Grilled Pizza, Red Velvet Cake, Scrappy Half-Squares, etc.

The other night . . .

Jeff and I were invited to our friends, Toby and Glen Preston’s, house for dinner.    It was remarkable!

Toby and Glen made GRILLED pizzas!  Topped with some of the most amazing fresh gourmet toppings!   Toby even made her pizza dough from scratch!

After you make the pizza dough, you slap it onto a hot grill and it cooks that way!    Next, you add all of your toppings and put the pizza back onto the grill until the cheeses melt and the toppings are warmed up again.  It was out of this world!

So Toby tells me that the recipes are in this book.  So I headed off to Amazon and bought a copy — for $1.86!   Can you imagine?   I cannot wait to get my copy.  Click here to get yours (I just saw a used copy listed for .83-CENTS).   Jeff thinks these pizzas will be a perfect luncheon dish for when my sewing group comes to Pickle Road again!

We had delicious red wine and a very unique iced tea that Toby’s (faux) DIL, Vanessa, got for her.  It had an amazingly sweet flowery taste but not a flowery smell. Damnit, I can’t remember what kind it was now.  Toby?  Help a brother out here!  It wasn’t Jasmine. I know! I REMEMBER NOW!  It’s Lichee Tea from China!  LICHEE is for ME!

Here’s Jeff (first one at the table) with Toby.

The next picture is the RED VELVET CAKE (on my Dollar Store silver tray)  with cream cheese icing that Jeff baked por la occasion.  It was yummy!

Meet Havana Preston.  She loved her some Jeff Turner!   I really have to get a Maine Coon (like Jodie Davis’ cat, Manny – I heart Manny).

THE RED VELVET CAKE RECIPE I USE . . .

– 2 1/2 cups flour – 1 1/2 cups sugar – 1 teaspoon salt – 1 teaspoon baking soda – 2 tablespoons cocoa powder – 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil – 1 cup buttermilk – 2 eggs – large, at room temperature – 2 tablespoons red food coloring – 1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar – 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract FROSTING: – 16 ounces cream cheese – at room temperature – 1 cup unsalted butter – softened – 4 cups powdered sugar – 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla. In a different bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder. Using a mixer, slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
• Spray each cake pan with the non-stick cooking spray and dust each with flour. Divide the batter evenly between the three pans.
• Place in the oven with room between each pan for the heat to circulate for 20-25 minutes. The cake is done when it begins to pull away from the edges of the pan. Allow cakes to cool for 5 minutes on cooking racks, then invert them onto the racks to remove them from the pan. Allow to cool completely.
• For the frosting, cream together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla for 2 minutes in a mixer or until light and fluffy. Place one cake on a cake platter and frost the top with 1/4″ of frosting, place the second cake, top side down on top of the first and add 1/4″ of frosting. Top with the last cake, top side up and frost the top and sides. Store covered.

TOBY’S SHOP, KINDRED QUILTS

HERE’S WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR  AT TOBY’S SHOP —

SOUNDS LIKE FUN (and an idiot can do it)

FRIENDSHIP TRIANGLES

If you are a quilter who loves scrap quilts, you can not pass up this program from Kindred Quilts!

Toby and her team has just debuted Friendship Triangles that are simply a mix of blue and light half-square triangles. Each package you purchase from Kindred will have two fabrics – one blue and one light – as well as one sheet of Triangle Paper, enough to make 24 half-square triangles.

The kits will be available for the month of April.  Once we finish making the triangle blocks, we just have to return them anytime during April and May. Once they have collected the finished half-square triangles, the staff will mix them all up and send them back to you! This means you get back a bunch of different half-square triangles!  LIKE A FABRIC SWAP!   Sound fun? I think it sounds great!

For $2.50 per set, purchase as many as you want (I bought 4 for a very small quilt). The more you make the more you get back! Return them sewn, cut apart, papers removed and with your name on the bag. Toby and her staff  will replace yours with the same amount only with variety of prints.

The book, “Friendship Triangles”  (published by Landauer Corporation in 2009) by my  buddy, Edyta Sitar, is the source for this project. Although you are not required to purchase the book, it is highly recommended by the shop for it’s excellent ideas on how to use your finished blocks. You can choose any of the quilts in the book or maybe you have your own ideas. Just be sure to pick up enough packages for your chosen quilt.

Don’t have a quilt in mind? That’s OK too. You’ll have them for when you’re ready!

Remember, the triangles kits will be available for the entire month of April. Send back your completed units to Kindred Quilts by the end of May, 2010 and they will redistribute the completed half-square units in June.

Please use the Triangle Papers included. It is important for the sake of continuity.  To insure the quality of the fabrics, please use only the fabrics provided.

For Internet Orders, please make sure you send your triangles back in time!!

Click here to get to the Kindred Quilts web site.

Or give them a call at (908) 730-8896

HERE ARE SOME SAMPLES . . .

I’m doing the one in the bottom left corner and even bought the border fabric (that’s how I knew I needed 5 packages)

THE 5 KITS  I BOUGHT. . .

OF COURSE I didn’t choose randomly (as I should have and was supposed to) because I wanted to make a couple of triangle sheets using my own Northcott fabric designs!  Maybe you’ll get lucky and get some Lipinski fabric in your kit!   LOL

Here are my border fabrics!  Moda, of course . . .

HOUSE MADE FROM PLASTIC BOTTLES . . .

I found this Argentinian “house” made from plastic bottles online yesterday.  You heard that right, plastic bottles, and you can CLICK HERE to read more about it . . .

But what I found most interesting about it was, that even in the midst of the ultra-modern plastic bottle house and plastic bottle bed base, what’s on top?  Hmmm.  It looks like a  VERY TRADITIONAL pillow sham featuring a VERY TRADITIONAL quilt block.    Not even ecology and progress will break us down, quilters!  We are everywhere!

In the meantime . . .

I found another (and bought the darling) vintage and stained tablecloth with hand embroidery to possibly cut up for my Alliance for American Quilts NEW FROM OLD project (you can read more about that on my blog entry from a few days ago) or just go to the Alliance web site by clicking HERE.

Meet my venomous rooster . . .

This is the sucker who attacked me from behind the other day and almost ripped off my leg!

See what I mean?