Y2K Quilt - My Oldest Quilt Under Construction

Back when I was cleaning my garage a few summers ago I came across a few boxes of quilting items. I was pretty lucky no mice made their homes in there. Two round robins project quilts that belonged to someone else (one returned at least) and my Y2K charms.

What are the Y2K charms?

Back in 1999 - when we thought the world was going to end with a massive computer crash - quilters did their best to move on by swapping charms. Precisely, swapping packs of 25 charms with 80 people. Resulting in 2000 charms for a quilt!

After discovering the box again I played with the charms, sorting them by value. They then became a thing I brought out to be leaders and enders as I worked on other projects. That is, sewing pairs or rows together at the beginning or ending of a seam. Progress gets made, but it is slow progress. 

Let me tell you, these are some interesting fabrics. Definitely not what we would consider modern now. There are, however, some gems in here. I must also admit, that I am kind of falling for the little calico prints. They are so tiny. The colours may not be what I like, but the scale is lovely. 

Right now I am up to 25 rows sewn together. That's half. 2000 charms makes 50 rows of 40 for an 80'' by 100'' quilt. Nothing is pressed, none of those rows are sewn to each other. But that is progress with minimal effort. I just might have it done by the next millennium. Well, at least the next century.

Arkison in Australia

So, I went to Australia for 2 weeks. It was rather incredible. My first, but hopefully not my last time! Enjoy a quick slide show of my trip. I was there to teach at a couple of amazing events organized by The Creative Retreat. Jules did everything to create a space for action, imagination, creativity, and laughter. More on the creativity in another post.  A few highlights:

... I had no idea how fitting it was that one of the first images I would see would be a sheep photoshoot in front of the iconic Sydney Opera House. You cannot even imagine the number of sheep in Australia.

... After a morning in Sydney and sleeping off my jet lag in Canberra we went on the road to our first retreat location: Kangaroo Valley. A glorious spot among farms, Fitzroy Falls, and creating by the fireplace. 

... The birds! I never thought of myself as a birdwatcher, but now I am totally obsessed. To see a million different kinds of parrots, rosellas, cockatoos, plus kookaburras was phenomenal. Then to spot and hear the unique Lyre bird was mind blowing. I am totally obsessed with birds now.

... After Kangaroo Valley we made our way towards Melbourne, stopping in country towns where I was introduced to the pie shops, RSLs, old buildings, and what counts as mountains in Australia. Road tripping is awesome, my favourite.

... 48 hours in Melbourne! A city I really would like to explore more. They care about architecture and public art in a way I've never seen before. We ate well, we played with Leslie at Maze and Vale (that's a whole other post), and visited Jen Kingwell at Amitie Textiles.

... The second retreat was in Point Lonsdale. The ocean!!! Long time readers know how I love the ocean, no matter which ocean or where. There I was taking my morning walks along the Pacific, but seeing the sun rise over it instead of set. Mind blowing. And, of course, I went for a swim! How could I not? Such a lovely location and another group of hysterical and creative women.

... More roadtripping and then the long flight home. (Right after that last photo Nicole Kidman walked by.)

Such a amazing experience and I am forever grateful to this job. These sorts of trips are so appreciated and I get as much out of them as my students. Their work, commitment, and creativity is inspiring. Thanks Jules, for making this all happen!

Asparagus Pico de Gallo

My Mom used to live in Texas. That isn't useful information to anyone, really. It does, however, explain how I came to know of Pico de Gallo. Until I went and spent my last university spring break with her in South Texas I thought that what you scooped up with nacho chips was salsa. In fact, at that point in time nachos were only served in bars, drenched in cheese, olives, and green onions with a side of insipid salsa and sour cream.

Oh how South Texas showed me the way.

First off, nachos are indeed what they serve in the bar. Fried tortillas are what nachos pretend to be. The tortillas that didn't get eaten that morning get cut into triangles and fried for snacks. Pico de Gallo is a bowl of finely chopped and uncooked tomatoes, onions, hot pepper, garlic, and lime. Pico de Gallo is always served with those fried tortillas. Sit on the beach in South Texas where you can order any beer and it will come with fried tortillas and Pico de Gallo. It is about the most perfect bar food, beach or not.

I'm nowhere near a sandy beach and I'm pretty sure any Texan would shoot me for this addition, but here you go: Asparagus Pico de Gallo. I was craving the spice, I had the fried tortillas, and I was staring at a large bunch of asparagus in the fridge. All that was left was the beer. And, of course, the beach.

Asparagus Pico de Gallo

Makes 2 cups

10 stalks asparagus (choose the skinny ones)

2 plum tomatoes

1/4 medium red onion

1 clove garlic

1 jalapeno pepper

1/2 lime

1-2 tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)

1. Steam the asparagus for 1 minute, if you prefer not to eat it raw.

2. Finely chop the asparagus and tomatoes into 1/2 dice or smaller. Keep the tips of the asparagus intact. Finely chop the onion, garlic, and pepper. Toss them all together in a bowl.

3. Juice the lime and add the juice to the vegetables. Add cilantro if you're using. Stir once more and serve.

Intentions

Hubby took me to a very fancy schmancy restaurant in the mountains for my birthday and this is the only picture my camera took.

We had a 7 course meal: the most amazing fois gras I've ever had, two things I'd never heard of before (compressed melon and dehydrated milk), wines that I'd never think to drink, a goose broth that needs to be bottled and sold as liquid gold, and a glorious sunset over the mountains. And I didn't take a single picture of it.

Don't get me wrong, it was gorgeous food. From artful but real presentations to sublime tastes to inventive techniques. It was a very memorable meal.

The memory will only live in my head, and maybe in my husband's. I did not photograph such a stellar experience because sometimes I just want my dinner to be my dinner. I have no intention of becoming a restaurant reviewer, so that documentation isn't necessary. And I have no intention of documenting everything I eat, Twitter is bad enough for that.

What I do intend to do, and this dinner practiced that intention, is to simply enjoy my food, enjoy my experience. Food writers need breaks too from thinking about writing about food. We want vacations and the only way we'll get them, since we always have to eat, is by putting down the camera and not composing sentences in our head as we chew.

Instead, I'm going to think how awesome my husband looks with the sun setting behind him and the look of joy on his face as he devours his favourite food. I'm going to pinch myself that I experienced such a luxurious treat in the midst of some stressful times. I'm going to look at my sous vide rhubarb and think it's cool, instead of wondering how they did it. I'm just going to eat.