Elle's Kitchen: Pineapple Upside Down Cake Cocktail

Or Why There Is No Pie Today...

 

 

My brother flew into town today to wrap up

a month of traveling the world.  So, that

meant I was at the airport, a stop off for a

 Thai feast and a quick run through Trader

Joe's to pick up staples and treats.

 

So, there was no time to make pie.  BUT,  my

sister helped out and made a pineapple upside

down cake for our family reunion.

 

And she made Pineapple Upside Down Cake Cocktails!

 

 

Ingredients:

a shot glass full of Cake flavored Vodka

Pineapple Juice

Grenadine

Cherries

 

In a tall glass filled with ice, mix vodka

and pineapple juice, add a bit of grenadine

to the top and throw in a cherry.

 

 

And if you get to have it with the real

cake that inspires the drink, consider

yourself lucky.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 



Elle's Kitchen: Zucchini Bread

 

Yesterday Mr. Wonderful stopped at the local farm

stand to pick up a couple zucchinis to use in our

Vegetable Lasagna last night.  He picked out two of

the smallest ones but they still were big.

 

 

One zucchini yielded 5 cups of grated zucchini

and since we only need 2 cups for this recipe,

the remaining zucchini was bagged and frozen

for future breads.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

3 eggs

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar

2 cups grated zucchini

2 1/2 teas. vanilla

1/2 cup chopped nuts

3 cups flour

1 teas. salt

1/2 teas. baking powder

3 teas. cinnamon

 

 

Preheat oven to 350º  F.

 

Beat eggs, add oil, sugar, zucchini and

vanilla.  Set aside.

 

 

Combine dry ingredients.

 

 

Add dry ingredients to egg mix and blend.

Stir in the nuts.

 

 

Divide mixture between 2 greased loaf

pans.  I sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon

on top.  Bake for 1 hour.

 

Cool on rack for 15 minutes.  Remove loaves

from pans and cool completely.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 48

Fair Play

We are quilting along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice.

http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com

This is how I made my block, it may differ

from the original.

Fabric Requirements:

Fabric A: Blue

2 - 4 1/2'' squares

Fabric B: Red

2 - 4 1/2'' squares

Fabric C & D:

scraps large enough for circle units

Wonder Under

Update:  Das Quiltmonster from Germany just
asked what is Wonder Under.  It is a paper backed
fusible web product.  Thanks Regina!

On the paper side of the Wonder Under

draw a 6'' square and then draw lines to

divide it in quarters.

Using a compass, draw a 6'' square,

then mark 1'' in from drawn circle

and draw another circle.

Layout 4 1/2'' squares as shown and sew

together in 2 rows.

Sew rows together and press final seam

open to reduce bulk.

Cut circle shapes as shown, leaving

some excess paper along curved parts.

Following manufacturer's directions,

adhere to the wrong side of Fabric C & D

scraps.  Cut out as shown above.

Adhere to 4-patch unit.

Finish edges as desired.  I used a

hand embroidered blanket stitch.

Square to 8 1/2''.

Check out everyone's work on Dustin's Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/

American Homestead is

now on Facebook.  Please

"like" my page.

http://www.facebook.com/americanhomesteaddesign/



Elle's Kitchen: The Summer of Pie²

Peach Crumble Pie

 

 

It is a beautiful summer day here in

the American Midwest.  A gorgeous

blue sky, temps in the 70's and pie

in our future.

 

 

Everytime I leave or enter my little

village, I pass the farm stand and this

week they have had peaches ~ I knew

they would have to be the pie this week!

 

 

The easiest way to remove the skin

from peaches is to submerge a few

in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds.

Then plunge them into a bowl of ice water.

 

 

The skins will peel right off ~ no waste!

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 unbaked 9'' deep dish pie shell

 

Filling:

5 cups peeled and sliced ripe peaches

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 tabl. cornstarch

1 tabl. lemon juice

grated zest of 1 lemon

 

Topping:

2/3 cup flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 teas. cinnamon

1/4 teas. salt

6 tabl. cold butter, cut in 1/4 '' pieces

 

 

Preheat oven to 375º F.

 

Place peaches in a large bowl, add sugar,

corn starch, lemon juice and lemon zest.

Set aside.

 

In a medium bowl, combine flour,

brown sugar, oats, cinnamon and salt.

