January Scrap Challenge Finished

Giant pile o' Scraps on Sewing table

You didn't think I would finish my January Scrap Challenge quilt before February? Au Contraire! One way to finish a task is to tell Mr. Hunting Creek that you have a goal and a deadline. He's a professional Project Manager and a huge nag. Whenever I was doing nothing or just hanging out watching aimless TV he'd say, "Don't you need to work on your quilt? How many blocks did you do today?"
The blocks multiplied like Tribbles with his nagging  expert guidance.

 Even though I've been sewing since I was 8 years old or thereabouts  I learn a few things with every project. On this one I learned that SCRAPS RULE THE WORLD. There is no escaping them! They multiply behind your back!
The pile of scraps you see above (I can't make blogger show the picture the right way, get on that Google.) is part of a giant bag of strips that someone gave me. Have you noticed that non-sewists love to unload sewing stuff on innocent sewists? They act like they are giving you a huge gift! Mr. Hunting Creek looks on this with amazement  "They are giving an avowed addict more of what they're addicted to? Why not find some drug addicts and say, "Here's some Oxycontin I don't need any more, but I know  you can use it." He thinks they are aiding and abetting and he isn't far off: It is well -known that other people scraps are in many ways cooler than your own scraps. You already know your scraps. These unknown scraps are new! Different! Sometimes weird colors! (This is how you end up found years later as a dessicated mummy buried in a tunnel of quilt scraps.)

Yet more scraps!

In the past ten years I would save scraps in a big bin if they were smaller than a fat quarter. If you sew a lot, and make baby quilts and Hawaiian shirts and gifts and bags and all sorts of stuff, over ten years you are going to have a lot of scraps. About in the middle of my scrap quilt I realized that I had more scraps than one lap quilt-worth. So I'll have to do another scrap quilt challenge later this year. At first I sorted them by color and size, but that was a mistake- the best way for me, anyway, was to dump them all out and just grab a color/value I needed and use it. I'm very OCD and I tend to over-think sometimes. This was an exercise in being more relaxed. The strips are all sorts of odd shapes and sizes, but my goal was just make it work. Do you think our fore-mothers worried about matching and silly stuff like colors? They did NOT. I own two quilts made by Mr. Hunting Creek's grandmother, and they are so different from contemporary quilts it's like a breath of fresh air. Run out of red? Use orange! Forget about 1/4 inch seams, use smaller, use larger to make it fit!
While taking a break when Mr. Hunting Creek was otherwise engaged, (so he couldn't make me go back to work) I read on Venus de Hilo's blog about a Kitchen sink quilt. This is a ingenious idea! I found three old blocks that I had made ten years ago and added some more to them and worked them in. "I made SIX blocks today!," I told Mr. Hunting Creek. "Wow, he said, impressed by my diligence.."See how well you do when you're focused? "

Stay tuned for the Big Reveal! (Camera battery charging up.)

Artist at Work

Curse you, Red Baron!

Some people don’t like Sundays; they get melancholy and bummed out. I, however, like Sundays, and wish we could have more of them. The chores of Saturday are done, the house is clean, the groceries are bought, and there is usually no schedule. Mr. Hunting Creek brings in the Sunday New York Times, (a pleasure i did not enjoy until after we moved to the East Coast; the L.A. Times is nothing in comparison.) I get to read the best parts to Mr. Hunting Creek while we listen to the selection of the week on Pandora. What’s not to like?

In the afternoons, I get to sew and work on my current project. This month’s (year’s, lifetime’s)  project is to Use Up Scraps, which are taking over the sewing zone. 

The rules I made for using up scraps are like the Rules for Fight Club. Just kidding... they are pretty simple: if it is in the scrap bin, it is available. Second Rule: No Saving. Third Rule: Have fun trying new color combinations. Last Rule:There are no mistakes.
I’m making all of the blocks slightly larger than 12 ½ inches, then I will square them up when I am done.

