( I used about 1/4-1/2 tsp. each of mustard powder, dried rosemary, dill, and oregano, plus a few dashes of cayenne pepper and a grating of nutmeg. Penzeys salad sprinkle is a good choice too, as is Slap Yo Mamma if you want a bit of spicy heat)
Chopped scallions, parsley bacon and grated cheese for garnish

Rough chop the head of cauliflower and steam in 1/2 c. or so of the chicken stock in your stock pot until very soft and tender. Cool for a bit, then transfer to blender one or two cups at a time and puree on high speed until smooth and creamy, adding some cold chicken stock to the jar if necessry to get it to blend. (be super careful blending hot stuff!) I got about 8 cups of puree from one large head of cauliflower. Set aside.

In the same large stock pot, sautee bacon until crisp and remove a few tablespoons worth for garnish. Drain off all but a couple of tablespoons of fat (or not...my bacon was fairly lean). Add celery, onion and carrot to bacon and saute until veg is tender and starting to carmelize. By this time, you should have a nice fond going, aka the stuff stuck to the bottom of the pot...which is good good good. Pull the pan off heat and add the wine, cognac or vinegar. Return to heat and stir to get all that yum up off the bottom of the pan. I also added in the dried herbs and pepper at this point. Add the chicken stock, cream, fish sauce, cauliflower puree and diced potato, simmering uncovered until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. You should have a fairly thick soup at this point, but if the consistency is not to your liking, you can whisk some Wondra flour directly into the hot soup or hydrate a couple of tablespoons of regular flour in stock or water and whisk that in to thicken things up a bit. Or, if it's too thick, add more chicken stock. Season to taste with salt and adjust the other seasonings as you please. Serve garnished with chopped crispy bacon, grated cheddar and chopped scallion and parsley.

Oh, and did I mention it's one pot? It is, although I will say that cooking the potatoes in the soup like I've suggested renders them slightly less tasty than if one took the extra step of cooking them separately in boiling well-salted water and adding them in at the end.

cheers to soup! Let me know what you think if you try it.

Another How Did I Not Know Moment

2009-03-25T19:04:00.003-05:00

So, can we talk about cauliflower? I promise it won't be as boring as you think.

Do you know its secret?
How is it that such a common, everyday vegetable that's been around forever could hold such undiscovered awesomeness?
Seriously.
Cauliflower.
It's the magic vegetable, and there's been another planet realignment in the Splatgirl Creates kitchen.
Because did you know that cooked cauliflower, pureed in the blender, becomes something velvety and lush that looks and acts pretty much exactly like cream?

It does.

And I just have one question:
How has this fact escaped me for thirty-plus years? And how is this not like the first thing they teach you in cooking 101?

Anyway, I have this awesome baked potato soup recipe that's been a house favorite for years, but it's like evil in a pot because the whole soupy part of the soup, or what would be known in other recipes as the broth, is a roux based white sauce that's made with one and a half sticks of butter, a quart of whole milk and a pint of heavy cream per batch. And it's not that I am a fat-o-phobe (obviously) but geez, that's a bit much even for me, and we haven't even discussed the bacon or the grated cheese garnish. So tasty, yes, in a once a year kind of way, but my real issue with the recipe as written is that all that heavy duty dairy seriously does not agree with me, and it's the kind of soup that pretty much forces you to eat at least two bowls full at a sitting.

Anyway, having recently discovered the wonder that is pureed cauliflower, I decided a pot of makeover baked potato soup was in order on this very un-March 25th-like day.

I steamed and then pureed a whole head of cauliflower in the blender and made the soup without any butter or milk, and only about 1/2c. of heavy cream. It turned out just as good or better than the original:

So yep, that there bowl of soup, that luscious, creamy delicious looking soup, is mostly made with cauliflower, and eating it, you'd never guess in a million years. Heck, I'll even go out on a limb and call it healthy.

So next time you're contemplating cooking up a cream soup, try cooked pureed cauliflower in place of all or most of the dairy and thickening. Sounds hokey, but trust me, it's fabulous.

How Did I Not Know?

2009-03-17T12:00:00.003-05:00

So do you guys know about paperbackswap.com? I'm still trying to figure out how it is that I didn't know this existed from like, day one, because it's the kind of thing I've been thinking needed to be invented ages ago. Because, you see, I am inclined to go to the book store and spend like $50 or $75 at a crack on books and read them all up in two weeks. Which leaves me without a book to read, which makes me antsy and whiney. Just ask Boy. And it also leaves me with piles and piles of nearly brand new, often newly released paperbacks that until now I've either just given away or donated to charity. And we're talking PILES of books. I keep a basket just outside the door to the garage as a holding pen just for them.

But then the other day, my stars were realigned, because I happenend upon paperbackswap.com, quite possibly the second best money saving thing I've found this year, right behind switching our cell phones to prepaid.

Anyway.
Riteawayquick I gathered up my current pile-0-books from their garage basket and entered them into the swap-o-matic system at paperbackswap and guess what? My pile of lonely books is already shrinking AND I have three new books on their way to me as I type, which means no need for a $75 bookstore run this weekend.

So the deal is that you enter whatever books you have (in good condition) that you want to swap into their database using the ISBN numbers. They call this your bookshelf, and when another member requests a book from your bookshelf and you can send the book, you reply to the request and then print a pre-addressed mailing wrapper right from your computer. And because you can buy and print postage online, too, you don't even have to worry about trying to get to the post office. All you have to do is wrap up the book and put it in your mailbox.
It does cost a couple of bucks for postage, but the trade off is that when you requsest a book, the sender pays, so the you GETTING books end of the deal is FREE. Or a trade. Or however you want to look at it. Either way, for me, a complete and total win.
It works on a credit system, so one credit for each book sent means one book you can "order", and they start you off with two credits for nothing, just to be nice.

I love it when feeding my addictions becomes more convenient and less expensive.

Do go check it out, won't you? And if you click through to their site using the logo at the top of this post, I'll get a referral credit, too!

Pretzel Knots

2009-03-08T10:30:00.003-05:00

My pal Knit-Whit came over yesterday and we spent a lovely, sunny afternoon (and evening) cooking, eating and chatting.

A few weeks ago, when the March issue of Bon Appetit arrived in our mailboxes, she immediately spied the recipe for pretzel knots. I hadn't gotten around to looking at my issue yet, but when she mentioned it to me, I decided we HAD to get together and make them.

It turns out Knit-Whit had never made bread of any kind before (!) so this was the perfect way to get her acquainted with the ins and outs of making and working with yeast dough.
These were a fairly simple and straightforward recipe, similar to bagels in that you scald the formed knots in a bath of water, beer, sugar and baking soda before baking them off.

