Sweet!

Wow, Salted Honey Pie is one sweet pie!

And it's the first pie under my belt 

(quite literally for this one I'm afraid)

in my quest to discover if I'm a pie baker.  

It's buttery. Sweet. Custardy. 

Oh, and then there's that satisfying salty crunch. 

A scoop of vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream 

would only be added punishment. Hmmm.

If you or someone you love is a die-hard sweets fanatic, 

put this pie on the bucket list! 

(For the recipe, click "Salted Honey Pie" above.)

 And if you or some one you love is need of 

a quilting adventure, I'm excited to announce

 my free Storm Clouds-inspired quilt recipe
is now available for download. 

(Over there on the right, hooray!)

The recipe concept came from my experience of making 

a scrappy quilt for a boy, to donate to Project Linus. 

I had plenty of scraps, but no pattern.

As I was moving scraps around on the design wall, 

a storm rolled through our town and it gave me the 

inspiration that turned my scraps into "Storm Clouds".  

The recipe is really just that, a general list of ingredients  

and inspiration for creating your own phenomenal 
scrap quilt with a definite mood or theme. 

Let your imagination take you on a quilting adventure! 

I hope you'll share your questions and triumphs

with me here on the blog!

I'm smitten with Edie Brickell and Steve Martin's new CD,

Love Has Come For You.

This is their performance of the song 

"When You Get To Asheville", 

which by the way, goes perfectly with Salted Honey Pie.

Salted Honey Pie in all its sweet, salty glory

June's pie will be Strawberry Rhubarb.

I hope it's good. ;)

A Shovel and a Fry Pan

 Before I get to the shovel and fry pan, here's my friend 
Hannah who has been coming over to the studio

to work on her pillow.

This is her first go with a sewing machine, 
and equally impressive, she didn't follow a pattern. 
What a pro!

 Since she was young, Hannah has shown a natural ability 

with color, texture and pattern. For her pillow, 

she selected scraps and efficiently arranged them in 

a beautiful pattern before sewing them together 

at the machine. Once her center panel was constructed, 

she quickly decided on the main fabric. 

Doesn't it go perfectly with her patchwork? 

She made it all look so easy!

 What a good sport for sharing the lime light....

This pillow was destined for her bed, 

and I'll bet it looks amazing!

Great job Hannah!

What will our next project be?

 Now for that shovel and fry pan.

Harvesting Fiddlehead ferns, ramps and 

stumbling upon other surprises made for a rewarding

Saturday afternoon in the woods next to our house.

 If you're heading in to the woods to forage ramps 

for the first time, please do some online research 
to make sure you know what you're harvesting. 
Ramps have a few look-a-likes that 
you wouldn't want to serve up....

I found this site very helpful. 

A (small) spade is essential because the bulbs have 

a tight grip in the soil. With a bit of gentle wriggling though, 
the bulb is easily freed.

After a rinse with the garden hose and shedding the husks, 

here's a look at the bounty!

My foraged Mother's Day breakfast:
Ramps & scrambled eggs with a side of 

Fiddlehead ferns in butter. A delicious treat! 

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, 

and Mothers every where!

Wait, wait! Which pie did you choose?!

Here's the winning selection for May, the first pie 

in my personal Pie Challenge:

Salted Honey Pie!

Thanks to everyone who participated!
With so many votes for Strawberry Rhubarb
June's pie is already decided, yay! 
Tune in again for the results of the intriguing 
Salted Honey Pie.  ;)

Which Will You Choose?

Lately, I've noticed a strange need to make pies.

I love the idea of pies. 

Flakey crusts and tasty fillings.

Baked pies. Refrigerator pies. Ice cream freezer pies. 

 Oh, but I'm a cookie and cake-baking girl, 

not a pie-making girl. Or am I?

Help me decide as I begin a summer-long endeavor 

making an assortment of pies, just for fun! 

I'll share them all here, even the failures....

so head over to my Pinterest board Pies, Pies, Pies

and leave a comment back here on the blog 

with your choice for my first pie. Thanks!

Early yesterday morning, as I was driving to pick up 

seeds for the garden, I drove by my dear friend Lori's home 

and lo and behold she was having a garage sale.

My lucky day! 

No sooner did I get out of my car than she was 

stepping off her porch, coffee in hand, 

walking right up to me with a huge hug! 

Then she proceeded to plunk a basket full of 

vintage lace trims (above) into my hands! Seriously?! 

It was as if she knew I'd stop by.

She brought out other vintage treasures, 

like an impeccable wool and velvet Victorian coat

with amazing woven buttons. 

I will forever marvel at how things were once made. 

Any way, I managed to find a few more treasures 

to bring home: a piece of plain linen so that I might 

fill it with my own embroidery, and this large 

vintage lace-trimmed bed sheet:

The reason I like it so much is that it has 

hand sewn patches.

Who today patches their bed sheets?

I just love that. And I love it so much that I intend to use 

it as the backing for a (near) future quilt. 

 Thanks so much, Lori!

On Pinterest, I saw a homemade detergent  

for cleaning vintage linens. I'm willing to give it a try, 

but if you happen to have a trick up your sleeve, 

I'd sincerely appreciate hearing about it. 

