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Quilt Squares for a Cause

01 Mar

Some of you may know that I also have a group on Facebook that’s dedicated to sewing, crafting, and general fabric addiction- appropriately enough, it’s called ‘I don’t have a problem, I have a well-rounded fabric stash!’  Each month we run some kind of a fun challenge (mainly to gain inspiration and keep the creative juices flowing, but there’s also a prize to be won), but this month’s challenge is extra-special in my eyes, because it’s designed to help the Fisher House Foundation, a fabulous organization that helps military families!

From March 1st through March 19th, we will be accepting photo entries of 12” quilt squares.  The top entries will then be collected and assembled into a quilt that will be auctioned off on eBay to benefit the Fisher House Foundation (see the end of this post for more information on the Fisher House Foundation).  Anyone is welcome to enter, and we would really appreciate your support!

OFFICIAL RULES

  • Entries must be made of quilting-weight cotton fabric, must be sewn in some way, and the finished size must be a 12” square (PLEASE NOTE: you will actually be making a 12.5” block, because there will be a ¼” seam allowance on each side when assembled- the 12” is the space that will be visible in the assembled quilt).  Beyond that, they can be quilted, embroidered, appliqued, dyed, painted, bedazzled, or otherwise embellished in any way that the contestant chooses!  (Please remember that the finished product must be washable.)
  • In order to have a coherent final product, we are limiting the color palette to red, white, and blue (we understand that there are tons of variations and shades within that range- basically, if the tones would work with the American flag, they’re fine).
  • Entries can be submitted from March 1st through March 19th, 2012.  Voting will take place from March 20th through March 26th, and a winner will be announced no later than March 28th.  (In the unlikely event that there is a tie, a run-off vote will be held from March 27th through March 29th, and a winner will be announced no later than April 1st.)
  • Each contestant may enter as many as five (5) submissions.
  • Entries must be the work of the contestant submitting them.
  • One lucky winner will receive a $30 gift certificate to the online fabric store of his or her choice!
    • If that fabric store doesn’t offer gift certificates (and if an arrangement can’t be made with the shop owner), the winner will receive $30 via Paypal to shop to his/her heart’s content.
    • If the winner is in a country outside of the U.S., he or she will receive the equivalent of $30 USD in the appropriate currency.
  • The top 25 squares will be sent in to be assembled into a quilt that, upon completion, will be auctioned off via the eBay Giving Works programto benefit the Fisher House Foundation.
    • Participants whose entries have been selected will be notified no later than March 28th (April 1st if a run-off is necessary) and provided with a shipping address.  
    • Squares should be shipped out (with Delivery Confirmation where possible) no later than April 9th, 2012.
    • If the response is great enough, we may opt to either do a second quilt (also to be auctioned off) or increase the number of squares selected to make a larger quilt.

HOW TO ENTER

  • Entries can be submitted from March 1st through March 19th, 2012
  • If you haven’t already, please join this group!  (It allows you to add photos)
  • Please be sure to include the following in your picture’s description:  Your name (as it’s shown on Facebook), a name for your submission if you have one, and what materials/methods you used.  (ex.  Kristin Brattlie Garst, ‘Stars and Stripes’, quilted and embroidered cotton)
  • If you used a tutorial or online pattern that you’d like to share, please provide the link in your entry’s comments.  Also, if there’s a story behind your entry, please feel free to share!
  • If you submit more than one entry, please either give them different names or number them.

HOW TO VOTE

  • Voting will take place from March 20th  through March 26th.
  • Each voter can vote only once, and additional votes will be disqualified.  However, please feel free to click the ‘like’ button for as many entries as you want so that we can share the love! 🙂
  • Please feel free to invite your friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances, and random people passing on the street to vote- they’ll simply have to join the group in order to have access to vote (you can add them yourself on the top right side of the page if desired).  We won’t get our feelings hurt if they ‘unlike’ us later, but we’d be thrilled if they decide to hang around!

