Tasty Tuesdays-The Times They Are Changin'

I'm going to admit that my idea of sharing how I was going to start writing consistently pretty much fell on its' face as soon as I left the starting block. I have no excuses but lots of reasons~ oh yeah, lots of reasons~ with photos even!

If you follow me on social media, you'll see I'm much more likely to be posting things. Why is that, you may ask (as if I think you may actually care)? Well, I'm happy to tell you anyway. It's a whole lot quicker to pop in a pithy quote or quick update or photo than it is to sit and do a blog post. Yep, that's about it. No huge revelation or new theory. Just easier and quicker is all. 

And why is this significant? Because I have been busy with the Quiltopia Quilt Show, my Etsy shop plus my new job at Whitlock's Vac & Sew, that's why as well as trying to spend time with Brian plus do my various projects here at home. And, while I am absolutely loving all this, it doesn't leave a whole lot of time- or at least not a whole lot of time to sit down and blog. 

So there you have it- my excuse reason for not keeping up writing at Mangia Mamma. The only problem is, I have a habit of posting things on social media with the promise that a recipe, craft project, idea or some other thing that a few people may actually want to know. Not wanting to lose any friends- as that's usually who says things like, "Sounds yummy. Want to share the recipe?", I am now feeling a bit convicted about keeping up with the blog.

Okay, it's time for me to stop beating around the bush and share what's really been going on!!

1) Quiltopia was a great success! It's a three-day show at the Willamette Heritage Center the first weekend of October. I had the opportunity to be the social media coordinator for the event plus I was able to demonstrate the HandiQuilter the whole weekend on behalf of Whitlock's- which is a great segue to 

Can you tell I love my new job (and Janome sewing machines!!!)?

2) My new job!!!! I've been hired at Whitlock's which is a terrific sewing/quilting shop that also sells vacuums. I had been planning on teaching kids' classes, but they've decided they'd also like me to work on the floor helping customers find the sewing machine of their dreams as well as all the notions and extras to make their sewing dreams come true! I love working there and being part of the team!!

3)Part of my sewing dream to come true is my shop, Piccolo Di Luce. I have been so excited about getting to make pocket oratories and rosary cases for so many wonderful customers since I started. This week I was actually asked to be part of the Zelie & Co. Auction as one of their guest artisans! 

Check out my shop page on my blog as I'm going to be adding a few new items in the next month.

4)With the busyness, I was so grateful to be able to get away with a group of old and new friends this past weekend. The "Cabin Girls" have been meeting at a cabin in lovely Rhododendron, Oregon for 24 years now, and this year was just as fun as when those of us who first starting coming were all a lot younger!!

5)Recipes. Yes, I had promised recipes on the blog then didn't come through. I know there are a bazillion blogs on the internet, but sometimes I still like to post recipes that I think are fun, or quirky or just really yummy. Today's is no exception. With all of the pumpkin spice craziness, I thought I'd weigh in my take on pumpkin spice creamer. It's totally delicious and simple to make. So, with friends Lynsi and Annette first and foremost in my mind, here is the recipe plus a few variations!

PUMPKIN SPICE CREAMER #1

2 cups half & half
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice mix

Whisk everything in a small bowl. Once well blended, pour into decorative bottle and store in refrigerator.

PUMPKIN SPICE CREAMER #2 (doesn't use real pumpkin, but has a great pumpkin flavor!!)

2 cups half & half
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup pumpkin spice syrup (like Torani)
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice mix

Whisk everything in a small bowl. Once well blended, pour into decorative bottle and store in refrigerator.

Variations:
~For Pumpkin Maple Creamer add 1/4 cup maple syrup to recipe #1
~ For Vanilla Cinnamon Creamer, use 2 1/2 cups half & half, no pumpkin, and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon instead of pumpkin pie spice

Tasty Tuesday- A Sunday Supper Pie

When most people in the U.S. think of pies, flavors like strawberry, chocolate and coconut come to mind. In other places in the world, pies are more often filled with savory things like steak and kidneys, lamb, and even fish. With that in mind, I decided to make a Sunday Supper Pie for our evening meal this past weekend. It was really fun to make and super simple. For the crust, I adapted a recipe I had found in my Paul Hollywood British Baking book. I had taken some time a few months ago to render some suet and pop it into a jar kept in the back of the fridge. This is what helped to make a wonderful crust- flaky and tender while staying strong enough to keep the filling ingredients inside. The filling ended up being what we had at home- some ground beef, frozen mixed veggies, potatoes and onions along with a good dose of spices and a bit of salt. You can use whatever you have on hand as well. I'm thinking next time trying it with either some Italian flavorings like sausage, peppers and tomatoes or even a Middle Eastern flair with lamb, pine nuts and zaatar. Let me know what kind of flavors you'd like to try!!