Blocks I don’t like can be turned into pot holders or cut up and added to a different block. I set all of the blocks aside until the end and then decide what I like and don't like.

Some notes on works in progress: I know from teaching and from my experience painting that it’s unwise to judge a finished work from the incomplete parts. A a good method is to withhold judgement on the separate pieces until you see them all together in context.
Also, never show your work in progress to someone who doesn't understand sewing/quilting/painting/writing. They are not going to understand what they are seeing and thus cannot offer intelligent and useful criticism. Speaking of quilts specifically, seasoned sewists and quilters know that unfinished blocks look...well, unfinished. Lonely and out of context. Experienced quilters can mentally fill in the blanks and envision the entire quilt.

Sarai asked an interesting question on her blog today about how we engage in the world as artists. You’re saying to yourself right now, “But I’m not an artist!”” I can hear you from here. If you make things, you’re an artist. You might be a beginner, or you might be an expert, but either way, you are an artist, and you need to own that. Once you respect that, you will open your eyes to new ways of seeing. Some people would see my bin of scraps, and they would think: trash. An artist teaches herself/himself to see possibilities in mundane things.. Like scraps...or found objects...or marble...or old pictures, or....

Do you think of yourself as an artist? If no, why not?

My Old Addiction

This stuff is like heroin to me

When I read the words "Italian Silk-Cotton Blend", I was filled with that acquisitive desire known to fellow fabric... enthusiasts.
Like an AA member who still walks by liquor stores, I regularly look at fabric  I read about sewing and quilting. Occasionally, I even sew things. But my main passion is collecting fabric  That I have many lovely pieces already is not the point. I am always interested in having more. I have tried to be rational about this. But as any addict/collector/hoarder knows, these things are not rational.
I went for a four year period in which I did not buy ANY fabric at all. Last year, I bought some lovely pieces on my birthday. Of course I have not made anything out of them yet...they're Too Nice.
When my daughter asked me what my New Year's resolutions were, I told her I'd have to think about it. Then when I was working on a fabric banner for our Christmas Party, the Resolution presented itself to me, as J.K. Rowling says, "with the force of a stampeding troll": No Saving
I was selecting the background fabric from my Christmas Fabric Collection. I found the perfect one - white with silver stars. I am ashamed to admit that I then thought, "this is too nice, I'd better save it." and then my rational brain spoke up and said, actually yelled: SAVE IT FOR WHAT!!! 
Yes, reader, I used it. What was I saving it for, but to use for our family celebrations? Then I realized: THAT was my resolution: NO SAVING. Don't I deserve to use all of my nice things? My daughter doesn't sew. When I am gone, this stuff I have "Saved" will all be donated to a worthy cause (I hope) so I'd better enjoy it now.
I couldn't decide what lovely piece I wanted to sacrifice on the altar of No Saving, so I decided to use up all my my small scraps in a scrap quilt. Part of my Saving Problem is that I will save Scraps Too Small To Be Saved. And I noticed yesterday that giving up "saving" isn't going to be easy. I'm happily taking sewing breaks, making little scrappy log cabins and courthouse steps blocks, and I caught myself thinking, "This scrap is too pretty to use now, I'll save it for something else". I made myself use it.
What are your sewing resolutions? I'm NOT Saving. I am recklessly using the good stuff, and trying to UN-hoard. It's a constant battle, because my first impulse is to save. But I guess all resolutions are like that, amirite?

p.s. My collecting habit isn't just manifested in humans. My little cat, Miss Etta, has a collection too. Every day, she drags these three things out from my sewing room into a special spot in the living room. When Mr. Hunting Creek puts them back, she fetches them again.

I snapped a quick picture on my iPhone: they are a little lambswool duster that I use to clean computer screens, a bag of wool felt scraps, and a package of Angelina Fibers.The bag of wool felt scraps is bigger than she is, but she loves it and drags it back every day. It's pretty bad when your cats start hoarding too.

Helpful Decorating Tips

Have your helpful cat inspect all old decorations. They will get up close and personal with each garland, ornament and light strand.