To add this button to your blog or website, copy and paste the following code:


<a href=”http://tinyurl.com/QuiltSquaresForACause&#8221; target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i43.tinypic.com/2f096ro.jpg&#8221; border=”0″ alt=”Join the Quilt Squares for a Cause Challenge- open for entries through March 19, 2012!”></a>



Good luck, and happy creating- we can’t wait to see what results!  If you have any questions, please comment on this post or email me at FabricProblem@aol.com.  We would really appreciate it if you could share this challenge with your friends, family, and associates- there is code for a blog button below that will link to the event page (http://QuiltSquaresForACause.com).  Also, please feel free to share ideas, inspirations, anecdotes, and work-in-progress pictures with the group as you work on your submissions!

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If you own a fabric/quilting/sewing store or other business and would be interested in donating additional prizes, please contact me at the email above- we’d love to promote you, and would greatly appreciate anything that you can give!

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About Fisher House:  The Fisher House program is a unique private-public partnership that supports America’s military in their time of need. The program recognizes the special sacrifices of our men and women in uniform and the hardships of military service by meeting a humanitarian need beyond that normally provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

Because members of the military and their families are stationed worldwide and must often travel great distances for specialized medical care, Fisher House Foundation donates “comfort homes,” built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful times – during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury.

There is at least one Fisher House at every major military medical center to assist families in need and to ensure that they are provided with the comforts of home in a supportive environment. Annually, the Fisher House program serves more than 12,000 families, and have made available over three million days of lodging to family members since the program originated in 1990. By law, there is no charge for any family to stay at a Fisher House operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs; and Fisher House Foundation uses donations to reimburse the individual Fisher Houses operated by the Army, Navy, and Air Force. No family pays to stay at any Fisher House!

In addition to constructing new houses, Fisher House Foundation continues to support existing Fisher Houses and help individual military families in need. We are also proud to administer and sponsor Scholarships for Military Children, the Hero Miles program, and co-sponsor the Newman’s Own Award.

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3 Comments

Posted by on March 1, 2012 in Random Acts of Craftivity

 

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Happy Anniversary!

26 Feb

Yesterday was our 6th wedding anniversary, so I’ve been wracking my brain for the past few weeks, trying to decide just what I should make as the baked portion of my anniversary gift.  I went for a fairly light and airy option for Valentine’s Day, so this time I decided to hit the opposite end of the spectrum with a Chocolate Brownie Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Glaze!  Yeah, there’s NOTHING low-fat about this recipe, but it’s soooooo worth it…

Chocolate Brownie Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Glaze

This is one of those recipes that was born from an ‘I wonder what would happen if I threw this into the mixer’ kind of day.  I had cream cheese in the house after buying too much for another recipe, so I was looking for a way to get rid of it!  I had some brownie mix on hand, and I’d seen plenty of recipes where cream cheese was used to make a separate element in a brownie, but never one that actually mixed it into the brownie itself.  Fully expecting a baking disaster, I threw everything into the bowl and was very pleasantly surprised!  The cream cheese adds a richness to the brownies that (in my opinion) takes the chocolate to the next level, and the texture is moister, like a very dense, rich cake.

The brownies bake up like a cake, rather than sinking a bit like regular brownies.

Once I’d decided that the brownies themselves were a keeper, I started to think of other flavors to pair with such a rich chocolate.  Peanut butter was the first thing on my list, and so I decided to bring a peanut butter frosting recipe I’d seen on The Barefoot Contessa into the mix.  Again, it was a perfect fit!.  Top it off with some of my favorite Shiny Chocolate Glaze, and you have…

Chocolate Brownie Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Glaze

Delicious, but messy- in my hurry, I went a bit overboard with the glaze...

Brownie Layers

Please note that I specifically listed the Ghirardelli brand because a) they’re my favorite and b) I don’t have any others on hand, so I don’t know if the required ingredients are different.  If you want to break out the Duncan Hines, etc., it should work just fine- all you need to do is follow the ingredients called for on the box and add one package of cream cheese for each mix used.  I would like to try this with a recipe from scratch at some point, but let’s face it- when you’re in a pinch, a little bit of mix doctoring works just fine!