We had been chatting each others' ears off all afternoon, taking a quick break in between for a lunchtime bowl of homemade French onion soup, but as soon as we pulled these out of the oven and sat down to try them, all speaking ceased :)

She had proclaimed her craving for cheese for dipping, so we threw together a traditional cheese fondue that was a perfect pairing and made for a delicious, stick-to-your-ribs snack.
The pretzels turned out to be spot-on for texture and flavor and chew, and the smell and fresh baked loveliness of them was irresistable. They were everything that you hope for in a street vendor pretzel but never really find.

Fortuantely the guys were hanging around to help us devour this plate or things might have gotten a little out of hand.

We baked off two full batches and half-baked another two for freezer stash, to pull out, bake and enjoy hot and fresh as the craving arises.

As far as the recipe goes, we both decided that they should have been brushed with melted butter instead of oil like the recipe calls for, and that they'd be the perfect platform for playing around with sweet and savory seasonings other than salt. I'm adding them into rotation to serve as dinner rolls for sure!

Nostalgic

2009-03-04T10:29:00.003-06:00

For as long as I can remember, one of the ways I (and we) mark time is through all things motorcycling. And this time of year, when the European motorcycle racing season gets underway (last weekend, WSB at Phillip Island...way to go Ben!) and we start to think about being able to get our own bikes out of hibernation, I always start dreaming of Spain.

Espana.

If I could pack my bags and move anywhere in the world, I'm certain that one of the many gorgeous, ancient little towns in Spain would be high on my list. Look at a map and find a place that's tucked into a puddle of twisty roads, and that's where you'd find me. I'd grow lavender, raise pigs and goats and make cheese. And jamon, of course. You can come over for lunch. I'll make you a bocadilla.

My pangs are especially acute this Spring, on account of having used up my very last teaspoon of this:

Purchased right in the place where it was made, in a tiny shop in Jarandilla, this is the one and only souvenier I brought back from my trip to Spain. Because trying to cram two weeks of stuff onto the back of a motorcycle can put a serious damper on a girl's shopping mojo.

That was a few years ago, and this tin has been around since, nestled among my other spices, ready and waiting to provide a hit of that intense, distinctive sensory memory that is smoked Spanish paprika. And as spices are wont to do, it lost a lot of it's oomph long ago, but it didn't matter because just extracting it from my spice shelf, admiring the pretty tin and prying open the lid was enough to bring me back.

And yea, I could just go order some more (from my favorite Spanish food hookup, www.tienda.com), but that feels like cheating.
Instead, I'm taking it as my official notice to start planning (and saving!), and to set a date for my return stock-up trip :)

BTW, I think I may have mentioned it before, but if you want to see and know and drool over Spain, the show "Spain: On the Road Again" on PBS is AMAZING with a capital A. Talk about fits of nostalgia. It's a lot about food (two of the stars are Mario Batalli and Mark Bittman from the NYT) but it also takes you on a bunch of sightseeing adventures, foodie and otherwise. It's like eating your way around Spain but without the calories and with plenty of siestas and spa breaks. My favorite host on the series is the Spanish actress Claudia Bassols, who is so fun and smart and funny and freaking gorgeous that you just can't take your eyes off her.
I think there's only ten or twelve episodes total, but it seems like it's been playing in reruns almost constantly, and it's completely worth your TiVo space.

Homemade Tortilla Enchiladas

2009-03-03T13:15:00.003-06:00

All put together and ready to tuck into the oven for dinner:

This batch was stuffed with some leftover shredded chicken, cooked brown rice, a (drained) can of black beans and one of corn, a can of diced green chiles and some grated sharp cheddar plus cumin, corainder, chili powder, Mexican oregano, salt and pepper. You'll also want a can or bottle of your favorite prepared enchilada sauce and some chopped fresh cilantro for garnish once you pull it out of the oven. Quick and easy, 100% from the pantry and leftovers, and the filling is just as tasty heated up by itself in a bowl as it is wrapped up and baked if you're short on time.

Anyway, as the title of the post suggests, I made the tortillas from scratch. More because I was too lazy to go to the grocery store than anything else, but it turns out flour tortillas are quick and easy and pretty much completely worth the effort and it's something I'm definitely going to continue to do. And in general, I find that I am making bread products from scratch more and more lately because I am so totally over all of the processed weirdness of 99% of supermarket breads and it seems like that and the overall quality are just getting worse and worse. So these totally win on that account, too.

The recipe I used was:
2c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. oil
3/4 c. warm water

Basically you just mix up the ingredients and knead for a bit until the dough smooths out, then let it rest for a while...like 30 mins. to an hour but I think you could let this go as long as works for your schedule. And generally speaking, longer resting (technically called retarding)=more flavor anyway. After that it gets divided up into eight balls, rested for a few more minutes, rolled out into thin rounds and cooked in a hot, dry cast iron skillet. That's it.

I gather that these are considered more of a tex-mex style tortilla in that they're thicker and chewier, and I liked that about them. And mine totally did NOT turn out round, but that's ok. I think getting them perfectly round takes either your Mexican grandmother, a whole lot of practice with the rolling pin or a tortilla press...none of which I have. Totally delicious nevertheless.

Now Playing Next Door

2009-03-02T12:39:00.004-06:00

So Big Love?
We've been watching it up on DVD over the last couple of months, and I have to say that the more episodes I see, the more I am creeped out by the similarities between the characters on that show and my neighbors.

As in my real life neighbors, in their real life. Other than the polygamy thing, that is.

Now, I am not one to want to talk snark about my neighbors because, superficially at least, they are seriously the best, least offensive neighbors one could possibly ask for, but they're a little outside the boundary of what I consider the spectrum of normal. And sometimes I just have a hard time keeping my observations about their whole deal to myself.
Especially when life imitates art.

So, outside the boundary of normal, as in they have a double digit number of kids. All theirs. And showing no signs of stopping. We're talking a constant state of pregnancy or having just given birth.

And outside the boundary of normal in that the girls and women don't wear shorts or tank tops, ever. Or cut their hair. Or style their hair beyond a braid down the middle of their back. And no makeup, ever.

And everyone, including every member of whatever clan or sect or family they're from that we've ever seen, dresses like they could be stand-in's for the Juniper Creek characters, and Nikki, on Big Love.

So yea. Creepy.

Return of Squishee

2009-02-26T12:20:00.003-06:00

Herrow friends! Dis is da Mast-o-Dog speakin to tells you dat my mommie fwinally got around to da restuffin of ma bed. I am wreel happy abowt dis on acoutnta dat my old bed was knot squishee at all anymore, wich my mommie sez is becuz dat was wonna dem el cheepo beds fwom cause co. So herbs twook out all dat fwattened stuffin and put in dis stuff she cawls shwedded memery fowam, froms da upowlstery swupply. An lemme tells yoo, it is fwantabulously cwomfortable, sos dad I doo not entend to git up at awl tooday. I ams just gonna sweep and reewax on dis new bed foreber!

and as if dat was knot enuf, herbs eben restuffind ma up stares bed, too! isn't dat just da bwestest thing eber? twoo squishified noo beds!

pee.ess. it is snowen awot here, sos dat it is now compweetwe white out dere, wich makes da entended pwan to sweep and reewax all day eben more pwerfekt!

