Playing around with the timer on my camera...
Yesterday I had my first real attempt at machine quilting.
I pin basted with Fumi last week and yesterday I put some stitches in. Wow. Machine quilting is fast. Of course I had no idea what I was doing (well, I do read a lot of quilt blogs, and I know a lot of machine quilters, so I guess I had some idea), but it turned out ok. I don't know how to get the stitches the same length, and I'm just using the regular foot because it didn't come with a walking or a free-motion foot (and I wasn't about to fill out a purchase order to request one), but for a first try, it doesn't look that bad. I am using matching thread just in case though. Once it's quilted, Fumi & I will sew the binding on, and then the students can hand stitch the binding to the back to finish it. Over all the students did a great job. First they cross-stitched the blocks with their names, the teachers' names, and the places they visit, then they pieced the whole thing as a group activity. I was hesitant to post the above pic because I'm committed to protecting the students' privacy, but I photoshopped the students' names out of it (just the teachers' names remain), so I think that's safe. The students who made it are 18-22 years old and fall on the Autism Spectrum at varying degrees. Some were able to operate the sewing machine with minimal assistance, others needed the teacher's full hand-over-hand guidance, but I am still amazed at what they put together, and how the teachers organized the year long activity. Ah, I love my school.
(a stained glass window in Sapporo Station)
Sapporo is quite possibly my favorite city in the whole world. Though I've never lived there, I have many many fond memories of traveling, partying, clubbing, shopping, and of just soaking in life in Japan (preferably from the second story of Starbucks sitting at the bar overlooking a busy intersection..). Mrs. K. and I took the train into the city and met up with her daughter, Keiko, and her friend, Mrs. Oda. First we stopped by Keiko's apartment which is small (2 rooms and a tiny kitchen) but wicked cute, then we made our way to a fancy French restaurant for lunch.
While traveling through the city, I couldn't help but notice the current fashion trends. Notably spring jackets with a belt tied in back (Keiko's had removable lace trim on the bottom hem), skirts with leggings or pants underneath, knee-high socks, and socks & high-heels (occasionally open-toed heels/sandals). Shocking. Loved it.
After lunch they decided to let me loose on a shopping spree -- our first stop= Kanariya.
I was in an overwhelmed state of shock upon walking in the door. It took me more than a few minutes to regain composure and realize I was actually there, with money, and no time limit. I don't exactly know what happened, but before I knew it I was pulling rolls of fabric off the racks and saying "ichi meitoru zutsu" (one meter each, please) to the handsome shop clerk (how come cute guys don't work in American fabric shops?!), and that was just the first floor, Quilting fabric/notions are on the 4th floor..
It was almost a good thing that I spent most of my money on the first floor, because of course on the quilting floor things are much more expensive. The beautiful thick cottons behind me in this pic ran $14~$22/meter. I wanted them, but didn't buy any (that day..). Instead, after 2 hours of shopping, I walked out with 22.5 meters of cotton prints, a clover thimble, a sashiko kit, two quilt books, and the May issue of Quilts Japan (my luggage is still in disaray, I think I'll post pics of individual items as I use them later on).
Here Keiko and Mrs. Oda are waiting patiently, probably discussing how nuts I am. I swear, all 3 women were in total shock at what I was doing (and what I was spending). Keiko was very helpful with holding bolts while I ran back and forth from the shelves to the cutting table. We asked the 4th floor shop girl if she knew of any local quilt shows going on that weekend. You'd think someone working on the quilting floor of a HUGE fabric shop would know these things, right? Eh, she didn't know. I found out later (after we returned to Tomakomai) that there was a quilt show right there in downtown Sapporo. Sadly there was no way for me to get back to the city before it closed though. I spent a few days regretting that, but then started appreciating everything else I was doing instead.
Fresh green beans are sold in individually wrapped packs of 10 beans each. We opted for frozen. Parsley also came in cute little packages. This is the largest bottle of olive oil I could find. Ahhh.. that experience made me glad I live in America. When I lived in Japan, I didn't cook, American or Japanese food. Since I came back to the States I've been living with Costas and I still don't cook that much. Now though, the recipes I feel most comfortable with are Greek. I knew cooking Greek food in Japan wouldn't be easy, but... the fasolakia came out pretty good though, and while cooking, the apartment smelled like home.
Ok, that's a long enough post for today. Sapporo, day 2, will have to wait til tomorrow.
I don't know what's gotten in to me, but I actually came home and made things from this Greek cook book (gotta love Vefa) twice this week. Wednesday it was giouvetsi, and tonight, fasolakia. This is one Greek recipe that I feel very confident with. It's super simple and I've done it enough times that I know what to expect and get pretty consistent results. I really enjoy making it too. there's something meditative about cutting the ends off 2-3 lbs of green beans..