Ingredients

  • 2 Boxes of Ghirardelli Brownie Mix (I used the Dark Chocolate variety, but the Double Chocolate and Triple Chocolate flavors are also really good!)
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 8oz. Packages of Cream Cheese, softened/at room temperature
  • 1/2 C Water
  • 1 C Vegetable Oil

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350*
  2. Lightly spray two 9″ springform pans with cooking spray
  3. Combine cream cheese and eggs in a mixer and beat until combined
  4. Add water and oil and beat until combined
  5. Add brownie mix and beat until combined
  6. Divide the batter between the two pans and spread evenly with a spatula, smoothing the tops
  7. Bake at 350* (325* convection) for 40-45 minutes
  8. Remove to a wire baking rack.  Cool for at least 30 minutes, and then release the lock on the springform to finish cooling.  (Don’t worry about removing them from the pan entirely- that can wait until later, when you’re ready to assemble!  This is a nice, dense cake, so it was very easy to move from pan to plate.)

Kathleen’s Peanut Butter Frosting

Credit for this recipe goes to Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.  I’m a total peanut butter nut (pun intended), so this is one of my favorites!  If you only intend to use the frosting between the brownie layers as I did above, one recipe will suffice.  If you plan to use it all over (see my note on aesthetics at the bottom), you’ll want to at least double it.  And if there happens to be some leftover to dip apples and pretzels, well, you can’t just let it go to waste, can you?…

Ingredients

  • 1 C Confectioner’s Sugar
  • 1 C Creamy Peanut Butter
  • 5 T Unsalted Butter, softened
  • 3/4 t Vanilla Extract
  • 1/4 t Kosher Salt
  • 1/3 C Heavy Cream

Directions

  1. Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment
  2. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. (Side note- I have this fabulous SideSwipe spatula blade for my Kitchenaid, and it makes life so much easier at times like these!)
  3. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Shiny Chocolate Glaze

Adapted from the Shiny Chocolate Glaze recipe found in The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn.  While I usually go for a double recipe when I make glaze, a single recipe should do it for this particular cake.

Ingredients

  • 2 TBS Butter
  • 2 TBS Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 C Heavy (whipping) cream, plus additional as needed
  • 1 TSP Vanilla extract
  • 1 C Powdered sugar (the original recipe says to sift, but I rarely do)
  • 1 C Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan
  2. Add the cocoa and cream, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Do not boil.
  3. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the confectioners’ sugar and the vanilla until mixture is smooth
  4. Stir in the chocolate chips until melted, putting the pan over low heat again if needed, and adding a little more cream if the mixture seems too thick.
  5. Spoon the glaze over the cooled cake as directed above.

Now, to assemble…

As noted in the caption under the picture of the finished cake, I was kind of going for speed over beauty when I put everything together last night- we’d just gotten back from a very rare dinner without the kids, and I was rushing to get the dessert frosted and ready to eat while my husband put the kids to bed.  I made a single recipe of the peanut butter frosting and put all of it between the brownie layers.  I then poured the chocolate glaze over the top, going WAY overboard and using a lot more than I planned, so it kind of resembles that creature that lives in the Molasses Swamp in Candy Land.

Granted, it tastes great no matter how it looks.  However, if I did it again, I would definitely change my plan of attack for a prettier end result!  Next time I will do a better job of leveling the tops of my cake layers, and I plan to double (possibly triple) the peanut butter frosting recipe.  I’ll sandwich the layers together with some peanut butter frosting, and then I’ll strategically poke holes through the cake with the handle of a wooden spoon or a dowel to inject the glaze into the cake itself (I recently picked up a large plastic squeeze bottle that is perfect for times like this).  When the tunnels have been filled with glaze, I will then frost the entire cake with the peanut butter frosting, garnishing with some peanut butter cup candies and a drizzle of the chocolate glaze on top.  Additional glaze can be used to garnish the dessert plates when serving.  Much prettier in the end!

