At the Table :: 2024 Rainy Day Bites May to August

My foodie posts may not be everyone's cup of tea, and I totally get that. So feel free to peruse or move on as I report in on the last several months of Rainy Day Bites Cookbook Club. I'm actually heading out on vacation in the morning, so hopefully I'll be able to post a bit on IG. But I'll be back posting about quilting and sewing before you know it.

Note that I linked to each IG post, in case you wanted to read what I wrote about each recipe.

May

Featured book: First Generation: Recipes From my Taiwanese-American Home by @littlefatboyfrankie. 

Topic: Identity through food.

scallion pancakes 

fried egg rice with cilantro

June

Featured book: The Global Pantry Cookbook: Transform Your Everyday Cooking with Tahini, Gochujang, Miso, and Other Irresistible Ingredients by @anntaylorpittman and @scottmowb 

Topic: Diversify your pantry and avoiding waste.

"diner-style" French onion soup

crunchy panko pain perdu with bacon ketchup and bacon maple syrup

May & June baking: Chicano Bakes: Recipes for Mexican Pan Dulce, Tamales, and my Favorite Desserts by @chicanoeats.

Mexican sprinkle cookies

dulce de leche

chocolate caliente

tres leches

July

Featured book: The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey by @gazamom @thegazakitchen 

Topic: Discover the food and people of war-torn Gaza.

falafel

open-faced pies

August

Featured book: Islas: A Celebration of Tropical Cooking: 125 Recipes from the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Ocean Islands by @cocinacriolla 

Topic: Explore the diverse food and complex history of the tropical islands and the issues they face including colonialism, climate change, and food insecurity.

pernil (AKA marinated roast pork shoulder)

stewed red beans with butternut squash

July & August baking: Sugarcane: Sweet Recipes from My Half-Filipino Kitchen by @arlynosborne.

Maja Blanca Custard Cake

southeast tiramisu

mango float cheesecake cups

marbled ube banana bread

Our last day of the month global baking party selections (any recipe from any cookbook):

May | New Zealand/Australia: Pavlova from barefoot contessa at home cookbook by Ina Garten @inagarten.

June | Italy: Gelato, Sorbet or Granita from from Aloha Days Hula Nights, a cookbook from The Junior League of Honolulu HI

lemon granita

July | Greece/Turkey: Baklava from San Juan Classis by Janice Veal and Dawn Ashbach

August | Portugal: Pastéis de Nata (custard cream tarts) from My Portugal: Recipes and Stories by George Mendes

This quarter had several new-to-me ingredients. I learned about ube - purple yam from the Philippines; and pandan, made from leaves of a tropical plant.  Probably my absolute favorite discovery was tres leche, which I's heard of but never had. Now I have the recipe to make it myself. Remember, anyone can join the club. Just follow @rainydaybites to see what we're cooking each month!

August Fabric Usage

Sad, but true. August was a pretty uneventful month in my little creative universe. Between a slow-going improv chair project and COVID invading our house, there wasn't energy for much. Early on, though, I bought a small stack of solids as considerations for said chairs, and also a beautiful floral for a planned bag project.

The Haralson Belt Bag did become reality, thankfully, and is now with its new owner. Other than that and a couple of drawstring bags, a mini quilt, BOM blocks, and the new Plover Pouch that.is.all. It is what it is, right? At any rate, I look forward to stepping in with fresh eyes and energy after a bit of vacation.

August Fabric Usage

Used up: 9.70 yards [6.22 projects + 3.48 recycled/donated]
Brought in: 6.0 yards 
Net: -3.70 yards

Plover Pouch

I couldn't help but try the new Plover Pouch pattern from Anna Graham @noodlehead531, so I set the chair project aside and dug in. After deciding to make the medium version, I was pretty thrilled at the main fabric I found in my stash to use for it - an OOP viewmasters from Ruby Star Rising by Melody Miller. Essex Homespun in Navy coordinated nicely as the accent gusset fabric; lining fabric was a little harder to find but I think Ruby Star Society Thatch in Cloud from Floradora by Jen Hewett fit well, and luckily I had enough.

As usual, cutting and interfacing all the pattern pieces is half the effort in bag-making, though I actually found the actual sewing of this bag kind of challenging. Between the unique technique of the zipper panels, the gussets, and using zipper by the yard, it just took some real focus. 

