Wednesday, September 26, 2012

History Quilter Podcast Episode 32 Today's History


Hello Wednesday - it's already Wednesday?

It has been over a month since I recorded a podcast but thankfully this past Saturday I had the afternoon (mostly) to myself and took the opportunity to pull out my microphone and talk.  If you are a listener you will  hear me speak of how I usually start the recording process approximately 5-10 times before the right one "sticks"...what I mean is I'll start talking and maybe 10 seconds, 30 seconds or even 6 minutes in, I'll come to a point where I think, "this stinks - time to start again".  Did not do that this past Saturday - this episode is a one time through recording.  Felt great too.

So, my latest episode of The History Quilter Podcast Episode 32 where I talk about "Today's History" is now available on Podbean, iTunes and Stitcher Radio.  No time for quilting history research for this episode - it is an episode of what was going on in my life, on that day.

iPhone Podcast Listeners:
If you are an iPhone user and either have the iPhone 5 or have upgraded your iOS on your iPhone 4 to 6.0 then you will either see (or may have to download from the App Store) a new Podcast App (FREE) where you can collect all of the podcasts you listen too without having to go into the Music App and search around.  You can also subscribe to podcasts directly from your iPhone.  A great new feature - now if they would only bring back Google Maps. Go here to learn more about the Podcasts App.

Food:
I talked about how well the Tofu-and-Vegetable Tacos with Eggplant Ancho Spread turned out. Go here to see my photos.
I also talked about making Mortadella, Egg and Brioche Sandwiches from the Saturday/Sunday September 21, 2012 edition of The Wall Street Journal.  I'll be making these soon.
James Ransom for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Karen Evans, Prop Styling by Kaitlyn DuRos
I also talked about making Roasted Acorn Squash Salad with Warm Goat Cheese Rounds from Foster's Market.  I've got an Acorn Squash waiting for this recipe sitting on my kitchen counter.
photo by Quentin Bacon

Time to get back to schoolwork.  Thanks for sticking with me during the "dry periods".  I'm looking forward to getting re-acquainted with my sewing machine on Friday.

Have a great Wednesday,
Susan 

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Life & A Thread Color Question


The last five days have been so consumed with life and school that zero crafting has occurred in my house.  Actually I haven't even felt like crafting which is surprising but thankfully the Creative Grids 60 degree ruler I purchased online to use with the Varsity pattern by Jaybird Quilts arrived late yesterday afternoon.  I'm looking forward to start the work on this quilt with my younger son very soon.  

Curious as to what I'm doing in school now? (Even if you are not I'll share it anyway for my own future self when I come back someday to read what I was up to.) Studying the historiography of World History, writing lesson plans about Ancient Rome, Curriculum Mapping for the entire 6th grade year, and working to get my Student Teaching application all ready to turn in by Monday, October 1st.  A very important deadline filled with stress as I am supposed to choose where I want to student teach in the Spring.  The best possible outcome would be to student teach at a school where the possibility of getting hired for Fall 2013 is very high but unfortunately there is no way to predict that.  The thought of working all of these years on my degree, making it through the credential program and student teaching and ultimately not being able to find a job is almost horrifying to me right now.  

Wow - didn't expect to go there.  Bear with me reader - a lot of emotions are swirling right now. 

OK switching back to crafting now.... I want to start quilting the Sea Glass Quilt but I'm having trouble figuring out which color thread to use.  The solid sashing around the blocks is Kona Celery and I want to use Aurifil thread but when I put the Aurifil thread chart up to the quilt top nothing jumps out at me. Have any suggestions?   Just for clarification - I do not expect you to be able to color match this from a photo - if you have used Kona Celery and have Aurifil thread suggestions, please let me know. 
Last thing I'll share today is last night my younger son ran in his first track meet for his high school.  So proud of him as in the 95+ degree heat (It is our turn to melt right now in Southern California) at 5:30pm last night he ran his best 5K time ever. 
Loved cheering him on down the stretch to the finish line. 
Thank you for reading and enjoy your Saturday, 
Susan

Monday, September 10, 2012

It's All About The Pie

I've mentioned here and on the podcast that I've been practicing for the KCRW 4th Annual Good Food Pie Contest for the last couple of months.  I've been listening to KCRW's Good Food for years now on my local public radio station and for the previous three summers have enjoyed listening to Even Kleiman (the host) talk about pie and the different locations the contest would be held.  While driving back from Northern California this past July while listening to Evan talk about another version of deliciousness known as pie, I decided to enter.  Crazy idea as I've barely made pies and didn't grow up with a mother whom I can recall ever made a pie.  But hey, why not?

