Dear Hannah - ECQG Raffle

The East Cobb Quilters' Guild has created a wonderful quilt to raffle off at our show in September. It is "Dear Hannah" which designer Brenda Papadakis was kind enough to give us permission to use in this fashion. I can't tell you how much I love this quilt. It was pieced and appliqued by the members of the guild. Carol York did a lovely job of managing the project from start to finish. Bella Bamert did the quilting.

Tickets are available for $1 a chance. Leave me a message or email me for purchase.

Kahlua Burgers

Hubby loves the hamburgers I've been making since before we got married. Truth be told, I'd love to branch out and make some other kinds of burgers, but he wants these. Every time. Any time I talk about making something else he says, I really like them the way you always make them. (Sigh) Sometimes it's a good thing to have a man who knows what he likes. LOL

Making the burgers isn't hard, but I do take some care that might seem like overkill to you. I always make a big batch because it's no harder to mix 4 lbs of meat than it is to mix 2 lbs and you can freeze what you don't eat for the first dinner. It's nice to have a bunch of burger patties in the freezer for those nights when you can't or don't want to cook.


Pixie's Kahlua Burgers

2 lb. ground chuck (very cold)
2 lb. ground sirloin (very cold)
2/3 package Lipton onion soup mix
1/3 c. Kahlua
a few shots of Worcestershire sauce

Put all the ingredients into the biggest bowl you own. I pre-chill the bowl because the burgers seem to come out better if everything stays cold. In fact, when I have the time I mix the meat and put the bowl into the fridge, the burgers are better if the flavors have time to meld together for a couple of hours before forming and cooking the burgers. The key to mixing the meat is to break through the meats to allow the seasoning and kahlua to coat as much as possible without squishing it all to death. You aren't making meatloaf so don't mush the heck out of it. Combine all the ingredients as thoroughly as possible without overworking the meat. (Okay, so I've said it three times in three different ways, did you get the message?) Rest it in the fridge if you have the time.

I weigh the meat before forming the burgers. My burgers are 7-8 ounce patties. Hint: I wrap my scale in plastic wrap to make the clean up super easy. I compact them making fairly flat hockey puck shaped burgers. They get laid out on a half sheet pan (which is easy to carry out to the grill) with plastic wrap between layers if I'm making a bunch of them. I have learned from experience to make my burgers wider and flatter than I think necessary, they will draw up as they cook.

I cook over high heat on the grill. I don't squish the burgers flat as they cook, and I don't poke them. I lay them down and leave them alone. Close the lid and walk away, usually to take the dirty sheet pan back into the kitchen, prep a clean tray for removing the burgers and other little chores. About ten minutes. When I come back to the grill I'm looking for little pools of pink juices to gather on top of the patties, also the sides of the burgers are showing "cooked" more than half way up. A quick swish of a spatula and they are all flipped. If I'm going to add cheese I do it now. Close the lid again and walk away again, but just about five minutes. I test my burgers by touching the middle, if it feels bouncy it's done. If it feels soft I leave it for another minute. If someone likes them well done (bless their hearts) I might flip it back over when it's "done" and give it a couple more minutes until it no longer bounces when it's touched (such a shame, in my opinion).

The kahlua causes great carmelization on the burger and gives a little "what is that flavor" yum to the finished product without killing the great taste of beef. Sometimes if I can find a good pineapple I'll grill slices of fresh pineapple go with the burgers, but canned pineapple never works for me, I don't know why. We also grill onion along with the burgers.

Cherry Covered Chocolate

It dawned on me the other day that I never showed you my favorite gifty from the Tiny Stitches retreat. Melinda and Maetha always work hard to make the retreat special and the goody bags are very generous but this sweet treat was outstanding. Mary Sullivan deserves a lot of credit for all the hand sewing she did to make 50+ of these donuts.

Monthly Accounting

So this has been an unusual month for me. I started out with much vigor and determination, and promptly sewed through my finger. My heavy duty machine spent most of the the last four weeks in shop, I just got it back yesterday. I've done some piecing but not on the two tops that were listed as needing piecing in my report last month. I also managed to sandwich Chocolate Covered Cherries and tried to do Briners' Picnic, too but I can't find the backing I had set aside for it. That prompted an effort to get my act together and clean up the mess that used to be my storage area. It's coming along. I still having found the backing for that quilt.

So as we head into March things are much as they were on February 1st. I have added one thing to my list. I selected a thread painted piece I started in a class with Susan Brubaker Knapp (she's a wonderful teacher) I'm never going to use it as wall hanging for myself, but I'd like to get it finished for the ECQG Small Treasures Auction. It's mostly finished, just an hour or so of thread painting left and then some light quilting and facing and it's done. I want to hand it in at the next show meeting. Special thanks to Susan for giving me permission to donate one of her designs.

Quilts tops that need basting, quilting and finishing:

Chocolate Covered Cherries (pin basted and ready to go under the needle)

Sherwood Forest Romance

Briners' Picnic (yes, still)


WIPS that need piecing:

Hunter's Star (I've started sketching border possibilities, we'll see where this one goes in March)

Green and white chain quilt (I did get the white blocks cut and the rows pieced, I just need to get it all together)


Other:

Round Barn (needs thread painting, quilting, facing)

Home Sweet Home

Seven years ago today we moved into this home. It was not supposed to be our forever home and I didn't really love it a whole lot, but it was a great bargain in the right place and it would be a great place to live for five years while we figured out where we wanted to build.