Sunday Supper Pie

Crust:

non-stick cooking spray 

10 oz. flour

4 1/2 oz. suet, grated

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dried tarragon

8 oz. water

Filling:

1 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. tarragon

Egg Wash:

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp. water

Preheat oven to 400º

For crust: 

Spray 10" springform pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients together; add suet and mix well. Start adding a bit of water at a time, mixing with spoon. When you've used about half of the water, start mixing with your hand. Add as much water as needed to bind everything together. Dump everything out onto lightly floured counter and knead until smooth (about 5-7 minutes). Roll dough out until 1/4" thick. Put into prepared pan, pressing dough up the sides. Cut off remaining dough; make into a ball and roll out to 1/4" to be used for the lid once the filling is made.

For filling: 

In a medium bowl, mix everything together. If it feels too dry, add 1-2 tbsp. water. 

To assemble pie: 

Pour filling into prepared crust, Top with "lid" and crimp around the edges until well sealed. Brush with egg wash.

To bake: 

Bake, uncovered for 20 minutes at 400º.  Reduce heat to 350º and bake for another 35 minutes. Cover loosely with foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.

To serve:

Let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan, using knife to help release pie from pan if necessary. Let sit for another 15-20 minutes. 

Delicious served with a good dry Riesling wine or Belgian White beer.

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{pretty, happy, funny, real} Extended Edition

   {pretty, happy, funny, real}                          

                                      

It's Thursday, so I'm linking up again with the terrific Like Mother, Like Daughter. As we celebrate Mother's Day, a number of birthdays and a couple of marriages in our family this month, I thought I'd share a few bits about my extended family that are {pretty, happy, funny, real}. 

My beautiful niece, Jeanette looking {pretty}

This pillow made me {happy}

Unfortunately, circumstances would not allow me to be present, but I spent the day of the wedding working on their gift and spending the time praying for their marriage. I came up with this idea of a pillow using linen and a photo from their engagement pictures. I'm so happy with it that I will probably be listing custom made pillows like this on my Piccolo Di Luce Etsy Shop soon. 

More {happy}

The quilt top

I also got the chance in the last few weeks to make a baby quilt for Thomas More College professors, Mr. Andrew and Mrs. Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs, who are expecting their first baby next month. As they teach The Way of Beauty course, and Mrs. Thompson-Briggs is an artist, I thought I would make a vintage style red-work embroidered quilt. My mom had given me a large container of vintage, hand-stitched strips, so I used those for the sashing and binding. I wasn't sure what color to do the border, so I sent a photo to Mary at school. She suggested mustard which was seconded by Sylvia, the owner of Greenbaum's Quilted Forest. I took their ideas and then machine quilted the whole thing before making the label. The best part was being able to pray for their family and especially the new baby as I worked on this {happy} quilt!

This is one {funny} little girl

My mom and I headed down to southern Oregon last weekend for a bridal shower for another niece and to celebrate Mother's Day with my sister. Normally, I wouldn't have gone, but since my kids are all at school until next week, I thought it would be fun. I was so right! One of my other nieces was visiting from Virginia with her little one, Zephora. She is so {funny}, and they were a great joy to be with during the weekend. The best part was they needed a ride to the airport in Portland, and a place to stay for a couple of days, so my husband and I got to host them during that time. While they were here, I took them up to Mt. Angel Seminary to visit Joshua and have a little tour. We ended up not only having coffee and walking around, but he invited us to join him and the other seminarians for lunch. My niece, Jael, loved it plus the baby was awesome!! I then took them to Fordyce Farms for the first strawberries of the season, and then we came home so I could teach Jael how to bake bread before they headed off early Tuesday. We also got to feed ZuZu (her new totally cool nickname that Unky Brian and I came up with and got the mom approval) her first taste of rice cereal. She wasn't sure about the spoon or the texture, but I'm pretty sure she'll be liking it a lot in just a little while. What a blessing it was for us to open our home and share the love and mercy God has given us!

