DIY Roman Blinds:The Joy of Sewing

In between paintings for the ViewpointYYC project, I am taking creative breaks and sewing. Recently I made blinds for our bedroom and kitchen. It seemed totally daunting, but thanks to a lot of internet searching, asking D to do the math, and a few glasses of wine--it turned out to be not so bad after all...

The project began because tin foil was what was helping us sleep. Not pretty.

I never did have a blind in the kitchen and it felt creepy somehow when eating.

A big part of measuring is deciding whether the finished blinds will sit outside or inside the window frame. I chose inside. Even though it was a bit tricker and my window trim isn't anything special to emphasize, I felt like having the blind inside the window frame looked cleaner and more contemporary.

If you decide to do this is really helps to have a handsome and handy guy around to cut the mounting strips and mount them. Some people hang roman blinds by stapling them to the mounting strip, but I used velcro so I can remove the blinds easily to wash them-- or the windows.

The bedroom curtain fabric came from the cute Etsy store, Kalla, from Japan

For the kitchen blind fabric, I used a fun poppy print from vintage curtains I found thrifting. It matches my red bakelite vintage cupboard pulls 

If you want to make your own roman blinds, this site was helpful. It is a bit detailed for someone who just wants to cover their windows at home and not become a professional window treatment seamstress, but it does help you do the math and figure out all the terminology so you can find the parts you need at the Fabric store. Canadian designers Steven and Chris have a more simplified set of instructions and so between the two sites you should be good. 

Next up, re-covering my patio furniture and then, new seat cushions for the Tulip table in the kitchen. Yay sewing!

*Learn from my mistake: If I make blinds again, I will try a mitred edge, rather than sewing the right sides of the fabric and lining together.  I did this, turned them inside out, sewed up the gap and ironed each fold crease instead of inserting rods at each fold. If your blind is longer than it is wide, like our bedroom, I discovered it is hard to have it up and clean and crisp at each fold without the mitred trim and batten rods. But ours is down most of the time, so no biggie. One smart move I made was use black-out fabric for the lining. Melatonin is a good thing.

Peeps + Mini Eggs + Chocolate = Easter

D refers to these as sugar bombs and his niece and nephew literally jumped up and down when I made them last year. This year the chocolatley sugar eggs come with a marshmallow chicken.... Hoppy Easter!

This is my grandmother's recipe for "unbaked cookies". Some people call them haystacks or drop cookies. Whatever they are called, they are dead easy to make and make great nests for your peep and her eggs.  Don't question the amount of sugar. Just close your eyes and enjoy!

Unbaked Cookies (Uncle Donald's Favorite)

1/2 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup milk

-boil all for 5 minutes, no longer
-remove form heat and add dry ingredients:

3 cups oats
1/2 cup coconut
4 Tablespoons cocoa

-mix well
-drop by the 1/4 cup onto waxed paper/cookie sheets
- using the back of a spoon sprayed with Pam, create a hollow in each haystack for your nest.
-before it cools completely add a "peep" and a few Cadbury mini eggs
-brush teeth well before bed ;)

Viewpoint YYC: Bankview 17 A Street

Bankview 17 A Street, oil on canvas, 48x48

Calgarians can check it out at Caffe Rosso on Stephen Ave!

Granola with Granville Island Chai Spice

Homemade Granola with Chai Spice

-preheat oven to 325 celsius

1 cup canola oil

1 cup maple syrup, honey or combo of both

1 T cinnamon

1T chai tea spice -- I like Granville Island Tea Company Spice Mix

(or make your own with ground cinnamon, nutmeg, garam masala, cardamon, clove and ginger)

1/2 teaspoon of clove, ginger, cardamon and/or nutmeg if you want to enhance the chai spice flavour

1 T vanilla

-mix all of these in a saucepan and heat until simmering. Allow to simmer for 5 min until everything is aromatic. Be careful to stir often and to not let burn!

8 cups of oats

1 cup coconut

1 cup flax seeds

2 cups raw/unsalted pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans etc...

-mix all the dry ingredients in a big bowl. If you are short some, don't worry about it. Add more of something else. The oats are key and then I use whatever I have on hand for nuts and seeds. If you don't like one ingredient, leave it out.

-pour the hot liquid in the bowl of dry materials and mix well, coating everything.

-spray baking sheets with cooking spray or cover in parchment. Flat cookie sheets will not do! The oats are simultaneously sticky and slippery until cooked and will fly everywhere if they aren't contained on your cookie sheet!

-spread the mixture evenly onto baking sheets. 

-bake in the oven, tossing the oats every 15 min or so. At first it will seem like nothing is happening, but after about 30 min they will start to brown quickly. So keep an eye on them and keep tossing!

- remove when a golden brown throughout

1 cup each of raisins, chopped dried apricots, currants, chopped dried figs, craisins etc...

-add any dried fruit that you like (or none at all) to the cooked granola and store the granola in air tight containers.

