Keeping loved ones close at Christmas......

Each Christmas certain traditions seem to take a more important place in our home.  It might mean the placement of tree in our living room gets a premier spot, or how the manger is arranged and lite. It has more to do with my mood, and my inherent need for "changing things up". 

I have some treasures that are over 40 years old. At the end of the holiday I carefully clean, wrap and pack each one before putting them away....until next year. This is how they they become cherished treasurers, taking extra care of them. The following year they are ready to take a new place of prominence somewhere in our home.  This way, it seems we have new things. Changing things up is good. And I can confidently say "that old thing?" when someone asks if I bought something this year.  Not a chance!

Although I switched things up like usual, it all of a sudden occurred to me that a few things had prominence that hadn't been seen in my house for years.  A huge red poinsettia, an old manager, and a cookie press to make spritz cookies. These things hadn't been pulled out in a long time. I even pulled out a window wreath made from an old wire hanger strung with lights and wrapped with a banner of silk holly. 

All of a sudden it hit me. These were things my mother would have had out, things she cherished in her own holiday traditions, and things I may have thought tacky a time or two.  But not this year. 

Mom is gone. This is the first Christmas we won't laugh about her insisting she wear her fur coat and hat no matter how warm it was outside, her goofy Christmas earrings she insisted on wearing. I don't particularly like poinsettias but I bought myself a poinsettia because she loved them.....really loved them. She worked like crazy to keep them alive until next Christmas. Those craggy bare stems drove me nuts by July. Toss them out I'd say, but that was tyranny.  The old manger was covered with this grass like straw which made it impossible to really clean, which meant decades of dust embedded in the roof lines. But that dust might be of mom, so I'm okay with it this year.  I haven't made spritz cookies in years. She loved them. And I have her old German cookie recipe, and antique press so both came out this Christmas. Those rich sweet buttery cookies are really very good, and better a day or two later.  My homage to my mothers mad baking skills. 

So mom, you are close, in me cherishing the things you did.  Merry Christmas mom, you are greatly missed.

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits..........

Biscuits. Plain old ordinary Southern Buttermilk Biscuits, which in reality there is nothing ordinary about them, all deserving capital letters. So what makes biscuits so elusive, so daunting that the simplest bakery item scares bakers away? They have to be simple, since ‘back in the day’ when I was in middle school biscuits was the very first thing we made in ‘home ec’, short for home economics. They call it something else today.

What has remained elusive to me is finding that perfect flaky, buttery, sweet smelling recipe that allows the biscuits to puff up nearly tripling in size. I’ve tried tons of recipes over the years, but I think I may have finally found a keeper. So here it goes….

2 ½ cup self-rising flour (see note below)

1 stick (1/2 cup) frozen butter

1 cup ice cold buttermilk

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Everything should be super cold, including the rolling pin as biscuits are much like pie crust, the more you handle it the tougher it will become. Begin by placing your self-rising flour in a large glass bowl, making a small well in the center. Next grate the frozen butter directly in the well using a hand held cheese grater. Add the buttermilk and stir approximately 15 times to incorporate being careful not to over mix. Turn dough onto a floured surface, and roll out with an ice cold rolling pin to roughly 1” thick. Fold dough onto itself and repeat a total of 5 times. The last time roll dough approximately ½” thick, then cut with a biscuit cutter, glass or other shape. Bake in a round or square pan 15 minutes at 475 degrees until golden brown on top.  A cast iron skillet also works great, plus the closer you place them together in the pan the higher they rise. Brush melted butter over the top and serve warm with honey and jams.

Note – substitute for self-rising flour – sift together 3 cup all-purpose flour, 4 ½ tsp baking powder and 1 ½ tsp salt, then measure out the 2 ½ cups you need for the recipe, and use the rest to dust your surface before rolling and cutting.

So give it a try, and see for yourself..........made from scratch, with whole ingredients, words you can pronounce, and no preservatives additives.

German Round Robin Project

Last year I had the pleasure of participating in what's called a ROUND ROBIN quilt project with a group of 8 ladies in the US, and 8 ladies in Germany. One person organized the project in each country. 

Each quilter created a center quilt block of our choice. We sent the block, a journal with our photo and biography, and a small handmade gift in a bulk package to a lady organizing in Germany. They in turn did the same process.  Then four names were drawn randomly and assigned to complete a "round". We kept it to four 8" borders each so the quilt would be a manageable size and we didn't end up with king size bed quilts.  Each quilter had six weeks to complete her border then she'd send it off to the next person.  We unveiled the quilt tops at our organizers beach house on a lovely summer evening with Paella and homemade fresh blueberry ice cream for dinner. The finished tops were then boxed up and sent on their way to Germany.

