Ginger Lime Carrots
Mom (in front of one of the THREE crazy quilts she made!) teaching her granddaughter how to sew.
Detail from my crazy quilt. The pink in the bottom corner is from an old moire taffeta skirt of mine from junior high.
Detail from my sister’s quilt. Mom digitally printed a picture of our childhood house (126 Mallette St) on fabric and then embroidered on top of it. The floral print is William Morris, it was Mom & Dad’s bedspread.
Quilt aficionados know that in order for a quilt to be a TRUE crazy quilt, each seam needs to be addressed in a decorative way. Let me say that again - each seam! Mom set out to make a crazy quilt for herself, which made its debut in the infamous Chapel Hill Historic Preservation Holiday House Tour. (We had to keep our house spotless for multiple weeks! My sister and I are still traumatized.) The quilt was an amazing explosion of bits & bobs: fabrics from the Middle East, lace from various aunties, scraps from old prom dresses. Each seam, indeed, decorated. So, what did crazy Dale decide to do after that? Make two more, of course, one for each daughter!
My sister and I both have our quilts displayed on our walls, as they really are more works of art than utilitarian items. Mom smartly decided to do the quilts in squares so she could work on the go. My parents loved a road trip and Mom clocked hundreds of hours sitting in the front seat of their minivan, sewing away. In fact, they spent so much time driving that at one point they noticed that Dad’s left arm was getting an unhealthy amount of sun. Ever creative, Mom solved that by making a sun-proof “driving sleeve” for him to don when captaining the car. Combine that with Dad’s “Geezer Pole”™® (a broomstick with duct tape & wire which suspends in the back of the van so hanging clothes can stay fresh) and they could stay on the road forever, like Pancho & Lefty.
In her retirement, Mom got extremely involved with our family’s genealogy. I’ll get into more detail about that later. With this work, she was able to combine her incredible investigative skills, her technical abilities (she would scan, correct and label all of the photos she found), and her interest in documenting our family’s history. Word got out and items would appear from the back of relative’s attics. Mom would patiently catalogue them. By default, Mom became the keeper of the family quilts. Now, being Mom, she couldn’t just let them remain all battered and busted. So, she created a very high tech way to repair them! Mom would scan fabric from a good part of the quilt, prepare a file in Photoshop, and then send it off to Spoonflower (a digital printing company) to print NEW fabric which matched the old. This allowed her to subtly mend the quilts. She developed such a good working relationship with Spoonflower that they knew to alert her when they changed fabric stock. They sent her some new samples to review so she could keep the quilts as original-looking as possible.
I’ve always thought that Mom would have made an amazing art restorer. Her patience and attention to detail were unrivaled. My uncle just chimed in that he believes that Mom would have been a killer modern dancer. I love that we all have these theories on things Mom would slay. But, I can tell you, what she did get to do with her time here was incredible. So, keeping in mind with her funky, fresh style, I offer you her Ginger Lime Carrot recipe!
GINGER LIME CARROTS
Serves 8
2-3 lbs. carrots, pared, cut in ¼” slices
3 c. water, 1 ½ tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp grated lime peel
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger.
Lime slices
Heat carrots, water, and salt in large pan; simmer uncovered until carrots are crisp-tender [5-10 minutes]. Drain. Return carrots to pan.
Heat butter, honey, lime juice, peel, and ginger in small pan over low heat until mixture boils, about 5 mins. Stir into carrots. Heat, stirring, over low heat until carrots are glazed, about 2 mins.
Garnish with lime slices
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