Utah Quilt Fest 2012

The Utah Quilt Fest was held in St. George this year, and as usual, was a wonderful event.  I have taken pictures of some quilts in the quilt show and some quilts from 2 of the national teachers and a collection from a fabulous Utah quilter which I will post later.  For now, enjoy the fabulous quilts from the quilt show!

This is by Annie Unrein entitled "My Bed is Like a Little Boat".  It was made as a challenge quilt.  Look at the rules below.  I am so impressed with her creativity and interpretation!

A stunning variation of the New York Beauty by Kaye Evans.

Isn't this a fun quilt, with fantastic quilting by Lea Hardee.

"Bali Wedding Star" by Barbara Walsh.  Gorgeous!

"Autumn Birches" by Sue Gilgen.  Someday I'd like to learn how to do landscapes.  

Amazing work.

"Cinco de Mayo" by Lorna Toone.

A close up of the appliqué border and beautiful hand quilting.

"Primitive Sampler" by Karen Martindale, quilted by Carmen Geddes.

"Dandilions Yellow" by Kaye Evans, quilted by Sue McCarty.  A cute story was posted with this quilt.  It was inspired by her 2 young grandsons who picked bouquets for their mothers.  The oldest bearing flowers and the youngest bringing the stems.

"Halloween Baltimore" by Pat Peters.

Close up of the center block.

Love the bat border and the wonderful hand quilting.

Another quilt by Pat Peters called "Christmas Baltimore".

Closer look of one of the blocks.

Holly border and again, amazing hand quilting.

"Leap of Faith" by Judie Weiss

Close up of the 3 dimensional flowers in the flyinggeese.  Very creative!

"Daisy" by Patti VanOordt and Cory Allender

"Aunt Millie's Garden" by Cathie Purdy

Love the quilting with the yellow thread.

Close up of one of the blocks.  Great use of color!

Hope you enjoyed this look at the quit show.

Basil Broccoli-Cauliflower Salad

Want a little different vegie salad?  This is a great fresh, crisp salad with a wonderful flavor.

In a large salad bowl, mix together the mayo (I use Best Foods Real Mayonaisse - or Helamanns east of the Rockies.  I'm a food snob with certain ingredients and mayo is one of them.  No other brand tastes as good!) sugar, basil and salt.

Cut broccoli and cauliflower.  You can used the pre-cut pieces, but you will need to cut them smaller into bite size pieces.  Stir into the dressing.

If you have never used jicama before, you are in for a pleasant surprise.  It is nice and crispy with a mild flavor.  Try adding them to your veggie trays!  Pick a medium size that is firm and relatively smooth.  Cut in half.

Peeling it can be a little tricky.  Pull back an edge with a small paring knife till you can grab it, then slowly pull.  Sometimes the peel breaks.  Just grab another edge and pull.  Cut off any parts that won't peel.

 

 

                    Julienne the jicima, chop the red onion and add to the salad.

Stir well, cover and refrigerate for a few hours till well chilled.

Cook bacon till crisp.  Cut into small pieces.  Don't stir in until just before serving.

When ready to serve, stir in bacon.  Serve from the bowl, or on individual plates lines with a few leaves of lettuce.  Enjoy!
 

Broccoli Cauliflower Basil Salad

5 c bite-size broccoli florets                               1-1/3 c mayonnaise

3 c bite-size cauliflower florets                           1/4 c sugar

1/2 medium jicama, julienned                            1-1/2 tsp dried sweet basil

1/2 medium red onion, julieened                        1/2 tsp salt

8 slices bacon, crisply cooked & crumbled

In large salad bowl, mix together mayo, sugar, basil & salt.  Add vegetables.  Refrigerate several hours to blend flavors.  Just before serving, add bacon.  Serves 8-10.

White Chocolate Cream with Raspberries

Fresh raspberries are my favorite fruit and when they came on sale, I had to buy a case.  I wanted to make something delicious and creamy with the raspberries.  After looking through my recipes, I just couldn't find quite what I was looking for so I set out to combine four recipes:  White Chocolate Truffles, Bavarian Creme, Nanaimo Bars (you Canucks know what those are) and raspberry sauce.  Okay...it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  Five tries later, I think this combination finally worked.  (Yup, I had to go buy some more raspberries, especially since my husband was eating them as fast as I could rinse them.)  Thanks to my brother and his family for their taste testing and feedback.  Unfortunately, they didn't get to try the final product.  As I was taking the plate out of the frig to run over to them, the frig door hit my arm and kersplat!  It ended up all over the floor.  Sorry bro.  Aren't some days just like that?  Let me know what you think!

