Jingle Is Definitely On Santa's Naughty List! In Which It Becomes Clear That I Have No Idea What I'm Doing

UGH, y'all...  I am remembering why my Jingle BOM project stalled out in the first place.  :-(

With new resolve to get this top assembled and off my design wall, the first thing I did was to trim away the backing fabric from the largest applique shapes on the center medallion.

Oh, YES, I Trimmed That Backing Away!

I know quilters have mixed opinions about whether to trim away the backing fabric, with some saying the longevity of the finished piece is compromised by trimming backing away from beneath the applique and others saying it reduces bulk for more quilting possibilities and a softer finished quilt.

Is My Applique Stitched, or WOVEN INTO the Background Fabric?

However, with this first-ever applique attempt, I was overly neurotic about my hand stitches being small enough and I'm afraid there was a bit of overkill on that end.  (I have eased up and am no longer weaving my applique into the background fabric like this!).  Anyway, as you can see in the above photo, there is no way this stitching is going to come out, and my hand stitched applique seams are way more secure than my machine pieced quilt seams.  I only trimmed behind the center poinsettia and the layered pomegranates, though, because it was taking too long and I was on a mission to get this thing DONE.  And so I dug out those pattern directions and found the place where the designer tells you to cut down this 30" applique medallion to a finished size of 26 1/2".  Just "trim it down," she says, with no advice or instruction as to HOW to do this.

My 30 Inch Applique Medallion, Before Trimming

Well, folks -- I struggled.  I measured carefully, and tried my best to trim off the same amount from all four sides, and I ended up with TWO sides measuring 26 1/2" as they were supposed to, and the OTHER two sides measuring only 26".  Also the corners were no longer square.  Did you hear me screaming all the way at your house?!  

I'm convinced that the stuffed berries are what did me in.  Normally I'd lay my acrylic ruler on top of my block and trim away the excess fabric with my rotary cutter, but these stuffed berries near the edges of the medallion lift the ruler up off the fabric so the ruler can't hold the fabric in place while you're cutting.  Instead, I tried to place the ruler over the outside edge of the block that I was trimming away.  Didn't work so well.  :-(  I trimmed again and managed to get all four sides of the block to measure the same 26" with square corners again, but now I'd lost the seam allowances and some of my outer leaves are awfully close to where the border seams are going to  be stitched.  I'm going to have to finesse that with my borders.  If I was planning to diagonally set this medallion as Erin did in her quilt, I would be in deep trouble because it would be too small.  Thankfully I'd already decided to set the medallion straight and add inner borders rather than setting triangles.  So those inner borders will be next.  That's my To-Do for Tuesday! (Linking up with To-Do Tuesday at Stitch ALL the Things: http://stitchallthethings.com).

My Border Print Fabric

Nothing like a royal screw-up to sap your motivation!  What really kills me is that my medallion was so straight and square to begin with, since I tore instead of cutting to keep the edges perfectly on grain.  Thinking ahead to my next applique project with a large medallion, I'm thinking that maybe I should machine baste the final cutting line onto my block background in a contrasting thread color before I start stitching, and then use that thread line as a cutting guide at the end.  What do you all think?  

If anyone knows the magical secret of how to trim completed applique blocks without ruining them, PLEASE TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS!  The only gadget I've seen to help with this is pricey, Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Adjustable Square set:

Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Adjustable Square Set

The suggested retail is $75 and the best price I've found is on the AQS web store, $56.  Amazon also has it for $65 with Prime "free" shipping.  My understanding is that this tool wouldn't have helped with my Jingle medallion because it only goes up to 26", not 26 1/2" like my block was supposed to be.  Does anyone have this tool, and if so, is it worth it?

Okay, so writing about a quilt actually does NOT help it get closer to being finished...  Have a wonderful Tuesday, everyone!  I'm linking up with WIPs On Wednesday at Esther's Quilt Blog.

Let's Bake Cinnamon-Molasses Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Crust!

Homemade Cinnamon-Molasses Pumpkin Pies with Pecan Crusts

So, THIS happened yesterday!  I ended up buying pies from Dean & DeLuca for Thanksgiving because I spent the entire day before Thanksgiving working on my stuffing, and I ran out of time to bake before I had to head to church for Thanksgiving Eve service.  The Dean & DeLuca pies were fine, I guess...  But they merely whetted my appetite for the REAL pumpkin pies, my favorite recipe gleaned from the pages of Bon Appetit magazine back in December of 1999.  I have been obsessing over this pie recipe ever since Thursday, and I had already purchased all of the ingredients before I admitted defeat and ran to D&D.  I figured, better late than never, and so I baked my pies yesterday.

Bon Appetit has a number of pumpkin pies available on their web site, but not this one, so I'm going to share it with you all today.  That's how much I love you.  You're welcome.  [Added bonus: by posting the recipe online, I will always be able to find it again if I ever misplace the original!]  And now, without further ado, I bring you the recipe for:

Cinnamon-Molasses Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Crust

Yield: two 9-inch pies, one for Mom and one for the rest of the family to share

Advance Preparation: Dough for crust can be prepared 3 days ahead & refrigerated, or 1 week ahead & frozen.  Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before using.  Bake pies the day ahead.

Key Ingredients, Ready to Go

 INGREDIENTS:

For Crust:
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
6 T packed light brown sugar
1 1/3 c. finely chopped pecans
1 tsp. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½” pieces
4 T (approximately) ice water

For Filling:
2 ½ c. packed light brown sugar
¼ c. all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground allspice
½ tsp. ground ginger
TWO 15 oz. cans pure pumpkin
6 large eggs
2 T mild-flavored (light) molasses
1 ½ c. heavy whipping cream

Quick note about the ingredients: I use Penzey's spices, which are so much fresher and stronger than the spices I can buy in the grocery store.  Sniff two jars of cinnamon side-by-side and you'll be sold.  There's a Penzey's store at The Arboretum shopping center in Charlotte, but if you don't have one near you it's totally worth ordering online.