 To have a live look at the newly hatched, adorable, 

fuzzy chicks on Cornell Lab of Ornithology's (Ithaca NY) live cam, 

click here: Red Tail Hawk Cam.

Click the video above to watch 

the parents' antics from a few days ago. 

Remember, I'm counting on your help to choose the first pie! 

I hope it has fruit. No wait, ice cream. A meringue topping?

I must conquer my fear of the dreaded crust.... 

Tune in next week for the big reveal!

QT With Mom

 I've just returned from a week in Ft. Myers, FL 

enjoying Quality Time with my Mom.

 

Mom's view overlooks the mouth of the

 Caloosahatchee River as it flows into the Gulf of Mexico,

a lovely backdrop for the sock I started on the plane.

 The socks are pretty special for two reasons.

One, they're for a very dear, long-time friend 

for whom I want to send some TLC.

Two, the pattern is Ferry Beach, one of my

dear friend Lara Smoot's newest designs. 

I'm a fan of her easy-to-follow, attractive 

and very comfy sock patterns.

Stay tuned for the finished socks in a future post.

 This tower is in the back ground of the sock photos.

Here, I've gone out to the island in order to show 

more closely the majestic family of Osprey 

nested on the roof.

 The parents were often gone from the nest. 

Watching these three young ones hop around, screech 

and test their wings was very entertaining.

They're a chatty bunch with their wake up call 

(screeching) beginning at 6:30AM.

I understand. I'm a morning person, too.

The week went by fast, as vacations do,

and I already miss it all -

especially time with my Mom.

(I now realize I didn't take any pictures of her.

Next time, I promise!)

Thanks Mom!

A Flock of Fluttering Flamingos

 When my dear friend Vickie asked me to sew her a 
Tulip Purse with fabrics she purchased from Stash Fabrics, 
I wanted to drop everything, run home and get started!

Vickie brought me the entertaining pink flamingos 
and the polka dots. Pure happiness, right?!

Because I feel the Tulip Purse is at its best with 
at least three fabrics, I found the darker pink fabric 
at our local quilt shop, 
A Kaleidoscope of Quilts in Little York, NY.

 No store bought button here. That sweet little face made

a hand-covered button the only choice!

I love how roomy this bag is! As a knitter, I can tell you 

it holds a whole sweater and all of the yarn for the sweater. 

The pattern calls for plenty of pockets - excellent!

The bag is available in three sizes, but I love the 

Jumbo size so much that it's the one I always return to.

 I'm a big fan of the simple-to-sew details 

that make the finished product special.  

I've made quite a few of these now and have enjoyed 

sewing every single one - definitely hand made with Love.

Sending out a great big Thank You to Vickie 

for the opportunity to make this for you.

What goes around, comes around. I love you!

Knit on.

Seeing Beauty

I love the process of gathering inspiration 

as much as feeling moved to create.

Above, evidence of these two loves have come to be 

long-time neighbors on my Studio's inspiration board. 

 I never tire of listening to their conversation.

A few days ago I received this gift from my big brother Eric.

He cut the wasp nest from a tree on his property, 

and as you can see, it even engulfs some of the tree's branches. 

The large hole was made by a bird who dined on the larvae.

How are those grain lines are formed?

 How is this incredible structure even made? 

Skip to 2:56 seconds into this video for the answers.

Mother Nature never fails to teach and delight. 

It's time to hand over the keys. 

My dear friend Tracy winters out of town, 

and this year she entrusted me to keep her 

Kitchen Aid mixer, the "Red Cadillac", 

shall we say, in good working order. 

How did I get to be so lucky?!

While a decent block of time to make 

pasta from scratch wasn't in the cards, 

I did make a variety of cookie doughs, 

brownie & quiche batters. 

Now the time has come to return 

the Red Cadillac to its rightful home, 

and may I say I truly enjoyed the ride. 

Thank you Tracy.

Rise and Shine

Turning back the clocks, spotting the first robin,

the first day of Spring, dyeing eggs for Easter Sunday - 

 these are some of my favorite benchmarks of 
our transition into a new season, one that 
celebrates a sense of awakening and growth.

Comforting food and soulful sounds are 
helping me ease my way from winter to spring: 
a new (to me) musician and an easy, 
delicious quiche for our Easter dinner.

Joshua James

Coal War

Springtime Quiche
(an adaptation of the Moosewood's 
Mushroom Quiche)

Prepared or homemade pie crust
Sauteed onion, spinach, mushrooms, asparagus tips
(1.5 cups total of any sauteed veg. you have on hand)
Salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, 1 tsp. dry mustard
1.5 cups Shredded Swiss cheese
4 organic eggs 
1.5 cups organic milk
2 Tbsp. organic flour

Oven to 375 degrees.
Sautee onion.
 When soft, add mushrooms and asparagus tips,
herbs and mustard. Stir well.
When mushrooms are browned, 
add spinach, stir to soften and turn the heat off.

Prepare a deep dish pie plate with the pie crust.
Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the bottom of the crust.
Next, evenly spread out the sauteed veggies.
In a separate bowl, whisk well the eggs, milk and flour  
and pour over the veggies.

Bake the quiche for 45-50 minutes,
or until set (not jiggly.)
Cool, then serve warm or at room temperature.


How do you celebrate the arrival of Spring?
I'd love to hear all about it. :)