Sharpening Up

2009-02-25T13:13:00.004-06:00

Got knives?
I'm ashamed to admit that I have a whole drawer full. Many, many more than one would actually need, which, considering my impatience for clutter and non-used stuff, makes me something of a hypocrite in the knife department.
So here's my confession and the reason why the state of things in my knife drawer is what it is: For a long time, when I would start to find the knives in my drawer lacking in the sharpness department, I would just go and buy a new one. Because dull knives (and cheap knives, for that matter) drive me CRAZY, and they're dangerous. (As a side note, I think that a lot of the reason some people don't like to cook or think it's too much work is related to ghetto or dull knives.)
Now, don't get me wrong...I'm fully capable of showing my knives the steel that's parked next to them in the drawer, but the fact is that a sharpening steel is for honing a blade, and after a while, a knife blade needs more than that to get it back to perfectly razor sharp and able to hold an edge.
And I knew this, and a lot of my knives were definitely at this point. And for years and years, I have been saying and intending to take my collection in to be professionally sharpened, meaning ground and re-edged, so that they would be back at a point where a few passes over the steel makes the blade as good and sharp as new.
But I just never made it happen.
And then recently, finding room for not a single new knife in my drawer, and therefore not a single truly sharp knife amongst my collection, I decided I needed to take matters into my own hands once and for all.
So I took a deep breath and decided to buy a sharpening stone and learn how to re-edge a knife on my own.
And after a bunch of looking around and reading up, I decided to stick to the basics, and bought a simple, two sided stone from this place, because they were inexpensive and basic, and what I came to realize is that sharpening a knife is truly a basic thing once you get to know the general gist of it. Among other places, there is some awesome DIY info here. I found the pictorial thing at the bottom particuarly helpful.

I don't think I'm a pro at it yet, but now that I've had a chance to give it a go, the little bit of money and time I've invested in learning and practicing with my new stone has paid off with a collection of knives that's in a much better state than it used to be. And trust me...I know it's one of those things that seems like a dark art and that it's tempting to think you need one of those expensive set ups to get it right, but you really, really don't. Even with the simplest of equipment, it's a skill I think you'll have well in hand with just a little practice, and it's one of those things I wish I would have learned and embraced YEARS ago.

So, if you're like me and have some knives that are making your cooking adventures less than enjoyable, get going and get yourself knowed-up on sharpening how-to beyond just using a steel. You'll be SO glad you did!

Of Boy and Cake

2009-02-22T18:02:00.004-06:00

Excerpt from one of todays' conversations with Boy:

Boy: "I once rented a movie just because I knew (via sondb.com. yes really.) that Linda Hamilton appeared naked in it.
me: "Linda Hamilton? Was she hot? Because I always sort of thought she was homely"
Boy: "yea, but she had great hair"
me: "yea, I had great hair in the 80's, too"
Boy: "I know."
me: "How do you know, you didn't know me in the 80's?"
Boy: "I've seen pictures."
me: "Ah. So do you secretly pine away for me to go back to my 80's hair?"
Boy: "Hell no. I can't handle you now. I can't imagine what it would have been like trying to handle you back then."
me: "dude. I'm so blogging that."

And then. What captured my first thought upon waking up this morning, pestered the back of my mind the whole day, and caused me to make us eat a salad dinner at the very senior citizen-like hour of 5pm, just so I could get to it sooner?

Coconut Layer Cake:

OMFD. This is the cake to beat all cakes, unless you hate coconut. But seriously, even if you are one of those people, this cake is so good it might convert you. It's really, insanely delicious, and I am the worst of the worst when it comes to being a dessert and cake snob so I feel like that is really saying something.
I used to think the coconut cake they have at YUM!, with the seven minute icing was the greatest thing ever, particularly because it has custard between the layers, but this one, ahem....takes the cake...by a mile.

I do have a couple of gripes with the recipe, namely that mine sunk in the middle and the cream cheese icing turns out too runny if you make it as written, but with a couple of tiny tweaks, this is now most assuredly the greatest cake recipe in my collection. Like forever. Really.
It's dense and moist and rich with just the right amount contrast via the cream cheese frosting, and it seems to just be getting better after a couple of days in the fridge.
It's cake nirvana.

So the sinking thing, according to the goddess of cake baking, Rose Levy Beranbaum (who has a blog...who knew!), is due to too much baking powder or too big a pan, so despite the fact that I followed the recipe exactly, I think I will take the advice of the reviewers and make 3-8" layers instead of 2-9" next time. Or reduce the baking powder a bit as she suggests. And the icing thing is an easy fix. It calls for 1/2c. of Coco Lopez which is convenient because then between the cake and the frosting you end up using up the whole can, but it's just too much liquid. So you can either scale that back to just a couple of tablespoons (or none, and use coconut extract instead) or increase the powdered sugar by a cup or so, or both.
Anyway, that's why mine looks a little gloppy and unevenly frosted, plus the fact that it was still a bit warm in this photo. But I'm telling you, the end product is so freakin tasty that I can overlook those deficits and wholeheartedly endorse this recipe. It's one you absolutely MUST make. Plus it's sort of gorgeous in all it's shaggy messiness, no?

I did tweak just a bit by lightly toasting the coconut (because not toasting coconut is like not toasting nuts: a failure to capitalize on a major flavor and texture improving opportunity) and adding a 1/4tsp. or so of coconut extract to both the cake batter and the icing, but that's it. With these plus the tweaks I've mentioned above, I know this is going to be my stand-by favorite cake recipe for probably the rest of, like, ever.

So I'm going to go on record here and now and announce that this is the cake I want for every birthday that I am fortunate enough to get to have from now on.
Now, if only I can train Boy to make it, I'll be all set.

Channeling My Inner Miami

2009-02-18T18:28:00.004-06:00

All hail, the Cubano:

This one was enjoyed as tonights dinner, along with some steamed chilled green beans and carrot sticks. On paper plates, because we're talking street food here.

Did you know this sandwich is unique to south Florida? I didn't, until about half a minute ago.

If you've never had the pleasure of a Cubano, aka a Cuban sandwich, and you can't run right down to Miami and get one, I'll help you out.
It's a simple combo of ham and roast pork with swiss cheese, dill pickles and mustard. That's it other than the bread, which, just like great sandwiches the world over, is the defining characteristic. According to a quick online knowin-up, there's no such thing as Cuban bread outside Miami, but I promise you'll do just fine with a good puffy Italian or French loaf. I used baguette which is really a little too crusty, but hey, it's what I had on hand.

