Happy Halloween!

It's the morning of day two and we are ready to go. We want to thank everyone for bidding on the rug and quilt for Semper Fi. Vicki is the winner and we will get it out to you when we return. Thanks Vicki! For everyone else who bid....... please send me your address here and you will receive something special from Houston. Thanks again everyone.

Polly and Laurie

Houston!

Well, we are here and having a grand time. We are sorry for the delay in posting, but we have a little glitch. Polly's laptop got packed in the wrong car and I forgot to pack the cord to download photos. I guess we should be happy that we packed clothes. The 4am drive to the airport sort of fogged our brains. I've taken lots of pictures, but you won't be able to see them until Tuesday when we get home. In the meantime, make sure to visit all the other bloggers posting from market. Click on the icon over to the left - radio KPKM.

I have seen the famous PamKittyMorning today along with Happy Zombie and lot of others. Many of you even mentioned this little bloggy thing when you stopped by our booth. Thanks!

We just got back from dinner with Me and My Sister (Barb & Mary) and Jan Patek, among others, at the Moda party at Minute Maid Stadium. We keep the best company! The Fat Quarter Shop stopped by and took pictures, so make sure to check the Jolly Jabber Blog too. More tomorrow.

Laurie

Lights! Camera! Action!!!!

Okay, okay, okay! Are you sitting down? Guess what?? I got an amazing email today. Here is part of it.

..."Just thought you might not know that your fabric was in a major motion picture! I went to see Secretariat yesterday and his groom had a shirt on made from Prairie Paisley! It showed up in at least 15 shots!!!!!"

Wha....???? Sure enough. I found the trailer online (haven't seen the movie yet- but it is first on my list when we get back from Houston).



At approximately 1:12 into the trailer, the shirt the groom is wearing is unmistakably Prairie Paisley. Color us very, very flattered.

Okay, enough of this silliness, on to packing for Houston. Thanks everyone for bidding on the items in the previous post. Remember that the auction is open until Friday night.

Polly and Laurie

Going, Going, Gone!

Polly and I plan to be gone very soon - to Houston. There are a few last minute errands and bags to pack, but the majority of the work is done. We are relaxed and grateful. So grateful, that we would like to do a little something for Polly's favorite charity - Semper Fi Fund - an organization dedicated to serving wounded Marines and their families.

Let's have an auction! Bid on the quilt and rug posted here by placing your bid in your comments. The high bid as of Friday October 29th at 9pm Central time will be sent the quilt or rug. Just post your bid in the comment and if you are the winner, you will need to pay by check - with the check made out to Semper Fi Fund. Your winning bid will be tax deductible. Please note in your comment which item you are bidding on.

Okay, a little info on the goods.....
This charming watering can and flag rug is designed and hooked by Polly. It measures 17" x 29". It is 100% recycled and hand dyed wool.

This is a wool quilt made by me.
It measures 43" x 47" and is also made of 100% recycled and hand dyed wool. It is hand appliqued and hand quilted. The edge is comprised of cotton prairie points running along all four sides. The batting and backing is cotton.
That's it. After the auction ends we will contact the winner. And.... everyone who bids will be entered in a drawing for a gift from the 2010 International Quilt Market. And, after the auction we might be posting news and photos from Houston. Thank you Everyone!

Laurie

Ducks In A Row

Yes, we are trying to get all our ducks in a row. It is one week away from International Quilt Market in Houston. You know, that place where we all flock to to see what's new in quilting and to see old friends and make new ones.... and to take pictures on our phones to send back to you all reading this. Our new patterns arrived from the printer yesterday and today will be spent getting out all of our pending shipments. This is the new stuff.You can find them here. Shop owners, you can email me here too and I'll let you know the requirements for wholesale orders. Of course, they will be available from your Moda salesperson too.

Speaking of Moda...... do you know they have a new blog? Moda...The Cutting Table.

What else??? Remember to go to PKM's blog next week and get all the links to all of us blogger types posting from Houston. Yes, thanks to PKM, next week is the busiest blog week of the year.

It's getting all Halloweeny here. The leaves are falling and the morning walks are aided with jackets and sweaters. A lovely time of year. Well, except for yesterday morning. It was spooky. Gibby and I were walking in the sunshine and passing by the city's water treatment plant when we heard something like, well... a baby crying. But not a human baby. It was this little fellow looking down on us. Yikes. We skedaddled.
Keep it Scary, and keep coming back. Look for a Minick and Simpson give-away soon.

Laurie

Save The Date!

We are delighted to announce a workshop/seminar that will happen next spring. Things are progressing quickly, but registration isn't open until January 2nd 2011. So, mark both dates in your 2011 calendar. On January 2nd, email Jackie Compton at jcompton@torchlake.com to register and mark off May 6, 7, and 8 for your glorious weekend on Mackinac Island and the impossible to describe, unless you have been there - Grand Hotel.

Hope to see you there!

Laurie

Polly's Pics

Polly met a photographer in Nantucket when she was there this summer. Maria does phenomenal work and she took these shots of Polly and her rugs at Nantucket Country.
Hop on over to her website and see her other subjects - especially the pet portraits. Annie and Gibby are lobbying now for a sitting.

If you know Polly, you probably think I had to arm wrestle her to get permission to post a photo of her. Polly is very happy with this photo and I think it's the best picture taken of her in, well...... forever. A picture that actually does her justice. I know how she feels. We have blogged about our photo phobia before. The only photo of myself that I have liked - ever - is the little one down at the left of this blog. It will be a tough one to top.

Well done, Maria.

