coming tomorrow: Seams Unlikely by Nancy Zieman book review!

I'm so excited to share with you my thoughts on Nancy Zieman's new autobiography! She's not just an amazing seamstress and teacher - but amazing person through and through!

 

click here for more info on the tour

*****
What's for dinner Wednesday may have to be posted later this week while I'm snow-bound!

what's for dinner wednesday :: chili blanco

Hello everyone!

I know I missed a week - but you know what? That's okay!  We celebrated Brotherlouwho's birthday Friday and I was kind of caught up getting ready for that.  And I think we had ANOTHER snow day so my week got thrown off for sure!

Back in December I decided that this would be THE WINTER OF SOUP.  I know it's sounds ominous and exciting all at once!  And I've been trying to make soup at least once a week and not just all of our old standards.  So when my dear friend Megan (who gave me our favorite potato soup recipe EVER) handed this one over and said you need to make this, I had to oblige.

I'm not a connoisseur of the white chicken chili - but I've had it a few times.  I really liked this recipe because it was fairly simple and everyone ate it - oh, and it was delicious!  It also filled my huge 6 quart casserole so I know we can have it for dinner again or I can freeze some for later.

She told me that she makes the sweet & sour garnish mostly for the adults. I had to skip it this time because I didn't have everything I needed.  But I'm excited to try it next time! It's like a sweet and sour salsa to mix in. And feel free to add avocados - it's fun to be reckless like that!

Chili Blanco

4 cans drained small white navy beans

2 onions chopped

48 oz chicken broth

4 cups cooked chicken

2 cans drained corn

7 oz can chopped green chilies

6-8 cloves garlic minced

3 TBS chopped fresh oregano (1T dried)

4 tsp ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp cayenne

1 cup sour cream

3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Juice of 1 lime (3 T bottled lime juice)

Saute onions in olive oil.  When they are browned put in a stock pot and add chicken broth.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.  Add chicken, corn, green chiles, garlic, oregano, cumin and cayenne.  Simmer for 1 hour.  Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream and cheese until melted.  Top with Sweet and Sour Garnish.

Sweet and Sour Garnish

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp celery seeds

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Blend and the add chopped tomatoes and cilantro.

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it!  What's your favorite winter soup?  I need more ideas.

 

what's for dinner wednesday :: penne and sausage skillet supper

I have a love affair with the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.  And with Cook's Illustrated - the magazine put out by the same folks.  I kid you not, every recipe I've made from them is delicious and fairly easy.  They have a whole section on skillet meals - which I love!  They come together quickly, only require one pan and everyone loves them!

I've only made this one a few times and I need to remember to work it into our regular rotation.  A lot of the ingredients are things I usually have on hand, or are easily kept in the pantry or freezer.  

I hope you try it!

Penne and Sausage Skillet Supper

                                           ~ATK Family Cookbook
servings:Serve 4-6
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 25 minutes
total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion , chopped fine
table salt
3 cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press
1 pound hot or sweet Italian turkey sausage
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes , rinsed and chopped fine
1/2 pound penne pasta (2 1/2 cups)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 ounce grated Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)
6 ounces baby spinach
ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat the oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, sausage, and tomatoes and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

2. Sprinkle the penne evenly over the sausage. Pour the broth and milk over the pasta. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the spinach a handful at a time, and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

what's for dinner wednesday :: lemon filled cupcakes

It's not a secret that I love to cook. I think it stems mostly from the fact that I like to eat good food! I also like the fact that it's somewhat of a creative process so even if I'm not getting any sewing/crafting/decorating in, I can always be creative in the kitchen! 

I also like the idea of themed posts - so by no means am I turning into a food-blogger but I am going to start posting food posts on Wednesdays! A bunch of us on instagram have been tagging our dinner prep posts #itswhatsfordinner and it's a fun and inspiring hashtag to follow when looking for dinner ideas! I won't always share dinner recipes on what's for dinner wednesdays - but any kind of recipe! I just like the alliteration effect - hahaha! So first up will be these delicious cupcakes that I made the other day! 

