We had a wonderful (dreamy) weekend at the lake. One of dear friends turned 50 and we celebrated his birthday. After eating a filling meal of Duck and Rotisserie Chicken we had birthday cake, just as a gentle rain began to fall in the evening sunshine. We were blessed with a rainbow to share with our friends as we enjoyed our cake and ice cream. The picture does not do it justice. The colors were so much more vibrant. You can see the leaves are starting to come out on the trees. We didn't need the electric heater or the furnace in the RV this weekend, finally. We spend four nights at the lake, so very little quilting or sewing is going on right now. My dad is in town this week from FL. He turns 79 Thursday. I see another birthday party in the near future. We'll eat out for this one. I've spent enough time in the kitchen recently.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Somewhere...
Over the Rainbow.............And the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true.
We had a wonderful (dreamy) weekend at the lake. One of dear friends turned 50 and we celebrated his birthday. After eating a filling meal of Duck and Rotisserie Chicken we had birthday cake, just as a gentle rain began to fall in the evening sunshine. We were blessed with a rainbow to share with our friends as we enjoyed our cake and ice cream. The picture does not do it justice. The colors were so much more vibrant. You can see the leaves are starting to come out on the trees. We didn't need the electric heater or the furnace in the RV this weekend, finally. We spend four nights at the lake, so very little quilting or sewing is going on right now. My dad is in town this week from FL. He turns 79 Thursday. I see another birthday party in the near future. We'll eat out for this one. I've spent enough time in the kitchen recently.
We had a wonderful (dreamy) weekend at the lake. One of dear friends turned 50 and we celebrated his birthday. After eating a filling meal of Duck and Rotisserie Chicken we had birthday cake, just as a gentle rain began to fall in the evening sunshine. We were blessed with a rainbow to share with our friends as we enjoyed our cake and ice cream. The picture does not do it justice. The colors were so much more vibrant. You can see the leaves are starting to come out on the trees. We didn't need the electric heater or the furnace in the RV this weekend, finally. We spend four nights at the lake, so very little quilting or sewing is going on right now. My dad is in town this week from FL. He turns 79 Thursday. I see another birthday party in the near future. We'll eat out for this one. I've spent enough time in the kitchen recently.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Monday, Monday!
Mondays are always terrible after a wonderful weekend away at the lake. Summersville lake is filled to summer pool and boats are starting to gradually appear in the water. We went trail riding on mules along the Meadow and Gauley Rivers on Saturday. Most of the 44 mile trail was on old railroad tracks. The rails are removed and trails are made for hiking, biking and 4 wheeling. The weather was beautiful, around 68 degrees, perfect for riding. We crossed four old railroad bridges that go across the rivers and streams and went through 2 tunnels, each tunnel was 1/2 mile long. The kids really enjoyed the echo in the tunnels. 
We had lunch on the Gauley River, and watch several kayaks paddle by
I forgot my camera and took these photos with my new htc cell phone. I really wish I had my camera, I missed some really great photo ops.
Saturday night I made homemade pizza with homemade dough, pulled pork, peppers, onions, and mushrooms, on the grill. Best pizza in the world, made on the grill. It rained on Sunday but that did not matter....we slept in and enjoyed the day at campground doing absolutely nothing. We did not get home until 9 PM Sunday night.....unloaded the jeep and went straight to bed.....when we woke up it was the dreaded MONDAY! But I do believe spring has finally arrived in West Virginia.
We had lunch on the Gauley River, and watch several kayaks paddle by
I forgot my camera and took these photos with my new htc cell phone. I really wish I had my camera, I missed some really great photo ops.Saturday night I made homemade pizza with homemade dough, pulled pork, peppers, onions, and mushrooms, on the grill. Best pizza in the world, made on the grill. It rained on Sunday but that did not matter....we slept in and enjoyed the day at campground doing absolutely nothing. We did not get home until 9 PM Sunday night.....unloaded the jeep and went straight to bed.....when we woke up it was the dreaded MONDAY! But I do believe spring has finally arrived in West Virginia.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Bear PJ's......
and not Bare, I know what your thinking. "Anyone that would create a bomb with yeast might just create "bare pajamas" I stayed up late last night, finished my PJs and the t-shirt to match. 
I'm not really happy with the t-shirt but who sees PJ's anyway. I just need something to keep me warm in the RV until summer. Last weekend the temperature was in the 20's at night. My pictures are not too good but maybe you can get the idea. My shirt still has the water marks where I washed off the chalk. 
I have lots of flannel to make more PJ's....I guess I better get busy next week on flannel for warmth.
Hope everyone has a blessed, happy, and safe, weekend.
I'm not really happy with the t-shirt but who sees PJ's anyway. I just need something to keep me warm in the RV until summer. Last weekend the temperature was in the 20's at night. My pictures are not too good but maybe you can get the idea. My shirt still has the water marks where I washed off the chalk. 
I have lots of flannel to make more PJ's....I guess I better get busy next week on flannel for warmth.
Hope everyone has a blessed, happy, and safe, weekend.
A Rising Explosion
When I opened the refrigerator this morning I heard a loud hissing sound. My first reaction was the freon was leaking out....no way, this is a new refrigerator. Then I thought it sounded like a soda pop spewing out, but there was not a single soda pop in the refrigerator. Now what?
Then I spotted the plastic container of bread dough on the top shelf. The lid was humped-up on top. I'd read that yeast could explode and tops should be loosely fitted....but I never follow directions. Smarty me thought..that won't happen!