As for the crust: I think the pecan crust is delicious, but you can use plain crust instead if you have nut allergies to contend with, or if you are in a time crunch and need to use the ready-to-bake grocery store pie crust pastry instead.  Just make sure you use a deep dish crust or it will overflow.  However, maybe you have no nut allergies in your family, maybe you have plenty of time and you LOVE pecans, but you are afraid of making pie crusts because you have failed miserably in the past?  Ah, do I have the gadget for YOU!  I am about to solve all of your pie crust problems for a mere $6.95 plus shipping and handling, and I don't do any of those affiliate links, either.  I am sharing this with you out of the goodness of my heart because it's the ONLY way I can make a pie crust without swearing like a pirate.  Allow me to introduce you to the 14" Pie Crust Bag from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Catalog:

14" Pie Crust Bag, available here from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Catalog

This is going to totally change your pie-baking life; I promise.  All you do is wipe your counter with a damp rag (the plastic bag will stick to the counter now instead of sliding around), unzip the bag all the way around, and sprinkle both halves lightly with flour... 

Meanwhile, back to our recipe:

For crust:

1.      Pulse pecans in food processor until they are finely ground but still have visible chunks.  Using electric mixer, mix flour, brown sugar, pecans and salt in large bowl until well blended.  Add butter and mix on low speed until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Cut in larger chunks of butter with a pastry knife.  Using fork, mix in enough ice water to bind the dough. 

2.      Transfer dough to a work surface & gather into a ball.  Divide in half.  Flatten each dough half into a disk; wrap each in plastic.  Chill 1 hour (or up to 3 days; OR freeze).  Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before using.

3.      Roll out each disk between 2 sheets of parchment (or in pie crust bags, see photos below*) to 12” round, about 1/8” thick.  Remove top sheet of parchment and invert each dough round into a 9” diameter glass pie plate.  Remove parchment and gently press dough in place.  Trim overhang to ¾”, turn under and crimp edge decoratively.  Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Disk of Dough Centered on One Half of the Pie Crust Bag

Bag Zippered Shut

Roll Crust Through Bag, With No Sticking, Sliding, or Cursing!

For a Perfect 12" Circle, Roll to 1" from Outer Zipper on 14" Pie Bag

Unzip the Pie Crust Bag and Carefully Peel Back the Top Half...

Ta-Da!  No Sticking!  Perfect!

At this point, it's easy to invert your glass pie dish in the center of the crust and carefully invert the whole thing, easing the pie crust into your pie pan.  You have a nearly perfect circle of pastry to work with because you rolled it out in a perfectly circular bag, and the bottom half of the bag gives you extra pastry support when you flip the whole shebang over, so there's no risk of tearing your pastry or having it fall apart all over your counter after all your hard work.

Woo-Hoo!!!

4.      Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°.  Line crusts with foil, fill with dried beans or ceramic pie weights, and bake pie crusts until golden at edge, about 15 minutes.  Remove foil and beans, and continue to bake until crusts are pale golden, piercing with fork if crusts bubble, about 5 minutes.  Cool completely on rack.

After Blind Baking, Crusts Cooling on the Stovetop While I Mix Up the Pie Filling

For filling:

1.      Reduce oven temperature to 350°.  Whisk first 6 ingredients together in large bowl to blend.  Whisk in pumpkin, eggs and molasses; then whisk in the cream.  Pour pumpkin mixture into crusts, dividing equally.

Pumpkin, Eggs and Molasses Added to Sugar Mixture

...Now We Whisk In the Heavy Cream...

...And the Pie Filling is Ready to Pour Into the Crusts

Ready to Bake!

...Finally In the Oven, Crust Edges Protected by Pie Crust Shields

The purpose of the pie crust shields is to prevent the edges of your pie crust from over-browning or, heaven forbid, outright burning during the long baking time.  I got my nonstick pie crust shield ages ago, don't remember from where, but I found similar ones for you guys on Amazon here.  I put the pie shields on when my pies go in the oven, and I don't remove them until a few minutes before I'm ready to take the pies out to the oven.

2.      Cover edges of pie crust with nonstick pie shields or strips of aluminum foil.  Place pies in oven and bake until sides are puffed and center is just set but still looks wet.  Begin checking after 50 minutes.  (The Bon Appetit recipe said the pies would be done after about 50 minutes, but in my experience they usually aren’t ready to come out until about an hour and 15 minutes of baking).  Cool completely.  (Can be prepared 1 day ahead; cover and refrigerate).  Serve plain or with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Fresh From the Oven!

The photo above shows what the pies should look like when they are done baking and ready to come out of the oven.  See how the edges are puffy?  If you enlarge the photo you can see that the center of the pies still looks wet, but when I jiggle them I can see that the centers are indeed set, no longer liquid and sloshing around.  As the pies cool, that puffiness sinks down a little and then the finished pies look like this:

After Cooling, Ready to Enjoy

Oh, and you DO want to completely cool and refrigerate these pies before eating them.  Also, they are fabulous for breakfast.  :-)  Just sayin.'

Well, it's a rainy day in Charlotte today, but there's no more baking on today's agenda.  I need to spend some time learning the Second Soprano for the choruses and chorales in Bach's St. John's Passion, reviewing my Alto part for my upcoming Christmas caroling gigs, and maybe I can even squeak in a smidge of sewing before I have to pick Anders up from school and take him to his violin lesson.

Have a great day, everyone!