On Ringo Lake Linky Party

Wow! Those last clues for Bonnie's Mystery quilt came fast and furious on New Years Weekend!

I was a bit behind so I started the weekend by catching up on these pieced triangles.

Next was adding the coral triangles.

I didn't photograph the photograph the "married" brown and coral geese.

But I did feel the need to finish a couple blocks, just to see how they would look. Fabulous! Love these colors together!

I didn't want to make all the blocks until I had determined what size finished quilt I wanted. As you will recall I had been making half of Bonnie's allotment for each clue which would have ended in a square quilt. I've now opted to go with a rectangular quilt and have begun making the bits for 7 more blocks. The last bits tend to be a little low on fabric variety so I like to be able to mix the new bits in with the other bits before I make blocks.

I've made the additional 9-patches and this morning I finished the pieced triangles. I almost forgot to make even a few more pieced triangles for the setting triangles.

While cutting the turquoise fabrics for the pieced triangles I also started cutting squares for the setting triangles. It's really a very ingenious way to make setting triangles and I'm really looking forward to getting to the point where it's time to sew them! On the other hand, I'm being very conscious of how I cut into my remaining turquoise fabrics. I've been collecting them for a year because I'm also making another quilt with them and I'm trying to make the best use of each FQ.

Be sure to check out the linky on Bonnie's Blog. Lots of pretty quilts to gush over...

It was a little chilly here in Western NY over the weekend. I think the lowest I saw was -6F/-21C.

Everything is better with cheese on top.

The weather prompted trying a new recipe for Chicken and Biscuits in the crockpot. The recipe was a winner other than I'll be eating it allllll weeeeeeeeek loooooooong. I'm picking up some more freezer containers today...

Waffles

Well, it seems that I'm not being very diligent in taking pictures at the fair this week. I think it's a combo of the high heat and humidity after a cool summer. Yes, I lived in Miami for 14 years but no, the heat doesn't agree with me in any way, shape or form.

Sunday/Monday/Tuesday were excessively warm. Of course on Sunday/Monday I demoed open hearth cooking and last night we marched in the fireman's parade (with polyester uniforms!). Tonight and tomorrow there might be scattered thunderstorms with flash floods possible tomorrow and then some kind of cold front is moving in. I guess we are going to cover both extremes this week! It wouldn't be the fair if we didn't have either hot or cold weather - it's never middle of the road weather.

The only picture of the food that I demoed is going to give a few certain people the giggles.

On Sunday I cooked with my SIL for 8 hours and we are both overachievers since it's a once a year gig. I made sea pie(1), herb bread, blackberry cake, ham hock soup, tyler tarts(2) and started corn fritters (too hot to finish). Kristie and her boys made butter, sea pie, herb bread, blueberry coffee cake, peach pie and cherry pie.

On Monday I only cooked for 4 hours and start by making a 1234 (cup) cake(3) and wild blackberry sauce for gingerbread waffles. I had intended to finish the corn fritters but, again, it was too hot to finish. When it came time to choose one of Mom's 3 antique waffle irons, there was no debating which one I was going to use!!!

(1) Sea Pie is the last fresh meal the men would have as they went out to sea. It has a layer of veggies, a layer of 2 kinds of meat, a wine cream sauce and a pastry topped by the same again. I used potatoes, carrots, onions, mushrooms, rotissery chicken and venison sausage but it's really a kitchen sink kind of meal where any meat or veggie would work as long as you can fit it in the dutch oven used to cook it.
(2) Tyler Tarts are a coconut custard named after President Tyler. Funny thing is, my nephew is named Tyler and he thinks they are named after him!
(3) Cup Cake or 1234 Cake is 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour and 4 eggs. A very basic "receipt" and since a lot of people couldn't read in the 1800s a very easy recipe to memorize.

Small Town America

When I was preparing to move back home to rural Western NY from the big metropolis of Miami, Florida, some of my acquaintances were quite concerned. The closest mall is nearly 60 miles away and the local pizzeria doesn't deliver. Well shiver me timbers because I can walk to get my pizza and the last place I want to be is at the mall. On the other hand, I would rather spend my time looking for something new to try at the grocery or quilt stores...but that's an entirely different conversation.  LOL.

