the menu on Boxing Day

It was a cosy day with all the kids at home and it was a real treat to enjoy together the menu of this day. I was too busy serving (and tasting) that I again forgot to take pictures.
You can watch pictures and read the recepies (in Dutch) at the publishers site by clicking the >> behind the dish:

Classic Sgroppino >>
•
Sicilian orange salad with shrimps and crayfish >>
•
Italian pea soup with Parmesan cream and crispy Prosciutto >>
•
Green bean salad with olives stuffed with lemon >>
Potato cookies >>
Oven braised eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes >>
Ox fillet wrapped in Prosciutto >>
•
Tiramisu from cantuccini and mandarin oranges >>
Italian meringue dressed with Limoncello cream >>
Caramel/Pecan icecream with an Espresso dressing >>

The menu in Dutch:

I also added links to the pictures and receipes of the Christmas Day Menu.
A nice New Year's Eve and a Happy New Year,

Christmas Day Menu

On Christmas Day I had to cook only for four, except for the dessert, a delicious ice-cream cake.
The menu consisted of:

Pâté brulée with toasted brioche >>
•
Saffron cream soup with crayfish >>
•
Filet de Porc coated with syrup >>
Red cabbage with Tutti Frutti >>
Stuffed potatoes >>
Harricots verts with Jamón serrano >>
•
Surprise Ice-cream Cake

Or in Dutch:

My friend, his parents and I have enjoyed all the courses.
Unfortunately, I was so busy serving that I forgot to take pictures of the dishes!
You can watch pictures and read the recepies (in Dutch) at the publishers site by clicking the >> behind the dish.
On Boxing Day I take care for another menu, this time for five people.
Hopefully I can manage to take pictures then.

Merry Christmas,

tip: free eBook "6 Free Sewing Patterns for Beautiful Homemade Gifts"

Today's nice surprise in my e-mail box is from Quilting Arts, a link to a free eBook with with the following topics:

• A Festive Setting
  by Jane Dávila
• Holiday Open House Advent Calendar
  by Judy Coates Perez
• Snow Play Table Runner
  by Kathy Mack
• Short & Sweet Candy Cane Napkin Holders
  by Pokey Bolton
• Easy Wine Bottle Gift Bag
  by Elin Waterston
• Quick Quilted Jewelry Wrap
  by Laura West Kong

You can download the eBook at the Quilting Arts website here.
I hope you enjoy this free gift as much as I do!

A tree for Laurel's Christmas Cats

For the first time I am participating this year in the Holiday Traditions Quilt Contest of the Quilting Bloggers Directory. It is a nice way to join a worldwide community sharing ideas of Christmas projects. I do not think that I win anything, but it is nice to share my experience with one of the first quilts I made using "applique". My entry for this contest is a quilt I made in 2005.

Being a fan of Laurel Burch's fabrics and books, I decided not to "just" cut into her beautiful Christmas fabrics:

Not yet learned the "raw edge applique" technique, I just began cutting out the figures, attaching them with some washable school glue to the background.
As soon as the glue was dry I used a straight stitch of my sewing machine to make the attachment permanent. My free motion quilting skills were less than mentioning worth, so I used a "funny" stitch on the machine to quilt the three layers together.
The result was a quilt with a tree as a place for the cats and birds to enjoy Christmas in peace together.

If I would make the quilt again, I should use a more playfull, curvy designed tree.
And use something like Steam-A-Seam to fuse the figures to the background.
The learning curve of this quilt was great, though, because I did it my own way.

The quilt measures (b x h) 31 x 33 inch:

Sadly Laurel Burch has passed away on September 13, 2007.
Her bright spirit lives in the art and books she left for us behind to enjoy.
This video tells her story in a nutshell:

(to watch the video on YouTube click here)

I am the lucky owner of three of Laurel's books:

Laurel Burch Quilts Kindred Creatures
Laurel Burch Christmas Color the Season Beautiful with 25 Quilts & Crafts
Laurel Burch Legends: 9 Quilts Inspired by the Earth, Sea & Sky

And if I am joining a quilt workshop or meeting you can recognize me carrying this bag:

So if you see a quilter walking with this bag, it might be me!
Thank you for visiting and have a nice weekend.

Summary of links:

• A better view of "A tree for Laurel's Christmas Cats"
• Holiday Traditions Quilt Contest 2009
• the Quilting Bloggers Directory
• Laurel Burch's website

Update November 16:
The bag I bought a couple of years ago; I have no skills (yet) as a bag maker.

More blocks and projects for free

During December, the month of presents, the Dutch "Sinterklaas" and the Santa are doing overtime. It is nice to give a handmade present instead of a bought one.
A birthday is also a great opportunity for such a present and with a slight modification you can transform a given idea in a personalized one.
At Among The Gum Trees gorgeous designs are shared every Monday through October and November by nine designers:

Finally, after cleaning my room, I had the chance to clean up my website space.
In the past, if you were interested in the patterns you had to send me an e-mail so I could send you in return the PDF or EQ file.
By making some room free for files at my website, you can now download the files without e-mailing me first. You can find the patterns by clicking here.

Enjoy and have a nice week!