If he's not too busy , ask the cat to help with wrapping gifts. They are a tremendous help!

No Comment

Several others have admitted to a shared enjoyment in reading the reader comments in online recipe blogs. I will also confess here, in public, to my addiction in the comments everywhere, but especially for products offered by online retailers. You’d think that people would not care enough to offer an opinion on, say, men’s pajamas, but au contraire! They care, and care deeply.
For example, these comments on men’s pajamas from the Gap:

“The colors were different than I expected when I ordered. The stripes are grey and teal or aqua on a white background- there was more white than I expected.”

.  Colors - most men don’t care or even know the difference between teal/aqua/blue etc. There was more white than she expected? Really? Does that matter?These are pajamas, not tuxedo pants-- your husband does not care about the stripes, I guarantee.

Love these thoughts on the sweatshirt hoodie, a slacker staple:

This won't function as a garment to keep you warm, but it is really cute and simple. I returned mine, but it fit me flawlessly. I got the Medium Tall size, I'm 6'4 and 170 lbs for reference. But yeah, if you want a layering hoodie or something to wear in the spring, this is good. Not for winter though.

So...he liked it but he returned it? and why would you buy a hoodie that wouldn't keep you warm? Isn't that the raison d’etre of the sweatshirt? The whole point of the hoodie(besides being warm and cozy) is to be emphatically Not Fashionable. To loudly display your complete disinterest in playing the fashion game, and also, to show that YOU don’t have to wear suits and ties, those are for the nameless drones who work for The Man.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a man use the description “cute” in his comments.

My favorite comments remain the comments on cooking blogs. The range of experience in cooks is so great that the review on a plain old cookie can be anything from 1 fork to 5 forks, depending on the cook:

I think I have to stop trusting the forks on epicurious. I now have a huge bag of these in the freezer. There is something they lack...I think it might be salt but I'm not sure. I even added some orange zest and chopped hazelnuts to some of them...still too crumbly and buttery in a bad way and not much better in the taste department. Maybe they're better with nutella?

The answer here is EVERYTHING is better with Nutella..;.next question?

These brownies were too cakey and not chocolaty enough for my taste. The former could probably be addressed by reducing to 4 eggs. But to address the chocolaty issue I'll probably just poke around for another recipe.

I think I could have a career as a recipe commenter therapist. The real problem here is a Fudgy Brownie Person has made a Cakey Brownie recipe. Like the Hatfields and McCoys, those two tribes should not be mixed. Also, brownie recipes with five eggs (!!!) should be avoided.. It’s not chocolaty enough because it’s made with melted chocolate, not cocoa - very zen but true.
Find a brownie recipe made with cocoa and fewer eggs.

And of course, some people take recipes personally, and are insulted by the very existence of a variation on a traditional bread::

First of all, challah is a bread for the Jews and it is made by certain standards and none of those standards are met with this recipe. Secondly, only Rosh HaShanah challah is round and it is made with raisins, cinnamon and honey/sugar but no seeds. The rest of the year the dough is braided as is shown in your kneading video. In my entire life I have never heard of a challah recipe with so little flour and not being kneaded. I would have no objection to this recipe if it were not called challah but this recipe is an insult to the Jews and to Challah itself.

Can’t non-Jewish people bake challah? Isn't that one of the reasons that makes America great? And what is so horrible about a quicker, easier version?
Something else is going on here besides her horror at a non-traditional baking method.
As a Recipe Therapist, I have to say, “Lighten up, sweetie”.

What’s your favorite comment? Please share.

(on a side note, I find it deeply amusing that Google spell check questioned the spelling of "hoodie". You'd think that they of all people would know , since that's all they wear at the Google campus.)