In trying to put today's post together, I was trying to find a common thread and pretty much realized these are all things that could be considered Small Town America. As an unannounced whim I thought I would add a linky party so that you could share a post (old or new!) regarding something that happened in your town.

And now...Small Town America in and around Wyoming County, NY...

#1
Two weekends ago we had a very momentous occasion...enough for many people to congregate at the local train crossing. One person had a camera drone and some random person driving through town asked if that was why we were congregating. Hah! for a much better reason!

The first weekend in August was to be the very last time a steam train was to go thru the area using the *old* train trestle in Letchworth State Park. The trestle is train worthy but it requires all trains to slow down to 10 mph so they are going to tear down the old bridge and replace it so they can maintain their traveling speed.

The last time we had a steam train come thru was 1985. I already told Denise that I was not going to look up any pictures that might include me in my teenage years :)

I also have a video if anyone wants me to email it...I'm late with this post and have yet to figure out videos on Blogger...

#2
My family runs the Griffith House at our county fair. The early 1800s house is in it's original position and just happens to be on the fair grounds. It houses the antique entries each year and also has an original fireplace where we can do open hearth cooking. Each year, a week or 2 before the fair starts, we offer a cooking class for a small fee. The class is for anyone interested but we do hope to attract newbies to cook during the fair.

Mom moving coals under the dutch oven which contains a steamed brown bread.
The spider (front) contains the bacon for bubble and squeak.
The kettles have beans for ham hock soup and taters for the B&S.
 Maybe you can pick out the "poor man's rotissery" chicken that spins on cotton string?

This year we had 7 students - 4 women, 2 men and a 10-year old boy. It's the most men we've had in class according to my lousy memory! The guys are going to cook together at the fair so maybe I'll remember to take more pictures when I'm not "teaching."

We had a pretty ambitious menu for class but we managed it all and actually finished early thanks to a great group of students!! Yumm! I might even make the ham hock soup when I cook on Sunday...I don't think I've had that before. I was also impressed with the green breans and tomatoes. Both veggies were from mom's garden. I'm not a fan of green beans but the sauce made it wonderful, as did the bacon!

#3
Dad and I attended a car show. It's the 48th year in that location and accepts any age car or truck - there were 25 classes to break down cars and trucks by age and production versus modified. Can you imagine the types of cars at the earlier shows? And that those people couldn't even imagine the types of cars we would drive now?!

"new" cars/trucks covering more than a football field or two

"old" cars/trucks - we were lucky to be in the shade!

Dad and his 1929 International farm truck - the second oldest vehicle present.
It's max speed is 35 but we generally only go 30mph.
It's fun to see people's faces as we drive by on the way to events. Especially when we honk the "hooooga" horn.

Dad won first place in his class!

OK my friends - please join in with any old or new posts that share an activity in your home town here in the USA or any other country. Please list your name and location on the link instead of the post name. I'll leave this linky open until the end of August so maybe there will be time for a lot of people to join in! And keep on your toes - I just might surprise you with another Small Town linky some day...

An InLinkz Link-up

The same ole thing...

As much as I am having fun working on my hexies, I am getting bored posting about them. I hope all y'all aren't as bored reading about them! I hope to get inspired any day now to actually use my Bernina for something other than holding the table down!

I've been basting the hexies for my April BOM which is a basket. I think this fabric (tan/gold/maroon) will be stunning.

One of the items that finally came in at the LQS for Hexie Night was a 1" honeycomb acrylic template. Fussy cutting is soooooooo much easier with the templates! I've wanted to make a Patchwork of the Crosses quilt for quite some time but held off until the template came in. Now that it did I've started playing :)

These tone on tone pieces were pretty simple - you can see the gold was fussy cut but it's quite subtle.

If you don't have a mirror...run right out and get one, they make this project so much easier.