I had already had my heart (and spirit) broken by our first house and I was exhausted from the search for a new home. I felt like we had looked at every house for sale in a 10 square mile area. Earlier in the morning we had seen a house that I was sure I was going to love in a neighborhood I really wanted to live in, but when we walked through it was clear it was not the right house. I was disappointed, worn out and questioning our decision to move altogether. On the drive across town I said "You know what?" and when my husband asked what I was thinking I thought better of saying "If this next one isn't the one I'm done looking, at least for a while." But that's what I was thinking.

From the minute he crossed over the threshold my husband was sure this was the house and every new room he walked through made him more confident this was "the one". I was ambivalent but willing to trust his judgement (go ahead, ask me who picked the first house) so we put in a bid that same afternoon. It was accepted and the ball was rolling for expedited escrow and we moved in a couple of weeks later.

We weren't in this house for three days before I called his office and said "You know that whole five year plan thing? Forget about it, I'm never moving again." I love my home, my neighbors and neighborhood and I feel blessed to have been here for these seven years.

Chocolate Covered Cherries

This week has just been as crazy as all get out. I've accomplished very little of what I was aiming for and obviously I haven't been writing, but I do have something to share today. I got Chocolate Covered Cherries sandwiched in preparation for when my Bernina returns home. I can't wait to start quilting on it, although I confess when I started laying it out I wasn't at all clear about what I was going to do. That changed as the day went along.

I have a friend who wondered what it was like to sandwich a quilt, so I took pics along the way.


I have been loving Hobbs Wool batting but this time I decided to try Dream Wool. It seems like it might be heavier than the Hobbs, I plan to quilt this piece quite densely, I'm looking forward to seeing how it quilts up.

I tend to get carried away with the pinning. There are worse bad habits in quilting, I suppose.

I have always admired quilts with grid pattern quilting in the backgrounds and I've never done one. As I laid this quilt down I realized it would be perfect for it. I'm a little intimidated about the amount of work it will require but it will be worth it. I really love this quilt, it was the mystery quilt from last year's Tiny Stitches retreat (it's about time to get it quilted, eh?) and the colors and the pattern really appeal to me a lot. It's worth the extra work.

Who are the Mavens?

The Monday Morning Mavens: Jan, Melinda, Danielle and Lynda

As I mentioned before, the Mavens went on a field trip on Monday and we stood together long enough for a picture at Intown Quilters.

Easy "Mexican" Chicken Soup

I don't have a picture to offer you, but I promise you this easy soup is both satisfying and good enough for company:

1 chicken breast cooked and shredded

1 can sweet corn, drained

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 jar salsa (I use Newman's Own "medium heat")

1 box of low sodium chicken broth

Garnish:

Shredded 4 cheese Mexican Blend

Sour Cream

Dump the first five ingredients into a pan and heat them up gently. Ladle into bowls and garnish with shredded cheese and sour cream. Serve with corn bread or tortilla chips.

If you can open a can, you can make this soup. I think I made it up in response to a five ingredient recipe challenge, but I really don't remember, it's been so long. I made it a lot when I was pregnant and it has been a staple in our house ever since.

You NEVER Know What You'll See at Tiny Stitches

On Monday the Mavens did a mini quilt shop hop. We went to Intown Quilters, Little quilts and Tiny Stitches. While we were there, four men in tuxedos walked in, delivered flowers to Connie (one of the employees) and sang to her. I felt lucky I got to be there to see it!

Bernina-less and Still Trying to Be Productive

Today I have read through a huge number of blogs and I am shocked at how many quilters mentioned having their machine in the shop! Of course most of them are just getting cleaned and tuned-up. I'm kind of hoping that's all mine needed too, but we won't know for sure until the repairman is back to work. I took my beloved Bernina in the day after my unfortunate sewing accident and found out that the only man with access to Bernina parts is down with pneumonia and it might be a month before I get my machine back!!!

What's a girl to do? Well, I still have piecing work that can be done on one of my Featherweights. (BTW, I got the call that my new Featherweight is cleaned, oiled and ready to roll so I could give her a spin as soon as I pick her up.) And I could sandwich my finished quilt tops, I even bought more safety pins last weekend at Tiny Stitches thinking that it might be the first time I can remember having so many tops layered and ready to go under the needle at one time.

I have spent a lot more time reading this week than I can remember in a long time. I finished re-reading Shelters of Stone by Jean Auel (I'm getting ready for the release of The Land of Painted Caves) and zipped through a light read called Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen which was a little like Practical Magic set in the south. My next read will probably be Ken Follett's Fall of Giants. I listened to the second book in the series while I was on the retreat last month and loved it, but I'm ready for another big read on the page. Of course, when I say "on the page" I mean on my Nook which hubby gave me for Christmas. It will never take the place of paper for some things like cook books and quilting magazines, but it's much nicer than holding around a 1000 page novel, especially when I'm reading in bed, plus, it's easier to carry around.