Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

How to Make Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Not far behind How to Make Pineapple Upside Down Cake in views, my #5 Most Watched video is How to Make Homemade Macaroni and Cheese.   111,000+ views means many people want to make the comforting mac & cheese from scratch and not from a box.  I think they are two totally different foods and the homemade variety offers that oven-toasted topping and cheesy texture that can only come from the real Cheddar and oven baking.  It's almost as quick to make and seems more of a substantial dish for a family dinner.  I still make this all the time even though the kids are grown.  It's a nice vegetarian meal when served with a salad and a tasty pasta dish we all enjoy - and I usually have everything I need to make it without any advanced planning (great when you're stuck on what to make for dinner!).  Here's my #5 video, How to Make Homemade Macaroni and Cheese.

Craftsy Block of the Month: September

This month for the Craftsy Block of the Month 2013 class we added some applique flowers and leaves to the basket block we made in August.

I was avoiding this task since I am not a big fan of hand sewing and I think the flowers are ugly.  I prepared all my fabric pieces using the freezer paper method and cardboard template method that Laura Nownes demonstrates but I didn't take a whole lot of care in making sure I had beautiful, smooth edges.  It was more a matter of getting it over with!

For the flower centres, instead of cutting out the cardboard circles, I simply used my Stampin' Up craft punch because it was the exact size I needed.  That was super quick and accurate so I didn't mind that part at all!

I hand-appliqued the first flower onto the basket using a blind stitch, just like I do when I add a label to my quilts.  I'm not sure if that's the stitch I'm supposed to use but it looks the same as Laura shows.  The hand-stitching wasn't as bad as I was imagining it to be - I think I just need to be in the right frame of mind when doing it.  Calm...and not in a rush or aggravated!

So one flower is done.  We are supposed to add three.  I'm not sure if I will do that or just leave it as it is...depends if I'm all finished watching paint dry somewhere!  Next month we're in the home stretch with the flying geese border.  I'm ready to get all these blocks joined into a quilt top and finish up the project.  I know I've been really digging in my heels every month with this class but I'm always happy when I have done the block for the month...and I know I'll enjoy the completed quilt and all the work it represents!

Teal Quilt Done!

I finished my teal quilt and I'm very pleased how it turned out!  Thanks to the awesome designs and excellent instruction from Angela Walters: Dot to Dot Quilting Craftsy class I had a blast filling this quilt with diamond and starburst designs.  The result was amazing texture and pretty nice quilting - I especially love the border - it's just what I wanted to achieve!

I'm reallly excited to quilt my next quilt since I've finally bonded with my Grace Frame and Janome 1600P set-up.  I feel really guilty now that I almost wanted to give it up and get rid of her!  (Shhh, don't tell!).  Now that she's behaving and co-operating (within her limitations) and I've got the hang of dealing with her tempermental nature, I guess we'll stay together.  (What a joy it is to realize the ONLY reason she stopped sewing is because I ran out of bobbin thread!!!)  Given the price comparison with a long-arm I think she's doing a good job and it is so much easier to not have to fight a heavy quilt!

Here are some photos of my finished quilt!

 

Raspberry Coffee Cake

This flawless coffee cake can be made with any variety of berries: raspberries, blueberries, cranberries.  It is so easy yet so impressive and one of my favourite treats to make for company.

Raspberry Coffee Cake

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk

1 cup cranberries-or-/raspberries-or-/blueberries, fresh or frozen

Topping:

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup butter

greased bundt/tube pan, 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes

The Squeaky Wheel

I have had this manual can opener forever.  It's from a Brabantia set I got when I moved into my first apartment and it still is the best one I've ever used.  As a leftie I really appreciate that it's easy for me to operate and it never skips.

From time to time, though, it gets a bit sticky and more difficult to turn the handle but I've found a couple drops of vegetable oil do the trick.  Afterwards, it zips around the can lid with barely any effort.

Another great tool from the set is this universal opener.  It is awesome for loosening and removing stubborn lids from jars and bottles.  It grips the sides of any lid from 10-110 mm wide (eg. olive oil bottle to jar of pickles!) and pops them off with a quick turn...and makes you feel like a stong-man every time!

Brabantia has been around for a long time and these two items are still available from the Dutch company.  They say their products are "developed to retain their beauty and performance for up to 20 years" and I can certainly say that my kitchen set, including these openers, is still going strong way over the two decade mark!

Rich Belgian-Style Waffles

We don't often indulge in these Rich Belgian-Style Waffles but when we do, oh,they are sooo good!  They are different than my usual, cripsy, light waffles and are much more tender and soft with slightly denser, more 'eggy' centre.  The flavour is lovely and they make a nice change and a special treat.

 

Rich Belgian-Style Waffles

 

1 egg yolk

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 cup flour

2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 egg white, stiffly beaten

Beat all ingredients except egg white until smooth. Fold in beaten egg
white. Bake in hot waffle maker, 2-3 minutes until golden.

Skip the Borders

Angela Walters wrote about the quilting she did for Julie Herman's book, Skip the Borders, about a year ago and I've wanted the book ever since.  Almost twelve months later I finally got it!