 

Scatter the butter over this mixture and

use a pastry blender to combine.  You can

finish crumbling it with your hands if

necessary, you want it to be crumbly.

 

 

Place peaches in the pie shell and

press down to make it even.

 

 

Sprinkle crumb mixture over the top

and gently press to cover the peaches.

 

Bake on the center rack for 50 - 55

minutes until the top is golden brown

and the filling is bubbling.  If the top

starts to get too brown you can place a

piece of foil over it.  Cool on a wire rack.

 

We are having a pie party tonight and I'm

thinking this will be perfect a la mode.



It's Nice To Be Remembered...

 

Back in May I was in Amsterdam.  This

was the view from my apartment.

 

 

Of course, I had to visit the textile market

while I was there.

 

 

That is where I bought these beautiful

fabrics. I only bought a few meters of fabric

since it was my first stop and I didn't know

what else I would find.  As it turns out that

was the only fabric I bought that day.  I

didn't have enough to make a large quilt. 

 

 

My brother was visiting Amsterdam today and

since it's Monday there is a textile market, so

I gave him swatches and a description and told

him to buy me some more fabric.

This is the funny part ~ he was telling the man

that this was for his sister who is a quilt designer

 from America who had bought some in May and

 the guy said he remembered me! 

 

 

Now I'll have to figure out what I

will do with this fabric.  As I looked

back at photos from my trip today, I

found a few photos of quilt inspiration.

Wouldn't this be a great quilt?

 

 

This one too,  love the colors!

Honoring Women's Rights ~ Week 47

Heroine's Choice

And A Feltwork Tutorial

 

 

We are following along with Barbara Brackman's

Block of the Week, Grandmother's Choice.

 

http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com

 

 

I like to use felt for applique.  I design

feltwork patterns ~

 

http://www.americanhomesteaddesign.com/Feltworks.html

 

and thought this would be a good chance to try

a design that was 8 1/2''.

 

 

So here is a little free feltwork tutorial

for this week!

I start by determining the size I would

like the piece to be and marking that

measure along the fold of a folded piece

of construction paper.  I then sketch the

design and cut it out and when you open

the folded paper...

 

 

... you have your designs.  I used a circle

template for the 1 1/4'' circle and for the

flower shape, this pattern was just slightly

larger than a piece from my

 

 

Serendipity pattern so I made it larger.

 

 

It is a good idea to lay it all out prior

to cutting your pieces to be sure it all

fits well.

 

 

Here are my pattern pieces, just enlarge

the white area until it measures 8 1/2''

across.  At this point I transfer the designs

to poster board and cut them out since this

makes tracing more stable but if you are

only making one, you could trace the

construction paper shapes if you are careful.

 

 

Trace onto the dull side of freezer paper.

( If I have scraps left over from bigger

projects I save them and use them for

small pieces like this project.)

 

 

Press the shapes onto good quality felt.

I use a 20% wool/80% rayon felt from

National Nonwovens that is excellent

quality and the colors are fabulous.

This is nothing like the 5/$1 craft felt.

 

 

Cut out the pieces and pin to your 8 1/2''

background piece. 

 

 

I whip stitched all the pieces in place using

a matching embroidery floss.  I then added

some additional stitching to the center using

very simple embroidery stitches such as, the

French Knot and the Lazy Daisy stitch.

 

 

I'll be hanging this piece somewhere in

my house.  I hope you will give felt applique

a chance, it is fast, easy & fun.

 

Checkout everyone's work on Dustin's Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/grandmotherschoice/

 

American Homestead

is now on Facebook.

Please "like" my page!

 

http://www.facebook.com/americanhomesteaddesign/

Trail Time

 

The heat is on!  We have had a very

hot week here in the American Midwest.

 

 

We have been trying to get on the trail

early in the day to beat the heat but

since it is Saturday we lingered a bit

longer in bed today and didn't get on

the trail until 8:30 am ~ a big mistake!

It was too hot!

 

 

I wonder who lives there?

 

 

I was complaining yesterday because I was

so hot I didn't want to carry my camera and

of course we saw Great Blue Herons and the

largest turtle I have every seen in our river...

So, today I brought the camera and no herons

or turtles, but lots of canoes and kayaks on the

river.

 

 

In Summer our woods can look like

a jungle.

 

 

I guess we made it home just in time,

a big thunder storm is rolling through.

I hope the canoes and kayaks get off

the river...