I had leftover lemon curd from the wedding cake I made for my sister-in-law's wedding and needed some birthday treats for a girl in my class at church. You can find my lemon curd recipe in this post - it's delicious and good on so many things! (think crepes, crumpets, english muffins, toast, a spoon - and there's an idea for little tartes in that post too.) 

So here's how I filled them! I cut out a little cone shaped hole in the middle of each cupcake and set the middles aside (lining them up so I could match them back up with their corresponding cup). I also cut the pointy part off so there was just a thin, flat top for covering the filling. 

I then used my little cookie scoop (think mini ice cream scoop) and dropped a dollop of lemon curd in the hole - not quite reaching the top. 

Next, I put the tops back on trying to line them back up so they sat flush and not leaking out any filling.

  

And of course frosting on top! I started in the middle of the cake to kind of secure the edges of the top. They were delicious and I neglected to take any photos of them being eaten. Think hostess filled cupcakes 1,000,000 times better!

You can use any kind of cake mix and frosting. However, I do recommend a white or vanilla cake to pair with lemon filling - lemon cake mixes overshadow the awesomeness of the filling!

Here's what I used:
Duncan Hines white cake (substitue milk for water - makes for a bit denser moister cake)
Canned cream cheese frosting (I know! the horror! I could have made my own but I didn't have time)
1 recipe Lemon Curd

I hope you make these - or at least try the lemon curd - it's so easy and delicious!!

What are you cooking or baking today?

New Year's News - it is that time of year, right?

Well hello there friends! Remember me?  I used to blog more regularly around here.  Like 2 years ago! And I used to sew quite a bit. And generally do a lot more things that have gone to the wayside with the demands of family, military, and school life!  I actually have been doing some things, just not sitting down to blog about them.  Mostly I annoy everyone over on instagram (@amylouwhosews) with the minutia of my daily life.

But you know what? I miss blogging! I miss connecting on blogs. I miss being motivated by readers comments!  I'm not even sure if people really comment that much on blogs anymore. Do they? I know I haven't.  The quick ease of a comment on a photo on IG has spoiled me rotten! Typing on my phone or iPad is just too much! (Oh brother - #firstworldproblems) (and see that hashtag?! Totally evidence of my IG addiction.)

Anyway, we did move. I love my new house! I wish I could just get it organized! And then keep it that way! And clean!  My life since Thanksgiving was absolutely crazy!  We ended this fun spell last week with the wedding of my darling sister-in-law (whose bouquet was absolutely AMAZING!)

(Looks like flickr has changed a bit too in my absence)

I just want to tell you I have a list a mile long of things I'd like to show you.  Quilts I've finished, clothing I've made, and generally just start sharing here again.  I'd love it if you'd join me! and the conversation! Comments are motivation as lame as that sounds - but then at least I know I'm not just talking to myself!  

See you soon!  What are you working on this year?

fall is here! time for soup!! {craft book month}

Thanks again Lindsay for asking me to join you on the hop!!

As I said yesterday we've moved and I have been having some issues getting our internet set up!  It's been quite frustrating to feel so disconnected, but I'm hoping to re-connect as soon as we get up and running again!  I also need to start sewing.

I quickly perused the other posters so far along the hop to see what everyone was sharing. Lindsay gave us some freedom with what type of craft books we could post from and even suggested we could share a recipe!  Yay!! So since I haven't gotten my sewing room in order yet (I haven't sewn a stitch in 6 weeks! I KNOW!!!) and because I do have people to feed, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite recipes!  And maybe it will be a nice change from all the sewing? Maybe?

Since fall is upon us this recipe is perfect.  Soup and a hearty bread are some of my favorite cold weather dinners. It's Tortellini, White Bean, and Spinach soup from Cooking Light's 1998 Annual Recipes.

Don't you want to dive into that right now?!  You will find the recipe as written below, but I wanted to share some things I do differently.  As written the recipe is vegetarian using vegetable stock and no meat.  However, I don't always have vegetable stock on hand, so I often use chicken broth.  And since there may be someone in my house (ahem, Mr. Louwho) who thinks it's not a meal without meat - I usually add some shredded chicken to the soup as well.

