Another Form of Improvisation

Just in case it wasn't obvious in those photos of the water layouts, here is my current design wall. It's our brand new fence.  Gates optional at this point. It sure works well as a design wall, with one of our old white sheets thrown over it.

I haven't had a chance to work on any more layouts for the water quilt. And sadly now, some late summer rains are here for a few days so I'm not sure I'll get to them these weekend.  At least with the rain it means I am let off staining duty on that fence!

In the meantime I'm plugging away on the quilting of the grass quilt.  Over half done now.  And when I'm not quilting I've been trying to gain some order in the house and find another nanny. Our wonderful nanny decided to go back to school in September.  I've known  for a few weeks but Hubby was out of town and I couldn't motivate myself to do anything.  Despair is setting in. Good thing I have some vacation time to use.

There is more quilty stuff to come in the next few weeks.  I have a couple of announcements and bigger projects in the works.  Stay tuned! 

What Do You Think Of?

Thank-you so much for all your comments on the different potential layouts for my water inspired quilt. One of the things that struck me in the comments was the difference in what it meant to think of water.  Some thought of waterfalls or rivers, others thought or tranquil lakes. Most saw blue and most saw easy movement.

To be honest, I wasn't sure myself what water meant when I started it.  It was really inspired by a pile of fabric that simply read water to me.  But all the comments got me thinking about what I wanted this quilt to truly represent.  So I dug through the photo archives and found some inspirational water photos.

Hubby at the deserted beach bar on our honeymoon.  An hour on the scooters, some very scary looking Cuban military guys, and this completely deserted beach with a bar.  A stocked bar, and an eventual bartender who fed us fresh papaya and cold beers.
That's me in the water at Pilar beach, again on our honeymoon.  We snorkeled there one day and went back to simply soak up the sun another day.

The view of the ocean storms of the Northumberland Straight on our vacation to Nova Scotia two years ago.

Hubby jumping the waterfall at Sierra de la Laguna in Baja this past Christmas.

A water fight in Baja.

Introducing Smilosaurus to the ocean in Baja.  A calm day, perfect for babes in water and more snorkeling.

The girls getting creative on a hot day in the backyard.  Yes, that's a blue box for recycling and the garden hose.  And our new grass.

Smilosaurus in the bath.  Our lovely harvest gold bath suite.  Don't you love it?

That cute the little girl again.  This time in Waterton National Park, just a little over a week ago.  Mountain lakes are perfect for her and her favourite pastime of throwing rocks.

Does that help define water for me?  Let's see... Adventure and tranquility, activity and relaxation, excitement and calm.  Now, what kind of quilt will that make?

Impress Your Girlfriends

The next time you've got friends coming over for dinner or brunch and are worried about impressing them, make this dish.  You will look like a star, with 10 minutes of effort.  Just 10 minutes.  It works for mother-in-laws too.

This is the humble clafoutis.  See, it even has a fancy French name (pronounced kla-foo-TEE). It's not a showstopper cake topped with ganache.  Nor is it a buttercream topped cupcake.  And nay, it is not a labor-intensive pie. Just a simple clafoutis.

It does look good, though, right?

Traditionally a clafoutis is made with cherries, and nothing but cherries.  But we came home from a weekend visiting family facing a limited supply of groceries. I had a lot of apricots and a lot of cherries.  With just a few other simple ingredients we had dinner.

Yes, I said dinner.  We had a late lunch on the way into town so this is what we ate before the girls went to bed. I whipped it up, stuck it in the oven while we finally hung the swing Smilosaurus got for her birthday.  After the tantrums started I took the ridiculously good smelling 'pancake' out of the oven and we promptly ate it all but one piece.  And that one was eaten Nigella style at 3 am by me.

It really is an easy recipe.  All you need is a blender and a pie plate. Smilosaurus even pushed the button on the bender for me. Without any effort you can have dessert, or my favourite concept, brunch. 

And the taste?  It is described as a pancake or custard.  I thought it was more crepe like, but a bit heavier. Baked custard? Just know that it isn't pie, cobbler, crisp, crumble or buckle. It is clafoutis.

As I said, I used apricots and cherries, but any stone fruit or berry would work. Perhaps peaches and raspberries or plums, apricots, and nectarines. The recipe is based on one I found during Summer Fest, and comes from good ol' Martha.

Fruit Clafoutis
(serves 4-6)

1/2 cup vanilla sugar
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups sliced fruit

1. Peel and slice fruit (peaches, plum, or apricots into 6-8 slices and cherries in half). Set aside.
1. Butter a 9 inch pie dish and dust with a tablespoon of sugar. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Blend all ingredients except for the fruit in a blender for a minute.
3. Pour half the custard mixture into the prepared pie plate.  Arrange fruit on top and pour the rest of the custard over the fruit.
4. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the top is golden brown and puffy.

Serve warm or cold with whipped cream.

Water Version 5

Okay, I'm changing things up again. But in reading through all the comments I think I need to try a few more things before I settle down and make a decision.  You've come up with really interesting ideas. Good challenges too.

Before I go making any more changes, what do you think of this one?  So far the basket weave effect has had mixed reviews. This one builds off that overall effect, but I think it might be a bit more balanced in composition.  What do you think?

We're off for the weekend and unless the weather cooperates next week I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to play with layouts again soon. You've given me SO much more to think about.  Thanks again for all your opinions.