As with so many other Greek comfort foods, this one tastes even better the second day. Costas called while I was making it and said the guys invited him to go for dinner after work, did I mind? I didn't mind. Really. I think it's good that we spend time on our own in different social groups, but he often feels guilty about it. I have to remind him that I "go quilting" several times a month without him, and I don't feel bad about it. Tomorrow I'll be gone all day at the class, and he can enjoy the beans and think of me. (of course, if he wanted to mop the living room floor or clean the bathrooms and think of me that'd be nice too, but I won't put my expectations too high.)
Served with a nice hunk of feta and some crusty bread. Comfort food indeed.
Welcome to my first tutorial. I'm going to teach you how to make spanikopita, or Greek spinach pie.
Why am I doing this in a quilting blog? Heck, I don't know. I have always loved the entries in my uncle Tom's cooking blog, and I was making it today and thought, "why don't I take some pictures?" so here goes.
First, the recipe:
I came about this recipe through some trial and error with Vefa's cookbook, by speaking with lots of Greek women (and one American woman married to a Greek guy), and by eating lots and lots of spanikopita. As an American married to a Greek, this works for me. I don't make it often, and never just for Costas, but it goes over very well at parties and any other occasion when you want it to look like you spent hours in the kitchen, because you do.
Makes about 24 triangles. Two triangles make a nice side dish or a small lunch.
Prep time: 2 hours. This includes mixing the mix and folding the triangles. It always takes me over an hour to get all the triangles folded.
Bake time: 1-2 hours. I don't have this part down yet, and I've never made them in the same oven twice. Bake for atleast one hour, then check and see that all the edges are brown and flakey. Sometimes the ones on the outside cook up faster so I'll take them out and let the middle ones stay in a while longer.
*Costas' note: they taste better not straight from the oven, so bake ahead and let them sit for an hour or so before serving.
You'll need:
2 lbs frozen spinach
1 pack Apollo Fillo #4 pastry sheets (about 24 sheets per pack)
Lots of Greek olive oil (the darker the better)
1 lb feta cheese, crumbled (I use imported Greek feta, "vareli," from the barrel)
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup heavy cream (or half & half, or light cream)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped dill
1 med-large sweet vidalia onion, chopped
--and--
a large baking pan, brushed with olive oil
a pastry/basting brush
a clean damp kitchen towel
Start by thawing the spinach and squeezing out the excess water. Squeeze small handfulls really well between your palms and place the spinach in a large mixing bowl with the chopped onion. Add the feta and crumble as you mix. Add the cream eggs, parsley, dill, salt & pepper. Mix well.
It should look like this:
Set the bowl aside and prepare your work surface. Don't open the fillo dough until you're ready to begin making the triangles. Wet a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the excess water. This will be used to cover the fillo sheets to keep them from drying out should you need to stop or take a break during the preparations. Have a cup of oil and pastry brush to one side, close to the bowl of spinach mixture. On the other side, lay out a paper towel to catch drips of oil, and place your baking pan on top. Are you ready?
Open the fillo and unroll the sheets. There will be a plastic sheet at the bottom, leave the fillo dough on the plastic sheet and place it vertically at the center of your work surface. Carefully spread out the stack to smooth out any wrinkles. Dip your brush in the oil and paint a large line down the center of the first fillo sheet.
Paint the entire sheet, edge to edge, with a soft stroke, taking care not to rip the fillo. Add as much oil as necessary, but it should just be glossy, not wet.
Next, fold the fillo sheet onto itself, oil side down, in thirds.
Paint the thin strip again with olive oil. Take a spoonful of the spinach mixture and place it at the bottom of the strip. 
Fold up the bottom left corner to form a triangle.
Continue to fold up the packet of spinach until the entire fillo sheet has been used.
Place the triangle on the baking tray and brush liberally with olive oil.
How'd you do? are you ready for the next one? Repeat about 23 more times. If you need to stop (to wash your hands, answer the phone, anything), remember to lay the damp kitchen towel lightly over the stack of fillo sheets, they will dry out very quickly if you don't. When you resume the triangle-making process, the first fillo sheet (which was touching the towel) may seem a little damp and tough to work with, but spread it with oil as usual and it should be fine. Once all the triangles have been folded, you can either bake immediately in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour (or more, watch til they get brown and flakey) or wrap in clingwrap and store in the refridgerator overnight, or in the freezer for longer. If you freeze them, there is no need to defrost before baking, just pop them right into the preheated oven.
Voila! Enjoy!
(*note* This post has been three days in the making, forgive me. Blogger just doesn't want to upload my photos into a draft entry, any advice?)
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