January 2013 Wipocalypse Check In

Well here we are. The beginning of another Wipocalypse challenge! Unlike last year, I don't have a list of things I plan to work on... I pretty much plan to stitch whatever strikes my fancy as the year goes. 

So far I have started Anthony Minieri's "Stars For A New Millennium". This is my first foray into canvas work. As you can see below, I haven't gotten too far... Those argyle triangles will be the death of me unless I suddenly grow two more arms. The fiber I am using for the long stitches (trebizond) is so slick that I have to hold it taught with one hand whilst tacking it down with the couching stitches. Needless to say I have gotten distracted by other things in complete avoidance of those triangles. Maybe this is why Stasha told me she hated trebizond? Hmmm...

I've also started work on MLI's Firefly Fairies, which has been calling to me for a while now. I am working it on Picture This Plus' 32 Count Belfast Crystal Carnival. The picture makes it seem so much more peach then it is. It's actually more yellowish and green. 

Other than that I hope to do TW's 12 Days, each as a separate piece, and also TW's Paisley Corner (x4) to make either a pillow or decorative chair seat.

That is all. 

How to Bake Bread in a French Oven

This weekend I will likely be sloughing on the sofa with my face slathered in Vicks, as I recover from what seems to be the plague that is making its way around my office. And if that isn't dramatic enough for you? Think Jane Eyre in the 1943 movie where they are forced to walk ceaselessly in the rain until her friend contracts pneumonia and dies. 

Anyway.

I thought I would share a baking success from last weekend. A boule baked in a French oven (Le Creuset). Frankly this is the easiest bread I have ever made, and has all of the ear marks of a professionally baked loaf.

Segue.

I have never had any trouble baking on the east coast where I grew up. Out here in the mountain west, results are frequently disastrous. I wasn't sure if it was the altitude (possible), but I read the opening chapters of the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, and it became almost insanely obvious that it was because of the dryness of the air (which also devastated my attempts at meat curing without MacGuyver-ing a curing room). What effect does the air have? So glad you asked. 

Having overly or under-ly(?) humid air can affect the weights of your ingredients, creating a situation where you may be putting in too much or too little of any one ingredient. Heat can similarly affect your ingredients in that it alters the chemical reactions. This is especially true when you cook by volume instead of weight.

You guys? I am a convert to cooking by weight. By the looks of my new kitchen scales you would think I was opening up shop as a drug dealer. In reality I am just OCD and refuse to settle for second best edible product. Or anything for that matter. Measuring by weight creates a fantastic looking and tasting product! It allows you to bake using one bowl!  It allows you to easily increase or decrease your recipe without the proportions becoming wonky. And precision! I can't say enough for it.

And why use a French oven? Well, those great loaves of bread with the great crust and the fantastic crumb? There are steam injectors in the ovens which help to develop the crust, and the nubs in your pot lid serve the same process... To drop the bits of steam on the dough and develop the crust. 

When all was said and done, the bread was miraculous. It's the sort of thing you could just eat fresh out of the oven (after having given it time to rest of course!!) With maybe a little good olive oil or fresh butter or with jam or as a crostini... How could anyone ever buy a loaf of bread again? Or use a dumb bread maker? This is so easy people... I challenge you to do it. You won't be sorry.

I used the recipe from Ruhlman's Twenty. You can see the recipe here and he has an awesome video to go with if you are so inclined. 

Lidia Bastianich's Poached Chicken Rolls

This recipe is from Lidia Bastianich's most recent cookbook "Lidia's Italy In America". I think part of the recipe was omitted accidentally, and I made a little bit of an addition.

For your prep you will need:

4 chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 plum tomatoes, cut into strips
6 oz of fresh mozzarella (fresh! Not from those rubbery bricks!)
4 packed cups of fresh spinach (make sure to soak your spinach if you don't use pre-washed, to make sure you get all the sand off. Frankly, for the little effort of cleaning your spinach, you get more for your money than if you did pre-washed)
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt

Combine your tomatoes, mozzarella, and spinach in a bowl, add 2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil, and toss gently (I used my hands) until well combined.

Take one chicken breast, and slice it almost all the way through, horizontally, enough to open it up like a book. Pound out the chicken until it is about 1/2" thick. Sprinkle a scant three finger pinch of kosher salt on your chicken. Mound part of the mixture on your chicken breast and roll tightly in saran wrap, leaving about 3" on each end that you will tie off with kitchen twine.

Place your chicken rolls into a pot, and just cover with water. Place a plate on top to weight the chicken down, or they will float to the top and not cook through. Bring your water to a simmer, and let the chicken cook for about 30 minutes.

