AmazingAwesomeTasticFabuRificness

The Popster is whiz in the kitchen, so I know that when I get an e-mail from him about a new and easy recipe he's whipped up, there's an above-average chance it'll be awesome. And, true to form, his latest concoction didn't disappoint. In fact, it was so good that I made it twice in one weekend. (You know, for research. And because it takes about 10 minutes to make.)

I offered to let him name the recipe before I blogged about it. He demurred. So as punishment, I'm calling this Dad's Speedy Summer Corn Niblets and he'll have to deal with the fact that his internet infamy comes with a stupid name. (You're welcome, pops. Next time, come up with a title.)

Depending on whether you're making this as a main item or a side, this recipe serves about 1 as a large-sized main dish and 2 as a generous side. It's super easy and delicious. Do not expect left overs. If you want to make a larger batch, figure you'll want about two ears of corn per person.

And please, for the love of God and all that is holy, do not buy bland grocery store corn for this recipe. (Do not even think about buying, shudder, frozen corn. No. Just no.) This dish is ALL about highlighting the super sweetness of fresh summer corn. Run, do not walk, to your local farmer's market or farm stand to buy your corn. (And while you're there, pick up some bell peppers and shallots. Your tummy and your local farmer will thank you.)

Ingredient list:
3 ears of local, farm-fresh corn
1 fresh bell pepper, any color (or, hell, mix and match. Go wild.)
1-2 shallots (I used two, but I like shallots.)
1 clove garlic, the bigger the better. (This is optional. If you are a vampire, do not add garlic.)
Tabasco sauce (several shakes)
Worcestershire sauce (several shakes)
Olive oil (I used grape seed because it was all I had.)

First things first, get everything out. Look at that pretty produce I picked up fresh from Chicago's Green City Market.

The ingredients.

 Next, you're going to shuck the corn and cut off the kernels from the cob with a chef's knife and put them in a bowl. Do not cut your finger. Trust me.

Corn, removed from the cob.

While you're cutting things, dice up a sweet pepper and your shallots. Put the pepper in with the corn. Throw your shallots and your garlic in a saute pan with some oil and saute.

Shallots and garlic, sweating in oil.

Once your shallots are getting clearish, dump in your corn and peppers. Stir on medium-high heat for 2 or 3 minutes. Inhale the sweet smell.

The corn mix.

Next, it's time for spice. Add a few splashes of Tabasco (or in this case, my generic awesome Louisiana hot sauce.)  Then two or three shakes of Worchestershire. Mix together and then continue to saute until corn and peppers are cooked, but still crispish. (Another minute or so.)

Mmmmm. Spicy.

Serve, and voila!I ate the whole damn thing for dinner and was one happy camper.

Voila! Bon Appetite.

Say it with me, people: Thanks, Dad!

Craft Porn.

Ok, ok. It's not porn. Hold your horses.

Instead, this is a super-awesome compilation of 100 of the best crafty-type tutorials posted in 2010 from around the interwebs. If you're a reader of the big craft blogs, you'll have already seen some of these, but others were new to me. And, of course, totally drool-worthy.

Big props to The Long Thread, which has been compiling its annual Top 100 list for three years now.

Happy crafting.

Amazing aprons.

I've been playing around with different apron patterns lately, since I've had a back-to-back-to-back-to-back few weeks of birthdays, house warmings, etc. I tried Jona's super-fun one-hour apron pattern. The first one took me 2.5 hours because I completely ignored the directions. The second was done in 47 minutes. BAM!

Best of all? The Grandma LOOOOVED it. See?


The fabric is by Alexander Henry and some bright-blue kona cotton solids. Yay!

Argh! Help a girl out.

alkdf;alskdjf;alkdsjf;adsfjk.

I hate binding. Hate, HATE, HATE binding.

I took a two hour class on doing it and I'm totally list. Sure, I get the whole cutting the fabric on a 45 degree angle. I know how to piece each strip together so I have enough to go around the quilt. And I know how to press the strips in half lengthywise. But once there, I'm totally freaking screwed.

I don't get the invisible whip stitch. I tried doing it on a sewing machine. Still, it all looks like shit. Too embarassing to even post pictures.

So com'n crafty girls. Help me figure this out.

A binding matter

Last night, I spent time at my quilting heaven to take a class on how to bind quilts. You quilty people know all about this, for those newbies, binding is what you see on the left -- that border that goes around the quilt, sort of sealing your the raw edges and layers of a top, batting and a bottom together. It's half done by machine and half done by hand. (The machine part takes maybe half an hour. The by hand part takes HOURS.)

I won't post pictures of my current binding project because it's a gift for a reader and I want them to be really blown away when they see it for the first time.

Anyway, the method of binding a quilt is as varied as quilts themselves. Every person has a slightly different method. And I think it's all about personal preference. Here's a pretty good how-to that pretty much matches how I learned.

Jingle jingle

Check out this cute stocking that the gals at Quiltology made! If you think it's nifty, you should sign up for the class with me on Nov. 23. (I decided The Boy needs a proper stocking to hang with the Noodles Fam this holiday.)

We can have drinkies before. And, um, maybe have beverages afterward, too.

Strip piecing and other taudry tales.

There's a practice in quilting called strip piecing, and it's essentially when you sew one long strip right after another, so you don't have keep lifting up the foot of your sewing machine. It makes what piecing the top part of a quilt (the part that's all patchy and cool looking) go a lot faster.

