Domestic Stuff

Last night I finally went to my long-anticipated (by me, anyway) quilting class. Just a one-night affair, called "machine-quilting basics." I was quite concerned that I would be the dunce of the class and probably asked to leave before I infected the real quilters with my dunceness. Thankfully, this did not occur, although it was touch and go there for awhile.

Really, who would expect to go to a quilting class, the qualifications for which were "must be able to sew a straight line" and after a brief introductory lecture, be told to START QUILTING?! I had to slap my quilt sandwich together (and yes, that IS what it's called) lickety-split and just go with it.

It turned out okay. By the end of the night, my neighbor had said to me, "My, you're really good at squiggles."

I'm good at squiggles. Huh. Who knew?

I actually did take a picture this morning of my squiggles (and my name -- I quilted my name, isn't that cool?) but unfortunately, since I was quilting with tan thread on cream muslin, the picture came out looking a lot like nothing. You'll have to just take my word for it. I'm going to do some practicing on the really pretty fabric panel I bought which we didn't actually use in the class, so I'll post that when it's done.

In lieu of a quilting picture, I thought I'd pass on this great recipe for homemade ice cream that I made this weekend. (If you don't have an ice cream maker, I highly suggest you buy one. I bought a cheapy one for $18 at Target and it's working just fine so far.) Homemade ice cream, even made in an electric maker, reminds me of being a kid and cranking that ice cream crank until I thought my arm would fall off, then getting to eat multiple bowls of drippy, smooshy yumminess. In my family, we only had three flavors: banana, strawberry or peach. I made banana on Sunday, with the scandalous addition of dark chocolate chips. I'm planning on trying some more adventurous flavors this summer, but for starters, this one's a classic. It came from my mom, who got it from HER mom, so it has a great pedigree.



Homemade Ice Cream

2 quarts Half and Half
5 eggs (Yes, it has raw eggs. It came from a grandma, it must be okay.)
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
pinch of salt
3 cups of fruit

Mix together and run through a blender to chop and distribute fruit. Chill for as long as you can stand to wait. Freeze according to your ice cream freezer's directions, then put in your regular freezer for a few hours to harden further.

Best eaten outside in a lawn chair, swatting bugs and letting your favorite dog lick the bowl.