For the last two months I've enjoyed making various kinds of custard/cream pies, learned that I that I prefer making a graham cracker crust to a pastry crust and made a lot of people smile with my creations. I've made Key Lime Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie, Buttermilk Pie (dud) and my own creation - Caramel Custard with Graham Cracker Crust.  This past Saturday morning I began my pie prep, baked the crusts (two pies were required - one for the judges and one for the public), made the custard and had them in the refrigerator cooling by 8am.

So here was my entry - Caramel Custard with Graham Cracker Crust.
Caramel Custard with Graham Cracker Crust
And another...
Caramel Custard with Graham Cracker Crust...with a hint of chocolate ganache
But guess what?  I did not make it to the contest.  A phone call at about 10am informed me that my oldest son had hurt his right knee during a soccer game and needed medical attention.  So at approximately 12:30 when I was supposed to be at the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), I was here:

with him:
Being silly in the ER
Yes, that's my 16 year old having fun with the "Call Me Maybe" song  (I'll confess - he's got me hooked on it too.)  When the call came through my motherly instinct kicked in immediately and I knew I would not be attending the contest.  It all ended well though - nothing broken and no serious damage to his knee, the ER visit was super fast and I was able to share my pie with wonderful neighbors that evening at a BBQ.  Nothing like making more people smile.

Now I've got approximately 362 days to practice for the 5th Annual KCRW Good Food Pie Contest! Maybe I'll venture into some of the other categories: fruit, nut and savory.

Happy Monday everyone ~ Hope you have a great day.
Susan

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

It's That Time Of Year...

First day of school for my 11th grader:
6:35am - About to leave to take the 11th grade carpool to school.  Had to bribe the 9th grader to wake up for the photo. Excuse the blurry iPhone photos - it was 6:35am. 
Coaxed a bit of a smile out of the 9th grader...
And of course older brother has to have a bit of fun with his younger brother. 

Happy for my older son to get back to school - he will have a very tough year with his class load but he's very excited and more than ready to learn.  

It is now 7:25am and both are off to school.  Weird....but now it's time to sing!  
Check out this circa 1996 Staples Commercial - cracks me up every time. 

Enjoy your Wednesday,
Susan 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

T@tTable: Tofu-and-Vegetable Tacos with Eggplant-Ancho Spread


On my last podcast I talked about recipes that I had pulled out of various magazines to try.  Recipe hunting can be hit or miss and I've found that I run about 50% with ones that I pull out of magazines.  Sometimes they look and sound so good but for some reason do not translate into great food on the table.  Last night my gamble paid off as dinner was delicious.  

I made Tofu-Vegetable Tacos with Eggplant-Ancho Spread from Alyssa Gorelick in the June 2012 issue of Food and Wine Magazine.  

Tofu-Vegetable Tacos with Eggplant-Ancho Spread 
Now I like tofu...I really do.  This recipe intrigued me as the tofu is barbecued right along side the zucchini, peppers, onions and tomatoes.  Barbecued tofu?  I thought it would fall apart on the grill but it did not.  I did follow the directions by squeezing out all of the water via sandwiching between plates (with more plates on top) which allowed the tofu to solidify more.   The eggplant-ancho spread was something I had never tried before either - a great mix of flavors which worked perfectly with the barbecued vegetables and tofu.  

It was a hit and the recipe has gone in the permanent file of my cookbook binder.  

I'm linking up with Debbie over at her Tuesday at the Table feature.  You must visit to see the Cheeseburger Stuffed Bomb she is featuring today....I'll be picking jalapenos in my garden this weekend! 

Have a great rest of your Tuesday,
Susan