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Archive for May, 2011

Time waits for no crafter

Posted in Crafts, Sewing, tagged , , , , on May 16, 2011| 6 Comments »

Marcy's Calendar

Today we bring you a long overdue post regarding a CHRISTMAS craft — perhaps I need one of these fabulous handmade calendars of my own to keep me up to date? Oh wait… Is deeming it “fabulous” too self-congratulatory? Well, I picked a pattern and fabric that I personally loved, so perhaps not. (Not to get too philosophical, but really, how much creative credit can I take when using someone else’s pattern and fabric line? And the fabric and pattern are truly fabulous.)

The calendar was a gift for my friend Marcy, so I tried to pick colors that would go with her house. Let’s take a quick look, shall we? The pattern is from Rashida Coleman-Hale’s book, i {heart} patchwork, and the fabric is from the Paradise line by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics, which I ordered online from Pink Chalk Fabrics.

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I did sneak in a few fabrics from outside the Paradise line: a Heather Ross snail — hello, day 1! — and the blue checks from my stash.

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The linen was also from my stash (ordered from Japan by way of Etsy, I believe), and I used a kiwi colored thread for quilting that I happened to have on hand for the shirt that shall not be named (nor completed, to date).

Marcy's Calendar

I decided to add a tag made with a rubber stamp (also from Japan-upon-Etsy) and leftover linen twill tape from the month tags. The back side was lined with a single piece of the blue squares & dots print.

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Moving on to my thoughts on the pattern itself:

  • For the grommets, the book calls for 1 extra-large 7/8″ grommet. After searching in vain online for a somewhat unreasonable amount of time (as I tend to do when stubbornly fixated on one mission or another), I finally e-mailed Rashida herself as a last-ditch effort (concede? NEVER!!!). She was fantastic! She wrote me back right away, and clarified that it should be 7/16″. Phew. Now THAT size I could find no problem. Plus I got to feel like I had another run-in with sewing celebrity, so it was all good. Do check out her blog, aptly named i heart linen. (For that matter, go buy her book — while this project was my favorite, there are several other great patterns in there that I can’t wait to make.)
  • As a matter of personal preference, I found that 11″ of cording, once doubled over, was too short. So I eyeballed it to a length that appealed, and called it a day.
  • I should also add that, having visited said calendar this past weekend, the top corners are now starting to curl, which is a bummer. So I might consider doing 2 grommets on the corners instead and/or add some heavyweight interfacing.

Marcy's Calendar

  • Another modification I made was in regard to the last few buttons. The calendar grid is set up to accommodate five Sunday-Saturday “weeks” in a month; however, as conveniently illustrated by the month of January 2011, there are months here and there that actually span six S-S weeks. What’s a girl to do? Get crafty. I calculated that there were really only three days that had the potential to be problematic — the 29th, 30th, and 31st. Not wanted to cause redundancies for months that didn’t span six S-S weeks, nor wanting to extend the calendar grid to accommodate another week, I simply made three extra buttons, so that in addition to the standalone 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, I also had optional 22/29, 23/30 and 24/31 buttons. Problem solved.

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  • And here we have an action shot (woo hoo!) of the Velcro buttons. Another pattern modification here: the pattern calls for 35 Velcro coins for the buttons. Which is all fine and dandy for the calendar base, which does in fact have 35 spaces and therefore 35 Velcro hooks to be sewn on, but you’re also making 7 small linen buttons and 31 larger print buttons: 7 + 31 = 38 Velcro loops. If you want to make the 3 dual-day buttons, you’re up to 41. In other words, play it safe and buy extra.

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  • To store the extra buttons and month labels, I simply grabbed an organza jewelry bag and tucked the extra pieces in.

Marcy's Calendar

All in all, a very fun project to work on. I loved doing the covered buttons, and had fun playing with stamps and glue in addition to the standard sewing. It was hard to give this one away! Check out my Flickr set for more pictures.