One thing about that zipper by the yard is that it isn't measured quite the same as traditional zippers. Thankfully, Anna provided excellent tips on how to measure and make adjustments for both types. 

I somehow missed that fold-over elastic was listed among the needed supplies, so I improvised on the trim of the mesh pockets. I used the selvage from the lining fabric. I thought it added a fun touch. 

A feature of the Plover that I really liked was the snaps holding down the zipper end tabs. Unfortunately I didn't have the right kind of snaps, and realizing late in the game, I opted for buttons. I only had two I liked well enough to use, and even though they didn't match, I liked that they were both blue, so went with them anyway. I'll stock up on the snaps for next time.

So even though this pouch was more challenging than some I've made, the second I turned it right-side out, nearly finished, I loved it and wouldn't really hesitate to make it again. Another great feature of the pattern is that Anna provides a video sew-along(!), which is always an asset. I found the medium version (10” wide by 3 ½” deep, 7 ½” tall) to be a terrific size for a variety of uses. Not sure yet if I'll use mine for a hand project or for personal items, but either way, I can't wait!

Haralson Belt Bag III

Does this bag look familiar?

If so, I'm not surprised! After seeing my Haralson Belt Bag, a pattern by Anna Graham @noodlehead531, I made a pretty blue one for my daughter Rachel @snippetsofsweetness using Essex Speckle Yarn Dyed in Ocean for the exterior. Blue is her very favorite, and when my daughter-in-law Lindsey @lindsjeske saw it, she commented on how much she liked it. I offered to make a Haralson bag for her too, and she liked that idea! After talking about it, we agreed I'd use the same Ocean Essex exterior with a different lining - Rifle Paper Co. Garden Party Wild Rose in Blue Metallic.

Other than that, the zips, hardware, leather, and webbing are all the same as Rachel's. The girls can't help if they have similar tastes!

This is a really enjoyable bag to make, though I think I'm done for now!

A Seat at the Table

A day or two after sharing my most recent post about the chair quilt project, I began to feel what I expected were Covid symptoms, considering hubby had tested positive a few days before. Ugh. Before I got wiped out for a few days, though, I managed to add a key piece to the collection of chair blocks on the design wall: a table.

As I began to feel better, I made another large chair block (bottom left in photo above) and a batch of various sized blocks incorporating a 'new' pink and orange solid, as well as a new multi-colored print.

I like what they added to the overall mix!

Progress has definitely been slow, but I think I'm about ready to start piecing from the inside out and just see where it takes me. For sure, I'll need more chairs before I'm done, but I'm thinking I might better see exactly what's needed as I move along. We'll see....

Floral Stitches IV

With this little sampler, I'm a quarter of the year though the Dropcloth Floral Stitches series. I'd originally planned on doing just six of the 12 samplers, but we'll see. I'm enjoying them so much!

This one felt a little less dense than the previous ones but that's fine. I double-stitched around several of the petals to add a little depth, but didn't really want to fill in anywhere on this design.

Here's all four of the floral samplers together!

I did go back and fill in around the border of the first sampler. Remember how I'd left that little scallop, not quite sure what to do with it?

Here it is after I filled it in with a variety of stitches. Better, right??

So I'm all caught up, and as always, just looking forward to the next one....

Fragments

Ages ago - two years ago maybe? - I hung a small quilt in our Little Free Library. Just 9" x 12", it was begun in September of 2019, on a touring bus, somewhere between Paris and Beaune, France.

Fast forward to this week when I was restocking our LFL, and noticed that the little quilt was gone. No problem. I'm fine that someone claimed it, but it made me think I should hang another quilt up, and see if it finds a new home too. This small (9" x 9") quilt, which I named "Fragments," was created straight from the scrap basket. 

I began with a tiny pieced scrap I'd come across a few weeks ago and kept for just such a time as this.

Bit by bit, it grew...

Until it was large enough, and ready to make a scrappy back, baste, and consider quilting options.

Using Aurifil 50wt 2612 [Arctic Sky], I did angled straight-line quilting, between 1/16" and 1/2" apart. I originally planned on a grid, but actually one direction seemed enough.



A scrappy binding was the obvious choice, and once I got a few photos, I took it right out to hang in our LFL. We'll see if it gets claimed. I should probably put a little sign up to let folks know that would be ok, so I'll give that some thought. Meanwhile, it was a fun little diversion. Now back to work on chair blocks!