Heavy Fennel Week

I'm not sure why, but the fennel really caught my eye at the store this week. I had been meaning to try braising it for a while, and this seemed like a really good opportunity. Later in the week we made another dish with fennel. If you don't like fennel, or think you don't, I'd suggest you try the second dish described here.

First, I got two nice looking bulbs and found this recipe online:

Braised Fennel

This recipe is from marthastewart.com. (I halved the recipe.)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups orange juice
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2/3 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 4 medium bulbs fennel, each cut into 6 wedges

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place orange juice, olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes, cumin, and lemon zest and juice in a medium bowl; whisk until well combined.
3. Place fennel in a baking dish just large enough to fit fennel in an even layer; pour over orange juice mixture. Cover with parchment-paper-lined aluminum foil and transfer to oven. Bake for 35 minutes, uncover, and continue baking until fennel is golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Remove from oven; serve warm or at room temperature.

I thought it was pretty good, and I'd make it again. But I might use a bit less cumin and lemon zest. Naomi tried a bite, ate it, and said "I tried it, but I don't like it. I don't like fennel the vegetable. I only like fennel the animal." I think she meant the fennec, but it was a pretty good reference nonetheless.

Now, onto the next fennel adventure...

When I was at the fish counter at Whole Foods the cod looked good, and that reminded me of a favorite dish of my husband's and another fennel endeavor.

Cod with Fennel and Capers

Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa. There are some major ingredients missing in my version, but it's yummy and very easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion- chopped
• 1 bulb fennel- chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 28 ounces can San Marzano tomatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• handful fresh basil leaves- chiffonade
• 2 tablespoons capers and a splash of the brine from the jar
• 1 lb fresh cod filet

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan. Saute onion and fennel until just translucent.

2. In a small mesh sieve set over a bowl, drain tomatoes. Break all tomatoes open with a spoon so all liquid is released. Reserve juice for later. Add drained tomatoes to pan. Stir into fennel and onion.

3. Cut fish into just-larger-than-bite-sized pieces.

4. Add fish, capers, caper brine, and a enough of the reserved tomato juice to barely cover fish. Stir gently, and bring to a simmer. Simmer until a large piece of fish flakes easily when tested with a fork- about 20 minutes.

5. Stir in fresh basil (which my store was out of today, I couldn't believe it.), and serve. We always serve this over orzo tossed with a pat of butter. Yum.

Matisse Quilt

I love this whole line of Alexander Henry Matisse fabric. I love the oversized roses, the mini flower still life, and this classic Matisse paper-cut pattern. I knew I wanted to make something with this amazing textile inspired by some of my favorite works of art. But what to make? I decided to make up a quilt design that maximized use of this fabric, and allowed for some large, unbroken areas to show off the great shape and pattern.

This quilt quickly became a geometric experiment that merges Matisse and Mondrian. Cutting the pieces made me kind of dizzy, and when it was all laid out I admit that I didn’t love it. So I left the quilt on my design wall and slept on it (though it was all cut, so I’m not sure what I could really have done about it.) Don’t worry, though, the next day when I looked at it with rested eyes I thought it was pretty cool.

This design really reinforces the old adage “measure twice, cut once.” As a sculpture major in college this phrase was tantamount. And I was careful to measure each piece of fabric even three times. But what I discovered is that measuring three times doesn’t help if the measurement you’re checking is incorrect. I bought the exact amount of fabric for this layout. I swear I have NO black scraps leftover, and only a few small strips of the Matisse. But I made a mistake in the design that didn’t allow for feasible piecing. I solved the problem, but the solution included cutting one of my Matisse pieces in half and adding an additional black strip. I salvaged a few tiny pieces of black to piece that strip- hardly noticeable unless you know about it, see?

Betcha can't even tell which line it is. Anyway, once cut, this was a really easy top to piece. Almost like one huge log cabin block.

At first I thought the fabric was too sophisticated for a child, but now I think it’d actually be fun for a baby because of all the great contrast. Leah, who is seven months old, loves this fabric and keeps trying to play with it.

The top is done, and the solid yellow binding is all ready to go.

Now I just need to choose a back for it. Hmmm…decisions, decisions.

Peace, Love, and Quilting in Woodstock

There used to be an amazing little quilting shop in Woodstock, NY. My husband and I stumbled upon it when we were wandering the main street in Woodstock on our way to Mohonk Mountain House a few years ago. The shop was in the most beautiful old house.