Compost Cookies

Love the Comments sections for recipes. Some people do not know how to read recipes, or cook, and their cranky comments are available for all the world to see. As my Grandmother would say, “bless their hearts.”  It was the comments on the Momofuku Milk Bar Compost Cookies recipe that intrigued me.
The success rate was all over the place.There were people who got great cookies, and people who threw the whole batch away.
“the 1st pan was greasy,flat,and chewy so I threw it away “, “Very disappointing. I don't see how the cookies came out so puffy and dense for you. Mystifying. I wouldn't try this again based on how it worked for me, but would if someone had tweaks to improve the recipe listed here.”
“When I finally baked them, I was so disappointed. I let the dough balls chill all afternoon, and I set the oven to 400 degrees, but they just wouldn't cook in the middle. They got super dark (almost burnt) on the edges, but raw in the middle..”

What was it with this recipe?
There are several versions of this recipe online: there is this one in the Los Angeles Times, this one on Food.com, also here, and here.
Careful reading of the ingredients shows that this is based on the Toll House Cookie .But the techniques supplied are different. The Chef, Christina Tosi, advises beating the butter and sugar for ten minutes in a mixer (!!!), plus she adds what I considered unnecessary additions: corn syrup, and too much salt.
I know from reading the comments that some people’s cookies came out flat, but looking at pictures of the “real” Compost Cookies, they are somewhat flat. Most people have an unrealistic expectation of what a cookie should look like, based on a lifetime of buying cookies, as opposed to making cookies. (Just like they don’t know what good clothes should look like, because they wear RTW).
I resolved to conquer the Compost Cookie.
After reading all of the recipes online, I decided to start with this one, with the following changes, based on my ten thousand hours plus of cookie baking.
I eliminated the corn syrup, which is my view provided more sweetness, plus makes the cookies flatter.
I decided against the ten minute beating of the sugar and butter, because that makes the butter soft and oily, causing unpleasant texture.
I did not add any additional salt, because I used salted butter, and the potato chips and pretzels are plenty salty. Since I did not beat my cookies senseless, I did not have to chill them overnight, although if you want chunky, chewy cookies, as opposed to flat, oily cookies, this is a good idea, if you have time.
Momofuku Milk Bar's compost cookies
Adapted from Los Angeles Times version of the Momofuku Milk Bar in New York.

First, make the graham crust
Graham crust
1 1/2 cups  graham cracker crumbs ( I crushed a package of graham crackers in my Cuisinart, and measured the correct amount)
1/4 cup  milk powder
2 tablespoons  sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter, more if needed
1/4 cup heavy cream
I did not add any additional salt here, because graham crackers already have salt, plus my butter was salted.

I mixed this all together in the Cuisinart, and then set it aside.
There is more than you need for the recipe, so I stored the remainder in the fridge, and resolved to think of other things to add it to.

Compost cookies

1 cup  butter,  (recipe writers always tell you to use room temperature butter. This is flat out wrong, IMHO. It will lead to flat and oily cookies. Your butter should be solid and only slightly pliable. You will be able to gently bend it. It will not be soft.)
1 cup  sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup (1/4 recipe) graham crust (from above)
1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 1/2 teaspoons ground coffee
2 cups potato chips
1 cup mini pretzels
I also added ½ cup crushed and broken Oreos
and ½ cup crushed corn chex

My method: mix butter and sugars together in Cuisinart .Add egg, and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda. I did not add additional salt as my butter was salted and the potato chips and pretzels have salt.. I removed this from the Cuisinart, and had Mr. Hunting Creek blend in the pretzels, oatmeal, chips, chocolate chips, chex, Oreos, etc. He decided to break up the pretzels and potato chips slightly. When it was all mixed together, I let it rest in the fridge for a while - maybe an hour? while I did Christmas shopping “research” online, and Mr. Hunting Creek watched football.
Then I used my tablespoon cookie scoop to form the cookies. I did not want giant, salad plate sized cookies. I do not want to eat that much cookie at one time,. so I opted for a saner size. Preheat your oven to 350. .
We baked a batch at 350 for 14 minutes, you may need to go a minute longer or shorter - you should always do a test batch to see if the recipe time works for you. Don’t do what so many commenters did and bake giant batches of cookies at 400 degrees, just to end up throwing them out. Doing this - baking a giant batch for the first run through is like using your expensive fabric for a pattern that you have never made before. Make a muslin! Do a test batch!