Next I'm going to fussy cut this awesome paisley fabric.My original plan was to make this quilt in scrappy, bright colors but I really like the red/green/gold/neutral combo so maybe I'll change my mind. Y'all are used to me changing my mind...

I was thinking this curved bit might be nice for the center of my block. Then again, this is the 4th section I thought would be nice and there is so much more to play with. I might need to get more of this fabric!

And just to change it up...these are the cookies I referenced in yesterday's post...they were fiddly and on the sweet side given all the brown sugar for the topping but they are also just as bad as hexies - can't have just one!!!

Design Wall Monday - 3/10/14

Saturday was the 2nd half of my latest Quilting 101 class and I needed a sample to demonstrate adding flanges and bindings. I had this sample block when from when I was prepping for my birthday party so I decided to quilt it up quick to use in class. Now I'll finish the binding my machine and I have a nice little table topper. Oh, who am I kidding, the cats will sit on it more than I'll ever use it on the table...

I also completed another twisted hexie and my February BOM heart. I was a little worried about the choco fabric being too busy but it was my only choice as I couldn't find a coordinating fabric in my stash. In the end, I think it looks fine. They will both be 'finer' when they get a good pressing :)

And last but not least for my weekend report...Tomorrow is the official Bicentennial Launch Party for the town where I work. The party is at the Arts Council across the street from my office. There will be Congressional proclamations, quick speeches, lots of memorabilia on display, local historians to answer questions and we'll be selling our bicentennial calendars. What else does one need for a party? Refreshments of course!  Several of us were asked to make cookies so I whipped up my fav Molasses Krinkles. Molasses Crack would probably be more accurate since you can't eat just one. LOL.

Now to decide how many to keep at home for me...1 for the party, 2 for me...

Well I'll be Deviled!

Do you have a signature dish? You know, the one *everyone* asks you to bring for potluck?!

Mine is deviled eggs - and they aren't just your run of the mill eggs either. It started when I bought Deviled Eggs: 50 Recipes from Simple to Sassy. Some of these recipes call for shrimp or avocado or pineapple or even choco!!

When I moved back to NYS I joined the Castile Historical Society which has a quarterly pot luck meeting - I can barely get in the door now and people already want to know which recipe I've made. It's fun to look for a different recipe each time, some with new ingredients and some with old standards.

Providing the snow doesn't cancel, we have our Guild Christmas Party tonight and I made eggs, of course! I never seem to measure anymore, basically using the recipe as a guideline for proportions. Today's eggs have Miracle Whip/salad dressing, stone ground mustard, cider vinegar, brown sugar, garlic powder, minced onion and Nature's Seasoning. YUMMO!!! They are sweet and tangy all at once.

I have yet to get thru the entire book yet but I am always on the look out for more recipes and I even started a board on Pinterest (aka the evil site).  What's your favorite deviled egg recipe?

Pike Fair...contd...

Three days this week I was supposed to only work half days and then run to the fair for my various volunteer positions. It wasn't until after I had already left work 45 minutes late yesterday that I realized I hadn't posted anything on my blog. Sorry gang :(

I'm clearly not a food blogger but this is my blackberry cake from Sunday. It's a very dense cake that can be eaten by hand.



Blackberry Cake (150+ year old receipt from Kentucky)
Cream 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar
Add 3 eggs – 1 at a time
Add 2 cups berries w/ juice
Sift 3 cups flour and 2 t soda
Combine wet and dry ingredients
Add 3/8 t nutmeg, 2/8 t cloves, 1/8 t allspice, 1 t cinnamon

Bake 35-40 minutes in a well greased pan at 350F

Yes...recipes used to be known as receipts!

I'll post more fair photos tomorrow, then comes Feline Friday and Saturday is HeLP for hexie-aholics. Next week I'll share more fair photos and then on 8/21/13 we begin the Be a Hexie Queen blog hop - be sure to check my hop post on Friday 8/23/13!!!

