It's What's for Dinner

My injuries have slowed me down for the past couple of days.  Sitting at the sewing machine has been uncomfortable, so I haven't worked on any of the rainbow scraps challenge blocks and I've spent a bit of time stretched out and flipping through a couple Modern Quilting books.

In one, a successful blogger with many thousands of followers, suggests that a quilter's blogging should be restricted to quilting subjects only–because, "no one wants to know what you had for dinner."

In response, I offer what I had for lunch today, Barbecue Black-Eyed Peas Burgers, served in lettuce wraps with fresh Pico de Gallo and avocado slices, and I gently suggest that some readers like to get to know know more about the authors whose quilting (or any other) blogs they follow. I love it when someone I have come to know suggests a recipe or a knitting or craft project I'd like to try or a gardening tip or other recommendation.

I've tried a lot of veggie burgers and this recipe, from Susan's Fat Free Vegan blog has become one of a couple of my go-to favorites ... though, I confess, I don't always keep it vegan and sometimes make it for brunch and serve it topped with an egg.

In the other book, the author offered a guideline for adding borders to modern quilts. Her rule is to use borders that measure odd numbers in width.  She says, for example borders that are 3-inches wide are modern, those that are 2-inches or 4-inches wide are traditional. My guess is that she was once given this guideline for a specific project; she liked the result and has since remembered it, without any of the context that might make it meaningful (like block size or the size of the quilt before borders were added or other proportions).  I'm sure somewhere there is a guideline about PROPORTIONS which feel modern (and not) ... but that rule, as it was provided, seems meaningless for modern (or any other kind of) quilts to me.

I started wondering if I have learned and passed any information to others that, out of context, is just as non-sensical and meaningless.  If you ever notice me making a sweeping generalization like these, please call me on it ... honestly, I feel embarrassed for these two experts and hope I never end up walking in those particular shoes of theirs.

Pretty Pretty Pili Pili

My Pili Pili has been sitting in the pantry for a little over a week; it may be ready for a test drive on some eggplant pizza soon.

I used this recipe for the spicy herb oil on the New York Times site.  The bottle is more full of herbs and peppers than I expected, but, other than that, it looks exactly as I remember seeing on restaurant tables in the South of France.

It was sitting on the windowsill in the kitchen, back-lit by the afternoon soon when I took this photo, so you can see the Rosemary, Thyme, Chilies, Bay Leaves, Oregano and Fennel seeds.

It looks right, but how will it taste?   Here's hoping it was worth the wait.

2014 is here ... now what?

It feels like 2014 will be wonderful. Maybe it's because the sun is shining brightly and people are out and about in shirt sleeves or light jackets.  I have so many ideas rattling around in my head, that though I planned to blog something today, I'm not sure where to start.  So, how about a New Year's Day brain dump?

2014 arrived as I was stitching down the binding of my first finish of the year–a small quilt for Kate's Another Small Quilt Swap.

This is the eighth round of the swap–I always want to participate but never managed it, so this time, I was determined to get a little quilt made.  I''ll be able to share in a couple months when the swap is over and all the quilts have landed in their new homes. In the meantime, I'll be wondering if anyone will like it as much as I do ;-)

The deadline to send photos of your completed little quilt is January 20 has been extended to February 3, so there's still time to join me.  Complete details can be found on the Another Little Quilt Swap blog.

Today on her blog, Quilts and Dogs, Glen mentioned on her blog her New Years food tradition of

... black eyed peas for prosperity, ham for health and cabbage for money in the new year.

My own tradition is less specific, but also includes black eyed peas and greens.  I had  planned to make my usual vegetarian Hoppin' John ... then something on the Homesick Texan's blog caught my eye.

It will be New Year's Day Migas with Black-Eyed Pea Salsa and Bacon for lunch for me today.
(photo from the Homesick Texan blog)

The Block Lotto has kicked off another year.  This year the block designs are mostly geometric shapes, in three sizes: 7-inch squares, 14-inch squares, and 7 x 14 inch rectangles like January's Double Chevron blocks.