Laurie

The Road To Hell is Paved With Caramel Corn

It started innocently enough. Yesterday afternoon the doorbell rang. It was some Cub Scouts selling popcorn. A big tin of unpopped popcorn. Bill was a good citizen and purchased the big tin of unpopped corn. It is a lifetime supply. We like popcorn, but don't have it very often. Maybe 2-3 times a year. Things would have to change. Then I remembered Thursday night's episode of On The Road With Austin and Santino. Those sweet and cuddly, traveling dress designers. Santino told of his passion for caramel corn. Yes! That's the ticket. I found this easy recipe. Oh, it's a winner! Pecans and cashews instead of pedestrian peanuts. This will make all of your trick or treaters very happy.

Laurie

The Week That Was

It's been too long since the last post. Nothing really exciting going on here, just plugging away at work to be done. You want to see? This was my very first attempt at attaching one of those scary looking foots onto my sewing machine. This is a table cloth, in progress...
That "foot" thing somehow sews on binding. I KNOW! Who knew? That little tablecloth took about 9 hours to finish. I am a self taught sewer, hence my teacher is totally incompetent.... so the start and stopping of this binding is not pretty.

What else is new? Bill and I went to a hockey game. Michigan won, and again - it wasn't pretty.
You know what else WAS pretty.... the weather this week. Fall weather at it's absolute best. Gibby and Clara are taking advantage of the last few sunny days.
My weekend is planned with the Farmer's Market, cooking, watching football, and sewing on these bindings. I won't be using that foot thingy, I will do it the usual quilty way.

Oh, and all you Project Runway fans.... have you all been salivating waiting for the big scandal they have been promoting for weeks....

It was a little less dramatic that the build-up, wasn't it. "Hey, Poison Ivy, don't let the door hit you on your way out". Geesh. Ivy is not nice.

Laurie

P.S. It seems the hockey game was even uglier than I thought. Bill and I left in the 3rd period with Michigan ahead 4 goals to 1. Michigan lost. Yikes.

La Playa Kits Are Back!

Hey, everyone. I had a little mishap when I sent out a mass email. You know, the email thingy you can sign up on at the website...... Well, the links didn't work and graphics that I didn't want on it - appeared. I apologize to everyone who got the goofy email. Mea Culpa.

So, what it was supposed to say, was that we have La Playa kits back in stock. Or they will be when the background fabric lands on my porch in a day or so. I am currently cutting all the reds, blues, and tans that are needed. The kit includes all the fabric for the top and binding, the pattern, and it is packed in our Nantucket sand pail. You can see the kit here. The $179.00 price includes the shipping - if you live in the contiguous U.S. If you lives overseas, email me here and I can quote you that too. Supplies are limited, of course. I only expect to get about a dozen kits out of the yardage that is arriving.

Thanks

Laurie

Never Too Late For Lemon Bread Pudding

For all of you expecting a recipe on yesterday's Ruler Blog Hop, well here it is - one day late.
(If you are commenting for the Ruler Give-away.... please comment on the post below to qualify)

I sort of thought the recipe was a suggestion and not a requirement. We HAVE recipes. I just didn't want to be accused of being verbose in yesterday's post. Too well fed, yes, but not verbose. But I digress.....

This has become a Simpson Family Favorite. Simpson's get to choose the menu on their birthday, and more often than not, this is the dessert. I was never a fan of bread pudding until this recipe came along. I got this from a Chef Camp I attended about 15 years ago. The chef camp was put on by a distinguished restaurateur in a fabulous place in Northern Michigan. Just outside Charlevoix, by coincidence. The restaurant was called Tapawingo, and sadly it doesn't exist anymore. It was a 4 star restaurant and the chef won a James Beard Award. We had the best time. Four days of mincing, sauteing, chiffonade-ing, and eating. He ran the camp in the off season of late winter and early spring to keep his staff on the payroll. On the last day we all made a dish to serve at our buffet style last feast. He made this. It is heavenly.

Lemon Bread Pudding

Lemon Curd:

3 egg yolks

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

6 tbls. Granulated sugar

2 tbls. unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

In a small, heavy bottomed saucepan, combine egg yolks, lemon juice and sugar. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, for 7 minutes, or until mixture coats the back of a spoon. DO NOT BOIL. Remove mixture from heat and add butter and zest. Set aside. If curd is not going to be used right away, lay a piece of plastic film on surface to keep a skin from forming.

For The Pudding:

¼ cup brown sugar

8 cups brioche or challah cut in 1 inch cubes

½ cup dried cherries

1 ½ cups milk

1 ½ cups heavy cream

1 tbls. Lemon zest

3 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

1 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of a pyrex loaf pan. Sprinkle bottom with brown sugar and set aside.

Toast bread cubes on a sheet pan for 10-15 minutes, or until golden. Allow cubes to cool, and then combine with dried cherries in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

Make a custard by heating milk, heavy cream and lemon zest to almost boiling in a medium saucepan over medium heat. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, whole eggs and sugar. Slowly add heated milk-cream mixture and whisk until combined. Pour warm custard over bread cubes and cherries and let mixture rest 5-10 minutes until bread cubes absorb custard. Ladle half of bread custard mixture into prepared loaf pan. Spoon lemon curd, spreading to even distribution, and top with remaining bread-custard mixture.

Prepare a water bath by placing loaf pan in a larger baking pan filled with 2 inches of hot water. Bake pudding for 60 minutes, or until a thin bladed knife inserted into the middle of dish comes out clean. Remove loaf pan from water bath and cool to room temperature. Flip pudding onto platter and slice. Refrigerate remaining bread pudding.

Bon Appetit

Laurie