Wyoming County Fair - open hearth cooking

Yeah, I know, today is normally Design Wall Monday but it's Fair Week and I haven't been home much to work on anything. My family runs The Griffith House and antiques division so there is work to be done. Now that the weekend is over I'll have time for hexies while I "work" but Saturday was check in day and yesterday my SIL and I cooked over an open hearth after I was gofer during judging.

As usual we were both ambitious in our menus but since I had total technology failure between both my watch and phone batteries dying and I hadn't brought a camera thinking I could take pictures with my phone, there is no documentation. I made:
Sea Pie (like a chicken pot pie and the last fresh meat men had as they went out to sea),
sausage cornbread(really this was a camping recipe but it works for the early 1800s too),
blueberry pudding (steamed in a water bath),
rye bread (nephew Ryan thinks this was for him cuz we call him Ry),
tyler tarts (coconut custard named after President Tyler, altho my other nephew thinks it's for him) and
blackberry spice cake (I know some people have asked for the recipe...hopefully tomorrow).

I never made the corn fritters or joe froggers (huge molasses and rum cookies)...it was too hot and I was wooped.

The cell phone and camera are both charged up...let's hope I have some decent pictures to share the rest of the week!

Summer is...

I've already made a veggie swirl, zuke pizza casserole and chocolate zuke bread. I shredded the rest and froze it. There will be more...which I intend to make into zuke fries and who knows what else. What is your fav zuke recipe?

I would have had a few more berries if I hadn't dumped the bucket. Grrrr. Tonight I'll be making blackberry swirl ice cream and I'll make a blackberry spice cake this weekend in the beehive oven at our county fair. The rest were frozen...but there will be more to pick over the weekend.

What I didn't get a picture of was the corn. Every day I drive to and from work on Route 39 which I lovingly call Corn alley - both sides are mile high corn stalks. I've frozen some corn already but also hope to make some corn fritters at the fair.

Tomatoes are due in soon - I can see red in my garden from the kitchen door!

World's Bestest BLT

Ok, so I'm a little biased on this sandwhich but I think it's the bomb and after eating them all weekend, thought I should share!

Start by frying 3 strips of maple bacon. I found mine pretty greasy so I spooned off most of the grease when it was just over half cooked and then it crisped perfectly. Don't forget to dab off more grease with a paper towel.

Meanwhile, lightly toast 2 slices of herb bread baked in a beehive bake oven, prefereably at the Wyoming County Fair (ok, it's the only BBO I have access to and it's almost gone. boohoo.). Slather one side with Guacamole dip. Lay down 2 thick slices of fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes and the maple bacon.

Cover the whole sandwhich with romaine lettuce and slather the other slice of bread with good-old-fashioned-mayo. Complete assembly and enjoy your sandwhich while watching Six Feet Under Season One on DVD.

Funky fish-shaped sushi plate is optional   :)
Enjoy!

Fresh fruits and veggie season

Now that we are officially one week into summer there are lots of fruits and veggies coming into Casa Grande. The local Farmers' Market opened on 6/18/11 and it's fun to meet up with friends and see what's finally in season.

This past weekend I found CHERRIES for the first time this year. I was never fond of cherries growing up - I think it was the over-sweetness of the marichino cherries we had at home. I've eaten most of this week's batch so far and never even had a chance to "make" something with them - maybe after I get more in 4 days! I was thinking cherry ice cream but what else could I make?

I forgot to get the year's first ZUCCHINI - so dissapointed in myself when I remembered on Sunday.

I did buy SCAPES tho - do you know what they are? It's essentially the curly flower stalk on a certain kind of garlic. Remove the stalk and more energy goes into the bulb. Hmm...shouldn't they pay me to take the scapes since it improves their garlic harvest? Anyway...last week I made grilled pizza with scapes that had been coated in olive oil and sea salt and grilled on my new grill wok, fresh mozza and left over doctored pasta sauce. I didn't care for the dough recipe I found so I'm open to suggestions. I've also cut them up onto a salad and pesto pasta. This week I hope to make pickled scapes and/or scape pesto.