(Just to update, I made another one this week, following my plan above, and I was MUCH happier with how it turned out!  I did the triple batch of peanut butter frosting, and a double batch of glaze.  Like mentioned above, I sandwiched the layers with peanut butter frosting, infused the cake with the glaze, and then frosted all over with peanut butter frosting.  I let the cake and the remaining frosting chill in the fridge to firm up for a few minutes.  Once it was cool, I piped a scalloped edge of peanut butter frosting around the top and bottom of the cake, and then I flooded the top with the remaining chocolate glaze.  With some chocolate flakes on top, it looked infinitely better than the original cake pictured above, and I liked the additional peanut butter, too!  Sadly, I didn’t get a picture…)

Like I said, this isn’t the healthiest of desserts- it’s so rich that it’s one of those things you’ll probably only want once in a blue moon.  Still, it’s definitely one of my favorites!  Also, it’s REALLY good with sliced bananas on top, and bananas are fruit, so that should make it at least marginally healthy, right?…  (Please, work with me in my delusion- it’s the little things that get me through the day!  LOL)

Happy baking, and please share pictures if you give this a try- I’d love to see how you put the finished product together!

 
6 Comments

Posted by on February 26, 2012 in Cakes

 

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Alles Gute zum Fasching!

21 Feb

Alles Gute zum Fasching!

Today we celebrated the final day of Fasching, which is the German equivalent of Carnival or Mardi Gras.  It’s a lot of fun- everyone dresses up, has parties, and eats delicious Berliners and Krapfen (both names for fabulous filled donuts)!  Each year, my oldest son’s school celebrates Fasching with a big parade around base, led by a local band and officiated by the Mayor and Assistant Mayor of Grafenwoehr.  The kids loved being able to wear their costumes almost as much as they loved having an excuse to get out of class and walk around in the sunshine that actually made an appearance today!  (According to our wonderful German Host Nation teacher, “when Angels travel, God makes the sun shine down,” but I have some doubts about how very angelic we were, my own child in particular…)

After the main event, all of the dignitaries gathered for some well-deserved refreshments.  Of course, when the call for American baked goods went out (our cakes and cookies are very different from their German counterparts, so they’re a bit of a rare treat around here), I started making a list of what to bring!  Once I’d finally whittled my wish list from twelve recipes down to three, I ended up making Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with Shiny Chocolate Glaze, a fabulous Lemon Almond Poppyseed Cake that I found at Odense.com, and one of my all-time favorites, Kransekake Drops.  It was a great day, but let me tell you, I’m completely sugared-out!

Kransekake Drops

Kransekake Drops

Kransekake is a traditional Norwegian cookie that is usually baked in ring forms to make a series of graduated rings that are then stacked into a pyramid with a powdered sugar frosting ‘cement’ and decorated with flags and other trinkets (visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kransekake to find out more).   This is my variation for every-day Kransekake- it’s a lot quicker and more portable than the traditional tower!

Ingredients

  • 1 LB Confectioner’s Sugar
  • 1 LB Blanched almonds OR 1 LB almond flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 2 TSP Almond extract
  • 3 Egg whites
  • Crisco
  • Farina (Cream of Wheat)

Cooking Directions

  1. Crush the almonds in a blender or food processor until they’re a fine powder (skip this step if you’re using almond flour)
  2. Combine the almonds with the confectioner’s sugar
  3. Whip the egg whites until a little frothy and add the almond extract
  4. Combine the almond/sugar mixture with the egg white mixture
  5. Put the mixture in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight, until hardened
  6. Pre-heat oven to 350*F
  7. Grease cookie sheets with Crisco and line with farina (I line the pans with parchment or aluminum foil first- it makes clean-up MUCH easier!)
  8. Drop balls of dough on the cookie sheet with a cookie scoop
  9. Bake at 350* until a light golden brown, approx. 15-20 minutes (watch the first batch closely, as ovens vary)
  10. Remove cookies from sheet to cool
  11. Drizzle or dip cookies with either melted chocolate chips or sugar glaze (take ½ LB of confectioner’s sugar and slowly add milk until it reaches a spreadable consistency).  I love these with a drizzle of dark chocolate- it balances out the sweetness beautifully!
  12. Store in a sealed container with a piece of white bread, changing the bread every day or so to keep the cookies soft and moist

Lemon Almond Poppyseed Cake from Odense.com

Lemon Almond Poppyseed Cake

Originally published at www.Odense.com, a fabulous source for recipes and inspiration!