So it sounds easy, and almost a little boring right? But believe this white girl from the 'burbs when she tells you that it's one of those combinations of ingredients that sings and once you have an authentic Cubano, it'll be one of those flavor memories that sticks with you for life. Good, simple street food has a way of doing that, doesn't it?

In lieu of roast pork shoulder or some other more flavorful but huge cut that I was not prepared to address on this particular day, I did a quick braise with some boneless loin chops in beer plus cumin, coriander, a bit of chilli powder, salt, pepper and oregano. I tossed the still partially frozen chops into a pan with the rest of this stuff and just let it simmer with a cover on for three hours, until I could break the meat up easily with a fork. After that, I reduced the liquid and gave everything a good final toss before piling it on the sandwiches with the rest of the ingredients.
If you can, use a good honey roasted or glazed sliced ham, because with the acid of the pickles and mustard, the sandwich definitely benefits from sweeter ham.
I cooked mine on the pannini press, but an authentic Cubano is flat, pressed and cooked on a flat griddle, or plancha. You could replicate either of these methods with a cast iron skillet and a second pan on top of the sandwich to press it down. The flatter and more mushed together the ingredients, the better. Some recipes I looked at say to brush the outside of the bread with butter before griddling. I don't see how that could be bad.
Most importantly you have to cut it on the diagonal, or it just won't taste right.

So go cook yourself up a taste of Miami. It's a variation on the regular old ham and cheese that I think you'll come to love!

Who Needs A Doggie Bag?

2009-02-17T18:14:00.004-06:00

No, not that kind. I don't do foil swans.

You know...there are days when I wander up to my studio with absolutely zero idea of what I'm going to work on and then all of the sudden I'll look at the clock and realize I've been in the craft zombie zone for four hours.
And believe it or not, there are days when something cute actually comes of all that.

Anyway, I meant this kind of doggie bag:

This is a pumped up version of one of my old favorites, the Flap Bag that can be worn across the body or around the waist. Chocolate brown leather with a 2" gusset and a separate welt pocket on the back. And doggies. Don't forget about the doggies:

More Robotic Craftiness

2009-02-16T18:23:00.003-06:00

The eye candy...er...eye cookie?... from Saturday's post reminded me that I have been intending to do a royal icing cookie tutorial for ages. And I sort of recalled having taken a bunch of in-progress photos on that subject long, long ago, but when I finally tracked those images down, it turns out they all sort of suck. Which would explain why I never got around to writing up the tutorial. So I'm going to revisit that project for the sole purpose of showing you just how it's done, because it's a fun and easy edible craft that's SO not as hard as it looks. Besides, I didn't get to eat enough of the Valentine batch which means I still have a craving for them, so yea, it's partly about indulging my sugar addiciton, too. I can promise you that the finished cookies are a surefire way to impress anyone who loves a good cookie and they make excellent gifts or party favors, so stay tuned for the full how-to coming soon.

Anyway.
Here's the fruits of todays' (and Fridays) labor:

find it in my Etsy shop just as soon as I can get some better pics.

Hope everyone survived their Monday!

Sweet!

2009-02-14T11:41:00.001-06:00

Thinking Pink

2009-02-13T17:06:00.002-06:00

A little pre-Valentines day hit of tasty colorful cuteness:

I think I'll call this one Pinky...
Get it?
I'm capital O obsessed with the whole idea of fabric insets in leather, so rest assured there will be more to come along these lines. I've got another super duper cute one on the worktable now that I just can't wait to show you!

More Food Geekery re: McGriddle Crack

2009-02-10T10:45:00.005-06:00

Thanks so much to all of you who left comments and suggestions about the great syrup glob Crack at home dilemma! What fun!

So yea, to those of you who wondered....YES!, they're really that good, and YES!, it really is all about the syrup globs being IN the pancakes, and the here-and-there kind of blips of sweet on the tongue that makes Crack what it is, at least for me. So no, just putting syrup in some form on the pancakes doesn't cut it.
And besides, where's the fun in making something easy? :)

I'm definitely going to try the maple sugar bits, and as far as using actual maple syrup goesI've researched all your suggestions for what kind of thickener to use. As I mentioned before, being able to stay a gel when heated is the issue, and it looks like agar-agar might be the best bet...from the website cybercolloids.net:

One of the single biggest users of agar in the west is in the baking industry where the very high melting points of the agar gels make them particularly suitable to the baking process. Agar has good compatibility with sugar and can be used in very high sugar environments that would precipitate most other gums.

I also read that it's used extensively in Asia which leads me to think I may be able to buy it at the Asian market, so I'm adding it to the list for my next United Noodles run.

I should also note that in addition to the method of getting the syrup globs into the pancakes that told you about in the original post, I did in fact, try "scattering" them on top of the already cooking pancakes, and even following that up with a bit more batter as a cover before flipping. Unfortunately, while this method was messier, it wasn't more effective at keeping the globs from melting out.
And freezing the goo, yes. That was my game plan from the outset of this project, but as I suspected, the sugar content in the maple syrup prevented the goo from freezing. Really, there was little to no discernable difference in behavior between the room temp or refrigerated goo globs and the frozen, so I omitted that part as well.

Anyway, rest assured there'll be a round two of this experiment coming sometime soon, but I just want to put out there that both personally and as representative of Crack addicts everywhere, I think Gretchen needs to pump her brother for whatever details he may have gleaned from getting the syrup-glob-in-pancake-machine to work.
I won't tell, I promise :)

For you "enough with the foodgeek stuff" peeps, here's a peek at what went on at Modern in MN over the weekend:

That, friends, is a hack of IKEA's $8.99 TERTIAL desk lamps into wall lamps, complete with cord cover. Check out the step-by-step here.

Homemade Fast Food Fun

2009-02-04T17:34:00.003-06:00

So, yesterday I threatened you with cooking insanity and today I am pleased to bring you that insanity...in full color.

Now, because I am food obsessed and always starving by the time I go to bed, I often spend my pre-sleep minutes thinking about what I can cook for dinner the following evening. And sometimes I consult Boy.
So yes, food is frequently our pillowtalk.
Sad but true.
Anyway.
He started out requesting breakfast for dinner, specifically pancakes, but somehow we ended up on the subject of Crack, code word for our mutually most obsessed-about fast food favorite, the sausage, egg and cheese McGriddle from McDonalds.
We sort of got hooked on them during all those early morning weekends of housebuilding, despite the fact that I did and still do think said combination of foods sounds disgusting (I seriously need to talk to the person responsible for the cheese+pancake combo). And I didn't really even like them at all at first, but somehow, it's now my chosen fast food addiction and from time to time I crave one just like...well...an addict craves crack. It's my desert island fast food item.