Truth be told, I love piecing. Period. (Unless and except for the times when I screw up seams, stop, rip them out, then have to start over again. Not so much with the soothing.) But other than that, it's nice and Zen and you really feel like you've accomplished something when you're all said and done.

So, tonight I tried out the new glasses (more on that later) and set to work piecing my strips for my Urban Amish quilt. (Side note: Who knew the hole in my needle was really that big? It's a freakin' wonder I haven't gone blind yet trying to sew with my old Rx. But I digress.) I got about a quarter through. I'm hoping to finish piecing everything tomorrow night, so I can head to Quiltology for some studio time this weekend on the design wall. (Also, as I look at the picture, I'm realizing how dirty my machine is. Time for a dusting...)

Anyway, I know a bunch of you guys aren't quilters, so I thought I'd show you some pictures of the quilt in progress and explain how it gets put together. It's just like Legos -- you start from smaller parts, put them together to make bigger parts, which then connect to even bigger parts.

So, first I started with fabric. Which I cut according to my pattern. Then, I matched up pieces, which is pretty random, because this is a fairly scrappy quilt. But I did have to have a set number and certain width strips in each section:


Here's what one set looks like, rolled up:


Next, when you get ready to sew each set, you lay them out:


Then, you begin sewing along the edge, using a 1/4 inch seam:


And you keep going, feeding in one strip after another. After each strip has one seam, you press them with an iron:


Then, you repeat, attaching a sewn section to a sewn section. Then iron. Then attach a sewn section to another sewn section:


Until ultimately, you have something that looks like this:


There will be about a dozen of these, which will then be cut into two squares, and laid out and sewn to other squares to form rows. Then the rows are sewn together and voila! A a pieced top of a quilt!

Class dismissed!

So cool!

Check out this easy-to-do coffee-sack bulletin board project over at Maya Made. I really like the way it turned out and think it could be a great _ and cheap _ DIY decorating project.

Oooh, the gifting possibilities are ENDLESS!

Great idea!

I've been known to make customized stationery for friends before -- a completely cute and unique gift that is, truth be told, shockingly easy to make. All you need is some card stock and envelopes (you can find them at Michael's stores or, my favorite, Paper Source), an ink pad, some stamps and pretty satin ribbon to tie the finished product up. It's a great easy, cheap and thoughtful gift that so far, people have loved to receive. (If you're reading this and disagree then you're a big, stinky liar!)

That should explain why I totally emitted one of those shrill girl squeals this morning when I saw this tutorial (linked via Craft Magazine's blog) for paper bag note cards.

I'm typing this in my jammies, so I won't be busting out my glue stick at the moment, but it looks like a fun and easy way to take my standard stationary up a notch. I bet these would look great with some colored ink stamps on them. Not to mention the fact that you get to be green by reusing your grocery bags.

It'll make you sweat ...

... Like a whore in church.

Behold, the thusly named Whore in Church Hot Shrimp and Pasta dish. Which is generally kick ass in every way because it a) involves pasta; b) involves shrimp; c) has lots and lots and lots of cheese; and d) is best served with a nice crisp chardonnay. Pretty much, it has the makings for a fantabulous meal.

Wanna try? Here's what to do.

1 lb. uncooked shrimp; pealed.
2 T olive oil
1/4 chopped onion
3 cloves garlic (to taste)
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/2 t black pepper
3 T basil
1/2 t Tabasco sauce
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 chopped sun dried tomatoes
1 t sugar
3 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
shredded mozzarella (to taste)
1 box bowtie or rigatoni pasta

Cook pasta. While water boils, saute onion and garlic in olive oil for several minutes in a separate non-stick fry pan. Add thyme cayenne pepper and basil. Cook at low heat for several minutes. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, shrimp and cheese. Cook over low heat until reduced, about half an hour. In another pan, saute shrimp in olive oil and garlic until about 75 percent done. Add shrimp to spicy onion mixture and cook for another 2-4 minutes. Mix over pasta and add cheese. Serve hot.

It's not you. It's the onion.

Onions are the bane of my existence. Ok, not exactly true. (Full disclosure: I'm a total drama queen.)

But, really, few things suck more than wandering around the house -- usually with my chef's knife in hand -- frantically waving at my red, tearing, and blinky eyes while I'm trying to make dinner. (And yes, I've even stooped so low to cut onions while wearing goggles. I'm sure it was comical to all involved.) But really? Who needs all this stress inflicted because of a stupid damn-yet-tasty onion.

It wasn't until I took a knife skills class here, that someone finally showed me a no-cry technique.

It's kind of hard to explain, but check out this neat YouTube video:




Too complicated? Try this on for size. Just chop your onion (any old way) next to your gas stove, while a flame is on. I've heard different reasons why this keeps your eyes tear-free: everything from the flame creating some kind of convection to the fact that the flame helps gaseous sulfur compounds released by the onion burn off before they can irritate your eyes.

Regardless of the science, which I'm sure is fabulously cool, this trick totally works. In fact, tonight's dinner = totally tear free.

If you don't have a gas burner, try a votive candle.
Just don't, you know, burn down your house. Because that would suck more than crying over a stinkin' onion.

My weekend project

So yes, I'm going to be out of town until Sunday, but I'm hoping to bang out one of these cool little contraptions this weekend as well.

Want to make one, too? Here's easy-to-follow directions.