A week or so ago, I accidentally blew away my block patterns page–or was it Blogger's fault? What happened still isn't clear, but when I re-build it, the block pattern for this Double Chevron block will be added.  (In the meantime, you can find it on the Block Lotto site).

Along with this year's Block Lotto patterns, I'll be sharing directions for using them in a quilt for anyone who would like to try the blocks and play along (whether they are part of the Block Lotto or not). I'll be starting with this set of fabrics, recently won in a Blog Giveaway, for my quilt, and adding to it from my stash.

The  Blogiverse is filled with offers of Quilt-Alongs and I am reticent to suggest another, but ... details for the Mod-Mod (Modern Modular) Quilt-Along will be published mid-month each month in 2014. There will be options for making something as small as a 42-inch square or as large as a king-sized 105 inch square (with other sizes in between).

I am not one to make a list of resolutions, but I like the idea of choosing a word as a touchpoint for the year. and have chosen one: Dare. I also have challenged (dared?) myself with a specific quilt-related goal. More on that later.

It isn't just the beginning of the year, it's the beginning of a month and time to declare goals for the first month of another year of Lovely Finishes and the NewFO challenge. This year I really want to re-visit some of my golden oldie UFOs–many of which were put aside because I wasn't confident in the skill needed to take the next step.  I now feel ready to take on the challenge in some of those projects.

After my New Year's Day lunch, I'll be pulling out my project for January's lovely finish ... or I may head out for a walk in the sunshine ... you never know when Winter will return with a vengeance.

My Continuing Chile Education

If you ask the vendors at the Farmer's market about the relative hot-ness of the chiles they sell, they will inevitably tell you that they're either "mild" or "medium hot" ... or they'll say something along the lines of, "you can never tell, they might be mild but sometimes you get a hot one."

I figured the only way to decide which ones were for me was to taste my way through the farmer's market during the season.



These are Padrones.  They originated in Spain and are quite mild.  I like them prepared simply,  blistered in a hot pan with a little olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt–Bon Appetit's recipe is here.

The Japanese Shishito chiles are also quite mild and lovely.

There are a lot of varieties being roasted at the farmer's market and in parking lots all over Santa Fe.

Most of the chiles at the farmer's market are identified in some way.  Sometimes a grower will confess, "I don't remember what kind of seeds we planted." Most come with some sort of signage.

Some of the names are regional, some have an appended, "improved."  The Alcalde Improved that have become a favorite of mine are derived from Espinola Improved. The name is, in part, regional and also reflects the growers selection process.



These red beauties came home for their taste test this week. They're sweet peppers and not chiles at all ... but I couldn't resist them.

I plan to use them in a version of a recipe I found on Kate's blog, Black Pepper Tofu.


The peppers below aren't chiles either, but aren't the colors glorious?

A Foodie's Favorite Time of Year

It's that time of year, when any trip to the local Farmers Market means many tasty meals and new things to try.

I was disappointed that the goat cheese ladies didn't have their feta this week, but happy to find a basket of beautiful heirloom tomatoes on a table in the corner inside. I came home with three of the beauties, picked up some quinoa-millet bread at the gluten-free bakery on the way, and knew I'd be making Panzanella for lunch today.

Panzanella is an Italian bread salad made from mostly tomatoes and bread.


Today, I tried this recipe for Heirloom Tomato Panzanella from the blog, What's Gaby Cooking?  The bread became garlic herbed croutons, I added some yellow cherry tomatoes to the heirlooms and made a fresh vinaigrette, with lots of basil.

Yum.  

I wasn't the only one excited about all the beautiful veggies and fresh herbs that came home with me from the Farmers Market ... Johnny thought the green tops of the organic beets were irresistible.

It's also that time of year when chile roasters are being set up all over town.  I bought chiles, both fresh and freshly roasted, too, and told myself I was going to taste my way through all the varieties available this year as part of my continuing chile education.

The sharpest knife in the drawer ... and something to do with it

The sharpest knife in the drawer at my house is the one that I took to the farmer's market today to have sharpened.

Patrick Romero has no website nor business cards.  He just shows up at the Farmer's market twice a week and works his magic to make knives and scissors and tools sharp again. He also makes custom knives and tools.

