Straight Stitches

Friday, July 27, 2012

Experimenting

Dana July 27, 2012 2 Comments

Look what I got!

That is one heck of a lot of farm fresh veggies. There is a local farm called Hidden Valley Farm here in Nashville that I love. You can go to their website and sign up for their weekly newsletter, which explains what is in their CSA produce box every week. You can then sign up to pick up a box--$20 for a couple's size and $40 for a family size--or you can ignore it if you're not interested. The couple's box is big! They have also had a pack-your-own box option for the last two weeks, which costs slightly more. I chose this option last weekend, and, because I worked in bookstores for so long, I know how to pack a box very efficiently! Above are my spoils. Now, what to do with all those beautiful veggies?

Remember last week when I featured the veggie-licious Tizza Soup? Well, I started to build on that idea. I ended up roasting the red peppers and tomatoes and cut some corn off two of the cobs and made a really yummy soup. Add some cumin and maybe even a pinch of cayenne for heat, and you've got yourself a Southwest Soup. I'm just sad it didn't make more.

I also roasted all of the zucchini and squash and carrots, washed a leek, and tossed in a few spare artichoke hearts from last week and made a really nice warm-you-up vegetable soup. I added some Gorgonzola to that as an experiment, and it was awesome! Call me crazy, but I have another idea for this soup. I made a TON of Gorgonzola Portabella risotto last week. I ate a lot of it, but I also had to freeze a lot. What if I added that and then blended it to make it creamy and mushroomy and Gorgonzola...y? I know, it sounds crazy--What? Ruin some lovely risotto?--but trust me when I say I got plenty of stand-alone enjoyment out of the risotto by itself. That's just how I am. I am crazy enough to try these mad idea just for a bit of deliciousness. Since I know the Gorgonzola cheese was really good with it, I really think the risotto will do really well well, too.

I have discovered the cornucopia of delicious and healthful food options when you combine vegetables, water, and seasonings. I cannot be stopped! What kind of crazy experiments have you tried in your kitchen, only to discover a new hidden food-treasure?

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Busting out the Sharpies Again!

Heather July 25, 2012 0 Comments

Did you know that my little guy is 2.75 years old? I started this blog when he was 4 months old. Can you believe it? I can't.

Now that he's getting older though, I'm starting to get the itch to change up his room from nursery to kid room. Not that the safari theme we have in there is overly baby, but I still want something a bit more grown up for him.

I haven't picked out new paint colors yet, other than to decide that I want to go with blue, yellow or orange, and gray, but I have decided that I'd like to go with an urban theme.

You see, small fry, is always asking to go. I wanna go, is a very common phrase from him.

We recently switched up beds in the boys' rooms so Harrison got Dev's old full bed, up from his toddler bed, and along with that came Dev's dresser and nightstand. Harrison had the bigger dressers and night stand so we gave those to Devlin since his clothes are all bigger and he's started to acquire more 'stuff'.

Once we got the furniture switched around, Harrison's room needed more light. I have crap tons of lamps and lampshades lying around. I know I have a problem, but I just don't really care. So I found a lamp with a cute pull chain so Harrison can turn it on and off as he pleases. It's also got a nice long drum shade on it, and that shade just happens to be white! Blank canvas!

So here's what I came up with!

I did a google search for postmark collages, and then sorted by images. I found one that I like and then printed off a full size image of it. I then just traced those postmarks onto the lampshade with my sharpie fabric markers. I love how the whole thing came out and I think that the colors on the lamp shade will work perfectly with the theme and a pop of color when I get his room done. :)

Now to start thinking about Dev's room and the dining room, and then, and then, and then. :)

Heather

Friday, July 20, 2012

Not a salad fan? Not a problem!

Dana July 20, 2012 0 Comments

I have never really thought of myself as a gambler...until this week. No, I am not talking about poker - I have no poker face and want to chatter with all the other players - or pool - I have no skills. I am talking about food. I was watching one of my cooking programs, French Food at Home, and was inspired. Was I inspired by the ingredients, new and exotic? No. The technique, challenging and adventurous? No. It was the color. Sorry, what? Yes, the color. The host, Laura Calder, made a simple vegetable soup that was a bright, goldenrod yellow. It looked quite a lot like a soup called "bowl of sunshine" I used to get at a tea house in Franklin, which closed last Christmas. Because the color was so similar, I though, "Hm, it's bright yellow...just like that other soup...I will make it!" No way this can go wrong, not when I'm basing it on something so tried and true as a color. I don't recommend this, but, thankfully, there's a happy ending to this story.

Tizza Soup

Courtesy Laura Calder

1 pound/500 g potatoes, peeled and chopped
8 ounces/250 g carrots, peeled
8 ounces/250 g zucchini, chopped
2 artichoke hearts
2 leeks, trimmed and washed
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1 turnip (not rutabaga)
1/2 stalk celery, chopped
1 cube chicken or vegetable bouillon
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the potatoes, carrots, zucchini, artichoke hearts, leeks,tomatoes, turnip and celery in a large pot. Add the bouillon cube,olive oil and some salt and pepper. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until all the vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Put the mixture through a food mill or blend with an immersion blender. Reheat to serve.

Holy cow! Did you see that list of veggies? Here's something sort of random: I really like the idea of salads. Salads themselves? Sure...if you add some cheese and eggs and nuts and dressing and bacon...you see my dilemma. And, yes, I know raw fruits and veggies have more vitamins and minerals than the cooked stuff, but not everyone likes rabbit food! There, I said it. It's okay, though, because soup is here to save the day!

This is my biggest stockpot. It's just a little smaller than a KitchenAid stand mixer, if that gives you an idea of how very huge it is. And look at how full of veggies it is!!! Seriously, the prep on this dish is the most time consuming part. I actually only added one leek because I ran out of room. Then just add water and flavor. I used chicken bouillon because it's what I had on hand.

Look at that deliciousness! I did end up adding a few more bouillon cubes to taste, but definitely not nearly as many as would normally be used to flavor a dish of this magnitude. Why? Because the veggies do 70% of the flavoring for you. Mmmmmmmm...

I am so in love with this dish. It's really yummy, it's pretty, and you can basically eat as much of it as you want and not worry. You're just eating blended vegetables, though it is not quite the same soup from the old tea house. I think that one may have been curried somehow. Nevertheless, this soup is great! I have been eating it all week long and am not tired of it at all. I actually find myself craving it. It's weird, the soup doesn't give you the same foodgasm feeling as, say, a really good burger or some other super-rich food, but it provides a kind of relief. You feel so happy and good and fulfilled when eating it. I know that sounds crazy to go on like this over vegetable soup, but it is that good! Give it a try. I promise, you will love it and your body will thank you.

A Pattern Review: McCall's 6518

Heather July 20, 2012 0 Comments

At the end of June was my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. It was so great to spend most of the day Saturday with them. The occasion, of course, called for a new dress!

I wish I could say that I loved this dress, but I don't. The pattern is McCall's 6518 which is a Phoebe Couture creation.

The pattern is branded as an 'easy' one, and I don't know that I'd agree. The flounces were kind of a pain in the butt to construct, and there were no tips inside the general instructions to make the construction any easier. Luckily, I do have some experience so I changed the assembly instructions to fit what I knew would work.

I did have to adjust the armhole again, but not as much as my previous dress. Another couple of dart solved that problem for me. I also needed to lengthen this dress by 6". From the waist to the hemline was 18" which is just a tad short on someone of my stature so 24" was much better for me.

I did not add the ribbon accent around the midriff, but obviously I did add some decorative stitches which I liked. Here are some other comments.

Like I said, I really wanted to love this dress but I just couldn't.

Heather

Friday, July 13, 2012

A New Twist on an Old Favorite

Dana July 13, 2012 0 Comments

I love my husband. I love him for so many reasons. One of the reasons I love him so much, though, is because he's easy to please (unlike me...poor Mike). :-) His favorite meals have always been very simple, (usually) one dish, though they often lack a vegetable. Oh well, I'll take what I can get. In his top ten, though, has long been chicken rice bake. I think Heather may have actually been the one to give me this recipe...maybe at my bridal shower--yes, my shower was a pounding party. Is anyone really surprised that it was food-related? I didn't think so. Unfortunately, since we had to go gluten free, we haven't made it because one of the main ingredients, cream of chicken soup, has wheat products in it. Well, we didn't make it until I took matters into my own hands...

Here's the original recipe:

Chicken Rice Bake

1 lb. boneless chicken breast, cubed

1/8 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

Can of cream of chicken soup

3/4 cups rice

1 cup water

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients together and sprinkle more paprika on top. Cover and bake for 45 minutes.

Yup, that's all there is to it. Yet another reason Mike loves it so much; he can make it himself. The soup is really the only issue, so I had to come up with an alternate scratch version. First thing I did was to find a from-scratch green bean casserole recipe. Why? Because my green bean casserole recipe also calls for cream-of soup. I remember that Alton Brown had one, so I used it...and tweaked it.

By "tweaked" I mean "kind of ignored his ingredient quantities and used whatever and how much I had lying around". What? I really like garlic. Plus, I knew it was going to cook for about an hour. A lot of the garlic flavor would temper and fade. I also had a goodly handful of shallots that needed to be used, so I used those instead of onions.

I also thought I had poultry seasoning. I thought wrong, so I did a quick search for a recipe for that too. I found it here and "tweaked" it too. Don't ask me what I ended up leaving out or adding or how much of what I used. I honestly don't remember, but that recipe I just linked to is a great base to work off of.

As far as executing the recipe goes, I just kind of winged it. The whole point is to cook everything down and let the sauce thicken, which was really easy. Then, into the oven it went. Fun fact: the container somehow boiled over up and over and onto the lid. Neat trick...not so neat to clean.

This dish travels really well too, as we took it over to a friend's house once it was done.

Mike loved it! I'm so glad I was able to make him one of his favorite meals again. Even if you make the original recipe, though, it's still amazing. I promise your family will not be disappointed.

PS: In case you're wondering what that thing next to my chicken rice bake it, it's some awesome roasted cabbage I found a recipe for here. Lemme tell you how good it is. My friend Johnathan HATES cabbage and thought it was pretty good. He ate it all!

PPS: Want a good book to read? I just released my first! It's available on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords, and it's only 99 cents! You can also check out my website here. Enjoy! :-)

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Duct Tape to the Rescue!

Heather July 03, 2012 0 Comments

Yesterday I shared my pretty new dress, and we all know that pretty new dresses need pretty shoes to go with them. Except I had no pretty white shoes to go with my pretty new dress. How many times can I say pretty? Enter Pinterest...

A while back I pinned this great redo from AGAAGG.

Aren't those adorably cute shoes? That houndstooth pattern is vinyl. Yep, you heard it right. Its vinyl. Do you see my light bulb starting to get brighter? I don't have any vinyl (well none that I'd put on shoes) but I do live near a Target that sells all sorts of fun duct tape!

So after fetching some white duct tape, I gathered my supplies (shoes, duct tape, craft knife, brown paint pen) and got to work. I forgot to take before pictures of both shoes undone, but you get the idea. :)

The original shoes weren't bad, but like I said - I needed white shoes to go with the outfit.

After applying all of my duct tape the shoes needed something more. So here's where the paint pen comes in. The shoes had decorative stitching on them originally, so I just drew some brown stitches on the duct tape. Worked like a charm.

Aren't they adorable? I love that I was able to reuse some old shoes. Although during the wedding I did remember why I stopped wearing said shoes (about 4 years ago) and that's because as my feet swell, the shoes don't and it makes for some painful feet. Oh well, at least I looked good while my feet weren't swollen. :)

Heather

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Monday, July 02, 2012

Retro Inspired Threads for Me!

Heather July 02, 2012 0 Comments

Well its been no secret that I've been on a sewing kick and most of the sewing has been for me. A couple of weekends ago, we attended the wedding of some very dear friends and as such, I needed a new dress. :)

The wedding was held at a local winery and the forecast was for 88 degrees and sunny. Awesome. Enter cotton seersucker. Love me some seersuckefr. :) Its a pain in the butt to work with sometimes, but the affect is so nice.

So here is my outfit!

The pattern is Simplicty 1797!

The pattern is fairly straightforward, and really the only annoying thing was cutting out all the bias tape strips for the accents on this dress. Oh and remembering to match up the plaid, but that's not the pattern's fault.

I did have to alter the bodice and add a dart from the armhole to the side front seams to accommodate the lack of bulk I have near my arms, but that was a fairly straightforward adjustment.

So the dress was pretty comfortable throughout the afternoon and into the evening. I would absolutely recommend this dress pattern to anyone to make. Its straightforward and really the only difficult part is getting the pleat and bias tape accent on the front of the skirt right, but even that is not that difficult.

Oh and do you see those white spectator-like shoes I'm wearing? Yep, the were originally brown leather, but some white duct tape fixed that. :) I'll share that alteration with you guys tomorrow!
Heather

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