Once your time is up, remove the chicken and let it cool for a few minutes. During this time I made a quick lemon vinaigrette, and tossed some arugula in it, but you really do anything... Or nothing underneath it. I made a bed of the arugula on a platter, and then sliced the chicken rolls on a bias, arranging them on the salad. This could be a nice luncheon dish... Serve and enjoy!

Mid-Century Modern thrifting finds!

I think I have mentioned previously that my husband and I have our own eBay store. Most of our things are sourced from local thrift stores. Well, we went out today and the stores were picked pretty well clean. Found a few desirable dishes, and actually was followed and harassed by some chick who wanted the dishes I planned to get!! I couldn't believe it! She actually approached me about letting her buy the dishes she wanted because she "didn't  pick them up earlier, and I've been here all day". Sorry but you snooze you lose. This is every man (or woman) for themselves! She actually followed me at a close distance and I had to go hide in the clothing section. Crazy!

Anyway, in the first store I found this great vintage American brass lamp base. You could pay a pretty penny for this lamp at, say, Restoration Hardware. It could also double as a weapon in a pinch I suspect... It's that heavy.

On a whim I decided to cruise through the other nearby thrift store, despite it getting late. I am so glad I did. I always make the rounds of the furniture first... Usually looking for vintage Louis-style dining chairs. Usually there is nothing and it is totally crap... 80's sofas, and lots of particle board. Today, however, the angels were smiling down on me because I found this GREAT mid-century modern armchair. It has a swiv-lon base, so it rocks and swivels, it is good and solid, and in pretty decent condition, considering its age. It is SO. COMFORTABLE. Definitely needs a little love, and at some point I hope to have it reupholstered. And it was a STEAL. It definitely has a Milo Baughman feel to it. Unfortunately there are no visible markings on it, so if anyone has any comments on who actually made it, I'd appreciate it. I already spent quite a bit of time searching combinations of descriptive terms, to no avail.

I actually walked away from it at first but immediately circled back for it. Can you believe it? What was I thinking?? Well it is mine now.

2013 Goals

Well, it is officially 2013, and it seems only fitting that I should post my goals for the coming year.

Recently I have come to realize what is really important to me, and so my 2013 goals will build on that.

For Wipocalypse purposes, I want to work on:
1. TW's Noah's Ark (wip)
2. TW's 12 Days (new start)
3. TW' Paisley Corner(wip)
4. MLI's Firefly Fairies (new start)
5. Tony Minieri's Star For A New Millennium (wip)
6. Long Dog's Plight Of Fancy (wip)
7. MLI's Celtic Banner (wip)
8. Papillon Creations' Around The World (wip)
9. Papillon Creations' The Castle Garden (wip)
10. TW's Miniature Spring Sampler (new start)

These are things that I commit to work on to some degree... Not sure how far I will get on any of then, but it is all in fun. And such discipline! Only three are new starts!

For cooking, I have really wanted to refine my cooking technique, and get seriously better. I have always thought that I would go to cooking school. I am not sure what I would ever do with it if I went, not to mention that I don't have the time or money. I love to entertain, whether for company, or even just to set a lovely table/have a restaurant experience at home...and cooking/baking is meditative for me. That being said I have always been an exceptional self study, never settling for less than perfection. More or less I want to implement repetition of the best technique so that I can be better than I am. I got some great technique books ( Ruhlman's 20, Jacques Pepin's New Complete Techniques) for Christmas, which will be what I use primarily this next year. I plan to document as I go along on this blog.

Speaking of this blog, I've never really taken it too seriously, but wipocalypse has taught me that I can do this regularly. I fulfilled that goal for a whole year!!!  I hope to build this within the coming year.

My hubby and I also sell on eBay and we really want to build that up this year, and we will see what happens with that.

I have a few needlework patterns floating around in my head and I want to formalize them in pattern form as well.

Astrologically it is a great year for creating, and I want to create for myself this year... Holding my own destiny and forward progress in my hands. It's time.

Dusk through the canyon

December Wipocalypse Update, and a look back.

Well, it is finally here! I actually completed a full year of the wipocalypse. I can't believe that a full year has passed... I still can remember starting this a year ago. And! I got quite a bit accomplished when you look back. First, you can see below my latest progress on Noah's Ark (Teresa Wentzler).

