Seasons at Phipps

Fall

I've finished Seasons -- again.

I decided to make a bigger quilted piece for each season to rest on. This is what Jean Wells calls a portrait finish. You can't see the quilting lines here -- too bad!  Got to see them up close. I hope the stitches extend the feeling of each little quilt.They are about 17" x 19 1/2" each.

Spring

Winter

Summer

Lentil salad and apple crisp

Lentils cooling

I've been trying to NOT cook on Sundays. A former neighbor, Geula, kept a Saturday Sabbath. "You should try it, Kathleen," she said, promising I'd love a day without thinking about food. Geula would make chicken salad Friday night, if I remember correctly, and in that spirit we've had tuna salad sandwiches on the last two Sundays. I made the salad and -- in one case -- chocolate chip cookies Saturday night, The week before, we were going to have cold shrimp, but it looked wan, so at the last minute I sautéed it lightly with sugar and salt. Last night I forgot, and I'm tired of tuna anyway. So I'm cooking again: we'll grill grouper sandwiches, and this morning I made a lentil salad and apple crisp. I did mix the topping last night, but today I peeled and sliced green apples. Geula was right: not cooking is easier, but you've got to think ahead.

Crumble topping for apple crisp

Mix in food processor:
1/3 C. light brown sugar
3/4 C. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. (or more) cinnamon
6 T. butter

When it's in little pieces that stick together, whirl in quickly:
1/4 C. (I use more) chopped walnuts
1/4 C. oatmeal

Slice enough apples for an 8" square pan. Cover with the topping. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until fruit is soft and top is lightly browned.
*Also good with a mixture of apples and cranberries, or with plums or berries.

Here are recipes for several good salads, including Alice Waters's Goat Cheese And Lentil Salad. I went easy on the garlic, and serve the cheese on the side because Clark doesn't like it. The ugly lentils in the picture above are from the step where they are cooled on a cookie sheet. I could have stopped right here; even minus the dressing, they are delicious. This would be good to make on Saturday night, if I could only get myself organized. 

Summer

Summer
14 1/2" x 16"

Summer is finished, and I like it. The design seems to be dancing, and it came easily -- while I spent a couple of weeks with Winter and Spring (maybe more) before their shapes felt right. (It helped that for Summer I used shapes from the other pieces.) I finally feel confident sewing and cutting the way I learned in Jane Sassaman's workshop. I have also gotten pretty good at making a mitered facing edge.

Working on four related pieces helped me evaluate markers, fabric, and batting. I used several brands of chalk pencils to mark quilting lines; they were hard to remove completely. I prefer Mark B Gone washable blue marker made in Japan. It disappeared easily every time, just by rubbing with a wet cotton cloth. For the black and brown backgrounds, Clover's lipstick-shaped tube of powder -- recommended by Debbie at Bernina Connection -- dusted off easily.

I used Quilters Dream thin white cotton batting in my first two pieces -- Autumn  and Winter. Bearding (white pieces of batting drawn through and visible on the outside) seemed a problem, although now that they're finished I don't see it. I switched to black batting (Quilters Dream poly) for Spring and Summer.

In the future I'll be using more plain fabric and dark background -- a return to the Amish tradition that drew me to quilts in the first place.

Here's a photo of all the seasons.

Seasons: Spring

Spring
15 1@" x 17"

I finally finished Spring. I spent a long time figuring out how to make wisteria blossoms. They kept looking like grapes. Information came from my plant-wise friend Sky, Tallahassee Nurseries, Tiffany stained glass, and the wonderful book Southern Plants for Landscape Design by Neil Odelwald.

Mom's Peach Pie

When I told Mom I was making her peach pie, she said, "That's not my recipe -- I got it from Betty McGlone. All the good recipes come from somewhere." Thanks, Betty! I hardly ever make pie any more, but this is so good I make it at least once a year. Today I had frozen peaches.

First, make the crust. Put it in a 9" pie pan.

Peel and slice peaches (good ones -- so many are tasteless) to make a mound on the unbaked crust.

Mix this and pour it over:

Sauce for Peach Pie

1/3 C. melted butter
1/4 C. + 1 T. flour (5 T. in all) mixed with 1 1/4 C. sugar
1 beaten egg
cinnamon to taste (I use a lot.)
1 t. vanilla

This is for an 8" pan. Mom uses 1 1/2 recipe for 9".  The sauce will bubble over, so put a foil-lined cookie sheet on the shelf below to catch the drips.

Bake at 375° until the center bubbles, about 1 1/2 hr.

How to clean a leek

Leeks often have sand in them. I used to try to scrub and rinse between the layers. It was nearly impossible, so dinner would be sandy, and that made me stop cooking with leeks. Here is how I do it now, and it works. You start with leeks (above).

Cut off the tough green tops. I've never been sure exactly how much to cut, but what you see above works. Maybe I could go higher.

Slice. I started with crosswise, but I prefer lengthwise.

Chop.

Put in a bowl and run water into it. Swish around to loosen sand.

Drain. Repeat rinse and drain another time or two, until you feel no sand in the bowl. Your leeks are clean. Continue with the recipe. If you're going to sauté them, wrap them in a towel and squeeze it over the sink to eliminate some water first.