Anyway, being that: A. there's no McDonalds close to our house, and B. We almost never get up early enough on the weekends to make Crack last call, we pretty much never get to have Crack anymore. Which is prolly a good thing, given that they are less than nutritious and low-calorie and if you really wanna know the truth, I'm still trying to rid myself of the evidence of all those early morning Crack scores from three years ago.
But somehow the other night with Boy's help, I got it in my head that trying to replicate the sausage, egg and cheese McGridle at home would be a fun project.
And I went to sleep fantasizing about how I was going to get the little syrup blobs into the pancakes. Because that is the holy grail of the McGriddle.

Fast forward to the next day, and I've made the requisite grocery run, complete with the first package of American cheese singles I've bought since like the 80's. (They only come in a 16 pack. Anyone need some cheese singles?)
And then I come home and attack the syrup blob issue...which, considering the other elements are just basic breakfast foods, is really the only question mark in the McGriddle make-at-home challenge.
I poked around on the internet a bit, thinking someone had certainly solved this mystery already, but the best I could find was the suggestion to buy maple syrup "candies" and add them to the pancake batter. I vetoed this idea on the grounds that it seems like they'd stay hard, and what's in the McGriddle pancake is like syrup jello bits.

So I decided to try making syrup jello...with gelatin, despite my suspicions that syrup wouldn't ever really solidify when cold because of the sugar content, and knowing that anything thickened with gelatin melts when heated. And as you'll see, that's exactly what happened, but this approach did get me to the point of having syrup that was solid enough that I could at least get it into globules and into the batter.
I added 1.5 packages of Knox gelatin to 1 c. of pure maple syrup, heated to disolve the gelatin and then poured into a 1/4 sheet pan well coated with cooking spray. The result I was hoping for was something firm enough (like a Knox block, remember those?) to be able to be cut into a small dice, but what I got was gloppier and sticky. It could be cut, but didn't hold it's shape enough to not stick right back together, so after trying in vain to "dice"with a knife, I ended up using a pizza cutter like a rolling food processor, running it through like crazy until it my syrup gel looked like craggy pile of goo:

And when I put the big blobs of goo into the pancake batter and whisked, it conveniently broke back up into little blobs:

I put in about half the syrup goo blobs, so about 1/2c. of syrup to a batch of batter. I used the Joy of Cooking Buttermilk Pancake recipe, but any would work, you just want it fairly thick, ideally to yeild about a 1/2" thick pancake. I ended up cooking a off few tests and then adding a bit more flour. I was going for about a 3" diameter cake.
A nonstick griddle is a must, here, because as I predicted, the jello bits basically melt and run out once they're heated. With a bit of nugding, however, I was able to get my pancakes cooked and flipped fairly decently but I did have to stop to wash the maple syrup goo off my spatula once or twice.
Here's what they looked like:

The ingredients all ready to go:

And the assembled product:

I was taking great pains to get the scrambled egg cooked in a thin layer and then folded ala the inspiration sandwich, so it was funny to find that when I went to look at the ingredient list for the actual McGriddle, it lists "folded egg". If you want them puffy and spongy like the original, whisk in a little baking powder before cooking. I used 1 egg per sandwich.
My sausage rounds ended up a little too thick and small. Basically, what you want to do is take any brand of pork breakfast sausage that comes in a tube, slice it into about 1/2" thick rounds and then flatten until they're 1/4" thick or less, and maybe 4" diameter.

I found that it worked just fine to cook off and reserve all of these individual ingredients. Once we were ready to eat, I just assembled the sandwiches without the cheese, and reheated for a few seconds in the microwave. Put the cheese on afterward, otherwise it gets infernally hot and melts completely away.

I'm calling this little adventure a win, because despite the melting syrup blob issue the pancakes still came out pretty close to the real Crack pancakes, and Boy and I both thought the final product was delicious. Plus, that it was being consumed fresh and hot at 7pm with no driving around bleary-eyed in pajamas seemed like a victory.

It won't end here though. Thanks to molecular gastronomy, there are now any number of food additives and thickeners with properties beyond that of ordinary gelatin that are avaliable to the home cook, so as soon as I figure out which one I can use that doesn't melt under heat, I'm going to get some and try again with the gelled syrup thing. My research and speculation so far points to sodium alginate or modified tapioca starch, but if you're a M.G. buff or a food scientist, please feel free to advise...

The Cutest, Now in Leather!

2009-02-03T14:35:00.003-06:00

This is something I've been meaning to get around to for ages, so I'm happy to finally have a finished object to show for all those good intentions...

At long last, the Cutest Bag in leather!

I'm extremely pleased with how this came out and I can't wait to explore the possibilities for leather+ fabric and leather+leather in this style. This particular version was commisioned by Boy'sMom, and I have her to thank for providing the nudge I needed to give the ever-adorable and practical Cutest Bag pattern the necessary tweaks to be able to start offering it in leather.

I do love me some stitching detail here at S.C., and this bag offers that plus some nifty leather piping along the opening edges.
Now if I can only find time to make one for myself!

p.s. Major cooking insanity coming up...if you could eat only a single fast food item for the rest of your life, what would it be? I'll show you a home cooked version of my pick tomorrow!

It's a B Kind of Day

2009-01-29T17:32:00.003-06:00

First off, check it:

This insanely cute custom little beauty for the BlackBerry Curve, with it's matching wristlet went into the mail today. But I could have admired it all afternoon, really, because it was just that fun!

Then, a bowl of yumminess that Boy, who is out to dinner on business tonight, would have wanted to run from. Oven blasted balsamic-glazed beets and broccoli with brown Basmati rice and creamy balsamic drizzle:

For something so simple and vegetable-y, seriously, deliciously amazing and it took all of 10 minutes worth of prep. Of course there isn't a single thing you can do to a beet that I wouldn't love. And to think that a year ago, I had never purchased or eaten a beet in my life, and now I sort of dream about them and all the amazing things that can be conjured up with them. (thanks CSA!)

I've been feeling like utter yuck in the gastrointestinal department (which I'm certain is the result of eating too much meat and dairy of late), so as much as I miss having Boy home for dinner, I was sort of glad for the opportunity to be able to make something healthful without having to worry about him. Because while Boy almost never complains, he also does not adore the veg-intense, busting-with-health meals in the way that I do and I hate feeling like I've cooked him up a plate of misery.
So while I'm here whining about winter and pining away for the return of CSA and summer veggie abundance, Boy is celebrating veggie vacation and loving that he gets to eat more of anything NOT veggie.
Sad but true.

