Food Photography

I have been busily working on my cookbook that I will be publishing down the road. And as I have made different dishes, I have been taking photos. Here is my Pumpkin Cake:

Amazing tasting cake--not great photos. Dark. Nothing special. Never said I was a photographer. Cook--yes I am, Designer--yes that too, Photographer--not so much. But my neighbor, Jen, has been photographing some of the finished recipes to provide photos for the book. She IS a photographer--and her pictures of MY food have been beautiful!! She has wanted to try some "stock" photography and is starting with my food. She also does beautiful portrait work! So click on her name and take a look at the BIG difference in our Pumpkin Cake Pictures! :) Also my recipe for the cake can be found on her site. Truly delicious and perfect for fall! On a sad note: not calorie free!

Vomiting Pumpkins . . . It's for the Birds!

This is my sweet Caity. She invited friends over to carve pumpkins. One problem . . . she and pumpkins and sharp knives had a bad experience one Halloween. So she watched the pumpkin carving.

This is Caity's friend Andrew, who carved away. Without fear!

He made a very creative pumpkin. That was vomiting seeds! So we put it on the front porch.

And the next morning, this is what we found:

It seems the Magpies loved the seeds. Only 3 little seeds remained.

Oh well . . .

Carving Pumpkins . . .

It's for the Birds!

Rouenneries

Here is the newest quilt I have designed. It is called "Two Hearts". The poem I put on is by Erick Dillard, and it says, "Then we sat on the edge of the earth, with our feet dangling over the side, and marveled that we had found each other." Beautiful! There are 3 other quotes to choose from for the two front blocks: "Life is a Song, Love is the Music", "Two Hearts, One Dream", "Lasting, Enduring, Endless". I loved this quilt because I was able to make it from 1 Jelly Roll and 1 Layer Cake!! That made the entire front, even binding, and will make a couple of pillows. I LOVE this fabric! I am also kind of fond of "red" right now!

Rouenneries by French General

Here's a little peek . . .
Of a new quilt pattern to be released soon!

Using the beautiful new Rouenneries fabric by French General and made by Moda. The quilt will be for those who also enjoy some embroidery. And will include instructions on turning 2 of the blocks into a pillow. I have loved working with this fabric. It is rich and warm, and the quilt reflects love. You will see it soon!

Chocolate Frosting

This is one of the best Chocolate Frostings I have ever tasted. Used it on the Marshmallow Brownies or any other time you need chocolate frosting. Thin with more milk to make it more of a glaze for cake (especially a bundt), or thicken with extra powdered sugar for thicker frosting. The consistency is up to you. For a delicious white frosting, omit the cocoa powder and add extra sugar if needed.

Chocolate Frosting

1 stick Butter, softened
3 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar
1/3 C. Cocoa Powder
1 t. Vanilla
Milk or Cream

Cream butter and cocoa butter. Use softened butter, but do NOT melt the butter. Use the mixer to whip it up. Slowly add in powdered sugar. Beat in vanilla and milk until the consistency is right for spreading on the brownies.

Frosted Marshmallow Brownies

Ooey Gooey Goodness!
These brownies will feed a crowd and are delicious!! Even if you don't love marshmallow, you will love these! I have tried many recipes, but have refined this to where we love it! Very rich! Try it, try it!!

Frosted Marshmallow Brownies

1 C. Butter

1/3 C. Cocoa

2 C. Sugar

4 Eggs

1 1/2 C. Flour

1/2 t. Salt

1/2 t. Baking Powder

2 t. Vanilla

1 1/2 C. chopped Nuts

10-oz. Marshmallow--use only Fresh ones--believe me

Chocolate Frosting (recipe coming soon)

Preheat oven to 350.

Blend softened Butter, Cocoa, and Sugar. Beat in Eggs one at a time.

Mix Flour, Salt, and Baking Powder together (or sift) and stir into sugar mixture.

Beat in Vanilla and Nuts.

Spread into a greased 11x15" pan. Spread as evenly as you can throughout the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Don't worry if it puffs up a bit.

Remove from oven and top with Marshmallows (I use the small ones). Bake for 7 more minutes. Remove from oven and press down marshmallows a bit to spread. This can be done easily by spraying a spatula with cooking spray. Cool.

Carefully spread with Chocolate Frosting. Let stand 12 hours before cutting. This is ideal but rarely possible--no one can wait that long.

**Frosting recipe is delicious and will be posted soon!! DON'T use canned on these--may actually be a sin--not totally sure--but you won't want to pass up the delicious richness of this frosting.

Sample Sale

These are some of the samples I have on sale on my etsy shop. So if you don't have time to stitch something up yourself, go to http://www.strictlystitchery.etsy.com/ for some great deals on already made items!! I am letting these go at really low prices to reduce inventory. Some of the items listed are shown above, plus several more.