Can you tell I like to collect old or handmade wooden spoons? This is just part of the collection in an old milk bottle basket. I can provide my address to anyone who needs me to adopt their wayward spoons !!!


I've got RHUBARB in the fridge waiting to be made into Rhubarb Crisp - can't wait.

The veggie garden is in full swing. It's time to put the TOMATO cages up and I need to put up a fence for the SNOW PEAS to grow on. I had planned to plant the GLAD bulbs on a "schedule" so the flowers would last longer into the season - can you guess how that's going?

And last but not least, Mom and I made STRAWBERRY freezer jam on Saturday. It's a staple in both houses. Last year I only made 4 jars for lack of freezer space and that only lasted 6 months. I made 8 jars this year and leased freezer space elsewhere! Jam is a particular process at our house(s) making for lots of dishes and timers but we've got it down to a science and the end result is soooooo worth it. Leftover strawberries are destined for sorbet.

What fresh fruit and veggies do you have?

Design Wall Monday - 12/20/10

As I often do, I over-estimated what I would be able to accomplish on Friday but I had fun sewing and cooking and that was all that mattered.

I was delayed an hour while I waited for the migraine meds to kick in but the cinnamon rolls gave me a nice energy boost. I worked all day on the fireman quilt and actually did accomplish “enough for who it’s for” as my brother would say. This picture was taken yesterday but I almost finished that side section this morning. On Friday I finished the top and bottom sections (15 blocks each). That leaves me with the other side (20 blocks) where some are cut out already but not many and I’ll have to reuse some of the colors because I am NOT buying more fabric for this project. It's bigger than I had originally imagined but I want it big enough to cuddle with on the bed or couch.

The 4 outside corners will be yellow blocks (the picture shows where I was debating outside corners or corners of fireman fabric). I wanted a RWB quilt to match the fireman fabric but here in Castile we have yellow trucks which are more visible. I am thinking of embroidering something on the yellow blocks about our fire department.

Dinner was squash risotto with red wine & cheese sausage and a yummy salad and that pretty much put an end to the sewing since I watched some old Bonanza episodes on DVD while I ate and never got back off the couch.

I did think about the UFO’s I want to finish in 2011 but it never progressed past the thinking stage.

The highlight of the day was the Christmas Caroler’s that came to the front door. They sang two songs and we had a little chat about the quilt I was wrapped in until they sent me back into the warm house. It was such a nice gesture but I was frustrated I couldn’t find the camera.

Saturday was spent with Mom at my SIL’s making candy. We only made 3 kinds of truffles, 2 kinds of nut brittle, 3 kinds of fudge, caramels, a couple other things that I can’t remember. The boys helped a little here and there as mixers and taste testers. And in this example, the boys were of all ages  :)

Yesterday the girls that plan our summer chalk fest got together to make osage orange center pieces. Kim also posed for this graceful shot and didn’t believe that I would actually post it!

First fresh salad of the season

yumm-o!
Picked a ton of fresh lettuce from the garden last night and whipped up a batch of hot bacon dressing to make a wilted lettuce salad. I forgot to boil some eggs so I added cheese and orange flavored craisins instead. The salad was so good I had a second, which is what you see here. Based on weather and available cooking time, I'll probably have one a day until the lettuce gives up the ghost.

We be Jammin!

Strawberry season is winding down here in WNY and it's the perfect time to make strawberry jam! Last night Mom and I made 7 batches of jam which worked out to be 22 jars. I only needed 4 since I just have a small freezer. The rest will be consumed at their house - apprently Dad lives on the stuff :)

I was the offiical stirrer and bottler so I don't remember the measurements but... mashed strawberries are stirred into sugar and then allowed to sit for 10 minutes with an occational stir. Then the pectin, mixed with lemon juice, is continuoulsy stirred into the berries for 3 minutes. The whole sugarry concoction is then transferred to the jars and allowed to sit at least 24 hours before putting it in the freezer so it can gel. Mom wants me to make sure I tell you it's freezer jam! A few leftover berries will be consumed for dessert tonight and I can't wait..