Image courtesy of ctpubblog.com

As soon as we walked in I knew I wasn't leaving without some fabric, and my husband knew we weren't leaving for at least an hour. The main floor was full of bolts of the most beautiful fabrics, modern and vintage lines, and a wall of batiks. I wandered for a while and chose a few things (a bag pattern and fabric for that project, plus a yard each of a few fabulous textiles), but I just couldn't decide. And I couldn't leave with only a few fabrics.

One of the things I loved about the store's set-up was that every fabric was presented on the bolt and as a fat quarter. Usually stores have leftover fabrics in fat quarter packets or rolls on a table or shelf. At Woodstock Quilt Supply every single fabric had a fat quarter of itself on the shelf right there. As I made my last rounds through the enchanting store I started to pick up miscellaneous fat quarters of fabrics I loved and needed in my life. Miraculously, I only chose six. While they were not chosen to coordinate, with each other or anything else in particular, I thought the six stacked in my hand looked amazing together.

I knew they'd be used in one quilt, and I saved them in a little stack until finally finding a binding and back that would sufficiently accompany this amazing sextet. I kept the quilt design pretty simple so I could enjoy each one, and so it wouldn't be too busy as each of the fabrics is a bit on its own. I began making the top for this quilt over a year ago. Pregnancy and more pressing projects have kept me from it, but today I got in a small chunk of time to work on it. The top is now one seam away from completion! You'll have to wait for another post for photos of the finished project.

How I still yearn for Woodstock Quilt Supply. I took my only sewing class in the upstairs classroom, driving 1 1/2 hours north on a quiet Saturday to learn how to free motion quilt over a year ago. I'd set my heart on making that pilgrimage once a year (or more) to take a class and indulge in some new fabric. But, alas, when, a few months back, I tried to call them to get more of one fabric that I fell in love with that summer I found they'd closed and consolidated their inventory with another shop, The Joyful Quilter. I'm sure this other shop is lovely, but at 2 3/4 hours north of here, I don't think I'll be heading that way for a quiet Saturday pilgrimage any time soon.

Rosette Barrettes

As usual, I cannot peruse the Purl Soho craft blog without stumbling across at least one project I feel compelled to make. A few weeks ago it was their January 2010 post on Rose Barrettes. It looked like a cute project, and one that would be doable while sitting on the couch with a baby sleeping on my legs. (Crochet is another project of that ilk, which might explain my recent prolific hat making.)

Purl has a link to the template on their site, and the directions are very easy to follow. My only suggestion: I needed to use a pliers to pull the needle through the thickest layers of felt.
Start by cutting out all pieces of the template. Arrange them on your felt, and pin into place.
After cutting a few sets of pieces, I tried to figure out how to get as many roses from my little felt squares as possible. (This layout gave me three flowers and two barrettes.)
After cutting out the pieces, roll up the center strip to make the rosebud, and you can begin sewing.
The rest of the directions are at the Purl Bee.

These came out so cute, and my daughter, who normally resists hair clips of any kind, loves the big flowers. The clip becomes less strong when thickened by the felt. I might try to make a few with a bigger clip or a different kind all together. Other than that, and my random pliers tip, I like these just as they are. In fact, I've got another batch of felt pieces all prepped and ready to go.

Cat's out of the Bag- Gift Reveal

Thank goodness Chanukah is behind us and I can reveal a few of my secret projects. These first two pictures are of sweaters for my sisters. More information on this project can be found on the Merino Bouquet post.

This one is for my sister who we always tease for predictably only wearing shades of blue.

And this one is being modeled by my other sister (who shall remain nameless/faceless).

I think they both liked their happy wool cardigans. It was fun to make them, and fun to give a handmade gift.

This next project was a fun and easy one to make, and a great way to preserve a favorite t-shirt. My faceless sister from above asked me recently if I could do anything to save part of her favorite old t-shirt. I took it home and here's what happened.

1.Cut a rectangle from the shirt, preserving the center image. Using that piece as the center, work as you would for a quilt block and sew strips of fabric around your rectangle until is is desired size.
2. I bought a 12x16 pillow form at Joann Fabric and Crafts. You could certainly use batting and make the pillow any size you want. When my front piece reached a total of 12 1/2 x 16 1/2, leaving my a 1/4 inch seam allowance, I sewed front to back, right sides facing each other around 3 sides of the rectangle.
3. Flip pillow cover right side out, and poke corners out with a knitting needle or closed ballpoint pen.
4. Stuff pillow inside, and hand sew final side closed.

This gift really made my sister smile, and that made me do the same.