Grandmother's Apple Cake

This recipe comes from my friends, Al & Kristie Garber, who I lived with in Paris for 6 months

(many, many years ago). The pictures don't do it justice, so I will take new ones next time. I was

hurrying to make it at the last minute. They got the recipe from "Chocolate and Zucchini, Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen." It is a very simple, homey, buttery cake. I did not turn it over twice (my apples are on top, instead of the bottom). I also sliced my apples very thin--in 1/8" slices instead of 1/8ths--and drizzled the plates with caramel sauce. EVERYONE loved it and decided the 8" pan made way too little. We will try doubling it next time in a 9x13". Very easy and perfect for the coming fall season.

Le Gateau de Mamie (Grandmother's Apple Cake)

1/2 C. (1 stick) real Butter

1/2 C. Flour

1 t. Baking Powder

1/4 t. Salt

1 lb. Apples (we used Gala)--about 2 medium

3/4 C. Sugar

2 large Eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter. Grease and flour an 8" round pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Wash, peel, and core the apples. Cut them in 1/8 ths and arrange in bottom of pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the sugar with the eggs until fluffy. Add the flour mixture and whisk until combined. (I used a mixer and it turned out fine) Add the melted butter and whisk again until blended. Pour the batter evenly over the fruit and bake for 40 minutes or until set and golden brown. (I did a toothpick test)

Cool on a rack for 10 min. Run a knife around the pan to loosen and flip cake onto a plate. If the fruit has fallen off, place it back on the cake. Flip the cake again onto a serving plate. Delicious warm! by Clotilde Dusoulier, "Chocolate and Zucchini, Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen"

North Carolina . . . Naturally

Some of the natural sites of North Carolina:

Hunting For Shark Teeth

Fort Fisher, North Carolina! This is at the southern tip past Carolina Beach and Kure Beach.

There is a large rocky area that when the tide comes in, hidden ocean treasures are supposedly deposited amongst the rocks. Then when the tide goes out you can climb around the rocks and find shells, shark teeth, and dental pieces from rays.

I guess we were a little late getting there . . . because all Caity found was this sad dead crab . . .

and some unique shells! But it was quite a fun adventure . . . and something that

we could never do at home in Utah!

North Carolina Quilting

One of the first stops on our month long adventure in North Carolina was to visit a couple of quilt shops in the Raleigh area before we headed down to the beaches. The first store was "Plain and Simple" and probably the cutest shope of the ones we saw.

Upstairs they had a display of original early 1900's quilts. The true 30's fabrics.

Air Force One

As we arrived yesterday afternoon at Raleigh, NC airport for our month adventure in North Carolina, we weren't allowed off of the plane right away. Security. For President Obama. Air Force One was getting ready to take off with the president. I didn't know he had been there, and I am not always up on politics and current events, but I must say, that as I watched Air Force One take off . . . I had goose bumps. It was a moment in my life. A unique opportunity. Greatness.

Here's the Buzzzzz!

My husband, Mike, keeps leaving the door open to get some air. It keeps making me a little crazy. Especially when the wasps that come in are attracted to the new yellow walls of my office where I am working on the computer. But today we had a new visitor. This big beautiful Dragonfly! I don't think I have ever seen one this close.

Here he is in Mike's hand! I wish I could have gotten a better picture of his sweet little alien-looking face, but he wanted to be off on other adventures, so . . . we sent him on his way . . .

and CLOSED THE DOOR!

Young Women

Here is a new pattern that can be made into a Wallhanging like shown above, or put into a frame with cork board for a Memory Board (below):


Each colored flower has the corresponding Young Women's Value embroidered by it. The quote at the bottom is embroidered saying, "Stand for Truth and Righteousness", and there is a little pocket to hold goals, mementoes, or Personal Progress items.

Can you tell I love buttons!?!

Winter Table Runner

Here is my newest pattern--a winter table runner. The appliqued blocks are out of wool and I tried to keep them to a "nature" aspect of the winter/holiday season. The pattern is just printing and should be available on the web site in 1-2 days. It was quite fun to work on and is a very usable size at about 16x28". The star is outlined in small seed beads. It's hard to think Christmas when it's 90 degress out, but always fun to have a project going!

harvesting

There is something so fulfilling about being able to go to your own little patch of earth and pick vegetables. The last couple of years we have begun anew to garden in a plot that was left to weed after my mom passed away. It has been so rewarding. We so far have had tons of peas, radishes, and green onions. I haven't planted beets since the early 8o's but here is our new attempt.

We will need to work on telling when they are done and uniform in size. We have been blessed with tons of herbs: thyme, Italian Parsley, rosemary, cilantro, dill and here too is our beautiful basil and some of the first green peppers. It is so rewarding and fun to go out each day and see what new gift the earth has given us.