Book rules

I broke my own rule & got Lorrie Moore's A Gate at the Stairs to read in Columbus this upcoming week. Today I returned it to the library. Although Moore is one of the contemporary greats, I don't like her mild sarcasm. I don't do irony. I'm not an intellectual. I read a chapter and a half before telling myself it's OK to stop. It was like playing golf: good for other people. I could have saved myself the time because Moore broke my First Rule of Fiction: Don't read books with the word had on page 1. This mindless rule works for me.

Now I have Diane Ackerman's essays Dawn Light & Mark Spragg's An Unfinished Life. (he'd on page 1 doesn't count; it's only had I avoid.) I'm going to return Nevada Barr's 13 1/2. I discovered a new rule: no books with child rape on page 1.

Mom's slaw

Mom never bought ready-cut slaw. And she's right – cutting your own is not that hard, & it's better because it's all different sizes, not uniformly perfect like the machine-cut stuff. Besides, you can say, "I did it myself." Her dressing is perfect, sweet-sour, & easy.

Mom's slaw dressing

Sprinkle 1/2 C. sugar (I use about 1/4 C.) over 1/2 head thin-sliced cabbage.

Add 1 green pepper & 1 green onion, chopped. (Sometimes I skip this. Sometimes I grate in a little regular onion.)

In a small pan mix 1/3 C. vinegar, 1/3 C. oil (I use corn oil.), 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. celery seed, 1/2 t. dry mustard. Bring it to a boil. Pour over the slaw. That's it. If you eat it right away it will be crispy, but it keeps well if you don't mind soggy slaw. Clark prefers it that way.

Variation: Mom would sometimes fry a few strips of bacon & use the drippings instead of the oil. Take out the bacon & drain it. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients to the skillet & bring to a boil. After you pour it on the cabbage, mix, & add the crumbled bacon.

T-shirt quilt

I surprised myself by loving this quilt! Maybe because it's for someone I love, Cameron, who graduates from the University of Chicago soon.

I love that it's soft; glad I didn't use backing to stabilize the T-shirts. It's backed with cuddly sweatshirt fabric.

I love that it's simple; these 14" squares are elegant.

I love that it's subdued, like Chicago on a drizzly morning.

56" x 56"

Owls

This is a self-portrait. I look at things sideways. She's made from cotton, silk, lace, tulle & a feather, sewn onto an 11" x 14" painted stretched canvas. Some people think it's a male, probably because of all the brown. That's OK.
This bird launched herself right off the canvas at me. I thought she was going to be demure, angelic. But she became what she is: cotton, silk, lace, felt, a stick, & attitude.

Bon Voyage, ROSIE!

We just sold Rosie, our beautiful Grady-White. We had her for 12 years. She is being trailered right now up to Massachusetts. Different water! We have this small quilt on our mantel, with a candle to burn in front of it.
This is the little quilt that started the project. Early in the morning I looked out the west window & saw this beautiful pecan tree hiding the moon. I decided to capture a treasured moment each day in November.
At nearly 10 p.m. a transformer blew, shocking us all with sudden brilliance, then dark. We were in the Lazy Flamingo restaurant on Sanibel.

More

More of those little (6"x6" on 8"x10" canvas) pieces commemorating November days. Above is a dragonfly that dropped dead on the path before me at Phipps Park. I held it up & took a photo. That's Lake Jackson beyond.

For my birthday I made one of my favorite designs, a sun.

This is to remember the day we were out on the boat on the Gulf of Mexico in greenish light, & suddenly were surrounded by hundreds (maybe thousands) of leaping mackerel. We had fishing rods – but no bait!

November to May

It took six months to complete the little quilts I began in November. I made a 6"x6" square for each day of the month. But I didn't finish each one in a day! My favorites are mounted on wrapped canvas that I painted. This one commemorates a morning walk with Pam on Captiva Island.
This is a cottage at Jensen's on Captiva, where we spent Thanksgiving. I was working on our porch, & this is what I saw across the road.

This is from November 1, to celebrate color.

Graduation quilt

Gretchen called yesterday. She finally opened her quilt, so now I can post the photo. Gretchen sent an even better picture this morning – she's wrapped up in this, smiling. "It looks just like me!" she said. Makes all the work worthwhile! This is a Bento Box quilt, 64" x 64." I've been collecting fabrics for months, including a pink & green striped shirt from Goodwill. It's backed in a soft pink & green flannel, & I was excited to send it in a pink box. Happy Graduation!

Chili & Corn Bread

We love this. The chili part is great by itself. Choose other beans & meat if you like – or none.

Chicken & Black Bean Chili

Brown bite-sized pieces of boneless chicken breast in olive oil. Sprinkle with chili & salt. They cook fast. If you have the time, shred the meat. Otherwise, cut bite-size pieces.

Chili: Fry sliced onions, 1 chopped green pepper, 2 cloves garlic (crushed) in olive oil. In a small bowl mix 2-4 T. chili with 1 T. flour & add enough water or broth to make a paste. Stir this into the onions, etc., & cook a minute or two to take away the raw flour taste. Add a small can of chopped jalapeño peppers (mild ones) or add chopped fresh hot peppers if you like. Also add 2 C. chicken or vegetable broth, a small can of chopped tomatoes, a little wine vinegar, a little sugar (1/2 to 1 tsp.), salt, & about 1 tsp. cumin. Taste & adjust. Cook about 2 hours on low. This is a good chili sauce for anything.

Beans: Any kind of bean is fine. I use black beans. Sort beans to remove stones (I found one last year.) & bring to a boil with an inch of water above the top of beans. Let stand an hour. Pour out water & add plenty of fresh water. Bring to boil & then cook on low until beans are soft. Add more water if necessary. Add salt.

Mix it all together – chili, chicken, beans – & cook until hot. Or serve separately, with cheese & chopped onions.

Corn Bread

Turn oven to 500°. Put 3 T. butter in a 10-inch skillet & put that into the oven. Take it out when the butter melts.

Mix 1 C. cornmeal, 1/2 C. flour, 1 T. sugar, & 1/2 tsp. each: salt, soda, baking powder. Measure 1 C. buttermilk (I use regular milk with about 1 T. cider vinegar.) into a glass measuring cup & add 1 egg. Mix together. Add liquid to dry ingredients. Pour into the hot pan. You can either mix the melted butter into the batter or let it stay around the sides. I prefer mixing. Bake at 500° until firm, about 10 minutes.

I have frozen leftover chili, & it seems like a good idea, but it's not. Some of the zip is gone. I guess the textures meld.

Printing 3 – Block Prints

I thought it would be like in school – stamping "Good Work" on the top of students' papers. But no.

I used Jacquard Textile Color #104 Pink, a water-based acrylic paint. I sponged it onto the stamp with a sponge paintbrush. You can also use a makeup sponge. I couldn't wait to use the wood stamps that I bought at The British Museum a long time ago. As you can see in the details of the birds, you've got to have exactly the right amount of paint or else it will ooze around the fine details. When you're finished, you scrub the stamp with a toothbrush. These practice stamps are in my notebook. Next: cotton sateen, using blocks that I make. Ideas are in The Painted Quilt by Linda & Laura Kemshall, & A Little Creative Space.