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Chicken Galliano

Posted in Food Links, tagged , , , on May 4, 2011| 1 Comment »

Chicken Galliano

I must start with an apology. No, not for dropping off the face of the planet for the month of April — I reserve the right to do that occasionally as the wedding-planning gods see fit. However, I apparently did not take step-by-step photos of the preparation of this meal. So, you’re just going to have to take my word that this dish required painstaking preparation, carefully honed culinary skills, blood, sweat, tears, and a promise of my first-born.

OK, not really. It’s actually a relatively unfussy dish. The most difficult part was obtaining the Galliano. It’s not the type of ingredient they carry at my usual  townie liquor store attached to a Tedeschi’s. Nor is it the type of thing that you can find in nip-size bottles, so be prepared to spend a good $30+ on a specialty ingredient.

A bit of a forewarning for those of you who, like myself, have not experienced Galliano prior to this recipe: the stuff is odd. Galliano is an Italian liqueur that is made from a blend of no less than 30 herbs and spices, and is best known as one of the key ingredients in the classic mid-century cocktail, The Harvey Wallbanger. It’s BRIGHT yellow and comes in a nifty bottle (these things are important, you know).

According to Wikipedia, “Galliano is marketed as an ‘ideal marrying ingredient’, which adds no intrusive flavor, but serves to deepen and give character to other ingredients, both ordinary and exotic. ” I personally could not disagree more. It added an unusual, quite distinctive taste to the recipe — strong anise flavor, and floral vanilla overtones. You may like it, you may not. Caveat emptor.

Fortunately for me, Mr. Manly liked it. Phew. Remember the “Mikey likes it” Life cereal commercials from the 70s/80s? Yeah, Mr. Manly is kinda like that.

I did, however, make one concession to Mr. M’s palate. My big discovery this year is that oftentimes his dislikes have less to do with flavor as they do texture. Seriously, this was a huge discovery for me, because texture is much easier to manipulate than flavor, which can often only be changed by way of outright omission. My kingdom to be able to cook something with peas in it! So, to avoid the dreaded rubbery wormlike texture of (gasp!) mushrooms, I minced them. Crisis averted. Have I mentioned how much I love mushrooms? This is groundbreaking, indeed.

Finally, can I point out the similarity to Chicken Saltimbocca? Chicken, prosciutto, cheese, pan sauce with alcohol… I love the way minor variations on a theme can create a totally new dish while using familiar methods of preparation.  Needless to say, the difference in cheeses and sauce and the addition of mushrooms drastically changes the taste of the dish. Chicken Galliano has a very complex flavor due to the Galliano, an earthy depth brought on by the mushrooms, and an extra richness due to the creamy goat cheese. It tastes like nothing I’ve eaten before. So why don’t you try it and let me know what you think? I’ll be at the bar drinking a Harvey Wallbanger…

Chicken Galliano
from Saveur Magazine, issue 131

  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded 1⁄8″ thick
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 12 tbsp. herbed goat cheese, softened
  • 6 thin slices prosciutto
  • 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled
  • 10 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced (or minced)
  • Flour, for dredging
  • 2 tbsp. canola oil
  • 1 1⁄2 cups chicken broth
  • 1⁄4 cup Galliano liqueur
  • 1 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
  • 4 cups cooked rice, for serving

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Working with one breast half at a time, spread one side with 2 tbsp. goat cheese and top with one slice prosciutto; roll into a tight cylinder. Using kitchen twine, tie chicken roll 1″ in from each end. Snip off excess twine.

Heat 3 tbsp. butter in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook, without stirring, until browned, 4–5 minutes. Stir mushrooms and continue cooking until softened, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; wipe out skillet. Put flour on a plate; dredge each chicken roll in flour. Heat 2 tbsp. butter and the oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning, until browned and cooked through, 12–14 minutes. Transfer chicken rolls to a plate. Add broth and Galliano to skillet; boil, stirring, until sauce has reduced by a third, 4–5 minutes. Return mushrooms and chicken to skillet; cook, turning to coat in sauce, until warmed through, about 5 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a platter. Remove skillet from heat; swirl in remaining butter to make a smooth sauce. Spoon sauce over chicken; sprinkle with parsley. Serve with rice.

SERVES 4 – 6

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