CIC: Cranberries & Shallots

July 20, 2014July 20, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ 13 Comments

This month members got to vote on the ingredients for the Crazy Ingredient Challenge. I love this new assignment method as it provides more time to allow inspiration to flow. It also gives me the opportunity to sway the challenge in a direction away from one of my many food allergies. I hated having to sit out last month’s Cantaloupe and Capers due to my melon allergy. I’m happy to say that my voted-for selection of Cranberries and Shallots won, by one vote!

There are a lot of directions one could take with this month’s challenge – salad, chutney, cheese log, bread pudding, anything Thanksgiving inspired, etc. I decided to do a simple side dish – elevating Brussels sprouts with sweetness from dried cranberries.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Cranberries

Ingredients:

5 strips of bacon, chopped
1 1/2 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 shallots, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 C dried cranberries
1 tbsp honey
1 C water

Steps:

In a large skillet on medium-high heat cook bacon until crispy. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add Brussels sprouts to same skillet and cook 5 minutes. Add shallots and garlic – cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Stir in cranberries, honey, and water. Reduce to medium heat, cover, and simmer 7 minutes until liquid is evaporated and Brussels sprouts are tender. Stir in bacon and season with S+P.

*This recipe is modified from http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/brussels-sprouts-with-walnuts-and-dried-cranberries/ and https://sewyoucancook.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/thanksgiving-brussels-sprouts/*

To see the other blogs that participated this month click on the link below. And if you’re a blogger and interested in joining us, contact Dawn at spatulasonparade@gmail.com. You don’t have to participate every month, but if you’re up for the challenge, we’d love to have you!

Plaited Block

July 18, 2014July 27, 2015 ~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

I think this block uses the smallest pieces of fabric I’ve ever cut, but the effect of it is so worth it, and it’s one of my favorites in my Fourth of July quilt Old Glory. Because of my finished quilt product, I only used two colors for this Plaited Block quilt block, I highly encourage you to look at this “twist” using three colors! Please note, if you do opt to use three colors, fabric amounts and sizes you’ll need to cut will be different, and the sewing plan will be slightly altered from what I did as well.

Here is the how-to for a Plaited Block Quilt Block:

Note: These measurements are for an 8″ block. Sew using a scant 1/4″ seam allowance.

Cut fabric:

4 squares 2 1/8″ red
4 squares 2 1/8″ white
8 squares 1 1/2″ red
12 squares 1 1/2″ white
8 rectangles 1 1/2 x 2 1/2″ red
5 squares 2 1/2″ white

Use the 8 squares of 2 1/8″ red and white to create 8 Half Square Triangles (HSTs) trimmed down to 2 1/2″. Click here for my tutorial on how to make Half Square Triangles.

Lay out the HSTs and other pieces of fabric into the Plaited Block quilt block.

Break off the “arrows” in the four corners to piece together. Sew the red square on the left to the the white square below it and the HST on the right to the white square below it:

Sew the new rectangles to the red rectangle. Sew the remaining three squares together:

Sew the two pieces from the previous step together.

Repeat with the remaining three “arrows”.

Sew the large white squares to the red rectangles above/below it. Then create the top and bottom rows:

Sew the middle section together and then sew together your three rows to create your Plaited Block:

#BundtBakers: Stone Fruit

July 17, 2014July 17, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ 22 Comments

With it being July I knew I had to take this month’s #BundtBakers theme in an All American direction. #BundtBakers is a group of bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bundts with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient. This month’s theme is stone fruit and our lovely host is Felice of All That’s Left are the Crumbs.

While I can’t get enough of the smell of fresh peaches and nectarines I don’t particularly care for them. And in thinking of something that’d be great for the 4th of July I knew I had to go with cherries.

Chocolate and cherries are a classic combination. So I knew I wanted to do a chocolate cake. But how to incorporate the cherry? I decided to try following the method I use on my popular coffee cake and placing cherry pie filling in the middle of the batter. Well, just like my attempted Mimosa Bundt two months ago the fruit didn’t cooperate like I’d hoped. But this time it created a more beautiful result than I could have imagined! And it also eliminated my need to make a frosting. (For the record I planned on putting some cherry pie filling liquid into a chocolate glaze.) The cherry pie filling fell to the bottom of the bundt pan which created a “pre-made” cherry glaze for the cake. The only downfall is that my brand new star bundt pan didn’t get to shine in all its glory. Thankfully a couple of the stars remained filled with cake batter instead of cherries that I can still show it off.

