Quilt Camp March 2011

For some reason, it doesn't seem like I accomplished much this time around. I still need to unpack a few things and take pictures. I haven't done any sewing since getting back from vacation and camp. I brought up maybe three kits and a few quilt patterns but didn't do any quilting. I'm trying to whittle down some of my garment fabric. I need to get the sewing room under control so I brought garments to work on.

A while back, Jacqi got our table started on making mug rugs. Each retreat, someone is responsible for the fabric. It was my turn this time to bring the fabric. It's a heavy responsibility. If your fabric is a failure, trust me, the table will let you know. You also get heckled if your mug rug is over regulation size. (5"x5") The fabric is Yippee from Michael Miller. 

I have been wanting to make this sock monkey shirt for some time. It's fairly easy to do. I enlarged the pattern a little bit. My friend Pat used a slightly narrower satin stitch on hers. I think that looks much better than my wider stitch. You can find the tutorial here on Moda Home Mom.

The Irish Cutie is a pillowcase for my niece Kayla. It wasn't going to get to her in time, so I saved it to work on at camp. The font is from 8 Claws and a Paw. St. Patrick's day apparently isn't a big deal for fabric companies. It's slim pickens for fabric for this holiday.

Irish Soda Bread

This Easter I decided to make a couple of loaves of Irish Soda bread for dinner. A yeast bread would have been more appropriate but this is quick and easy. I was able to put this together and bake it before going to church. For those of you who haven't tried this yet, it is similar to a scone. This recipe was published in our local newspaper, the Post Crescent this year right before St. Patrick's Day. Unfortunately, I printed the recipe off the newspaper website but the recipe doesn't state who the author is.

Aunt Barb's Irish Soda Bread

2 cups slightly rounded all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (a bit less) baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
small handful of each: golden and regular raisins
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine (cut into pieces)
Pinch of salt

Mix the dry ingredients together. Add raisins and gently mix. Add buttermilk, blend, and add butter or margarine. Do not overmix!

Shape into a mound, then gently pat down. Cut a cross-shape with a knife into the top of the dough.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes. Bread will be golden.

I have used both attachments on my Kitchen Aid mixer. I do think the paddle works slightly better than the dough hook. I think the batter is too wet for the hook to work it's best.










As you can see, the dough is a moist dough. Kind of in between a muffin dough and a yeast dough. I find that I add a little more flour than what the recipe calls for. I usually double the batch so it makes 2 loaves. One quart of buttermilk will make four loaves. Don't let the buttermilk go to waste! I'm sure this would freeze ok if you double wrap it. Make sure that you don't skimp on the raisins. I only used regular raisins. There isn't a lot of sugar in this recipe so the raisins give it a little extra sweetness.



Because this dough is so sticky, make sure that you generously flour the board. Do you see the scorch mark? All I know is that it involved a husband and a saucepan. I was gone for the day. It really isn't safe to leave home some days.









Generously flour the top of your dough. Now you are ready to "knead". You don't really knead this dough. I will just knead or flip it over until most of the flour is taken up by the dough and the dough is now workable and no longer sticky. Because this is a double batch, I then cut the dough into two and shaped the dough into mounds.







This is what they look like going into the oven. I love using parchment paper. I use that on just about anything that I put into the oven.











There you have it! Two golden brown loaves of Irish Soda Bread. Don't wait for the next St. Paddy's day to roll around to make this. This is a great breakfast bread or snack bread.

Irish Gifts

Jeff, Taylor and I were invited up to Conor's relatives cottage for July 4th. Taylor stayed for several days but Jeff and I only drove up for a day. It was a beautiful day weather-wise. We took a drive with Conor's parents to see all the family land. We also took a ride around the lake in the pontoon boat. As a thank you gift, I embroidered the kitchen towels for Conor's aunts and the apron is for Conor's mom. The family celebrates their Irishness so I thought they would enjoy some Irish decorations for their kitchens.

Last October, Jeff had mentioned in passing that it was Tim and Yvonne's 25th wedding anniversary. I think he went to one of Conor's football games that I didn't go to. So I had a week to figure out what to do for their anniversary. I came up with this casserole carrier with a claddagh. I also baked a cake to put inside of the carrier.