Saturday is baking day

While it was 80 yesterday, the nights are very cool and Fall is definitely coming. LBK asked for some soup on last week's grocery trip. He takes soup for lunch most days in the winter. When I started baking bread last winter from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, he thought I was going to keep him supplied with yummy bread all winter. Unfortunately, he never really expressed that to me, and in a an effort to keep all those carbs from piling on the pounds, I tried to resist baking bread very often. However, he recently made a comment about wishing for bread to go with his soup, so I'm stocking the freezer with bread for him. He can grab one in the morning for his lunch and just give it a quick refresh in a toaster oven or eat it as is. It will be thawed by lunch for sure. Here are the results of today's baking: 8 mini loaves like these and 2 larger boules.



I have to work on sizing and slashing. I think these are a bit too big, though he may think they are fine.

St Basil's Serbian Festival

Saturday, we went to St. Basil's Serbian Festival. It's not so much a festival as it is a feast. Roast lamb and pig, grilled sausages, cabbage rolls, and lots of desserts. Pictured above is the best dessert we had: krempita, a vanilla custard lightened with whipped cream, then sandwiched between superthin layers of puff pastry or filo. It looks like it might be heavy, but in fact is very light.

LGD #2 Finished

I am really pleased with this version. The bodice is lined, making the inside very finished. The zipper was much easier. I just need to practice them more often. I didn't press out much of the puckeriness this time either, although that makes seams and hem less crisp. They're ok, though. I wish the finishing at the top of the zipper and the hook were better. I probably could have trimmed seam allowances in the arm scye closer, or it could be the lack of pressing. The hem on this one isn't quite as nice as the first one, also attributing that to ironing.

KC Update

In Kansas City, a journalist for the Kansas City Star and a photographer were with us the entire weekend. My first clue was when the guy across from me at Lidia's asked me my name and where I was from and started taking notes. I was a little taken aback, but he seemed so amazed by our group and all the events, food, and drink of the weekend, that I quickly became rather amused by him. The article is in this week's Kansas City Star magazine and is posted online here. Thankfully, there are no pics of me, but I do get a very, very brief mention in the article.

Little Girl Dress #2

Sorry, no pics of LGD #1. I gave it to Little Girl #1 yesterday to test out. It was a similar fabric to LGD #2 fabric, but in blue with blue and yellow dots. I'll take a pic of a scrap later. Here is fabric for LGD #2, a cute green, pink and yellow one with some texture.


When I pressed seams on the first one, the texture of the fabric was lost. I thought it would come back when washed, but it really didn't after the first wash. Maybe longer in the dryer, maybe more washings.

This time, I am going to line the bodice instead of using facings and bias tape. I'm also going to use one of the "fake serger" stitches on my machine on the side seams. The hem on LGD #1 was perfect. I stitched a 1/4" seam then turned the hem on the stitching and folded once more. It was perfectly even. Such a simple technique to give such a great finish.

FINALLY FINISHED

This quilt has taken me forever to finish. It was really, really challenging. It's entirely made of diamonds, which are really challenging to cut and piece. The directions are confusing and the piecing is done by offsetting the pieces so when you sew them, they are aligned. There was much seam ripping done during the piecing of this quilt. I love the fabrics and I love the finished quilt.

Front

Back

The Quintessential Summer Dinner

What could say summer better then bbq chicken, sweet corn, cole slaw and nectarine blueberry grunt? Or slump, or cobbler?