Buy PA Local

Meet Veggie Girl - she was created to grace the pages of the Calico Cutters Quilt Guild cookbook - titled "Quilters in the Kitchen". Veggie Girl Says "Buy PA Local" - in February - with over a foot of snow still left on the ground??? That's right - once a month in the winter my local grower's market - the West Chester Growers' Market - holds it's winter market - and yes - there is some wonderful produce available in February in Pennsylvania, as well as local cheeses, baked goods and soaps.

Here's my market basket loaded up with my purchases from the day. I stocked up on my favorite lotion from Ellen April, lavender scented, promising spring is on it's way. And, yes, all of this produce was grown in Pennsylvania in February. One of my favorite stands at the market is Windy Acres, owned and operated by a comical young Amish man, Abe Stoltzfus. Abe grows all of his winter produce in hothouses. Today we purchased baby bok choy, kale, collards, carrots, beets, beautiful lettuces and organic eggs. I am a veg-a-holic, openly admit it.

Dinner was easy tonight - I sauteed 2 links of chorizo (purchased last week at the Lancaster Farmers' Market) with an onion and garlic clove. Once the onion was translucent I added about 4 cups of mixed cooking greens (kale and bok choy), a chopped up roasted red pepper "fresh from the jar", and a quarter of a preserved lemon - preserved lemon can kick up the flavor of almost anything - click here for a great recipe to make preserved lemons at home. I allowed the greens to cook down, then added 2 cups of cooked pasta and finished the dish off with a grating of Parmesan cheese.

I made a simple chopped salad of English cucumber, cherry tomatoes and crisp celery dressed with a touch of honey vinegar vinaigrette - crunchy and healthy. Honey vinegar has a very special flavor - I purchase it at Carlino's in West Chester or Ardmore. I love chopped salads - I'll pull anything out of the produce drawer, chop it up and toss it with some homemade dressing.

I called these meals "pantry meals" - basically because I am using up the basic ingredients I keep on hand in my pantry and fridge - and they are some of the best meals I make. No recipes - this is where I wing it, play with the ingredients. I am so lucky - I've got a great pantry - and I love to keep it stocked. Every well stocked pantry has it's own quilt art - I display the three quilts I made for the guild's cookbook - check out my website if you want to see them close up.

I have to give a shout out to my big guy Ryan, my nephew - he celebrated his big number 2 birthday today and we got to party on down with him - Happy Birthday Ryan!!!

Meet Lily

This is our Lily - she is a four pound (with collar and tags) Maltese. Lily doesn't have a tail - I'd have shared a photo with you but it's not a very flattering angle, if you know what I mean . I do apologize - she is in need of a grooming - me too - but if you're like me, trapped by the nor'easter of the mid-Atlantic, you too are likely still in your jammies.

Today Lily is modeling her root beer float dog sweater - it was her Christmas gift from me. The knitting pattern can be found at My Savannah Cottage (http://www.etsy.com/shop/mysavannahcottage), a wonderful shop on my favorite site on the web, www.etsy.com. She really does look like a root beer float, complete with a cherry on top. The pattern directions were excellent!

Lily also has her own quilt (she actually has a few). Whenever I make a bed quilt there are typically a few extra blocks from samples and my practice quilting scraps. I take those extras and sew them together for Lily. She loves the minkie backing. Here's Lily's quilt and the larger quilt we humans in the family use. Maybe you can help me out here - I think the fabric is Michael James Colorways from a few years ago, however I searched the web and can find no reference to a commercial line of fabric from Michael James.

Did I mention it's snowing outside, again - we have about 20 inches - and it's to snow for another 4 hours - here we go again. Normally I would be cooking my heart out by this hour of a good nor'easter, but we are actually going to a wine tasting party at a friend's house tonight - as long as the electricity holds out. Don't get me wrong - I love a good party, especially with the great group of friends we are getting together with tonight. But I am feeling somewhat cheated out of my nor-easter - that feeling of being trapped at home, filling the house with the smell of comfort food and cookies, no pressure to do anything other than shovel the snow. I'll get over it - tonight will be a blast I know that, and just the fun of getting there and home will be an adventure - I love adventures!

Nancy Cosmos Debuts at Jenkins Arboretum

Stalking Nancy: Last year at the Lancaster Quilt show I saw this quilt and was simply blown away - the use of color, the movement in the design, everything about this quilt was captivating. The name of the quilt is Hamlet and it was made by Nancy Cosmos, Nancy Cosmos of Malvern - STOP - I live in Malvern and not many quilters slip by my quilter radar. Who is this woman and why don't I know her. The investigation / stalking began - I start e-mailing friends - they don't know her. I realize she actually lives less than a mile from me - who is she and why don't I know her??? That month at my guild meeting, Calico Cutters Quilt Guild of West Chester, PA, this visitor steps up on the stage and unfurls Hamlet - the visitor is Nancy Cosmos - I jumped up and shouted "I've been stalking you" - and so started my friendship with Nancy.

The Opening: Last night Nancy opened an exhibit at Jenkins Arboretum in Wayne. As we walked toward the lovely new visitors center for the arboretum we were greeted by a beautiful view of Nancy's tumbling blocks quilt - it was the perfect lure to pique your curiosity for what awaited you once inside. Nancy has quite a "fan club" as attendance was excellent at her opening. Her quilts were beautifully presented on the massive walls of the visitor's center. Meet Nancy in front of one of her quilts.



One of my favorite quilts was this beautiful impressionistic interpretation of the gardens of the Jenkins Arboretum in bloom. Nancy - congratulations on an amazing show! Pinch yourself - it wasn't a dream!



Nancy's exhibit, Order and Chaos, Color and Perspective will be on exhibit at the Jenkins Arboretum- www.jenkinsarboretum.org through February 21 so plan accordingly - you don't want to miss it.