All-American Chocolate Cherry Pie Cake

Ingredients:

2 sticks butter
1 C water
1/3 C cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
2 C flour
1 3/4 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 container (5.3 oz) cherry flavored Greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heavily grease bundt pan.
In a saucepan melt together butter, water, cocoa powder, and salt.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, and baking soda.
Using a hand mixer add half of the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients. When incorporated add the remaining chocolate.
Add the eggs one at a time, the yogurt, and the vanilla extract.
Pour half of the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Add cherry pie filling (I did not use all of the can) and top with remaining batter.
Bake 50-55 minutes, or until a knife comes out cleanly. Allow to cool in the bundt pan for at least 10 minutes before turning out.

*This recipe is adapted from Maria & Josh at http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/chocolate-sour-cream-bundt-cake/*

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. All recipes and photographs can be found on our individual blogs, on our Pinterest board, and the #bundtbakers homepage.

And don’t forget to take a peek at what other talented bakers have baked this month:

Cherry Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days

Cherry Carrot & Banana Bundt by Kelly at Passion Kneaded

Peaches n Cream Melba Bundt Cake by Laura at Baking in Pyjamas

Roasted Cherry Kugelhopf with Cherry Bourbon Glaze by Tux at Brooklyn Homemaker

Peachy Bundt by Margaret at Tea and Scones

Plum, Chocolate, and Orange Bundt Cake by Maria at Box of Stolen Socks

Cinnamon Peach Bundt Cake by Beatriz at I Love Bundt Cakes

Cherry Almond Ginger Bundt by Jane at Jane’s Adventures in Dinner

Chocolate Avocado Bundt Cake by Terri at Love and Confections

Black Forest Bundt Cake with Cherry Ganache Topping by Teri at The Freshman Cook

Caramel Mango Bundt Cake by Bea at Secrets from my Apron

Upside-down Apricot Butter Bundt by Stacy at Food Lust People Love

Corn and Beans

July 16, 2014July 27, 2015 ~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

This block is by far the most difficult in my Fourth of July quilt Old Glory. It requires sewing on the bias, so be sure to conquer a practice block before using your project fabric.

Here is the how-to for the Corn and Beans Quilt Block:

Note: These measurements are for an 8″ block. Sew using a scant 1/4″ seam allowance.

Cut fabric:

1 square 3 1/2″ red
10 squares 2 1/8″ red
3 squares 3 1/2″ white
10 squares 2 1/8″ white

Cut each square in half on the diagonal:

Lay out the Corn and Beans quilt block:

Now work in quadrants:

Sew the bottom left red and white triangles together on the diagonal:

Sew your newly created HST to the white triangle above it:

Sew the middle red and white triangles together on the diagonal:

New sew the white triangle above the newly created HST and the red triangle below it to the HST:

Sew the top right red and white triangles together on the diagonal:

Now sew your newly created HST to the red triangle below it:

Sew all of the above steps together, making sure to line up your seams:

Attach the remaining two triangles to the sewn portion:

Repeat three more times with the remaining quadrants.

You now have a four patch ready to assemble:

Yankee Puzzle

July 14, 2014July 27, 2015 ~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

What better name for a quilt block than Yankee Puzzle for my Fourth of July quilt Old Glory.

Here is the how-to for the Yankee Puzzle Quilt Block:

Note: These measurements are for an 8″ block. Sew using a scant 1/4″ seam allowance.

Cut fabric:

8 squares 3 1/8″ red
8 squares 3 1/8″ white

Use the 8 squares of 3 1/8″ red and white to create 16 Half Square Triangles (HSTs) trimmed down to 2 1/2″. Click here for my tutorial on how to make Half Square Triangles.

Lay out HSTs into the Yankee Puzzle quilt block.

Working in quadrants, sew four 4-patch blocks then sew the four 4-patch blocks into one 4-patch Yankee Puzzle:

Brown Sugar Tomato Pasta

July 13, 2014September 17, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ 4 Comments

Today is Kelli’s birthday. Kelli is my brother’s fiance and has been featured on Sew You Think You Can Cook a few times before. Her parents are passionate cooks and Kelli has shared some of their recipes with me. (Black Beans & Buffalo Chicken Dip)

I can’t wait until she officially becomes a member of the family – having been with my brother for longer than I’ve known Stuart, she’s already a sister to me. Kelli is beautiful both inside and out and is the most fashionable person I know! Every time I spend time with her I’m inspired to refresh my wardrobe, paint my nails, wear makeup and accessorize with fun jewelry. Unfortunately that urge never lasts long enough to become habit and I’m back in t-shirts and jeans, feeling frumpy before I know it. Kelli is incredibly smart and a hard worker and is currently pursuing her dreams in dental school.