My version of Compost Cookies came out delightfully craggy and crunchy and chewy. Baking time has a lot to do with texture too. Bake slightly less if you want a more chewy texture.
Next time I make these I will try reducing the sugar a little bit and adding different “Compost” ingredients. My testers liked them,
I will include these in my Christmas cookie tins this year.
What new cookie recipes are you going to try? Or do you stick to tried and true?

Mini Pecan Pie Trifles

Even though I tell less experienced cooks to never use a recipe for guests that they haven't tried out before, I myself do it all of the time. I am a Ninja Warrior when it comes to trying new things. Fearless and stealthy. My sister wanted Pumpkin Pie Trifle for Thanksgiving. "but I made that last year!", I cried. She claimed that it was her favorite. "How about Pecan Pie Trifle?" , she countered. I wondered, is that even a thing? It turns out that it was a thing.. I love the internet - not only is it a thing, but generous cooks have shown their work so that we can all be inspired. There were Pecan Pie Trifle Shooters (excellent idea) and giant standard trifles. And then I had an Epiphany - Mini Pecan Pie Trifle in those mini jam jars. YES

How I made Mini Pecan Pie Mini Trifles
Step 1 - send Mr. Hunting Creek to Variety Store to obtain teeny jam jars.
Step 2-wash jars. Admire their extreme cuteness. Set tops aside.
Step 3. Figure out how to make mini Pecan Pie Trifles. Some of my fellow cooks suggested cutting up an existing pecan pie. If I were making a standard size trifle that would work, but I wanted everything on a smaller scale. I decided to make pecan pie cookie bars, stealing the recipe right out of Betty Crocker.. I added a tablespoon of rum.
Those worked perfectly - not too thick, and I could cut them up into small pieces, but still tasting like pecan pie. (You will have more cookie bars than you need, but no one ever complains about extra cookies at Christmas. Don't chop all of them up. I chopped about half., with plenty of tastes..I mean, testing bites.)
Step 4. what about the creamy part? This is entirely up to the chef. You could make a traditional pastry cream. Or maybe vanilla pudding.. I wanted something fancier than that - I decided on a Tiramisu filling = which is the easiest thing in the world - mascarpone cheese with whipped cream, to which I added vanilla, rum and sugar- it was delicious. I had to make myself stop testing.
Step 5 - embellishing - what would make this special? I debated different options - chocolate? Caramel? Fruit? I decided on a caramel sauce - also super easy to make or buy. You can do either. I went the easy route and used Trader Joe's Fleur de Sel Caramel sauce, which I happened to have on hand due to its extreme deliciousness, (and my extreme laziness about large vats of molten sugar)
Step 6 - assembly. Cut up the Pecan Pie Bars into little chunks. Mine were about half an inch. You can get all OCD about this, like some cooks I know, or you can be slapdash like me - no one is going to be able to tell! Sprinkle some of these in the bottom of each mini jar. Drizzle with caramel sauce. Stop licking your fingers, you'll get sick. Then a scoop of the mascarpone cream. I used my tablespoon cookie scoop so I would not get cream all over everything and it worked perfectly. I then smoothed the cream to the edges to cover the cookie squares, (I used my mini spatula) and then sprinkled more cookie squares on top, then drizzled more caramel sauce on top of that.If you warm up the caramel sauce in the microwave a little bit, it is easier to drizzle.
Perfection! I texted the picture to my sister.(Kind of like sending food porn, yes?) She loved them.
On Thanksgiving, everyone liked how cute and small they were - just enough for a serving.
I left the jars at my sister's house, telling her that she needs to think up a mini dessert for Christmas.
I need to send Mr. Hunting Creek back for more little jars. I have some ideas of my own.