Then we waited for our quilts to arrive. You may recall me posting about a year ago.......part of our package arrived with 3 quilt tops and the other 5 were missing. Our organizer did everything beyond humanly possible working with Germany, the postal service, their lost and found, posting on lost/found online quilt sites, everything short of the FBI/CIA...but nothing turned up.  Everyone was devastated.  All their work, the investment, the creativity....gone. And to think five quilts landed somewhere.....we only hope they were put to good use.

I was one of the fortunate ones to receive a top back. I wanted to be excited yet sensitive to those that lost theirs.  I felt survivor’s guilt. I set my quilt aside for quite some time.

As the year anniversary approached I knew I needed to finish it. I wasn't respecting all the work they did, or the work we did on theirs. These beautiful quilts take a lot of time and energy, and my incomplete top was likely making our German friends feel worse than they already did.

I decide to machine quilt the top myself so I dug it out and got busy.   I shared it at show and tell at our Gate Crashers Retreat, along with the emotional journey that went with it. I'm so glad I finished it.  And I love it, and will cherish it. 

Happy (and safe) Halloween!!

Fall is my favorite time of the year, so it stands to reason that Halloween would rank pretty high on the favorite holiday list, especially decorating.  Focusing on the fun side of Halloween brings back loads of wonderful memories growing up. 

Back in the days (nearly) before autos and planes when the world seemed flat, we could actually go door to door trick or treating by ourselves.  We knew everyone, and they knew us, and the world was much more innocent. We never had store bought costumes.  Half the fun was concocting a crazy getup using clothing and trinkets from home.  Granted, they probably needed a bit more explanation than today’s themed costumes purchased from a store.  Again, this creative process was part of the fun.

For me, one big difference between then and now is decorating.  My mom didn’t go into all the ‘stuff’ we have today.  A beautifully carved pumpkin lit on Halloween night and maybe some gourds and cornstalks from our garden would adorn the house.  I have to admit, I enjoy Halloween kitsch, so each year I dig out the box of sparkly figurines and oddly shaped statues reminiscent between Charlie Brown, Edward Scissorhands and Tim Burton, but nothing frightening of course.

So whether you fancy cats or crows, pumpkins or harvest queens, ghosts or spiders or candy corn, hopefully one of these will make you smile. And however you spend October 31, I hope it is safe.  And here is my Halloween pictorial card for you!

So...you'd like me to sew something for you??

Just because you have a sewing machine (or four) some people think it's okay to ask you to sew something for them. Some actually think they are doing you a favor by asking, like you get up every morning without anything else to do and just wait for ways to spend some time sitting down in front of your machine. 

Now I'm not suggesting you say no, at least not to every request. Only you can decide if you want to invest your time and energy on someone else's project that saves them time and energy....and money. But if you are like me, and occasionally find yourself hiding from people that have asked in the past, catching you off guard and said yes, and now you see them coming straight at you with a Joann's or Hobby Lobby bag, then you better get ready with strategic replies.

As you contemplate your answers, you'll need to quickly assess the importance of your relationship with this person. If you'd like to keep then in your life, cautiously consider your answer.  If not, speed forward with reckless abandon. So how do I know this?  

As a very young person I asked a friend to make my wedding dress. She had seriously mad sewing skills, and I knew she'd do a fabulous job.  And I couldn't afford a store bought dress. It was perfect match.....I thought.  Fast forward four decades later and I'm one VERY lucky person because I dodged a big bullet on this one....she said yes, I am still married to the same hubs, still have the dress, and most seriously grateful, have the same dear friend. But my request could have gone bad anytime. I'd rather have her friendship than the dress any day.  So consider all these responses VERY carefully:

1 - No....you know yourself better than the requester. If you aren’t inspired and can't get behind the project than say so now.  Hold firm, stay strong, make eye contact. Make your no be no.  But do it kindly, respectfully, and not rudely. Assume there may be some additional prodding from the other person, but stand firm. Better to let them down nicely now than waffle latter. 

