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These are some of the hilights of a shaker lemon pie I made. The Shakers, who lived in Pleasant Hill, KY, were kind of like Amish Quakers. They did not believe in having children, so they did die out, but their town in Pleasant Hill is a historical learning farm now, where they preserve some of the Shakers’ traditions—one of those being Shaker lemon pie. The Shaker Village was very close to a trade route on the Ohio river, where oftentimes, lemons would come in in the trade. The Shakers would rest thin slices of lemon in sugar for a long time and use that (plus eggs and flour) for the pie filling. Now, I’m still perfecting my recipe of shaker lemon pie, but this was one of my pies that I had made. The recipe basically is:
— two lemons sliced razor thin, rested in sugar for 24 hours-two weeks (still perfecting, but 48 hours is pretty good) —Mix with four eggs, and two tablespoons flour —Bake in your favorite crust for 30 minutes to an hour at 375F —Always rest before slicing For the crust in these pictures, I cut extra crust into daffodil shapes, and egg washed with food colored egg washes to paint on greens and yellow. Play with your food, folks, it’s fun!
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20 years after my Grandma Mimi, Gloria Gramig, became an Angel quiltress in heaven, I began my quilting journey. Of all 28 of my cousins, I was the only grandchild that took up quilting and sewing. My Mimi was a big seamstress, making lots of clothing for all 10 of her kids, and after she learned quilting, quilts for every member of our family. Mimi was a member of the Louisville Nimble Thimbles in the 1980’s and 90’s, and would even teach some classes. As I got further along and more skilled in my quilting journey, our family matriarch, my Aunt Theresa, began passing down my Mimi’s sewing things to me. Last thanksgiving, she gave me a Lowe’s yard bag filled with quilting hoops and “some other treasures your Mimi had saved for you”. There were rulers, cutting mats, notes, paper handouts from her tutorial classes, and some unfinished quilt blocks in her quintessential aplique with red flowers. She had been inspired by my great grandmother Leila Gramig and a quilt she had done in red flowers, and it became kind of a family tradition. For my remembrance quilt I used one of these unfinished quilt blocks, some of her old fabric, and her Bernina 1030 to finish her block into a wall hanging, her favorite type of quilt. Our family was always a gardening family, so to show my own style inspired by my Mimi’s style, I created aplique strawberries. This quilt isn’t technically perfect by any means, but it represents a relationship I never thought I would get to have with my Mimi. She passed when I was two, so I am only just getting to know her now through quilting, and I feel her guiding me into my own style and also as a family historian preserving her work and legacy. It’s a few days before the 2023 Kentucky State Fair! Last year was my first year volunteering through my quilting guild, the Louisville Nimble Thimbles, and my first year entering the fair as an adult. I entered a bunch of crafts in the textile department, and won seven ribbons. I was at the fair quite a bit over the 10 days it went on. Not only is there almost too much at the fair to see and do in one day , but there are a bunch of different events and special things going on on different days. It was also fun to explore the fair with different friends and family on different days. There are so many things to do—animals to see, vegetables, tobacco, honey and all the bee displays. There are agricultural booths with farmers and farm representatives, backing their products, giving out samples, telling the cultural importance of their work. There are performances, games, giveaways. The pride of the counties. There’s no more fish tank displays, but it’s hardly noticiable because the fair is still so so full of things. Every year the new premium book (the book of entry categories) comes out in April or may, and entries close in early July. It’s so fun to read that book and dream about allllll the things you could enter. You could enter a pie, you could enter a handmade sweater, you could enter a home brew beer—there are so many options. In a move to encourage more entries, the fair opted to make it a single $15 entry fee for everything—you could enter however many categories you want to enter all for $15 total. Naturally, I entered 77. 