I love Erma

When I think of Pinterest, typically I think of craft ideas, food recipes and an endless meandering through word porn and fashions wish lists and art appreciation.  What I do not think of is comics.  My husband is an excellent resource  on finding new comics. Most of the time he has already found and purchased the exact eclectic graphic novel that I didn’t know existed and couldn’t possibly live with out.  Which is why it took my by surprise to find a comic that I adore on Pinterest. 

I love Erma by Brandon Santiago.  Erma is terrifyingly cute and actually makes me want to watch more horror movies, so that I can truly enjoy some of the nuances in the humor. I love the story lines, the weird trivia and the tongue in cheek nods to the classic horror genre. 

If you need a smile, I highly suggest checking out Brandon Santiago on Twitter, Instagram or even order one of his graphic novels.

Twin Peaks- In Quilt Form

My brother in law loves the television show Twin Peaks. The release of every new episode sparked conversation on what was happening and what it really meant.  I won’t go super fan girl on the show, but I do enjoy the show. It is weird, interesting and it is the kind of show that makes a person think. It wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. This is when I had a moment of inspiration.  

I strive to give unique gifts that reflect thoughtfulness during the holidays and lately I have been getting into sewing projects more and more.  I decided to combine his love for Twin Peaks with my love for textile manipulation. I decided to make a Twin Peaks quilt.  

One of the hardest parts of any quilting project outside of creating a pattern is choosing the fabric. You get a mental picture in your head as to what you want the fabric to be, and then the challenge to make it work. I decided to break the quilt up into two themes. One theme being the town of Twin Peaks and the second section the Black Lodge.  

For anyone that has watched the show, they know that the Black Lodge is in the center of Twin Peaks. I decided to have the Black Lodge theme section capped on the ends with the Twin Peaks themed sections to represent this. 

For the Twin Peaks section I tried to take into account the whimsy of some of the beloved characters and running themes through out the show, without drowning in small the details.  The final fabric choices for Twin Peaks ended up being: Pinecones, Fish, Donuts, Cherry Pie Filling, Coffee.  I created a pattern of twin triangles to mimic twin mountain peeks using the the Pinecones and filled in the area around it with the remaining details. As a special nod to my brother in laws favorite lines, I made a point to surround the fish with coffee.  

Pete Martell: Fellas, don't drink that coffee! You'd never guess. There was a fish... in the percolator! Sorry...

The Black Lodge themed section was the harder of the two sections to create.  The initial idea was easy, create the black lodge emblem.  The application was anything but easy.  I knew that I wanted to use black and white chevron and red velvet, but the other fabric was harder to define.  I eventually decided on Stars,  Smoke, Red Oil Slick and Crushed Darkness to go with the chevron and red velvet.  That way different aspects of the Black Lodge could be represented. 

Giant: The owls are not what they seem.

I had a lot of fun coming up with the concept for the quilt and searching for fabric.  The process sparked lots of conversations between my husband and I.  Without his contributions and acting as a sounding board, this might be a totally different quilt.  One of the joys about this project is that it inspired other themed quilts that I can’t wait to start working on and. Learned a lot in the process.  

Pizza Chicken - A Compromise

The Year of the Pizza Chicken

Sometimes dinner takes a little bit of creative compromise.   

Me: What do you want for dinner Christmas Eve?

Jon: 🍕

Me: We are not having pizza.

Jon: 😢

Me: Beef, Chicken or Pork?

Jon: 🐔

Jon: ...🍕🐔

Me: I’ll figure it out.

And this is why I have Pinterest.  I found the perfect combination of Pizza and Chicken that would look good on Christmas Eve dinner plate.  The recipe by Simply Stacie was wonderful to follow.  

My husband took the lead on the prepping the chicken by pounding it flat and then rolling it with the stuffing.  Simply put, the Chicken is laid flat and then filled with a combination of red sauce, pepperoni and cheese. It is then rolled and then topped with more sauce pepperoni and cheese. The cheese rolled into the sauce prevents the chicken from being dry and the pepperoni adds a savoriness to the chicken.  The chicken went nicely with garlic rice and sautéed spinach and carrots.  It was the perfect meal for a semi fancy meal. 

In honestly it was one of the simplest recipes I have ever done, since all I did was the filling and turn the oven on. In fact two out of three people at the table seemed to love the recipe and mentioned that they wouldn’t mind eating it again, which I consider a win for a holiday experiemnt.  If you are looking for something different to fix that leave you with a flavorful moist chicken, I would recommend Pizza Stuffed Chicken.

Name That Sandwich

I am sure that I get the best ideas when I am on the tread mill or folding laundry.  My mind tends to wander and look for avenues to distract myself from what I am actually doing.  I was folding the endless supply of socks when some jingle on the radio made my brain take a left turn.My brain certainly picks odd things to get distracted over. Part of it could be that I was getting hungry, or that I have heard the same commercial for a Rueben on the radio over and over again and it made me wonder why it was called a Rueben.  

If you were to have a sandwich named after you, what would it be called and what would be on it?

With no rush to get back to matching white socks with a logo in one spot to other white socks that have the logo in a different spot, I texted a dozen friends to find out what would be on their sandwich.  The results amazed me.  I feel like I have enough good recipes to open my own cafe.  Can you guess who suggested what as a sandwich? 

Creators: Faye, Nic, Hannah, Barbie, Erica, Ken and Teresa

• The Outcast
• Ingredients: Chocolate M&M Cookies with dark chocolate ice cream filling rolled in black sprinkles
• The Irish Gal
• Ingredients: Slices of Corned Beef, Dubliner Irish Cheese on homemade white bread
• The Descendant
• Ingredients: Capocolla Ham, Genoa Salami, Aged Sharp Provolone, Roasted Red Peppers on a yeasty roll
• The Gaia
• Ingredients: Freshly mashed avocado with scallions and caramelized onions mixed in, sautéed portobello mushrooms, dijon mustard, roasted red peppers with Mediterranean spiced sea salt on Boston Bibb lettuce on a gluten free Texas toast that as a thin smear of basil pesto
• Don't Heat Up the Bacon
• Ingredients: Sliced turkey, bacon, tomatoes, spinach, red onions with chipotle mayo  on toast
• PB on PB
• Ingredients: Creamy Peanut Butter with Strawberry Jelly on a Potato Bun
• The Sea Pig
• Ingredients: Tuna Salad with sliced hardboiled eggs, thin sliced Black Forest Ham and thick slice of extra sharp cheddar cheese with a slice of tomato and hand pull of spinach and couple of spicy pickles on toasted sour dough bread 

Thank you every one that gave me a sandwich order. It sounded delicious and I apologize for not being able to use everyone’s response. I was somehow was able to finish the laundry despite the grumbling of my stomach and now I have a bunch of new sandwiches to try!