 White Chocolate Cream with Raspberries

18 oz raspberries (3 cups)                                          3 c whipping cream

Crust:                                                                        2 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp butter, melted                                                  2 tsp light corn syrup

1/8 c sugar                                                                2 c (12 oz pkg) white chocolate chips

2 Tbsp cocoa                                                             1/2 tsp vanilla (mexican pure is best)

3/4 c graham cracker crumbs                                    Raspberry topping:

1/2 c slivered almonds, slightly crushed                     1/2 c sugar 

1/2 c sweetened & flaked coconut                              1 Tbsp cornstarch

Cream Filling:                                                          1/4 c water

3 tsp Knox unflavored gelatin                                      2 of the 3 c of raspberries

1/4 c cold water 

Carefully rinse raspberries and lay on clean towel or paper towel to dry.  Meantime, mix sugar and cocoa together in small bowl.  Add melted butter and rest of crust ingredients.  Stir to combine and press in bottom of 8" x 8" pan.   Put in frig while making cream filling.

In small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over cold water.  Let sit while combining whipping cream, butter and corn syrup in medium saucepan over medium heat.  After butter melts, add gelatin mixture and bring to a full boil.  Remove from heat and pour in white chocolate chips.  Gently cover with cream but don't stir.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Whisk the mixture till smooth.  Whisk in vanilla.  Put in frig or ice bath until cool.  Carefully spoon over crust and refrigerate 2 - 3 hours until set. 

In small saucepan stir together sugar and cornstarch.  Add water and 2 of the 3 cups of raspberries.  Crush the raspberries and stir over medium heat until sauce thickens.  You can strain the seeds out in a fine mesh strainer if you would like.  I don't mind the seeds, so I left them.  Cool.  Place the 1 cup of fresh raspberries over the top of the set cream filling.  Carefully spoon sauce over raspberries.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Cut into pieces to serve.   Enjoy!

Garden Fresh Italian Marinara Sauce

When my brother and his family lived in Italy, their Italian neighbor taught my sister-in-law how to make real marinara sauce from scratch.  I didn't care much for marinara sauce until I tasted the real stuff!  It was not an exact recipe - the neighbor taught her to just pour olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan, add onions, etc.  and that is how my sister-in-law has made it ever since - just throwing in the amount of ingredients that look right.  With a lot of help from her, I have tried to come up with some measurements.  This recipe is very versatile and you can change some ingredients to meet your tastes.

Pour a good quality olive oil into the bottom of a heavy saucepan.  I doubled this recipe, so I used a big pot and froze the extra.  Turn heat onto medium high.  Chop onion into small pieces (I use a food processor).  When oil is hot, add onion and cook till light golden brown.  (5 to 10 minutes)  You can also add minced garlic and/or green peppers at this point.  Or you could leave out the onions and just use garlic if you want. (Garlic cooks faster than onions, so don't cook as long.) 

Add tomatoes, basil and salt.  Don't puree the tomatoes - leave them a little chunky.  You can use any tomatoes you would like, though the preferred tomato is the Roma because it has a lower water content than other tomatoes.  If you use a different kind of tomato or a combination, just let it simmer longer to reduce the water.  Bring the sauce to a simmer and turn the heat down to keep the sauce at a slow simmer for about 30 minutes or until sauce is reduced to the thickness you want.  (It will not be a paste type sauce.)  You may need to simmer for up to 2-3 hours depending on the tomatoes and how thick you like it.   Stir occasionally.  You could also add oregano if you like. 

Your house will smell so good!  Spoon over your favorite pasta or use as a dipping sauce for bread sticks or rolls.  Mmmm.....delizioso!  Enjoy!

Garden Fresh Italian Marinara Sauce

          1/3 c olive oil                                              1 Tbsp salt

          1/2 onion                                                    4-5 basil leaves, chopped

          6 c Roma tomatoes, cut in chunks

Pour oil in heavy medium size pan.  Turn heat to medium high.  Chop onion by hand or in food processor and add to oil when oil is hot.  Cook for 5-10 minutes until onions  are light golden brown.   Put tomatoes in food processor.  Pulse a few times until they are in small pieces.  Don't puree.  Pour into pan.  Add salt and chopped basil leaves.   Bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to keep at a low simmer.  Simmer, stirring occasionally,  for 30 minutes or until reduced to thickness you like.  Can add garlic and/or green pepper with/or instead of onions.  Can also add oregano if desired.  Any tomato can be used, but simmer longer to reduce the higher water content.