This morning I remembered to take my big kitchen knife with me to the market. Until now, it was well used and definitely NOT the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Next I'll be taking my Dovo scissors.

Cutting–fabric or vegetables–is so much easier and more pleasant when our tools are sharp.  Most of my knives in the kitchen are 30 years old or older–purchased when I lived and worked in Europe and they are still going strong.

Lately, I've been making a lot of this salad–Hail to the Kale.  You can follow the link for the recipe (the photo also comes from there) or watch the video below.

It has a creamy, sweet and tangy sauce which is poured over the kale and then massaged in by using a curved blade like an Alaskan Ulu or a mezzaluna to cut the kale and mix things up ...

Which was my excuse for buying a new contender for sharpest knife in the drawer, this mincing knife.

Added to my rationalization was the great price I found for one online ... darn that internet :-)

Here's the video where I first found Hail to the Kale.


Like the Chef and the Dietitian in the video,  I often enjoy this salad for breakfast.

This weekend's theme for the Block Lotto weekend update linky party is sharing something UN-quilty, so I'm linking this post.

Only in Santa Fe?

I went to the Tuesday morning Farmer's market, looking to see what was in season here.  I picked up some fresh garlic, rainbow swiss chard (peeking out of my shopping bag), a few other local veggies and stopped in the new café for coffee and pastry.

... which, in this case, was a latté and a blue corn donut with lavender-blueberry glaze from a local donut shop, Whoo's Donuts.  Yum.

Quilters who Cook

While I do follow a few food blogs,  I am always interested by recipes shared by quilters and other artists.   The Black Pepper Tofu that Kate blogged about almost a year ago has become one of my favorite stir-fry recipes.  (Photo and recipe at the link, courtesy of the The Guardian).

Last week, when June mentioned making sweet potato soup, I thought that sounded tasty. When an interesting recipe for Sweet Potato Leek Soup popped up in an email from PBS the next morning, using soy milk to create a traditionally cream-based soup, I knew I was meant to try it. I combined it with a spicy black bean quesadilla on blue corn tortilla.  Follow the link for step-by-step directions and photos.

Here are the basics.

Ingredients

• 1 medium leek (about 250 grams/9 ounces)
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (plus extra for garnish)
• 600 grams (21 ounces) small sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into coins
• 1 cup + 2 cups soy milk
• 1 cup water
• salt and white pepper to taste
• curry powder (for garnish)

Directions

1. Trim the end off of the leek, and slice it into thin rings, discarding any darker green leaves. Put the sliced leeks in a salad spinner and fill with water. Use your hand to swirl the water around and dislodge any dirt from between the leek's rings. Lift the basket out of the spinner, then dump the water out and repeat once. Dump any water out of the bowl of the spinner, return the basket, cover and spin the leeks to remove the excess water.
2. Add the leeks, celery and olive oil to a pot and cover with a lid. Turn the stove on to medium-low heat and cook, string occasionally until the leeks are soft (10-15 minutes). Remove the lid and turn up the heat and sauté, string constantly until the leeks are reduced to about 1/4 of the original volume and caramelized.
3. Add the sweet potato, 1 cup soy milk, and water. Cover with a lid and simmer over medium low heat until the potatoes are tender and falling apart.
4. Turn off the heat, and then add the rest of the soy milk.
5. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to blend the soup until smooth. If you are using a regular blender, cover the lid with a large towel and hold it there as you slowly turn up the speed of the blender, otherwise the sudden escape of steam will cause the lid to blow off, spewing hot soup all over you and the kitchen.
6. Add salt and white pepper to taste, as well as more soymilk if you want the soup thinner. Return the soup to the pot to reheat.
7. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of curry powder.

Yield: 6-8 servings

I made a half-recipe, which meant there was plenty left over  for lunch the next day.  For a little variety, I replaced the olive oil and curry garnishes with sour cream and (slightly over) toasted pepitas.

Yesterday Judy blogged about making Pad Thai and shared her version of Martha Stewart's Vegetable and Tofu Pad Thai.  I will be trying this soon, substituting spiralized zucchini for the noodles.