 

As for my year of Wipocalypse, here are the goals that I set out for myself in January, and  their progress:

~Finish Stargazer (just have to finish the beading) I finished this here

~Continue on Plight of Fancy (Long Dog Samplers) My latest progress on this is here. It's pretty bulky, but I just unwrapped a FANTASTIC Lowery Stand from my parents this morning, so in the New Year I plan to throw this onto some stretchers and finish it that way. Should be way less cumbersome and far more enjoyable!!

~Continue work on Angel of the Morning, and if possible finish it (MLI) I did finish this here. It's gorgeous, and everything I hoped it would be.

~Continue work Fairy Moon (Mirabilia). Nope. I think I did put in a few stitches on this, but promptly lost my taste for it again. 

~Continue work on How Does Your Garden Grow (Papillon Creations) This was the first piece I finished in 2012, and you can see it here.

 

~Continue work on Castles in the Sky (Papillon Creations) I picked this up again, and realized I had grossly miscounted a large section of the piece. I am not sure where the error is, but I may scrap it and start over. I don't mind restarting it, as I wasn't keen on the colors I picked.

~Start Time Well Spent (Sampler Cove) My current progress on this can be recapped here. I haven't worked on it since July, and my interests are elsewhere at the moment. I may work on it more in 2013.

~Start Celtic Banner (MLI) Yup. I've made pretty good progress on it - I'm about 1/2 way through it. Current progress can be seen here.

 

~Start (and finish) Far Away (Shepherd's Bush). Done. It will be given as a Christmas present. This was one of my earlier finishes this year.

 

~Start (and finish) the daughter sampler that I can't think of the name of right now. Started, but not finished. I think I miscounted the fabric, and may be short on the bottom. Oopsies. I will likely need to restart this this year. At some point. I won't show current progress, all things considered, but if you want to dig back on Wipocalypse updates, it is in there.

 

~Start (and finish) some of the millenium SB ornament series for gifts from the JCS Ornie issues (my goal is to stitch the whole series over time for Christmas gifts). Nope. I am rethinking my goal on this. I don't think I will do this as gifts - I think I just want to do this for myself, so I am not sure when I will work it.

~Start the three other Miniature Season Samplers (all TW. Well, I started and completed one more, so there are only two left. Winter was my last finish for the year, and you can see it here. 

Now, time to think about the new starts and progressions for 2013!!

TW's Miniature Winter Sampler - Happy Dance!

I finished it! Isn't it lovely? I have now completed 2/4 seasons, and ironically the Miniature Autumn Sampler was my last finish of 2011, just as Winter is my last finish of 2012. I am eager to start the next one... I think I will work on Spring next.


For now, I guess I will resume work on Noah's Ark (also a TW), so look for some update pictures there!

November Wipocalypse Update

Well, I didn't completely keep my promises from last month. I did complete the two most recent sections of the Papillon Mystery Sampler. Below is the most recent installment.





This is the mystery sampler to date:

Also, I made substantial progress on TW's Miniature Winter Sampler (below). As you can see, I have only a little left to do on this before it is finished!! That tableau with the skaters? That is all 1 over 1.

The pictures are a little washed out, so you can't see how fabulous this is with all the beading and metallics. Hopefully I will have a better picture next month, but it was rather gusty and cold outside so I couldn't take my pictures out there to get that great daylight.

NaBloPoMo - Things I love about New York Part 3... Ben's Delicatessen

I love Ben's. Ben's is a traditional kosher deli in NY, and is now in its 40th year. Everything they make there is amazing! I'll usually get one of their traditional deli sandwiches, or their two "Specials" grilled. Their matzoh balls are large enough to have eaten Manhattan. Your mouth sings a happy song at Ben's!

When you are first seated, they place a basket of challah and rye bread on the table, as well as a bowl of their famous pickles. And OH MY GOODNESS. Their pickles are amazing. My favorite are the garlic sour pickles, which are so hard to find anywhere out of the tri-state area. (Incidentally, at my local whole foods (not to be confused with Whole Foods) market they do sell "Bubbies" which are a good substitute.

I remember that, when I was little, whenever my mom and Gram wanted to go to Filene's Basement, we would go to the Ben's in Carle Place. Then as I got older, we discovered that there was a Ben's in Bayside. I think that almost every time I came home from college at Thanksgiving, the whole family would go there for dinner my first night back. Lots of happy memories, and lots of fantastic food!

As a side note, there was a Chinese Restaurant next door that we used to go to sometimes. As fast as you could drink even *part* of your water, the bus boy would come and re-fill your water. My brother and I would make a game out of who could get them to race back to the table with the water pitcher faster. Ha! Very funny, at least to us.