Trinity Valley Quilters' Guild Quiltfest 2008

I attended a great quilt show today. It was my first exposure to the Trinity Valley Quilters' Guild of Fort Worth here in Texas. It was a 3 day event held at the Will Rogers' complex in the Amon Carter Exhibit Hall and they had some gorgeous quilts. I didn't take a camera because I didn't think you would be able to photograph the quilts but there were photographs being snapped left and right! Should have asked before I went. There were a lot of reproduction fabrics, scrappy quilts, and beautiful applique, all in every color and design. The Best of Show went to Janet S. Stuart for her quilt named "Banana Peel". My personal favorites were the Baltimore applique block quilts and the scrappy "Oak Alley", by Ann Monaker and Donna Akins which was one of the Judge's Choice award winners.

Just wanted to share a few of the delightful moments that I had today!

Julie Elizabeth Martin - Oct 7, 1956 - Aug 23, 2008

She was so generous. I want to tell you about a gift she gave me last Christmas. One day during the holiday season the UPS truck pulled up to my house and left a fairly heavy box on my doorstep. It had a return address from Amazon.com and since Bob has occasionally ordered books from them I thought he had ordered something for Christmas. Then when I opened the box it further confused me because it was a Paula Deen appointment calendar and a dozen cans of Bing Cherries! I couldn’t imagine Bob ordering something like that. Later that day Julie contacted me asking if I had gotten her package! We had been having an on-going conversation about Coca-Cola and Cranberry Salad which is Bob’s favorite Christmas dish and I had casually mentioned that I didn’t make it very often any more because I had such a hard time finding the cherries.

She was a wonderful, sweet, interesting cousin and I'll miss our emails and conversations about food, family and our search for family links that will continue to bind us even in her absence.

A Word or Two about Knives

KNIVES

I found this very useful information about knives in a 1973 edition of one of my favorite cookbooks, Secrets of Better Cooking, A Treasury of Time Tested Methods of Good Cooking. My copy belonged to my mother and she obviously used it often as the pages are dog-eared and some are even falling out. But I also enjoy using it and have found it very helpful in my quest for the perfect dish.

These are among the most neglected tools in the kitchen, although they are used constantly. They are often poor in quality, not well sharpened or not the proper type for the work they are expected to do. There is a knife for every job. The variety is endless, but you can get a perfect starter set of six knives. If you are not able to pay for a good-quality set, buy one good knife at a time as the need arises. Cheap knives are a waste of money.

A good-quality knife made of hard steel is expensive but, if well cares for, will last a lifetime. Wash and dry your steel knives promptly after use to prevent rust or stain.

Stainless-steel knives have become very popular in recent years. They are far easier to care for than the old-fashioned steel knives but will never keep as sharp an edge.

A new type of knife with a scalloped edge is fast gaining in popularity with practical cooks. Originally designed for slicing crumbly bread and cake, it is now made in many sizes and shapes for use in general work such as paring, cutting and even carving. Do not let anyone tell you, however, that these knives will last a lifetime without being sharpened. Although they stay sharp much longer than knives with straight-edged blades, the teeth that project beyond the cutting edge wear down. This knife requires occasional sharpening with a butcher’s steel on the flat side of the blade, and will eventually need regrinding by an expert.

It is a good idea to have a long butcher’s steel for sharpening knives. These are easy to find; any store that sells quality knives will have them. Keep your knives sharp by frequent honing on the steel. To do this, press the knife edge against the steel at a 20° angle. Starting with the heel of the blade at the top of the steel, draw the blade across and down to the bottom of the steel, in a swinging motion. Do this several times, then repeat on the other side.

The most important advice: store your knives in a knife rack or on a magnetic bar; do not jumble them carelessly with other kitchen tools. This will keep the blades keen longer, and you will never cut yourself when reaching for a kitchen tool.

Later I’ll give you their suggestions on a Starter Set of Knives.

10 Spiritual Lessons from NASCAR

A good read for Nascar lovers.

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Our 4th of July Celebration

Well, I’m only about 10 days late in giving you a rundown on our family 4^th of July get-together! But I figure better late than never – right?

My sister and her husband decided to have an old-fashioned potluck on Friday the 4^th for those in the family who could make it to Granbury for the weekend. There were 15 adults and 11 kiddos for most of the day on Friday and we enjoyed an impromptu birthday party for one of the 6-year olds, as well. After all of the eating – a wonderful meal, ice cream, cake, watermelon – we all crowded into various automobiles and drove to a great spot overlooking Lake Granbury to wait for the scheduled annual fireworks show that was slated to begin at 9:30 p.m. The hill was crowded with folks in their own pickups and SUVs with kids spilling out of the beds and windows of the vehicles parked on the grassy hill just south of the lake.

We all had a great time and the kids were so excited they could hardly stand still and wait on the show. But finally 9:30 rolled around and everyone “oohed” and “ahhed” with each burst of light and color filling the dark sky.

The next morning most of us drove the short distance just beyond the Granbury High School to wait for the annual Granbury 4^th of July Parade to begin. Again, we had kids spilling from every available seat in the cars and pickups we drove there. I used an umbrella to help shield me from the hot Texas sun and my hubby, Shubert, sat very still in the shade of the car. The parade was a hit by everyone’s standards as I heard several folks commenting on how much they enjoyed it and how much better they thought it was this year!

After the parade we all went back to my sister’s house and Shubert made another freezer of ice cream – peach this time. It was wonderful. And after several naps and a lot more playing by the children we headed home, each in different directions, to await and plan our next get-together.

Eat with Sincerity and Gratitude

I found the most uplifting and interesting blog tonight. "This Ignatian Life | www.ignatianlife.org" came to my mailbox from a Google Alert on Food Gratitude and I'm so glad I decided to check it out. So often I glance at the list and delete without taking a few minutes to read further.