8 baked goods, 17 veggies, and 52 crafts. Now, I wasn’t expecting to turn in all 77 entries. Sometimes all your pumpkins get eaten. Sometimes you burn your pie. Sometimes you don’t have time to make that quilt. Anyhow, there’s no shame in not making it to the drop off with every single thing. Now, a day before turn-in day, I have 39 crafts done. I feel like that’s a pretty good turnout. The veggies may be a wash, but I’m sitting here gathering my energy to go bake things. Tomorrow I’m working at the turn in desk from 10-6, and Sunday (on the second drop off day) I’ll drop off my crafts and baked goods. And then I can rest before the fair starts next Thursday. So close. So so close!! It feels like Christmas and I’m thrilled. Ready for all the festivities, ready for the people watching, ready for the celebration of Kentucky!  Today I turned in all my fine arts, textiles, and hobbies entries for the Kentucky State Fair—around 40 items! Handing it all over is nerve wracking but also so freeing. Knowing it’s all done and turned in and my work is finished. I made it to the finish line and today, I am a winner. I helped direct other competitors to the take-in desks, I volunteered an entire day at the Quilt pre check desk, and I was a part of Kentuckys greatest show and tell. Tonight I’m cooking and tomorrow I’ll turn in my culinary entries, then I get ready to hang quilts and turn in veggies Wednesday. And Thursday it starts. Thursday we learn what ribbons are awarded, Thursday is my day!  Im this video, I show my process for making butter in my kitchen aid stand mixer. All you need is heavy cream and a way to agitate it and you can make butter. A kitchen aid is fastest, but you can also shake cream in a jar til it turns to butter. Whip heavy cream past whipped cream consistency, add salt if wanted, it will change color as you keep whipping until the buttermilk releases and it becomes sloshy. Squeeze out the buttermilk, wash the butter in ice water, and store (or put it on some fresh out of the oven sourdough, whichever you prefer ☺️). Every year when the cyclists are spinning for the Tour de France, the fiber artists are spinning yarn on their spinning wheels. This world wide social media connected event has grown into a crafting extravaganza of many different types of crafts. While I was traveling in the beginning of the tour, I did some knitting and crochet, but switched over to spinning when I returned home. Please enjoy part 1 of my tour de fleece video journey! It’s a few days before the 2023 Kentucky State Fair! Last year was my first year volunteering through my quilting guild, the Louisville Nimble Thimbles, and my first year entering the fair as an adult. I entered a bunch of crafts in the textile department, and won seven ribbons. I was at the fair quite a bit over the 10 days it went on. Not only is there almost too much at the fair to see and do in one day , but there are a bunch of different events and special things going on on different days. It was also fun to explore the fair with different friends and family on different days. There are so many things to do—animals to see, vegetables, tobacco, honey and all the bee displays. There are agricultural booths with farmers and farm representatives, backing their products, giving out samples, telling the cultural importance of their work. There are performances, games, giveaways. The pride of the counties. There’s no more fish tank displays, but it’s hardly noticiable because the fair is still so so full of things. Every year the new premium book (the book of entry categories) comes out in April or may, and entries close in early July. It’s so fun to read that book and dream about allllll the things you could enter. You could enter a pie, you could enter a handmade sweater, you could enter a home brew beer—there are so many options. In a move to encourage more entries, the fair opted to make it a single $15 entry fee for everything—you could enter however many categories you want to enter all for $15 total. Naturally, I entered 77. 8 baked goods, 17 veggies, and 52 crafts. Now, I wasn’t expecting to turn in all 77 entries. Sometimes all your pumpkins get eaten. Sometimes you burn your pie. Sometimes you don’t have time to make that quilt. Anyhow, there’s no shame in not making it to the drop off with every single thing. Now, a day before turn-in day, I have 39 crafts done. I feel like that’s a pretty good turnout. The veggies may be a wash, but I’m sitting here gathering my energy to go bake things. Tomorrow I’m working at the turn in desk from 10-6, and Sunday (on the second drop off day) I’ll drop off my crafts and baked goods. And then I can rest before the fair starts next Thursday. So close. So so close!! It feels like Christmas and I’m thrilled. Ready for all the festivities, ready for the people watching, ready for the celebration of Kentucky! |
Quilt Update!
Ironweed
Disco Chicken of Love
sTate fair ready!
seed starting 2019
ky state fair quilt
WHOTH Embroidery
seashell casTles
whoth blanket
edible goodness
AuthorA sustainability major at U of L, beginning farmer, crafter, and writer. Archives
November 2023
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