Blog Fodder

2009-01-27T14:38:00.003-06:00

So, Boy's workplace is in an office complex where their neighboring tenant is one of those social service agencies that helps developmentally disabled adults enter the workforce, or is like a daycare, or something. Which I think is great. Except for the fact that their two offices share a common restroom, and that one or more of this agencies' clients has bathroom "issues" on a fairly regular basis.
And without going into too much detail, these issues range from not understanding the social more that is closing the stall door, to poop problems that necessitate rubber gloves, a mop, bucket and a change of clothing, to um...engaging in activities of personal pleasure.

omg.
do not.
even.
think.
about the.
um.

body fluids.

anyway
I have to say that it's really pretty funny to hear the stories from Boy about the day's bathroom events, and to hear about Boy's coworkers reactions to these bathroom events. Of course not working there and not having to actually use the bathroom in question makes it slightly easier to maintain a sense of humor about the whole thing.
Fortunately Boy is very easy going so for the most part he takes it all in stride and/or just pees when he is out to lunch.
But the same cannot be said for everyone in his office.
Because understandably, coming face to face with a poo-mergency, or even with the aftermath of a poo-mergency...at the office.... can be a little off-putting.

Now, whether a poo-mergency is more or less off-putting than walking in and finding completely naked guy just standing there, I'm not sure.

I keep telling him he needs to start a blog.

Who Wants Cake?

2009-01-25T11:47:00.003-06:00

I was at Costco the other day to pick up my first new pair of glasses in 11 years (and some Cheerios. did you know they have gargantuan, doublewide boxes of Cheerios at Costco for like $5?). And yes, my first new glasses in 11 years, because I hate glasses and feel like I'm swimming when I wear them so I only use them to read in bed or when I first get up, but my previous pair had lost a nosepiece about three years ago and wearing them like that was starting to bug me. So I figured I'd give Costco optical a try, and it turns out you can get a decent looking pair of glasses for like $150 total, AND they have disposable contacts IN STOCK.
Anyway, in the vision department, that whole adventure was a major win, but my point is that I was also looking for media because I was desperate for something to read. And I did find a book I was interested in, and one of the other things I came across was this recipe book/magazine by Americas Test Kitchen. Not something I would typically buy, the overpriced little recipe compilation issues of magazines, but I do like the ATK TV show even though I commonly find their recipe tweaks and methods to be completely over the shark (most recently, spending 6 hours carmelizing onions in the oven for onion soup, or putting vodka in pastry crust, because nothing about pie crust is so difficult as to require me keeping chilled vodka on hand).
Anyway, I decided it was probably a worthwhile purchase despite being deeply offended by the Tiramisu recipe that calls for rum (um, hello? rum? marsala or Frangelico or it's not Tiramisu). And that shameful wrongness aside, I found several recipes I would make and gleaned some great tips, like tossing the potato wedges for oven fries in cornstarch before baking them to get them crispier.

And then I decided to make the recipe for Texas Sheet Cake, because I had the ingredients on hand and I needed a sugar fix.
And now I have a sheet cake here, that is, well, Texas-sized.
um, duh.
So come on over if you feel like some cake.

p.s. thanks for the replies about heartbreaking work. i feel so much better!

Random Commentary

2009-01-22T11:01:00.002-06:00

First of all, I feel the need to announce that Trader Joe's Mayonaise is like eighty bajillion times better than Hellmans.
Really.
It tastes fresh and real and almost like it was just whipped up in my kitchen.
Who knew.
Thanks to Ms. Knit-Whit for that, or her mom by way of her sister-not-in-law.
Long story, but did you know that some people put mayo on a grilled cheese? I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to.

Anyway.

The other thing is, I just finished reading Dave Eggers "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius", and I feel I need some literary-type person to explain to me what the big deal is.
Even if that means talking to me like a second grader, really.
Please.
Because it's a highly acclaimed book and a Pulitzer prize finalist, but I just don't get it.

I found it tedious.
And occasionally annoying.
And it's not a book I would ever think twice about much less think was important or recommend-able.

So seriously, can someone who is smart about these kinds of things tell me what it is exactly, about this book that is supposedly so earth shattering? Like is it a style thing, or what?
Because I feel like there is some memo I never got.
And if you've just been shocked by my ignorance in such a way that you're calling me an idiot to yourself, that's OK.
Because I probably am.
And if you can grant me the patience to explain it, even it's in the same way you'd explain something to a five year old, I'll love you.
Because I just need to know.

Lets Talk Community Supported Agriculture

2009-01-20T11:59:00.004-06:00

A couple of things crossed my path today that got me thinking...anticipating...Spring. And maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit, but with some things you need to turn up early to get the good stuff.
And when it comes to choosing and signing up for a CSA farmshare, turning up early is always advisable, so I figured I'd pass that reminder along to y'all.

So yea, it's still January, and the growing season, at least in MN is still months away, but I speak from experience when I tell you that now is the time to start doing your homework to get yourself set up with a CSA share for the coming season.

Regardless of where you live, the Local Harvest website is a fantastic resource for all things edible. There you'll find the information you need to study up and choose the perfect partner to provide you with a seasons' worth of lovely local produce.

Here's a peek at one of the final boxes from the '08 season:

Our share was with Riverbend Farm, and if you're local to the Twin Cities, I highly recommend Greg and Mary and crew.

I found that photo in my picture files, waiting since last Fall to be uploaded to the set that documented the contents of each weeks' box for our entire season with Riverbend Farm. If you're curious to know what you could expect from a CSA farmshare, check those photos out here.
And I know I've said it before, but I really can't shout loud enough about the awesomeness that is CSA. I know it may seem like a lot of money to put forth all at once...for vegetables...but I know that wherever you live and whatever CSA farm you choose, you'll find it's an excellent value with a payoff that goes well beyond just fresh veggies.

So go get started on your homework, ok?

Spinach Mushroom Pizza, My Favorite!

2009-01-19T13:20:00.003-06:00

I had some spinach and a container of mushrooms burning a hole in my produce drawer all week, and the obvious answer came to me yesterday afternoon when trying to figure out what yumminess we could conjure up for dinner without leaving the house.
That yumminess, for me anyway, turned out to be spinach-mushroom pizza:

This one with just goat cheese, because I am at the point of being almost completely unable to deal with anything cows' milk other than yogurt.

The spinach-mushroom combo is an old favorite of mine that more or less fell out of favor when I met my mushroom hater, but fortunately for us all, I also had some ham in the fridge, and according to Boy, "anything with ham is my favorite". So that's his ham and mozzarella pizza there in the back.
Suprisingly it smelled pretty good, but it was nowhere near as inviting as my garlic-y pile of sauteed spinach and mushroom love.

And I still have the leftovers waiting for me in the fridge. One of the many bonuses of living with a mushroom hater.

The Bad, Bad Thing I Did

2009-01-15T15:23:00.003-06:00

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have already heard my confession. If not, here it is in living color:

Say hello to my new favorite gadget, an Acer Aspire One mini-notebook.

Either I haven't been spending enough time channeling my inner Asian teenager, or I'm just getting old and slow, because I only recently discovered the wonder that is the "netbook" despite the fact that they've been around for a while.
And ever since then, no matter how hard I tried to resist, my craving for one just kept coming back.

