Roast Chicken!

You should be super jealous right now.

  This was the first chicken that I've ever roasted.  And it was A.W.E.some!  We went to the Grandin Village Community Market today.  It was the first day that they had fresh, local, and hormone free chicken!  David and I were up at about 7:30 (Why?!) and decided to walk down with the puppy dog and grab one.  It was more expensive than at the K-roger but after eating it we feel like it was totally worth it!

I didn't take any process pictures because Thomas Keller's recipe is all over the internets.   I cooked it over zucchini, squash, red onion, and mushrooms.  The veggies were mushy and flavorful (just the way David likes them!). 

The veggies were from the Grandin Co-op so, except for the Jiffy Corn bread, it was all local!  The skin of the chicken was crispy and awesome.  I can't wait to have chicken sandwiches and chicken salad!  We have tons of food left over and will have lunch until we leave on Thursday for Ohio!

Biscuits!

David has been begging for biscuits for weeks. 

 Finally I broke down and made him some while he was mowing the grass this morning.  Yeah, it's April 10th and we're already mowing.  Thanks Mother Nature! 

I used Alton Brown's recipe for Southern Buttermilk Biscuts.  As usual his directions were super clear.  David said that he could taste the baking powder so I'll use a little less next time.  When I asked what else he changed he of course said, "More butter!".  I really liked them and they were only a little more difficult to make than drop biscuits. 

Because today is an almost perfecto Spring day we had an impromptu picnic on the front walkway.  We had fresh tomatoes, eggs over easy, canadian bacon, homemade biscuts, and mimosas.  Morning booze + fresh bread = awesome way to start Saturday!

After we ate I stretched out on the grass to bask in the sun.  This is what David would look like if an ant took his picture.

Crafty Weekend

We had a very crafty weekend! While Mike was downstairs cutting glass I was working hard.

I got my quilt kit from Quilts for Kids on Friday.  They give you everything that you need but batting and thread. When you are finished with the quilt you send it back to them and they deliver it to a child that is in the hospital.  On the website they have a video of some deliveries and the kids were so cute.  It's hard to believe that something so easy for me to make can bring that much happiness to someone. I think it's really awesome that  "Dalmatian Jubilation" will be on the way to cheer up a needy kid soon!

 

This is the front of the quilt. It's a four patch with focus squares of Dalmatians.  My favorite part of the whole quilt is the fire hydrant border. 

 All of these fabrics were going to be sent to the landfill until Quilts for Kids rescued them.  I have a hard time picking out fabric at the store! I wish I had enough skill to pick them out of fabric that's destined for the trash. Totally impressed with the kit.

I also made this sign.  The parentals bought us a Cricut and it's way fun! The font is what I think makes the sign.  I'm looking around the house for a place to hang it that isn't too obnoxious. 

I guess I need a man cave!

 

 Red Sox baseball starts in just a couple of days! They are in Florida for spring training and this week is the start of the games.  I am so excited to be able to watch baseball on TV! Tonight I noticed that a local bar gets NESN and I know exactly where I'll be when the Red Sox aren't on TV at my house!

  

The socks turned out awesome! I've still got to perfect the process but I think that I'll be able to get it pretty quickly.  

Above is my perpetual work in progress.  The ultimate goal is to have a piece of every quilt I make added to this Cathedral Window quilt.  The process is tedious but surprisingly fun.  I have a couple of fabrics to add (the Christmas Quilt and the baby Eye Spy Quilt) before I'm caught all the way up. It's beautiful already.  I can't wait until it's a visual history of all of my quilting.  

Hopefully next weekend will be super crafty as well!

Star City Doughnuts

Mike, Jodie, and I made PW's Doughnuts on Saturday.  

We made them wrong.  The dough should have rested for a whole night (not four hours) and then it rested too long and deflated before frying.  No worries though...they were still delicious!

Jodie made a raspberry and a chocolate dipping sauce.  The still warm glazed doughnuts with the sauce was too good.  

 

When we open our restaurant we're going going to serve glazed Star City Doughnuts as dessert.  We were imaging the different dipping possibilities.  The two we made, peanut butter, strawberry, served with vanilla ice cream, or blueberry sauce. We could even do a Star City Doughnut Hamburger!

These doughnuts are going to be made again soon! They were super a.w.e.some made incorrectly so I can't wait to make them the right way.  They'll probably be out of this world delicious!

Eye Spy

My baby cousin just had a baby! I finished this quilt (only 4 days late!) during Snowed in Weekend.  I am so smitten with the Moda fabric which is Love U.  David said it was too much cute and said that in 10 years we have to have a boy!

This is the bag that I made to ship the quilt in.  I put 3 pockets on it so hopefully Mama will be able to use it.

This is the whole quilt! I used the panel from Love U and one charm pack.  There is a light pink binding (which is still my least favorite part of quilting!)

On the left is the back of the quilt and the right is the front.  In all of the letter panels I free motion traced a shape.  The cupcake is by far my favorite!

 

I had to include a picture of these owls! Too Cute!

 

The back.  Orange is my favorite color so I included a lot of it.  

Hopefully she is able to use it with the baby.  It'd be really great to play "I spy" with it when she is a little older.  You can use the letters, the pictures, and the border to point things out.  It's a little big for a newborn but it'll grow with her. 

Inspired

Mike blogged his first blog so I thought we should update here!

We've been cooking a ton, playing video games, and quilting! 

Sorry for the poor picture quality.  The weather hasn't been quite warm enough to venture into the cold without these quilts wrapped around us!

I finished two quilts around Christmas time. 

Here is David's.  It's stressful working on a quilt for someone else! I'm glad to have it done and he loves it. 

 

I think next time I do a 9 patch design I'll do it off of a soduku game. That way nothing will repeat! 

 

  This is my Christmas Quilt. 

It's small but juuust big enough for me to cuddle under! I used the raw edge tutorial over at Cluck Cluck Sew and then worked on an overall design that I liked. Instead of quilting it I tied it. The binding on this one is almost perfect! Five quilts in and I'm getting better each time!

I'm holding off on starting a new quilt even though I'm dying to do one!

The Alaskan Rockfish

Tonight for dinner we tried something new. My parents went to Alaska on a vacation for their anniversary. When they came back they had pounds and pounds of fish. I was lucky enough to have rockfish, salmon, and tuna brought to us when they came to visit Roanoke. I decided tonight that it was time to cook a fish that I had never heard of.  I found this online at Cooks.com and it sounded pretty darn good.

1 1/2 lbs. Rockfish fillets
1/2 c. slivered almonds
1/4 c. minced parsley (optional)
1/4 c. melted butter
2 tbsp. lemon or lime juice
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Place fish fillets in shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with almonds and parsley (optional). Combine butter and lemon or lime juice; pour over fish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven 10 minutes, uncovered, until fish flakes easily with a fork, about 10 minutes. Serves 4-6.

Well, the fish took more than the 10 minutes thatI estimated. I thought it needed more salt. But you know what? I think most things need more salt. All in all it was pretty good! The almonds stole the show. I thought they were wonderful. I don't know if I would choose Rockfish of over fish like salmon, tuna, or talapia.

As sides we made two things. First, Sauteed Spinach with lemon butter and a dash of balsamic vinegar. I wish I would have thought about adding some garlic cause that would have made it a lot better.

Second, baked sweet potatoes and russet potatoes sprinkled with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika. The potatoes were placed in a Pyrex and cooked at 400 for an 1 hour.

Sunday I am smoking some sort of meat in preparation for Thanksgiving. We will let you know.