Is It Over Yet?

Yes, Easter is over.  Passover too.  And soon enough the week will be done.  Stick a fork in me, because I am definitely done.

We always try to get through the beginning of April/Easter without any major calamities. We've had babies born at our wedding, our baby nearly arriving 9 weeks early, that baby then being hospitalized, asthma attacks, and various minor things like cars lighting on fire at this time of year.  A few minor hiccups last week, but we were doing great and no hospital visits in sight.  Then, on Monday morning I walked into a door.  And broke my nose.

Thankfully it is no big deal and other than some swelling I don't look too beat up.  There was no emergency room visit, so that's progress.  

By the time 5 o'clock rolls around my face is throbbing and I just can't deal with making dinner. Today I attempted to deal with my overflowing fridge and get something together.  The most I could muster was dealing with the leftover dyed eggs.  Most of them were cracked from the manhandling The Monster gave them.  And there were a lot!  We could have been eating egg salad sandwiches all week.  Instead I thought we could indulge on one of Hubby's favourites: deviled eggs.

Truth be told, Hubby loves himself a boiled egg, no matter what form it comes in.  Dippy eggs with toast points.  A half dozen hard boiled eggs as a post-hockey snack - yes, I said 6 eggs as a snack.  And even the traditional potluck deviled egg with its sprinkling of unnecessary paprika. The most requested form however, is the curried deviled egg.   And yes, we could eat these for dinner.  Okay, we might make a salad to round out the meal.  Maybe.

I make these for every barbeque we have.  I made them for my brother- and sister-in-law's wedding.  And my other brother-in-law asks for these almost more than he asks for pie.

For every iteration on the deviled egg theme there will be lovers and haters.  My brother, for example, makes wasabi deviled eggs.  I'm not that much of a fan.  And I could take or leave the traditional variety too.  But add some mango chutney and curry powder and you will see me hoovering a plate faster than anyone could sprinkle paprika.  Maybe you'll hate these, but then I would think there is something wrong with you.  And if deviled eggs aren't your thing, add a touch more mayo, chop up the whites, and make an egg salad sandwich.

Curried Deviled Eggs

Makes 12 servings

6 hard boiled eggs, sliced in half lengthwise

2 TBSP mayonnaise

1 TBSP mango chutney

1 tsp curry powder

Salt and Pepper

1.  Scoop out the yolks and place in a bowl.  Set aside the whites.

2.  Mash the yolks together with the mayonnaise, chutney, and curry powder.  Season to taste.

3. Spoon the yolk mixture back into the egg whites.  Garnish with a slice of mango.

Improv Sampler - Free-Piecing

Welcome to free piecing.  This technique is definitely about the process.  And sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.  In other words, don't look too closely at that 'sun' block in the photo.

It does help to plan when you are doing free piecing, or at least have an idea of the general shape you want to finish with - a house, a flower, a star.  Quite often I actually make a sketch if my brain is baby addled and I can't figure out how the pieces should go together.  (I should share my sketches one day - if a quilt block could be a stick figure then I am an expert at drawing that!)

Free piecing in this context is about the process of cutting and piecing.  There are no templates and often no rulers when cutting.  Sewing is just one piece to the next.  You often start from the inside of the block and work out.  You have the be creative and improvise along the way.  For example, in the house block above I didn't cut a piece long enough to encompass the angle of the roof.  That means the roof doesn't overhang the house that much and the roof is smaller than intended.  Oh well.  I compensated by adding another strip of the background fabric to make the block big enough.  Problem solved.

This technique also works well in combination with freely cut applique pieces, like this artist.

Nary an Easter Bunny In Sight

The world is overrun with chocolate this week.  Bunnies and eggs and little fake nests filled with plastic clippings.  I, myself, am a sucker for Mini-Eggs.  But I do loathe the fake chocolate that sometimes creeps its way in to our house by well-meaning family.  Today we tasted chocolate in an entirely different league than even the best locally made bunny.