The last post entitled "Eating Like Ignatius?" was posted July 1 and the picture of the beautiful, plump blueberries drew me in so I just had to read it. Please go to their blog and read this well written piece on how food is such an important component of our spiritual well-being. The writer encourages us to increase our mindfulness about food. A couple of ways he suggests we do that is to "participate in your food production," "prepare your own food," and "learn about the best farming and gardening practices."

The writer ends the post by saying, "But probably the most important way to begin to cultivate mindfulness is to eat with sincerity and gratitude, 'conscious of the lives and the world from which food comes.' "

My Disaster making Sour Cream Pound Cake

I don't know what happened to my pound cake! I have made Paula Deen's Grandmother's Sour Cream Pound Cake numerous times with success every time, but today something happened either in the oven or at the mixer.

About mid-way through the baking time I started smelling burned sugar - oh, no. I knew what I'd find when I peeked in the oven. Sure enough, the cake batter was spilling out over the sides of the bundt pan and down past the racks to the floor of my oven. A huge mess. But I left it to bake and eventually the timer went off and I removed the poor cake from the oven. It had obviously fallen in on itself. I quickly cleaned out the warm batter from the bottom of the oven and off of the racks while my "cake" cooled a little in the pan on the cutting board. When I finally got to the cake, I turned it out onto a cake plate and there were spots of teflon coating, of all things, in several places on the cake that had come off of my "old" bundt pan! Well, I cut that away - don't won't to poison anyone - and even cut away 1/4 of the cake and dumped that into the trash. I know, you're probably asking why I didn't just throw the whole thing away? Well, I have company coming this afternoon and my husband asked specifically for this cake. Any of you who know him will realize he doesn't do that very often, so I really wanted to please him. And I figure that since I have some sweetened strawberries and Cool Whip in the refrigerator, we can always disguise the cake, right?

Well, it's a poor excuse for a pound cake. I really don't know what happened. Like I said, I've made this very recipe several times. The humidity shouldn't be a problem. There isn't any! The only thing I can think of is the oven temperature was too low. The recipe calls for 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes and I honestly don't know if I've changed that to 350 degrees when I made the other cakes. I may have. I think it wasn't cooking fast enough. Does that sound logical? Also, maybe I beat the cake too much after adding the sour cream.

At any rate, we'll probably eat the cake smothered in strawberries and my husband and I won't say a word about our morning of disaster in the kitchen!

If you'd like a copy of Paula Deen's Sour Cream Pound Cake it is on her website here.
It's really a wonderful cake and I know you'll enjoy it. Maybe I was just having a really bad day. Sometimes we cooks have them, don't we?

Aunt Irene's Hot Cole Slaw

This recipe is a favorite of mine. It's especially good for all of those 4th of July picnics or luncheons that will be enjoyed next week. I think all of our family likes our Aunt Irene's version of a classic salad.

You will need the following ingredients:

1 head cabbage, shredded

1 large onion, shredded

1/2 cup sugar

Sprinkle sugar over shredded cabbage and onion. Set aside.

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

3/4 cup vinegar

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup Wesson oil

Place sugar, celery seed, celery salt , mustard, vinegar and salt in pan; bring to boil. Then add Wesson oil and bring to a boil again. Pour over cabbage mixture.

Chill—the longer the better.

Baked Pork Chops – A Reminder of Home

My Daddy and Step-Mother
Mildred Smith Hicks & Leon Fremont Richards
in their home in September 1964

Having grown up in a household where my father was a butcher for the local Safeway store and my mother worked in the same meat department, we had a variety of cuts of meat every day. Breakfast fare usually included thick slices of bacon, smoked, peppered, and honey cured. Occasionally a pork chop made its appearance on our breakfast plate beside the usual eggs and fried potatoes and onion. We didn't have that big of a breakfast every weekday because Mom spent long days at work and school was calling - we usually ran a little late with 4 teenagers and 2 elementary-aged kids to get ready. But the weekends found us all gathered in the country kitchen around the beautiful round oak table that my younger sister now has in her home.

Again on the weekends we enjoyed various cuts of meat that daddy patiently showed us how to prepare. Mom was usually in the garden or making biscuits.

Reminder of Home
I was reminded tonight of the thick pork chops that Daddy used to bring home and stuff with delicious dressing prepared just like you would for the Thanksgiving turkey. He would take a very sharp knife and cut a slit in the meat across from the bone and stuff it with cornbread dressing.

Request for Pork Chop
I had asked my hubby to please bring home some pork chops from the grocery (he usually does our shopping) because we hadn't eaten them for quite some time. He found some beautiful chops that were about 1-inch thick with the bone in. If you sometimes wonder how to cook pork chops that are that thick I find that baking them is probably the easiest thing to do.

Preparation of Meat
I rinsed the meat under running water and patted them dry. I had prepared a basil olive oil mixed with garlic salt and dry Italian seasonings that I placed in a shallow bowl. Then I rubbed this on all sides of each pork chop. I then wrapped them tightly in aluminum foil, placed them in a heavy cast iron skillet to bake in my 350º oven. I baked them for one hour.

They were delicious. And because I had wrapped them in foil I had no mess to clean up. Of course, they could just as easily be cooked in any ovenproof dish and if you chose to not use the foil, the chops would brown nicely. Mine were not as brown but tasted more like a pork roast.

You should try this method of cooking pork chops. I found I could not "fry" my pork chops all the time. Cooking them this way cuts down on the calories and fat.

Bon appétit.

Photos taken at the West BBQ Cookoff by Judy Shubert

Copyright 2008 by Judy Shubert ~ Related Posts