Thursday, June 10, 2010

Day 62 - My Math Teachers Were Right

After all these years I finally realized how right my math teachers were.  Yes, we do use math on a regular basis and yes you will need to know fractions.  I think honestly I came to this realization a while ago but today just seemed math heavy! I recalculated some ingredients in the pumpkin date bread the boys and I made and had to recalculate and add up some fractions.  This evening I went to the quilt store to purchase my backing fabric, binding fabric and batting.  More math - although in this case I had someone else help with calculations or I probably would have ended being either much too short or way too long on fabric and batting.  Amazingly quilting requires A LOT of math.  That won't stop me from working on more quilts though - it's well worth the calculations!

This week I finally have two classes worth of ISF entries to freeze out of one recipe!  You are allowed to use the same recipe in two different classes.  So today was a two for one deal.  Out of the 4 recipes I worked on this week only this one turned out so that by my calculation is 25% for the week.

The pumpkin bread looked good and smells yummy.  Last year I had issues with quick breads - maybe I over thought the process.  No matter what I tried last year my quick breads turned out 1" tall; flat and not pretty at all.  This year I've decided to hand mix the quick breads rather than using my mixer and making sure I only grease the bottom of the bread pans.  Other than that hopefully the recipes also work out.

One tip from my judging cards last year was to toast nuts whenever you use them.  The pecans were toasted in the oven prior to chopping and adding to the bread.  The boys enjoyed the leftover toasted pecans!  Toasting does bring out nicer flavors in the nuts.  Thankfully I remembered to save the pecan package today so that I have the proof of purchase for one of the classes I plan to use this recipe in.  Be sure to read instructions for various divisions carefully since there are some that require proofs of purchase.  

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