Not only can I add this to my collection of references for Angela's phenomenal quilting but also to my sources of inspiration for awesome quilt patterns.  Julie is a young, self-taught quilter and presents her designs in these delicious, borderless quilts.  There is no doubt that the 15 quilts shared can definitely make a statement and stand alone without borders.

There is a brief outline of quilt-making basics and a lengthier segment on binding how-tos but this book really is about the structure of borderless quilts and is divided into one-block, two-block, and outside-the-block categories.

Angela's quilting is stunning as always and I love the fabric choices Julie made for each quilt.  Of course, I want to make all of them (the designs are SO fun and look like a blast to piece) but my absolute favourite is the Raspberry Dessert quilt - so yummy!  (Photo courtesy of Julie Herman and used with permission).

As I have about a 6-month plan of quilting projects to get to it might take me a while to get around to selecting which quilt I'll make first from Skip the Borders...or I suppose I just may have one 'jump the line' and get to it sooner!!

You can check out Julie's inspirational blog at http://jaybirdquilts.com and if you get a chance to buy the book, grab it! 

 

How to Make Pineapple Upside Down Cake

My #4 Most Watched Video (with 114,000+ views) is a real surprise to me: How to Make Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  This dessert, while delecatable and fun to make, is actually not my favourite to eat.  It's good - don't get me wrong, I'm just more of a chocolate person.

I find it interesting that so many people are watching a tutorial for this cake and I think it's because Pineapple Upside Down Cake is one of those retro-recipes that makes one think of grandmas, a sweet-smelling kitchen, and a gentler age of home cooking and comfort food.  Whatever the reason, I'm happy to share this classic dessert with a new generation.  Enjoy!

Quilting Changes Everything

I picked up this October 2013 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine (Issue 124) after reading Angela Walters' blog post about it, HERE.  I was lured by not only having another reference source for Angela's phenomenal quilting but also by the promise of a fun interview, and behind-the-scenes photos, with Tula Pink (a great quilt designer - whose book I purchased - and frequent collaborator with Ms. Walters).

In her blog post, Angela shares the Peaks and Valleys quilt she quilted for Tula which appears in the magazine.  (This photo is courtesy of Angela Walters and is used with permission).  Of course, her quilting designs are always fantastic and when paired with a funky and modern jagged chevron patterned quilt like Tula's, the results are just incredible!  (Good news! The pattern is supplied in the magazine!).  The other fun thing about this quilt is that Angela used both the diamond and starburst designs that she teaches in her Dot to Dot Quilting Craftsy class!

One thing that really struck me was how the quilting on the Peaks and Valleys quilt really changes everything.  On the lovely blue/green/purple version shown, Angela's choice of quilting design truly highlights the cream, jagged lines.  She says they reminded her of crystals and I think she's right on the money with that comparison.  (You know what I see?  For some reason I kept imagining the abominable snowman from Rudolph!) The diamond patterns emphasize all the points and make those spikes just leap off the quilt!  There is another colour option shown in the magazine using Batiks and the result is an entirely different quilt.  The quilting is hidden in the dark background and the effect is much more subtle.  It just goes to show how the quilting changes everything...and that, funny enough, just happens to be the message printed on the spine of the magazine!

 

More Teal Quilt Quilting

With 100% credit to Angela Walters and her Dot to Dot Quilting class, I've really made great progress on my quilting.  Here you can see how I've used her designs to inspire the quilting pattern in my Teal Basketweave quilt's borders.  I feel like I've had the light turned on with regards to quilting negative space and fitting designs into my limited quilting area on my frame.  Even though there are tons of mistakes and less-than-perfect lines, I am really, really happy with how this quilt is looking.  I think it will look even better once it's finished and washed!

I was a little worried about how I was going to quilt the borders on my frame set-up and I left that portion of the job until the end.  Once my matching teal So Fine thread arrived it was time to dig in.  The interior sections of the quilt were done and since I reached the bottom of the quilt, I no longer needed the lower bar of the frame where the quilt top is pinned.  Rolling back the quilt to the top only requires the take-up bar and the backing bar.

Once I was at the start again I sectioned off the border with a starburst in the corner and then diamond designs along the length.  I added some wavy lines in between the chevrons to make the half-diamonds really pop and then filled in around them with swirls.  I'm still working on those darn concentric circles and getting them consistently spaced - I ran into trouble for 2 reasons: bad lighting making it difficult to see where I had already quilted, and bumping into the frame bars as I reached the limit of my quilting space.  Still, I love the texture the quilting is creating and the way the designs look in the negative space.  Continuing the quilting down the sides of the border is a bit more challenging (since I can only work on 5", and therefore one diamond, at a time and of course, I'm quilting the designs sideways) but so far, so good!

It looks like I'm finally getting the Angela Walters-esque quilting I've admired for so long.  Now it's just a matter of practicing, perfecting, and learning new designs.  Figuring out how to fit them into a quilt space is half the battle and I'm feeling enlightened in that respect.  Now that I know how to quilt and where to quilt, and my machine is behaving like a dream (knock wood!), getting a quilt top pieced as soon as possible is my goal so that I can get to the best part...the quilting!