Because I am sucker for all things trial-size.

So I finally broke down and ordered one last week. And despite the fact that Boy thinks it's the dumbest, most useless thing ever, he's already named it Junior, aka The Little Guy. Because engineers have a habit of naming all their computers...or "machines" as they're called by my favorite resident computer geek. And I'm taking this as proof that he secretly thinks it's just the slightest bit cool.

Anyway, me and my new machine...Junior...have been getting to know each other. And so far I think it's just about the coolest thing ever, because it's tiny and super light but it works basically just like a full size laptop, albeit slightly dumbed down. I got the older A110 model because it was available with a version of Linux (my long-time OS of choice), but you can get it with XP, too, and it's just been announced that there'll be a 10" screen version out shortly (this one as an 8.5" screen).

As you can probably imagine, I'm already at work on a cute and nifty new case for it!

Designer Denim

2009-01-14T15:46:00.004-06:00

These days, I'm way too cheap to spend $200 on jeans for myself, but that doesn't mean I won't foot the bill to outfit PupCake in some designer denim. I hear he keeps a fabulous tailor at his beck and call, and his with his killer figure, he deserves nothing but the best:

You know they say most people treat their pets better than they treat themselves, and we're no exception. I think this is custom made garment number three or four (not counting the locker full of collars and leashes) for him, compared to zero human garments. Pretty good for a guy who does nothing more than lounge around and look cute 90% of the time.

I finally got my act together enough that this latest ensemble even comes with a matching leash and collar set, complete with monogrammed tag.

Now if only it would get above zero we could go on a walk and show off!

New Year, New Leaf

2009-01-12T19:13:00.004-06:00

This new leaf shot up and was ready to present itself to the world right around the first of the year, and I've enjoyed watching it unfurl a bit more every day since. As of today it's almost completely open, but it has a way to go before it will reach its final height:

I've had this plant for almost a year and it's been growing like crazy despite having done nothing to it other than watering and the occasional dose of fertilizer. Because to be a houseplant around here means being easy to grow and unfussy...or being subjected to a slow, tortuous death. Because I refuse to nurse picky plants. Just ask my (former) lemon tree.
Anyway, I think I got this one at IKEA for $19.99, and as with all new houseplant acquisitions, I wasn't expecting too much but for that price, having it here as long as it would take me to kill it would have meant me feeling like I got my moneys' worth.
But grow and thrive it has, and I'm thrilled, because one of the things I've always thought would be fun for this house is huge, tall plants. I even went so far as to start researching bamboos that were indoor container friendly, but I talked myself out of that because it seemed like most of the varieties that were easy to grow indoors either weren't tall or weren't suited to the light conditions in here. Plus they were expensive and hard to get.
But, ready or not, it seems I may be well on my way to having my first huge, tall plant, as I've now got going on ten feet of what I think is a species of Musa (aka banana). But I'm dreading having to repot it more and more with each new leaf addition, because aside from the physical challenge that will be getting it out of its existing pot and into a new one unharmed, big pots are way, way expensive. Like hundreds of dollars expensive.
yikes.
So the only other comment I have on that subject is the thing better not freakin croak after I buy it a $300 new pot...

Baking Bread

2009-01-11T13:38:00.003-06:00

Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire, from The Bread Bakers Apprentice, which I think is a great book, particularly if you're into baking geekery because it gives fairly extensive how and why of different ingredients and techniques. It's one that I don't bake from nearly enough.

I only sort of followed the recipe. I didn't have any wheat bran and was loathe to go buy some just for a couple of tablespoons worth, so I used extra of the other grains. These included oats, polenta-style cornmeal, cooked brown rice, and most interestingly, quinoa. The quinoa I just happened to have a bit of laying around, leftover from last summers' experiments with it where I discovered I didn't heart it as much as I would have hoped. (Revisit that adventure here.)
And I didn't have the instant yeast called for (or rather I have a whole huge pagackage that seems to be dead despite having been stored in the freezer) so I just used a package of good old Red Star from my pantry and added it to the liquids to hydrate it first instead of the direct method, i.e. adding it to the dry ingredients, as is possible with instant yeast.

I was trying for a baguette shape, but I hadn't made this particular recipe before and I realized once I had shaped and set the loaves to rise that it's not really that kind of a dough. So they got a little flat and pudgy but it's a shape that will work great for sandwiches when sliced through the middle.

And it's darn tasty, too. A bit sweet for my palate, but that makes great for eating plain with just butter and the texture is nice and chewy with the combination of grains. The topping is nigella seed because my poppy seeds were, um, not usable. Turns out the nigella is a win...peppery and spicy and a nice foil to the sweetness....yum!
We ate a bit with our leftover squash soup from the other night an the rest got stashed in the freezer. And I have to say that knowing I have homemade bread of any sort in the freezer makes me just so, so happy. Much more so than other kinds of leftovers.

No Short Bus for PupCake

2009-01-09T10:50:00.005-06:00

Ahh Greyhounds.
No matter how well adjusted and happy, they always seem to be just a little bit neurotic, like it or not.
Unlike most normal dogs, PupCake has never, ever shown any interest in getting up on the furniture. To this day, he's never been on any sofa or chair in the house, preferring any one of his three beds to those lowly human perches. And our bed? Forget it. He's never even considered it. So while it's sort of nice that I dont' have to worry about every comfortable sitting and lying surface in the house getting dog-ified, it's also hard not to take it a little bit personally when I try and get him to jump up on the bed for a snuggle and he runs away in fear to his own bed and then shoots me a look that proclaims "safe!"
It's like he doesn't get that the people bed is a prized and comfortable place to lie.
And silly me, I was almost ready to believe he was really that ignorant, but you'll note I said Greyhounds are neurotic, not stupid. They only pretend to be stupid, as evidenced by the fact that PupCake's human-beds-are-scary rule applies only to his home.
I know this because every time we go to grandmas, the first thing he does is jump right up onto her bed and make himself comfortable, with a look like "um, duh, why wouldn't I choose to lie here?...it's a BED for dogs' sake". It's the craziest thing ever, and I have to say that the first time it happened I was more than slightly relieved to know he wasn't so much of a short bus rider that he didn't know a comfy spot from a danger zone.
Anyway, even after lots of human bed practice at grandmas, the the only way Dad's gonna get some PupCake love when he's in bed with a headache is if someone physically puts him up there...in which case he settles right in and proceeds to hog every inch of space. Because the (furry) guy's got a lot of leg, you know?