It calls for red bell pepper but I often use frozen mixed peppers because I usually have them on hand. I've used the dried tortellini in place of the fresh and usually just add extra broth or water to compensate, or you can cook it before hand and then throw it in.  In this photo you can see I also added shredded carrots!  Why not?  That's the beauty of soups - you can make them what you want them to be.  Just add more water/stock to reach the desired consistency!

A note about leftovers: The tortellini continues to soak up the liquid and become soggy while the soup dries out.  Sometimes I will just add the tortellini to our individual bowls and pour the rest on top if I know there will be some left over.  It can also be frozen this way, adding the tortellini in fresh when you are ready to eat!

I love serving this soup with some crusty bread like the one from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day or this Rosemary Peasant Bread from Make and Takes (where I usually use oregano instead of rosemary).

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups coarsely chopped spinach
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 (16-ounce) can navy beans, drained
• 2 cups Fresh Vegetable Broth or 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can vegetable broth
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
• 1 (14-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
• 1 (9-ounce) package uncooked fresh cheese tortellini
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, bell pepper, seasoning, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add spinach and next 5 ingredients (spinach through artichokes); bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 2 minutes. Add tortellini; cook until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bon Appétit!

I hope to be back soon with some more happenings!  Crossing my fingers we get hooked up with internet today!!  Be sure to check out this post with information on how to enter the giveaways!

Craft Book Month!!!

Hey! Remember me?? I managed to survive the move, but not the unpacking!  We've burned through several gigs of data on our cell phones as we still do not have internet at our house.  I am however still planning on posting tomorrow for Lindsay's fun craft book month blog hop!  I'm so happy she asked me!  Read below for more details on the hop and prizes and how to enter to win them!!

Here are the details and stay tuned for a post from me tomorrow!
xo
PS - I'll update you on the house goings on soon!
*****

It's time for the 3rd Annual Craft Book Month at Craft Buds! This year, we're excited to celebrate all month log with a blog hop of your inspirational craft book projects, a crafty contest, free patterns and prizes!

Don't let those craft books sit on your shelf and collect dust! We want to see what you've been making. That's why I've teamed up with some fabulous bloggers who will be showing off their projects made from craft books, all month long!

Blog Hop

Week One
Monday 9/2: Fabric Mutt / LRstitched
Tuesday 9/3: Stitch This! The Martingale Blog / Stitched in Color
Wednesday 9/4: Fabric Seeds / Pile O Fabric
Thursday 9/5: The Feisty Redhead / Rae Gun Ramblings
Friday 9/6: Sew-Fantastic / Clover + Violet
Saturday 9/7: A Prairie Sunrise / Small Town Stitcher

Week Two
Monday 9/9: Hopeful Threads / Go To Sew
Tuesday 9/10: The Sewing Rabbit / Sewing Mama RaeAnna
Wednesday 9/11: Marci Girl Designs / imagine gnats
Thursday 9/12: Sew Sweetness / amylouwhosews
Friday 9/13: Lindsay Sews / 13 Spools
 Saturday 9/14: Inspire Me Grey / Angela Yosten 

Week ThreeMonday 9/16: Sew Very / CraftsideTuesday 9/17: The Littlest Thistle / CraftFoxes 

9/1-9/30: Link up your craft book project at Craft Buds from your blog or Flickr account, and enter to win prizes. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, October, 1!

 

2012 Craft Book Month Projects (L to R):
Sew Crafty Jess, Sewing Rabbit, Stitched in Color, MissKnitta's Studio

To participate in the month-long contest, just link up any project you've made from a pattern in a craft book. That easy! You'll tell us a little about the book, the project, how you personalized it, etc.

Rules

1) One entry per person. 
2) Your craft book project must have been completed in 2013. 
3) Create a new blog post or Flickr photo (dated September 1, 2013 or later) and link back to Craft Buds/Craft Book Month in your post or photo description. In your post or photo description, make sure to list the craft book you used and provide a link if possible.
4) All winners chosen via Random.org. Some prizes available to international winners, so please join us!

Prizes

Visit Craft Buds and link up your craft book project during the window of Sept 1-30 and you'll automatically be entered to win some fantastic prizes from the Craft Book Month sponsors!

No time to make a project? You can also follow Craft Buds all month long for your chance to comment and win some new sewing and quilting books for your library.