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 1-7 oz box Odense Almond Paste, grated (Sadly, I can’t get Odense Almond Paste over here without considerable planning, so I used an 8 ounce can of almond paste from another company that I can get around the holidays.  It worked just fine, but I really do prefer the Odense if I can get it!)
  • 2 lemons (Depending on size, you may want three lemons to get more lemon rind for your cake)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • Scant 1/4 cup poppy seeds (I didn’t go scant, but I’m a poppy seed fan…)
  • 1/2 cup sour cream

Icing:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 4-6 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • Optional: 1-2 drops yellow food coloring

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour fluted pan. (I used a baking spray with flour- MUCH easier with a pan that has a lot of detail!)
  2. Grate 1 tablespoon of lemon rind on smallest hole of grater, being careful not to get the pith (white part of rind). Set rind aside. Squeeze juice and reserve for icing.  (I felt that the cake needed a bit more lemon rind- I used closer to 1 1/2 tablespoons)
  3. In a mixing bowl beat grated Almond Paste, sugar and butter on high speed until well combined.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat on high three minutes, or until light colored and fluffy.
  5. Sift flour with baking powder and baking soda. Mix grated rind and poppy seeds into flour. Add flour mixture to batter alternately with sour cream. Beat on low until just combined and smooth. Do not over mix.
  6. Spoon batter into pan, and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until cake turns golden and a toothpick inserted near cake middle pulls out clean.
  7. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Invert cake on wire rack and cool completely. Drizzle with icing or dust with powdered sugar.
  8. Icing: In a small bowl mix the powdered sugar, 4-6 teaspoons of lemon juice and almond extract until smooth. Add a drop of yellow food color if desired. Drizzle icing around top of cake and let it run down the sides. (Again, I felt a need for a bit more lemon- I just kept adding more juice until the taste was strong enough, and then I added a bit more powdered sugar to get the texture where I wanted it to be.  I also doubled the icing recipe, because there can never be too much lemon glaze!)
  9. For an extra festive touch decorate with marzipan lemons or grated lemon peel. (As seen in the picture above, I went with the lemon peel this time- there wasn’t enough time for marzipan artwork…)
  10. To Store: After completely cooled, wrap in plastic wrap. The cake will last three days at room temperature or one week if refrigerated.
  11. To Freeze: Wrap un-iced cake first in plastic and then with foil. Freeze for up to one month.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread with Shiny Chocolate Glaze

For the full Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe, visit my Muffins for the Masses post from last December!

It’s been a busy day of baking, celebration, and running backwards to keep ahead of the kids during the parade while taking many, many pictures, so I’m about ready to call it a night.  I hope that you have a great Fasching, Carnival, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, or whatever else you may call it.  Enjoy, and happy baking!

 
8 Comments

Posted by on February 21, 2012 in Cakes, Cookies

 

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Let them eat (pretend) cake!

06 Feb

Still no real baking in sight (sick kids kind of beat the cooking instincts into submission around here), but I do have something that’s at least baking-related: felt cake slices!

I recently participated in a play food swap (everyone in the group makes a bunch of one item, sends them to a central location, and gets back one of each), and I made these yummy-looking little cakes from this fabulous tutorial by Bugga Bugs that I found at YouCanMakeThis.com. (Warning- that site is dangerous…)

It was a bit of a stretch on my comfort zone (yeah, hand sewing is NOT my niche), but once I played with them a bit and worked a bit outside of the instructional box, I was really happy with how they turned out!

This is the first time I've ever spent this much time on cake that couldn't be eaten!

P.S.- Don’t forget, my Valentine’s Owl Stuffie will be featured in the Valentine’s Day Showcase at Sew BitterSweet Designs today! I’d love to see pictures if you give it a try, so please share! 😀

 
9 Comments

Posted by on February 6, 2012 in Random Acts of Craftivity

 

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