Kelli’s favorite dessert is pie. I believe pumpkin is her all time favorite with key lime coming as a close second. As key lime pie is my personal favorite, I featured it last year on my birthday. But, the first time I ever tried making key lime pie was for Kelli on her birthday 3 years ago. I actually squeezed juice from real key limes for it! It was the tartest pie EVER.

I couldn’t do another key lime pie post – my previous one yields the most perfect key lime pie so there isn’t anywhere to go but down from that one! And I just use the recipe on the can of pumpkin puree for pumpkin pie. So, I asked her what she’d like featured on her day. She gave me this simple but beautiful recipe for the pasta dish her mom would always make for her on her birthday.

I absolutely loved this recipe and it is a perfect, light pasta dish for summer. It would make a great side dish too.

Brown Sugar Tomato Pasta

Ingredients:

6 roma tomatoes
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb spaghetti

Steps:

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
Cut tomatoes into eighths and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt, pepper, brown sugar, and olive oil. Bake for 90-120 minutes.
Cook pasta in boiling salted water.
In a large bowl toss together tomatoes and pasta.

Honey Honey Layer Cake

July 11, 2014July 27, 2015 ~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

As I continued to make quilt blocks for my Old Glory Fourth of July quilt I traded out a few blocks for others that I felt worked better with the personality of the quilt. This particular block I found on Pinterest. You can see a whole quilt made with this block here, it’s stunning!

Here is the how-to for the Honey Honey Layer Cake Quilt Block:

Note: These measurements are for an 8″ block. Sew using a scant 1/4″ seam allowance.

Cut fabric:

8 squares 2 3/4″ red
8 squares 2 3/4″ white
4 squares 2 1/8″ red
4 squares 2 1/8″ white

Use the 8 squares of 2 3/4″ red and white to create 16 Half Square Triangles (HSTs) trimmed down to 2 1/8″. Click here for my tutorial on how to make Half Square Triangles.

Lay out HSTs and solid blocks into the Honey Honey Layer Cake quilt block:

Assemble each row of five:

Attach the five rows together:

Thursday Thoughts #5

July 10, 2014July 12, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Today my perfect baby boy is one week old!

As I’ve posted a Thursday Thoughts about my pre-term labor scare, I thought it’d only be fair to share my true labor story.

On July third I was scheduled for inducement. That’s right, after multiple pre-term labor scares and one month on bedrest my little one was 5 days late! We joke that he follows “Stuart time” – my husband’s definition of “a couple minutes” is at least 15 and “soon” could mean anywhere from 10-60+ minutes.

I was so nervous about having a holiday baby. Because I tend to obsess over holiday parties and themes I knew that I would struggle with having to share a birthday and holiday. Especially one of my favorite holidays! With my arrival time at the hospital of 4am I had 20 hours. (Of course, I knew that whatever day I finally became a mom wouldn’t matter. It’s definitely my new favorite day of the year!)

Here is the story of how Wesley entered the world:

At 3:15am I was eating a homemade waffle. And I had a cinnamon donut from Dunkin in the car on the way. At 4:00 we were checking in to the hospital. I absolutely loved my nursing staff and an IV was placed effortlessly. Hundreds of forms were signed and my food allergies recorded.

Around 5:30am they started the Pitocin drip at a rate of 2 miliunits/minute. After an hour that rate was increased to 4 and at 7:30 a resident came in to break my water. It was now at this point when I could feel the contractions.

I allowed the majority of my fluids to leak before changing tactics. I left the bed and bounced on the birthing ball. My mom rubbed my back through almost every contraction and I couldn’t be more grateful. As I was most definitely experiencing back labor, her efforts did not go unnoticed.

My biggest desire for “D-day” was to labor in water. In discussing this wish with my doctor earlier in the pregnancy I was informed that I could labor in the tub, but that I couldn’t deliver there. After a quick cervical check, my nurse informed me that if I wanted an epidural now would probably be the time. (I declined.) Additionally, if I wanted to get in the tub I’d have to do it now and have only 30 minutes before being asked to get out. This moment might be my favorite of the labor process – I was elated at my progress and knew that my chances of needing a c-section were slim-to-none.