I Hate Squash

2009-01-08T22:49:00.002-06:00

I guess this counts for a What's For Dinner Wednesday since I made it on Wednesday and it was something new:

Creamy squash and root vegetable soup. But in truth, it's more like faux creamy since it really only had about 1/4c. of cream in the whole pot. No recipe this time, just a winging-it compilation of freezer and fridge scraps.
I started with a container of squash from our CSA that I had roasted and tucked away in the freezer last fall, plus half a can of leftover organic pumpkin puree that was hanging out with it. I had a couple of turnips and parsnips in my veg drawer...leftovers from Thanskgiving... and I rough chopped those plus a couple of carrots and onions and roasted everything in a hot oven for a half hour or so. Once the fresh stuff had a bit of color, I dumped it into a stockpot with the frozen stuff and some pressed garlic, thyme, olive oil and grated ginger, plus a bit of coriander and cumin and then let the whole deal simmer in a quart of chicken stock until the veg were nice and soft and starting to break down. At that point it was into the blender to puree, back into the pot, adjust the seasonings and then let it simmer happily away until dinner time.
The crisps happen to be the companion to an actual squash soup recipe that popped up on Epicurious, basically just cheesy crostini with a little fresh herb added, and they were the perfect compliment.
I hate squash, but this rocked and I had two bowls. Even Boy went back for seconds, and the leftovers were just as good tonight. Easy, tasty and healthy and perfect for a cold winter night!

Multitasking

2009-01-08T15:28:00.006-06:00

OK, so I just had to tell someone that I've just observed a person on the trail behind my house walking and reading a book.
Does that count as an upper body workout, then, too?

Partners in Caffeine Crime

2009-01-07T18:44:00.004-06:00

A while back your friend and mine, Mariko over super eggplant at gifted me these neato insulated Bodum cups:

I dunno if she was aware of my Bodum obsession prior to that or not, but it was a gift that hit the mark, because as I think I've told you before, I am and have always been completely obsessed with all things Bodum and borosilicate glass.
And so they got a lot of use. And ever since Boy gave up drinking Mountain Dew a few months ago (gack! Yay Boy!), he's become quite the coffee fiend. So despite the fabulous win that is having a new coffee maker in residence, we often found ourselves fighting for rights to the one remaining Bodum insulated cup...because one of our lameass kitties broke the other one.

Anyway, I figured it was time to invest in a few more cups so the other day I paid a visit to the delicious Bodum website to pick up a couple more sets, and while I was there I just couldn't resist getting some of the larger cooler-size glasses to match. Because they were all on sale for like LESS than half price. But, what with coffee being the slippery slope that it is, it didn't take long for Boy to discover that what goes down easy from a small cup, goes down even better with a large one:

And of course I was quick to follow him down that hole.
That co-dependence thing, ya know.

p.s. I just checked, and they're still on sale. Practically free. Seriously.

One Piece Welt Pocket

2009-01-05T14:48:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd start off the new year with a nifty little sewing tutorial. If you're a non-sewer, quit here or you'll almost certainly be bored to tears, but don't worry, because I'm sure I'll be back to food and other crafty stuff shortly :)

As you are probably aware, I sew... a lot. And I take a great deal of pride in producing and selling only things that are as perfect as I can make them, a fact that, when it comes to handsewn goods, can be at odds with needing to keep the whole endeavour worth my while financially. So I'm always looking for ways to work that are both better and faster, and this little trick is one of the handy shortcuts that I've come up with that I absolutely love.

I'm going to address welt pockets specifically, but this technique was actually born from a method I devised for zipper pockets whereby the zipper tape is covered even on the reverse side (tutorial coming soon I hope).
This is a one piece method, meaning you achieve a complete welt pocket using only a single piece of fabric insead of two pieces for the pocket bag plus two separate strips of fabric for the welting as with the standard method. The finished welt pocket looks like this:

Looks complicated and time consuming, right? Not!

1. First, calculate and cut your pocket bag fabric. For the width figure the finished pocket opening size and add 2". For the length, double the desired pocket bag depth and add 4" to 6".

In my case, I want a finished opening that is 7" wide with a 1" wide welt, and I want my pocket to end up 8" deep, so I cut my bag fabric 9" wide by 22" long, or, (2x8)+6. If you're planning a narrower welt opening, your welts will use less fabric so you can cut the pocket fabric a bit shorter.

2. Locate and mark the top of the opening on right side of (fashion) fabric.

3. Lay the strip of pocket bag fabric out flat on top of the fashion fabric, right sides together*. Align the top of the pocket bag piece 1 1/2" plus the width of the welt from the top of edge of the welt opening. In this case, the top edge of the pocket extends 2 1/2" above the top edge of the intended opening.

4. Carefully mark stitching lines for the pocket opening on the pocket bag. The whole arrangement ready to stitch should look something like this:

5. Stitch the pocket opening as accurately as possible using a short (2-2.5mm) stitch length.

6. Cut opening, being careful to center the cut and snipping in a "V" as close to opening corners as possible without cutting beyond stitching. An x-acto knife works well, and I like to put a drop of FrayCheck in each corner just for insurance.

Now, here's where we deviate from a standard welt pocket. Normally you turn and press this opening. For a zipper pocket you'd have made the opening narrower and you'd put the zipper in now. For a welted pocket, you'd have inserted separate strips of folded fabric, with or without cording inside them, between these layers and then tried to line up and stitch the whole deal, a process that I've always found excessively futzy, messy and do-over prone. I have a better way...

7. Fold the pocket bag fabric back through the opening to the wrong side. Turn the whole piece over and press the pocket bag flat to the wrong side just at the vertical seams at this point, taking care to get the corners as neat and pucker-free as possible:

8. Press the top seam down, making a nice straight fold across entire width of pocket fabric, then turn up edge of pocket fabric along cut edge.

From the front, it should now look like this:

9. Repeat with lower edge.

Pin folds in place from front and topstitch around entire welt opening:

here's what it looks like now, from the right side:

and from the inside (wrong) side:

At this point, I stitched on a snap tab for the closure, but you can omit this or use an alternative:

10. Now form the pocket bag. Fold bottom edge of pocket bag fabric up to meet the top edge. Pin edges and stitch around sides and top, folding fashion fabric back and away as necessary to keep from being caught in stitching. Finish raw edges of pocket bag as desired:

Press, and voila! A simple, neat and tidy one piece welted pocket!

Of course you can use matching rather than contrasting fabric for the pocket if you want a more subdued look. I like to use something contrasting because it shows off the detail of the welt better and adds a little pop and interest to the bag lining. Also keep in mind that if you want a true corded welt pocket this method still works. Just add it by cutting the cording strips the same length as the opening and placing them in the folds before you topstitch everything in place. I think it's a superior method since it's reduces the amount of fabric in the seams and produces a tider, less lumpy looking pocket.

* orienting the fabrics right sides together puts the right side of the pocket fabric on the pocket interior. In certain situations, you may want to change this.

As I said, I hope to have a tutorial for a one piece couture-finish zipper pocket up shortly, and I'll also show you how to do a French seamed pocket bag using this method for pockets that are visible inside a bag.

Oh yea, and Happy New Year!