What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Fall Fortnight means it is time to get my fall things to set a seasonal table, especially with the wonderful cooler temperatures this week. I got out my favorite pumpkin bowls, the copper color chargers and the leaf plates and began to play with putting things together. First, a plate stack is done, adding my white stoneware dinner plates.

The pumpkin bowls are added to the left side, ready to hold a hot bowl of soup. Gold color flatware comes out in the fall as its warm tones go well with the fall colors. The napkins are a nutmeg spice ...

This week, I worked on finishing the bird quilt. After sewing the binding by hand, the next task was to make a label. I had a bird panel left, and thought it would be great to do an embroidered label with it. I added some side panels in the same fabric as the backing to make it large enough for the hoop.

Top and bottom fabric was added to the panel, and then it was hooped for embroidery with stabilizers.

But, when I started to do the stitching of the label, the font size is too small and was not ...

This past weekend, we had good friends over for happy hour and a meal. It is so fun to be able to entertain again, and it gives me a chance to not only set a pretty table, but also to show off my cooking a bit. My friend is a great cook herself, so she got to shine for dessert. But first, a pretty table is essential. It lets our guests know they are special.

My Colors of August placemats and table topper are placed on the table first. That post will tell you my idea of the colors for ...

On the veranda, the parsley survived transplanting and I’m already using the leaves in dishes. In fact, I have been actively looking for dishes that will highlight the fresh flavor they give to meat entrees and vegetable sides.

Turning the pages in the World in a Skillet cookbook from Milk Street (now on sale for $23.95), I came across this mouth watering photo. That is cilantro in the recipe, but fresh parsley works just as well. It is mixed with green onions, jalapenos, and rice vinegar. The fresh green mixture is a garnish and not cooked. I decided ...

I do enjoy cooking, and finding new combinations of meats and vegetables to keep My Sweet Babboo well fed. I am lucky in that he will eat just about anything put in front of him at the table, and likes vegetables. So when I received the latest cookbook from Milk Street, I knew we were in for some adventures in new flavors. The 365 in the title refers to the days in a year, and the cookbook contains over 600 recipes for just about every type of dish or meal you want.

Once again, I have loaded up the pages ...

Ever since I got the confits from Milk Street, I’ve been using them in various dishes. I’ve been experimenting with how much to use and where they have an impact in flavor. I’ve found so far that they do very well in dishes with ground meats, and in sauces. I am particularly pleased with the fact that all are made of ingredients that are natural, without chemicals or preservatives. They worked well in the Beef Stroganoff dish I made first, but I didn’t take any photos of that one. Here are three of the dishes that ...

Cool October nights are bringing the garden season to a close. While I still have some tomatoes on the vine, and more still green, they are mostly done. I harvested these, and I’ll pull up the plants when the first frost occurs.

There is still one squash left on the vine, and it finally appears to be ripening into a golden-tan color.

We are finally seeing a bit of color on some trees.

Because the black cherry tomatoes were unusual and flavorful, I saved some of those seeds for next year. See my method on my previous post Saving ...

Autumn is my favorite time of year for being in the kitchen, making pumpkin bread, trying new recipes, cooking comfort food, making football snacks, and hearty soups for chilly days. I am lucky that My Sweet Babboo loves vegetables of all kinds, so experimenting with them is fun. There are so many ideas in the Milk Street Vegetables cookbook, it will take a long time to get to all of them! I have made several from this book already. Today, we’ll do the Zucchini Fritters because I’ve been looking for a way to get crispy zucchini chips for ...

I said last month that I’d talk about how my cooking has changed from my early days of meal preparing to how I cook now. When I was a new bride, my recipes consisted of mostly casseroles, with heavy reliance on canned soup for sauces. Vegetables were canned or frozen for the most part, and large portions of the plate went to pasta or potatoes. I baked bread most every week, heavy sourdough or whole wheat artisan loaves using a starter. The food guide was heavy on carbs, from my growing up years having four food groups with one ...

Quick recipes are sometimes the best thing when you need a meal and you forgot to plan or defrost something. Even better when you can create a meal in just a half hour or so, out of pantry staples, like this tomato soup recipe from Milk Street. The new cookbook from Milk Street called Cook What You Have is offering a different take on what to make for dinner using what most of us have already in the pantry.

The first chapter is devoted to expanding the items considered ‘staples’, going beyond what we normally think of. I keep frozen ...

Dawn over the mountain to the east this past week brought beautiful color with the clouds reflecting the sunrise glow. The quiet of the early morning is a nice time to enjoy a hot cup of coffee, just breathe, and plan the day.

Looking south, it is lovely to see the dark architecture of the bare tree limbs against the sky. Winter does have its own beauty.

The view into the valley continued the golden glow. The rain moved in shortly after and stuck around for two days.

Rainy days are perfect for a bit of stamping, getting my cards ...

Autumn in this part of our beautiful country brings color to the trees, and lots of opportunities to drive curvy roads with friends. It also means the last of the garden harvest, and some clean up to do. October brings a fun day to have a bunch of German cars go on a drive and have an Oktoberfest! Settle in, friends, this one is long and picture heavy!

The colors are showing not only at our home’s view above, but also in the surrounding mountains. The car club met up early last weekend for a two hour drive, beginning ...

Autumn on a cool Sunday brings an opportunity to make a wonderful dish for Sunday Brunch. Whether it is only for your family, or as a dish to celebrate a birthday or holiday, this dish is hearty and filling. Full of flavor, My Sweet Babboo has declared this one a keeper. So, today we make Persian Eggs with Spiced Beef and Fire Roasted Tomatoes. I hope my non-quilting readers will jump on this one, and enter the giveaway!

The recipe is from the Milk Street cookbook The World in a Skillet (available on Amazon in both hardcover and Kindle editions ...

With the price of food rising almost daily, I’ve been looking for new recipes to use less expensive cuts and ground meats. Ground chicken is still economical, but I didn’t have a good idea on how to use it. Then I got the Milk Street World in a Skillet book, and there was a great idea in one of my favorite cuisines. So, I made it, and it was fabulous. So good, in fact, that My Sweet Babboo declared it ‘quite tasty’, his highest award for food. You have to understand that for a chicken dish to get ...

So many little things to talk about today, time for a Sunday chat on a lot of subjects. First, I want to thank you all for the kind words, and encouragement as My Sweet Babboo recovers and we get back to a ‘normal’ life. We now turn our attention to the enjoyment of each day, the beauty of our world, time with friends, and gratitude for our wonderful lives. Almost like a gift to celebrate the good news, the white irises came into full bloom.

I needed to be at home for several days, so I had a variety of ...

Autumn means the garden is winding down, and there is work to be done for a nice display next year as well as keeping the tender plants from harm over the winter. Some annuals can be safely over-wintered in a sheltered area, like our Carolina room. A few of the flowers were still blooming with the warm temperatures that have lasted well into October.

The geranium has one more gorgeous vivid pink bloom too.

For the biggest task, I decided on a day that the tomato garden was ready to be harvested for the last time and cleaned up. You ...

Gathering around the table when there is a chill in the air brings family together. These crisp autumn days call for a pretty setting and good food to put on the plates. Fall produce is abundant now, with winter squashes coming into the stores and produce stands. This butternut squash recipe from the Cookish cookbook from Milk Street is a great way to showcase this wonderful vegetable.

The dish is a new and interesting flavor. First cut up the butternut squash, then roast until it is nicely browned.

Toss with the hoisin sauce ingredients and serve, yep just that easy ...

I got the quilting done on the blue and yellow quilt this week. When we left off, I had the top constructed and was deciding on a border.

I did choose to put a narrow white border on to preserve my star points. Then I loaded it on the longarm, and began quilting.

I used white Glide in the top and Bottom Line in the bobbin.

The batting is Hobbs Cotton Wool blend, and gives beautiful definition to the stitching.

The pantograph is called Pansies by Urban Elementz.

I think the combination of pantograph and batting softens the edges of ...

Autumn Jubilee (#AutumnJubilee2020) in the garden brings a few chores, more to ensure a beautiful spring than to spruce up for fall.  It is a great time to dig up and divide crowded plants, put some new bulbs in the ground, and clean up the last of the summer vegetable plants.  One warm day, I got out the tools and headed for the planter in the front.  It was crowded with irises that didn’t bloom this year.  I think the rhizomes were covered up too much with leaves.  They needed to be dug up and divided anyway.  In September ...

We are cooking today for #AutumnJubilee2020 with a wonderful Oriental inspired recipe that goes together easily and fast.  The whole idea behind Cookish, the new cookbook from Milk Street, is simple ingredients that are just thrown together.

From the publisher – “These recipes, most with six or fewer ingredients (other than oil, salt, and pepper), make it easy to be a great cook — the kind who can walk into a kitchen and throw together dinner in no time. In each of these recipes, big flavors and simple techniques transform pantry staples, common proteins, or centerpiece vegetables into a delicious meal. And ...