After the bath my Pitocin drip was decreased from 6 back to 4. My contractions were back to back and the hospital team didn’t want to “over heat” my uterus! I returned to the birthing ball and also tried a few different positions in bed. The Pitocin was yet again reduced to 2 miliunits/minute before being cut off entirely.

I went quickly from 8 to 10 centimeters dilated and it was time to push at 1:00pm. The Pitocin drip was restarted to provide my contractions that extra oomph to help me push.

Pushing was such a frustrating and rewarding experience. It took at least 30-40 minutes for me to learn the technique. But two hours later, at 3:07pm it was all worth it.

The doctors lifted my baby up towards my husband and had him discover and declare, “It’s a boy!” My son was then placed skin-to-skin on my chest and Stuart cut the umbilical cord. I had to ask for my glasses back just so I could see this tiny person we created! As elated and proud as I was, I could only imagine what that moment was like for the newest dad!

Blog-iversary

July 9, 2014July 9, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ 9 Comments

Today is my blog’s anniversary! I can’t believe it’s been a year. In my first year I have gained 132 followers and 113 Facebook friends. I’ve really enjoyed blogging. I will admit that I hit a spell in my first trimester of pregnancy when I was questioning my desire to continue with Sew You Think You Can Cook. Blame the hormones and exhaustion.

But I’m glad I stuck it out. I’ve met some great bloggers through The Crazy Ingredient Challenge, #BundtBakers, and Secret Recipe Club. I think joining in these link parties has brought me the most joy. It’s been nice to expand my horizons and get creative in the kitchen. In fact, I just joined another group – Foodie Extravaganza!

For my blog-iversary I decided to try something that’s always intrigued me. Using olive oil in baking. These cupcakes are beautiful – The olive oil gave them a nice golden color and the edges had a little bit of crisp to them which I adored. They’re not overly sweet so the cream cheese frosting accompanied them perfectly. I typically find icing to push cake over the top on sweetness level. I brought them to work and they were gone before lunch!

Olive Oil Cupcakes

Ingredients for cupcakes:

1 1/4 C cake flour
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
6 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 C sour cream
1/4 C milk

Ingredients for frosting:

1 stick butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 C powdered sugar

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cupcake tin, or line with cupcake liners.
In the bowl of a stand mixer mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add the olive oil and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Add the sour cream until combined. Add the milk. Mix until batter is smooth.
Place cupcake batter into prepared cupcake tin. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool.
Make the frosting: Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add the powdered sugar in two installments. Beat until smooth. Add milk 1/4 tsp at a time if needed (I didn’t need it).

*This recipe is adapted from Brita at http://www.bakingisascience.com/lemon-lime-olive-oil-cupcakes/*

Ohio Star

July 8, 2014July 27, 2015 ~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

For my Old Glory Fourth of July quilt I used two different blocks for the stars section of the flag. One of them, Sarah’s Choice, is a 16-patch of half square triangles and squares so I did not feel a tutorial was necessary for that block. The other star block, Ohio Star, is a little trickier. This 9-patch is a made up of squares and what I call hour glasses (quarter-square triangles).

Here is the how-to for the Ohio Star Quilt Block:

Note: These measurements are for an 8″ block. Sew using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Cut fabric:

1 square 3 1/8″ blue
4 squares 3 1/8″ white
2 squares 4 1/8″ blue
2 squares 4 1/8″ white

Layer one white 4 1/8″ square atop a blue 4 1/8″ square. Mark the diagonal and 1/4″ on each side of the diagonal:

Sew on each of the 1/4″ lines. Cut on the diagonal. Open up your half square triangles (HSTs) and iron to the dark:

Sandwich the HSTs so that blue and white are opposite each other. Mark the diagonal and 1/4″ on each side of the diagonal:

Sew on each of the 1/4″ lines. Cut on the diagonal. Open up your hour glasses and iron flat:

Trim down each hour glass to 3 1/8″ squares by treating one of the diagonals as a straight line and trim off the top and right side to just slightly larger than 3 1/8″. It is important that you line your ruler up so that the 3 1/8″ line is touching the edge of blue-on-white: Flip the block and now align your ruler with the cut edges. Finish to 3 1/8″: