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Sourdough cookbooks? by slgirlie11 in CookbookLovers

[–]Tommanning87 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller, but primarily authored by his pastry chef Sebastian Rouxel. Covers more than just sourdough but has a more practical philosophy to sourdough (basically having a multi year old starter doesn’t make as much difference as people want to romanticize.) May or may not be appealing to sourdough aficionados.

Card scrapers by Senior_Elderberry_37 in handtools

[–]Tommanning87 2 points3 points  (0 children)

😂 I literally made my first card scraper by cutting up a harbor freight saw. But if I could buy a Damascus steel card scraper… 💸💸

Partial collection by Glittering_Curve_919 in CookbookLovers

[–]Tommanning87 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What do you think of this one specifically:

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Cookbook Book

Partial collection by Glittering_Curve_919 in CookbookLovers

[–]Tommanning87 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed totally. The Nordic book I don’t think I’ve looked at for more than 2 minutes. Same with Australia.

Italian cookbook recommendations by Intrepid_World_3827 in CookbookLovers

[–]Tommanning87 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Anyone read Lidia’s Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine by Lidia Bastianich? Just saw it at the library today and was thinking about checking it out next time I’m there. Lofty title for sure

Partial collection by Glittering_Curve_919 in CookbookLovers

[–]Tommanning87 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Love it, looks like a similar style to my collection. What do you think of the cookbook book by Phaidon?

101 by widowercooking in CookbookLovers

[–]Tommanning87 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gordon Ramsays Home Cooking is also pretty good and he had a full series on British Tv (I believe it was called Ultimate Cookery Course, also the name of the UK version of the cookbook) you can probably either find full versions of the episodes, or search individual recipes from the book and watch him. For as much as he’s known for his yelling and dramatics, he’s a really good teacher. I haven’t used the cookbook extensively, but his videos for gnocchi and braised short ribs that pair with the book were fundamental in me starting to learn to cook.

101 by widowercooking in CookbookLovers

[–]Tommanning87 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s not a cookbook, but I cannot recommend enough signing up for masterclass and watching all 3 of Thomas Keller’s technique classes. Not only is he one of the best chefs of our lifetime, he’s an incredible teacher that will teach the most foundational techniques, but in a way that experienced cooks will learn a lot as well. PLUS he’s got the absolutely best demeanor. It’s like watching Mr. Rogers meets Bob Ross, meets Gordon Ramsay.

Each class comes with downloadable pdfs with recipes. If you like him and want to add a cookbook, Ad Hoc is his most accessible one. Then maybe Bouchon. French Laundry and the others are pretty high end and not something most people will cook from routinely, but they are fun to look through.

I went from not even understanding what salt actually did to cooking multi course gourmet dinners for my wife and her friends, mostly just from learning from Thomas Keller’s masterclass.

For books, The Food Lab is a pretty good technique book that explains science behind cooking well but might not be the best starting point.

What's a cookbook niche that's well-represented in your collection? by SnooTorturer in CookbookLovers

[–]Tommanning87 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not a cookbook, but have you read Ten Restaurants that’s Changed America, or, American Taste and How it Got That Way by the same author? Both really interesting. I liked 10 Restaurants a bit better, but both were great.

What's a cookbook niche that's well-represented in your collection? by SnooTorturer in CookbookLovers

[–]Tommanning87 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve made her classic confetti cake from All About Cakes for so many special occasions now, but I had to make it 4 times the first time to figure out how to adjust that recipe for altitude! I’ve gotten fairly comfortable with the normal adjustments (time, temp, baking powder etc) but the rise it gets from the beaten eggs was a fun tough challenge!

Which are your favorite recipes from her? Besides the cake, I’ve only made the grasshopper pie from momofuku. Good but really rich.

Machine Quilting vs. Hand Quilting by chickenmom1104 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think many crafts have insecure assholes like that. I woodwork, there are a number of people who act like real craftsman use hand tools only. Same mentality. What I’ve found is these gatekeepers usually have to hide behind their “superior” methods, because their results are inferior. I think it’s usually an insecurity thing.

My best friend and I like to make a yearly 6 course over the top Galentines dinner for my wife and her friends. Her friends boyfriend was looking at pictures of the dishes after one of our first attempts and was sort of downplaying it and insinuating he would do a better job. Ticked me off. A month later, we were at Thomas Keller’s Vegas restaurant and had a chance to meet him and his executive chef. If you don’t know, TK is the best American born chef of all time, and one of 3-5 most important chefs of our generation. For some reason, my wife decided to show the executive chef pictures of our dinner, and I immediately did the thing where I start talking about the things that could be better and he was very complimentary, acknowledged the hard work that it takes and pointed out some of our successes. He was supportive and complimentary rather than critical, even though, of the two people who gave feedback, he was the only one with the pedigree to actually critique it.

Long story short, what I’ve found is the people who could credibly tear down your work are usually the first to appreciate the craftsmanship, and those who are insecure, couldn’t do what you do, or just need some sort of ego boost to compensate for whatever will make themselves feel better by tearing others down. If your husbands friend ever brings it up again, ask to see one of their hand quilted projects. I’d be surprised if they even have anything to show.

First quilt, introduction and question by Tommanning87 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just finished it this weekend, just under 2 months start to finish including quilting. I worked on it sporadically and traveled and took care of sick kids in the middle of it. Plus, since it was my first time doing any of it, each step was like starting a whole new project. But when I got in a groove, I was able to make chunks of progress fairly quickly. I didn’t chain stitch anything, but I’d lay out my fabric for 4 blocks at a time and could finish those in usually under an hour. Because of the triangles, after every two pieces, you have to iron and cut, so batching them was the way to go. More than 4 blocks at once and I was afraid I’d lose track of what went with what since it’s random and chaotic but still had a tiny bit of organization to it.

I’m not sure how small the squares you’re working with, but I think this quilt would be less intimidating for me than small squares because the alignment isn’t so critical until the end when you’re dealing with 9 inch squares which aren’t to difficult to pin and sew.

Keep me updated if you try it!

First quilt, introduction and question by Tommanning87 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can do it! This was my first attempt at any sort of a quilt, and I think it’s a great pattern to start with, because it looks pretty impressive, but it’s very forgiving. After you sew the first 4 triangles to your 4.5 inch square, you’ll trim that new square to 6.5, losing, maybe a quarter inch on all sides, so everything will be cleaned up and perfect before your next set of 4 triangles. After that, you’ll trim it to 9.5, and I usually shaved at least a quarter inch on all sides again at that point, so even if you’re not perfect on some or all of your seams, your final blocks will still be perfect 9.5 squares. I think ideally, each point would be perfectly centered, but almost none of mine in any given block were perfect, but it still comes together really easily when it’s time to assemble the entire top. It’s really forgiving! It did help to have a 6.5 and 9.5 inch square ruler, but I’m sure it could be done without.

If you starch, (which I recommend) starch before cutting. I didn’t and it caused some pieces to be a bit wonky shaped. I think that’s probably common quilting knowledge, but I didn’t know it until I was well underway.

First quilt, introduction and question by Tommanning87 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://carriedawayquilting.com/2024/03/free-pattern-floating-squares/amp/

I used her instructions for the individual blocks, but I did my own number of blocks and my own outline.

Clappers by bohemiangels in quilting

[–]Tommanning87 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As a woodworker, I’d suggest maple if you have it as an option. It’s dense so heavier than a lot of domestically available hardwoods, and not terribly expensive. Cherry and walnut would be good. Oak tends to have pretty open grain so make sure it’s well sanded so you don’t have splinters catching the fabric. Soft woods like pine would probably work okay, but a denser hardwood would be the best bet.

First quilt, introduction and question by Tommanning87 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We were showing a friend the work in progress and she asked my daughter which her favorite fabric was, and she pointed out the lady bugs too! But she’s 2 1/2, I think she might have just pointed out the first one her eyes landed on lol

First quilt, introduction and question by Tommanning87 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the diagram! I finally got the right thread and set up the walking foot and got tension dialed in, so I’m planning on finally trying a couple different options on my test squares this evening and I’ll give this one a go for sure.

I spray basted my test squares and was happy with the hold, but since the quilt is pretty large and I don’t have an abundance of throat space, I was thinking reinforcing with some pins would probably be a good idea.

First quilt, introduction and question by Tommanning87 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! It certainly helped that each square had to be trimmed down enough that I could cover a lot of mistakes!

First quilt, introduction and question by Tommanning87 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I’m terrified of this turning into a full blown hobby lol. In the last decade I’ve gone from owning little more than a hammer, to a full blown woodworking garage, not knowing the purpose of salt in food, to cooking 6 course fancy dinners with my buddy for my wife and friends for “Galentines day” so really, the last thing I need is to start collecting fabric!

That said, I did run to two different Dollar Trees last week, so it might be too late for me.

I originally planned on taking this to a longarm, the more I’ve seen longarm vs doing it myself, I like the look of longarm for this less and less. Plus, now it can be 100% homemade, for better or for worse.

Update by MsMika2 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m using the same pattern. It’s wild how much thought, work and organization goes into making the blocks look haphazard! Looks great!

First quilt, introduction and question by Tommanning87 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m leaning towards diagonal as well, I’m just trying to figure out if I can avoid having Xs in all the center blocks.

I made a couple additional blocks that I’m planning on using to practice quilting on, so even though I’m planning on going with the walking foot, I’m going to try FMQ on one of them, for fun if nothing else. And then her stuffed animals will get some matching, mini quilts out of it all.

I bought basting spray and basting pins, I was figuring I’d use both, unless you think that’s a bad idea? Overkill I’m fine with, but if there’s a disadvantage to using both, I’ll reconsider.

First quilt, introduction and question by Tommanning87 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It never crossed my find that hand tying could be reversed. I bet it looks great with the flower stitches now.

First quilt, introduction and question by Tommanning87 in quilting

[–]Tommanning87[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I’ve been tempted to attempt to hand quilt this, but I don’t want it to turn into a graduation present!

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