{real} Gluten Free Banana Bread

So I mentioned the kids will all be home next week- did I mention how totally excited we are?!?!? 

Both Brian and I are looking forward to them being home for a number of reasons. I am sure he'll be glad to have others to do chores plus someone other than just me to talk with. To be honest, the talking thing works for me too- just keeping it {real} here, folks. As part of the preparing for them to be home, I did a little baking today. Now, for any of you that have read any of my posts, you may remember that we have a wacky eating family- I have one child who is celiac, one with a tree nut allergy and one with lactose intolerance plus I have to eat low sodium. Thankfully, Brian and Joshua don't have any food issues, so that makes it a bit easier. With that in mind, I made a couple loaves of banana bread, being sure to mark them well before popping them into the freezer. Since so many of you have a great recipe for regular banana bread, I thought I'd share this Gluten and Lactose Free version. I did make some with regular flour and no nuts for David, so everyone should be happy. Here's my G/F Banana Bread for you to try. Oh yeah, it tastes {real}, so don't be afraid to try it!

                                                        {REAL} BANANA BREAD

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (roughly two medium bananas) 

2 eggs

1/4 cup oil (I use rice bran oil, but use what you have) 

1 1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar 

1 1/2 cups G/F baking mix   

2 teaspoons baking powder 

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

1 cup walnut pieces 

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray 9" loaf pan with non-stick spray and line with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, beat the mashed bananas with the eggs, oil and brown sugar till combined. Add G/F baking mix, baking powder, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg; beat until well combined. Stir in the walnut pieces.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and spread evenly. Stud the top with some extra walnut pieces, if desired. Bake on the center rack for 55 to 65 minutes, if necessary, until the center is done (a wooden cake tester should emerge clean).

Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on rack.

Eat right away or wrap in wax paper and foil and freeze for up to a couple of weeks.

Makes one 9-inch loaf

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope you are having a wonderful month so far. Be sure to stop by Like Mother, Like Daughter to see what everyone's up to today at {pretty, happy, funny, real}.

Middle of the Week Wanderings- TGKBC April Update

Vanilla Ginger Cake

I've still been doing lots of baking as part of my self-induced "Great Keatley Baking Challenge". The biggest issue has been being busy doing other things and having to sometimes almost force myself to bake. A couple of Sundays ago I was in the mood for something sweet, so I made this Vanilla Ginger Cake. The flavor choice came from the ginger that was sitting in the refrigerator waiting to be used. I had made candied ginger before, so I thought I'd do it again and use it for part of the flavor profile of this little cake. It may not look like it, but it was baked in two 6" pans. I made a full batch of frosting (and used the whole bowl) which is why it looks a bit "frosting heavy". 

Brian and I enjoyed it over a number of days as it was so rich (again, I am sure because of the amount of delicious frosting). Here's my recipe for a small Vanilla Ginger Cake:

VANILLA GINGER CAKE

For Cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cups granulated sugar (use vanilla sugar if you have it)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup milk

2 Tbsp. candied ginger, cut into small pieces

For Frosting:

2 sticks butter, softened

16 oz box powdered sugar

1 Tbsp. vanilla

2-3 Tbsp. heavy cream

1/4 cup candied ginger, cut into small pieces

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F.  

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds or until softened. Add granulated sugar and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl frequently. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk on medium-low speed just until mixed. Fold in candied ginger. Pour into two greased and floured 6-inch baking pans. Bake 30-35 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes on rack then turn out to continue cooling.

For the Frosting, beat butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating well after each addition and scraping sides and bottom of bowl frequently. Add milk and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Fold in candied ginger. Frost when cake is cooled completely. 

You can serve right away or store in the refrigerator. I stored mine, uncovered for 1 hour then covered with plastic wrap. I think it stayed nicer and longer in the refrigerator. 

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

~Mangia Mamma