*Note: I once made the error of roasting the fruit with the oats. Don't do this as they will come out brown, shrivelled and super chewy! The granola is much more beautiful when the fruit is added later and the colours of the apricots and dried cranberries are set against the roasted oats and green pumpkin seeds. Makes a nice gift!

The Bay Area Painters

I have always had a place in my heart for Northern California. I love the light, the wine, the food, the family and friends I have there and I love its painters. Perhaps that is why I enjoy living in my neighbourhood of Bankview so much. It reminds me of San Francisco, with it's steep hills and deep valleys, and we get some of that same Northern light.  It is a diverse area; "in transition" our Alderman says. Like any inner city neighbourhood, it has some issues, but that is all part of what I love--its density and diversity. And I love how, when you get high enough the sky becomes an empty band of colour against the crowd of buildings below. I do wish it has California's weather, but that is for another post....

So I have begun the ViewpointYYC series and my first choice is a painting of Bankview, since it has some of my most favourite views. I am looking for inspiration at some of my favourite Bay Area artists who were so influenced and inspired by the work of each other. Their is something about Northern California that breeds painters. I especially love the 1950's/60's work of the Bay Area Figurative Painters or Expressionists as they were sometimes called: the big three--Richard Diebenkorn, David Park and Paul Wonner.  They all oscillate between abstraction and representation and I think walking this tightrope is what makes their work so vibrant and is what resonates with me. The wet application of paint, the quick painterly action, the delineated shapes, the shadowed figures and the vibrant, but cohesive colour are all things that I strive for, but have yet to completely achive. Maybe this series will be it.....? In the meantime, here are some beauties for you to ponder...

From Start to Finish

From the source photo (black & white) to the finished painting in colour 

Brûlée Bakery's Overnight Cinnamon Buns with Pecans

Brûlée Bakery is a GORGEOUS little patisserie here in Calgary which is located in a basement shop on 11Avenue SW. The best cake I every had in my life was their coconut cream masterpiece my Mom ordered for my 30th birthday. They decorate their desserts with fresh flowers and only use the best , most fatty ingredients. I cannot sing their praises enough, but alas, D cannot eat there and I probably shouldn't.

So with utmost respect for Brûlée and all their delicious full-fat dairy, I am sharing my version of their pecan sticky buns. I make mine overnight to appear like a domestic goddess in the morning (and allow for a little more sleep in time!)

Beautiful illustrations on the website at Brûlée Bakery. I would love to know who did them...

Ingredients

Dough:

• 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 large whole egg, room temperature
• 2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
• 3 ounces unsalted butter, melted, approximately 6 tablespoons (I substitute vegan margarine for D)
• 6 ounces buttermilk, room temperature (or almond milk with a Tablespoon of lemon juice for the lactose-intolerant in your life!)
• 20 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 cups, plus additional for dusting
• 1 package instant dry yeast, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons (I have proofed traditional yeast for this recipe and it mad no difference, so just use what you have on hand)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• Vegetable oil or cooking spray

Filling:

• 8 ounces light brown sugar, approximately 1 cup packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• 3/4-ounce unsalted butter, melted, approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons
• raisons, currants etc.. if you are so inclined (I have made 1/2 with raisins and 1/2 without for D and his Dad who love cooked raisins. Their little raisin heads out out of the buns as they cook so it is easy to see where they are hiding should you be raisin-adverse, like I am.)

Sticky Pecan Topping:

1/4 cup water on stand by (I add this last if you, if at all, because I find I often don't need it with vegan margarine which is quite thin when it melts)

1/2 cup butter (or vegan margarine)

1 cup pecans, halves

1 cup brown sugar

Directions

For the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter, and buttermilk. Add approximately 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with a dough hook. Add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough, add more flour if necessary; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.

Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Make the topping: 

In a saucepan, bring the butter and sugar to a boil. Add some or all of the water here if you have a corn syrup like thickness. You want to be able to pour it--more like maple syrup. Evenly spread your pecans in the bottom of your buttered pan. Pour the butter/sugar mixture over the pecans.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. It is best if the rectangle is not too long so you get 12 fat rolls instead of 24 skinny ones! Brush the dough with the melted butter, leaving a border along the top edge. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the top edge; gently press the filling into the dough. Beginning with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very gently squeeze the cylinder to create even thickness. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1 1/2-inch rolls; yielding 12 rolls. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish on top of the pecan goodness; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.

Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and place in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 2/3-full of boiling water and set on the rack below the rolls. This is magic... Close the oven door and let the rolls rise until they look puffy; approximately 30 minutes. Remove the rolls and the shallow pan of water from the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the oven is ready, place the rolls on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, approximately 30-40 minutes.

Take the rolls out of the oven and with gusto and bravery flip the whole pan upside down so teh buns fall out onto a cookie sheet. Now the pecan goo is on top and dripping down the sides of your buns. Serve immediately with a lot of napkins!