I took the girls on a date this morning.  We used to call them adventures, but The Monster has been insistent about going on dates since Mama and Daddy have found a regular babysitter and a little free time. 

"I'm a big girl, I can go on dates."  It's enough to put fear in to the heart of any father of daughters.  And she isn't even three.

Alas, I digress.  So our adventure... er, date, was to Choklat, here in town.  This is historically the worst week of the year for our family (but that would be a true digression to mention why). This year was milder, but really no exception to historical rule.  I figured some emotional eating would be good for all of us.
And after eating two of these between the three of us (yup, Smilosaurus had her share), plus a brownie, we were all feeling good.  That is, until we got a flat tire and the nanny we'd hoped to hire turned us down.  That's why I'm glad that I have some fresh truffles, some ridiculously expensive dark chocolate bars, and perhaps another couple of cupcakes hiding in the kitchen.

Choklat, owned and operated by jack of all trades Brad Churchill, is one of only two chocolatiers in Canada that actually makes their own chocolate.  From the bean.  Brad imports the raw beans in giant burlap sacks.  If you peak through the doors at the back of the kitchen you can see them piled there, waiting to be roasted on site.  The smell of chocolate in multiple forms is worth the visit itself.  Then you see the menu.

Unlike any other chocolate shop, there isn't a storefront display of chocolates waiting to tempt you.  There might be some chocolate dipped strawberries, the rich cupcakes, or some other baked goods, but there are no trays of chocolates distinguished by their swirls and gold dust. Pick up the diner style menu and choose your evil.  Key lime truffle filling covered in dark chocolate and rolled in coconut?  Espresso truffles with dark chocolate and rolled in cocoa nibs (those are for my mum-in-law visiting this weekend).  Then buy a cupcake iced with whipped chocolate to watch Brad and his staff make your truffles right then and there.  The only thing missing was a glass of cold milk.

When the new girl was struggling to make the truffles I ordered look right Brad told her to start over.  Heck no, I said, I don't care what they look like!  But he wouldn't have it and said the rejects would be kept for samples.  I should have pushed for an extra sample right then and there.

One more mention has to be made of the cupcakes.  At all the fancy, trendy cupcakes shops in nearly every major North American city the vast majority of cupcakes are okay cakes designed to carry a frivolous amount of frosting.  And that frosting is almost always a buttercream piped in a pastel tower of sweetness.  When the mood hits they can be just right.  But when you want a real chocolate cupcake go to Choklat.  I must admit that the cake part isn't perfect, it is a little dry.  The frosting however is a simple whipped dark chocolate with a touch of cream and icing sugar.  Not cloying, not bitter, and just a little bit creamy.  Together with the cupcake it is perfection.  The kind of perfection that makes you want another and you know you won't get sick or need a trip to the dentist.  The kind of perfection that erases a crappy week.  The kind of perfection that caps a perfect date. 

Improv Sampler - Chopsticks

There really is more to improvisational quilting that wonky log cabins.  Of course, those are good too.  But this technique, which I call chopsticks, is the first step in some fun designs.

Start with a square that is roughly the size you want your finished block to be.  Or just start with a square in any size and see what happens.  Cut some strips of other fabrics, slightly longer than your square.

Slice your square on any angle - through the middle, close to the side, or even lop off a corner. Don't throw away either piece.  It is best to keep the pieces set-up as if you just cut them so you can remember how it all goes back together.

Pick up the piece on the left side and sew one of your strips to it, right sides together.  Open and press.

Pick up the remaining piece of your square and sew it to the edge of the strip, as if you were sewing the original square back together (but with the strip in between).  Open and press.

You can sew one strip or many.  The process is the same every time.  Start with the square, slice, re-sew, and press.  Your strips can be parallel, on an skewed angle, or even perpendicular, like this quilt.

Important tips for this technique:

- Don't start with a square that is exactly the finished size you want because you will lose bits as you re-sew.  Start larger and trim down.

- Try not to have strips less than 3/4 inch on the edges.

- Strongly contrasting fabrics work best, but you could get a subtle design with fabrics close in value or colour.