Thursday, July 19, 2012

Camp, Sew, Bake and Fry!

You may be wondering why I chose the title "Camp, Sew, Bake and Fry" for this post...

Well....

1.  We went camping in our new fifth wheel during the week just 20 minutes from home.
2.  Hubby had to work, so I brought along my traveling sewing machine to work on a quilt I had cut out.
3.  We came home early, so I baked potato buns today despite the heat.
4.  It's 105 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, so that's why I added the word "fry" to the title for this post!

Pics and de-"light"-ful potato buns recipe, too....

The new fifth wheel
For camping, attending quilt shows; selling blankets, pillow cases, embroidered towels 
and enjoying a good life; RocknQuilts is now on the road!

2011 flood line at the campground is about 6'5"
(My DH is 6'2")

Gotta have s'mores when camping, even in the heat!

All set up to sew a commissioned quilt!



Watching "King Arthur" on DVD while DS takes a nap and I get to sew!!

Our DS had played himself right out in the heat!
Thank goodness for A/C in the fifth wheel, but even then, it was still pretty toasty.

Four different 2.5" squares = six possible variations
Six down, 94 to go!

De-"light"-ful Potato Buns
adapted from 'Cook's Illustrated', Aug. 2012

1 lb. russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces; boil, drain (save 5 Tblspn potato water) and mash for one full, packed cup of mashed potatoes; mix the mashed potatoes with 2 Tblspn room temperature butter and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, place the 5 Tblspn potato water (allow to cool to about 85 degrees Fahrenheit), one Tblspn granulated sugar, and 2 teaspoons of rapid-rise yeast.  Cover with a paper plate or whatever is handy and allow to 'proof'.  (Videos on how to proof yeast.)

Whisk two room temperature Large eggs with 1 teaspoon of water and one teapsoon of salt until frothy.

Place 2 1/4 cups bread flour (I use Better for Bread flour for the best results) over the proofed yeast mixture in the large mixing bowl, add in the potato mixture and the egg mixture.  Add one tablespoon of milk if the mixture is too dry.  Mix with dough hook for five minutes, allow to rest, covered, for 10 minutes, then shape into one dozen buns, cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes (but 10 minutes works if you're in a hurry like I was this evening).  Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bake in the center rack of the oven for approximately 15-18 minutes.  Watch carefully or they tend to over-brown, but they won't rise nicely without the higher temperature. 

Remove from the oven, place on a plate and watch your entire family smile and ask for seconds and thirds!  
If they're really crazy about these buns, they might like the several variations available online at www.CooksIllustrated.com/aug12 like Parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper and more!

Please share your experience with this recipe here with us - did you create any new versions or did you use a different potato or other ingredient and get great results?  Thanks for sharing!

Enjoy!

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Monday, July 16, 2012

CeLynn of  http://celynnssunflowerpatch.blogspot.com/ made my day by awarding me with the Liebster Blog award!  

If you have never been over for a visit you are missing out on some great ideas/inspiration!  For example just the other day she posted about this awesome boxy bag sewn in Sugar and Spice! CeLynn does not just do one thing, she is a crafter of many different interests.  For example, check out what she did with this bread recipe!  She also has a great etsy shop !  So click  on over there and  check out her blog - you won't be disappointed :)

Liebster means "dearest" in German and this award is a great way of encouraging new bloggers with less than 200 followers. And what a fun way to do just that! I know I'm feeling pretty encouraged right now. ☺

According to the rules, once you receive this award you must follow 3 simple rules:

1. Link back to the giver
2. Post the award on your blog
3. Pass the award on to 5 other bloggers with less than 200 followers.

These are the 5 blogs that I am nominating: 

1.  Darla @ Doodling in My Mind - she creates her own fabric on spoonflower!

2.  Block Head from Austrailia who is a student of Harriet & Carrie Hargrave!

3. Terri Stegmiller who blogs, paints her own fabric, creates patterns and has an etsy shop!

4. Tamera Quilts who has started her own quilting business and is also from my neck of the woods :-)

and... 

5. A fantastic longarm quilter whose blog is called  The Sewing Cave.  She just finished a patriotic quilt and one of the cutest Halloween quilts I've ever seen!

Happy Quilting, Creating and Blogging!

@


For our 22nd anniversary last week, my husband bought us....

Here's my new kitchen:

Now, where to store the sewing machine?!?  :-)



Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Congratulations to Mimi, our Giveaway WINNER!


Happy Canada Day and Happy July Fourth!!



Congratulations, Mimi! 

You were entry #76 and in honor of 1776, the birthday of the United States of America, You have WON the “Quilty” giveaway at RocknQuilts! Please e-mail me your address and I will mail your package out to you by July 20th, 2012. I’m so glad you’re following my blog and hope you will enjoy a share of the package of goodies I received from Mary Fons. Thanks for entering! Mary Ann 

rocknquilts at live dot com

I not only read the Fon's and Porter magazine but I am following their blog!!

Monday, July 2, 2012

SewCalGal 2012 FMQ Challenge Results for July

As part of the Creative Troupe for C&T Publishing, I was fortunate enough to preview a copy of the long-awaited Angela Walter's book on free motion quilting for modern quilts.  Here is my review:

Review By: Mary Ann Crow,   Creative Troupe - May 26, 2012
Having studied free motion quilting (fmq) for the past two and a half years, I am very impressed with the seemingly young-looking Angela Walters' work.  She began with traditional fmq using a long-arm, but these modern techniques apply also to home sewing machines.  This book will get you ready to quilt the modern way!  To me, the Pfaff company's designs look so beautifully modern and they appeal to me greatly, but having had only the chance to study traditional machine quilting before, I felt overwhelmed.  Ms. Walter's book, however, divided into three sections will motivate, instruct and inspire you to branch out into the new world of modern quilting.  Through the use of many color photos, you will see how her designs can work for wonky, strip, square and quilts with negative space.  Her blog is quiltigismytherapy.com  Her new book is a very interesting and worth-while addition to the quilting world!  Mary Ann @ www.rocknquilts.blogspot.com

When SewCalGal announced that Angela Walter's would be the July FMQ Expert, I was absolutely thrilled and since I have another minot surgery on July 3rd and then again possibly later in the month, I decided that now is better than later, so here are my results....it's sew nice to have something positive to focus on this summer - thanks, SewCalGal!

1st practice piece with Hobb's Heirloom 100% cotton batting without scrim:


A piece I created from large rectangles of bright fabrics just waiting for some modern quilting inspired by Angela Walters:


I really like how this turned out - I fmq'd in each different rectangle with simple lines for the white and figure eight's for the colored rectangles.




To little 'ol me from MARY FONS!!!
I have to share...come on, I could spend a lifetime using all this...
register for the July Fourth, 2012 drawing over HERE.  Five chances to win!!

Good luck and Happy FMQing!

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