2 - Yes.....if no doesn't seem to come out of your mouth, make sure your yes is really yes. Don't back pedal an hour, or a day later. Make the commitment and keep it.  If you begin to have regrets go home immediately and get it done before your dog chews it up, or you lose it, or some other fabricated story you make up to avoid doing the project.  NOTE - A special yes/no option about this version, if you are the passive aggressive type, you may say yes to avoid a conflict then immediately feel victimized and want to find ways to weasel out. If this is you, immediately go up back up to number one, and carefully reconsider this option. 

3 - I think there are some custom sewers nearby, lets see what we can Google......this is a soft no. But you are helping them by referring them. No drop no foul.

4 - I really value our relationship and don't want anything to come between us.  Boy, the friend that made my wedding dress sure could have said this. But, our friendship was very young and maybe she was very willing to risk it back then. Hmmmm....I've got to think about that a while. 

5 - You're kidding, right? This is followed up with tear-producing laughter. Plan on this option ending your friendship.

6 - Sure, but you can probably buy one ready-made faster and cheaper than it will cost you to have me make it....this is probably the most honest of all options. And depending on how you deliver it, the kindest. Be ready to give them an outrageous lead-time and labor estimate.

7 - You can't afford me, a tailor will do it cheaper......quickly Google a nearby tailor and suggest calling for a quote. If nothing more, it will tell the person how much your time is really worth, a lot! The risk? They may still want you to do it even knowing your cost, but at least you won't feel taken advantage of.

8 - I only sew as a hobby.....this one is dicey. Don't turn around and agree to do sewing for someone else that may know this person.  Otherwise, your friendship will be over.

9 - Great idea, let's barter! I'll sew your __________if you do ____________ for me. Be prepared, this is a risk as they may actually say yes. You only want to use this if they really can do something you need in return.

10 - How about coming over and you can use my machine yourself?  Maybe you'd enjoy learning?......the old give them a fish or teach them how to fish trick.  Again I suggest caution.....they may take you up on it, and teaching them may be more arduous and take longer than doing it yourself. That said, they probably won't ask you again so it may be a win win either way. 

So as you can see, the simple question doesn't come with a simple answer.  Play the jeopardy song in your head while you contemplate your risk, devise your plan and then proceed. And in the future, be on the lookout for those Joann's or Hobby Lobby bags.

Camp Chloe 2015

We had the pleasure hosting ten of Aaron's friends from Chicago for another weekend camp out in our "wilderness". They arrived in caravan Friday evening, enthusiastically preparing camp and putting their tents up.

Now, most of these kids are city kids, in reality young adults not kids. Most of them are art friends in some capacity or connection, all with interesting stories but not necessarily the hardy outdoor types. The temps were supposed to drop below freezing, our first freeze of the season, so we cautioned them about taking extra blankets and dressing in layers.  Just in case they wimped out and found their way inside because of the cold, we left lights on and had bedding ready for the entire group....inside, where it was warm.

Early Saturday morning we found a few had straggled inside, sleeping in warm beds and couches. But most faced the cold outside.  We had hot coffee, juice and Dutch style pig in the blankets waiting for them. Off to see PURE MICHIGAN fall style we welcomed them with a huge pot of organic venison chili with all the toppings, homemade vegan bread, and corn bread in a cast iron skillet and local pure honey.  No one went hungry.

Another night around the campfire was complete with so-mores.  The temps were expected to drop a few degrees colder.  Next morning the cars revealed a thick glaze of frost glistening in the early sun.  Camp was packed up and they slowly made their way inside.  

A soon as we got back from church I began preparing brunch.....first lots of hot coffee and tea, homemade cinnamon bread, loaded strata, fresh fruit bowl, and orange juice. I was happy, every last bit of food was eaten.  They were filled and happy.  

Then off for another trek around west Michigan to take in the exception fall day. The sunshine was brilliant against the foliage. All was good. All had a great time.  But the best part of the weekend was listening to their discussions.  No devices were allowed.  They connected and laughed, a lot! Their social media was face to face, eyes connected. It made me smile so many times as I watched and listened. What a neat group of mid-20-somethings!

It was time for them to head back to Chicago. We said our good byes, hearing a heartfelt thank you from each. Each was very polite, and I went to bed thankful my son has such a nice group of friends. He told me later how each of them had such a nice time, and how lucky he was to have such great parents, how welcomed we made them feel, and how blessed he is to have them as friends and us as his parents.  When I think about them, I know the world is going to be okay in their hands. It is well with my soul.......   three of the group had left before the photo was taken, but I was able to sneak in on the left.

Annual Quilty Friends Retreat - Part 2

As promised, more photo diaries of our weekend at the Rustic Gate……I am in the group shot.