If that thing blew, can you imagine what a mess I'd have in my refrigerator?
Moral to the story....follow directions...and if there's a slight chance that something might go wrong and the directions tell you so....it just might.....
I'm so glad it's Friday...I'll laugh about my rising explosion all day.
Then I spotted the plastic container of bread dough on the top shelf. The lid was humped-up on top. I'd read that yeast could explode and tops should be loosely fitted....but I never follow directions. Smarty me thought..that won't happen!
If that thing blew, can you imagine what a mess I'd have in my refrigerator?
Moral to the story....follow directions...and if there's a slight chance that something might go wrong and the directions tell you so....it just might.....I'm so glad it's Friday...I'll laugh about my rising explosion all day.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The Patchwork Towel....
...Is moving along slow. I'm using embroidery quilt designs for the large blocks and most of the small blocks. The fabric is Moda's Neptune by Trula Pink. I plan on filling in between the embroidery with waves using my BSR. I did not use any batting between the patchwork and the terry fabric on the back. I plan on using this on the boat and I thought the batting would extend the dry time to twice the time to air dry. We won't use this to dry off after swimming but it will make a good cover up towel on cool days in the spring. I have more of the terry cloth to make regular towels with fabric borders and embroidery.
At the rate I'm moving along I may get this finished by the time we put the boat in water and it may be next year. I did not realize how time consuming re-hooping would be....it takes me longer to prepare than to stitch the design. I'll post pictures of it on my boat if I finish it this year. It matches the aqua, green, and navy seats on the boat.Last night I worked on my bear PJs. I'm going to embroider a t-shirt to match tonight if it's not to late after I finish my chores.
Don's been working in Ohio this week so I've had time to myself with him out of town. He should be home early tomorrow. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday.....we're headed to the lake and campground after work. We're going trail bike riding Saturday with some of our camping friends. This is a good time of year to ride before it gets too hot. I sure hope it doesn't rain on my plans....you know me and plans.....we don't get along so well. LOL
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Bread...Quick and Easy...
In Five Minutes a Day! I've had friends and co-workers ask how do you make bread without any butter, sugar, or eggs? So I decided to post a few pictures of my process.
First you need (have) to purchase the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.
Then you need a few supplies, a pizza peel, large bucket (non metallic), oven stone or pizza stone, and good accurate measuring utensils. I purchased my supplies at King Arthur
First mix together in the large bucket 3 cups of warm tap water, 1 1/2 teaspoon yeast, 1 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and 6 1/2 cups unbleached, all natural, flour. The photo is actually after the dough has been in the refrigerator for a few days and this is my second batch of bread from this bucket. You can usually get three small loaves of bread from one batch of dough.
Let rise in bucket until the center starts to fall in - 2 to 4 hours depending on climate and room temperature.
Place bucket in refrigerator to use as needed for fresh bread.
When you are ready to make bread......flour your hands and the top of the dough and pull off a grapefruit size ball of dough.
Place the dough ball on the pizza peel that is lightly covered with corn meal.
Allow the dough ball to rest for 40 minutes. Twenty minutes before baking preheat your over to 450 degrees with the oven stone in the oven.
Sprinkle the dough ball with flour and cut three slashed in the top of the dough ball. I took the photo before I cut the slashes in the dough.
Carefully slide the dough ball off the pizza peel onto the hot oven stone. Place a pan of water on the bottom oven rack. Bake the bread for about 35 minutes.
Sorry about the pizza stone looking so bad, you can see it really gets good use....the black is stains not dirt. I have a new one but it is much larger and very heavy. I did not use it when I made this batch of bread. I'm probably going to take this stone to the RV and use it on the grill to make bread this summer when we are camping. YES you can make bread on the grill. Great pizza bread too. Why heat up your house in the summer to make good bread in the oven.
This is only a brief of how to make bread in five minutes per day. You really need to purchase the book if you want to make perfect bread. The instructions in the book are in great detail.
First you need (have) to purchase the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.Then you need a few supplies, a pizza peel, large bucket (non metallic), oven stone or pizza stone, and good accurate measuring utensils. I purchased my supplies at King Arthur
First mix together in the large bucket 3 cups of warm tap water, 1 1/2 teaspoon yeast, 1 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and 6 1/2 cups unbleached, all natural, flour. The photo is actually after the dough has been in the refrigerator for a few days and this is my second batch of bread from this bucket. You can usually get three small loaves of bread from one batch of dough.Let rise in bucket until the center starts to fall in - 2 to 4 hours depending on climate and room temperature.
Place bucket in refrigerator to use as needed for fresh bread.
When you are ready to make bread......flour your hands and the top of the dough and pull off a grapefruit size ball of dough.
Place the dough ball on the pizza peel that is lightly covered with corn meal.Allow the dough ball to rest for 40 minutes. Twenty minutes before baking preheat your over to 450 degrees with the oven stone in the oven.
Sprinkle the dough ball with flour and cut three slashed in the top of the dough ball. I took the photo before I cut the slashes in the dough.
Carefully slide the dough ball off the pizza peel onto the hot oven stone. Place a pan of water on the bottom oven rack. Bake the bread for about 35 minutes.Sorry about the pizza stone looking so bad, you can see it really gets good use....the black is stains not dirt. I have a new one but it is much larger and very heavy. I did not use it when I made this batch of bread. I'm probably going to take this stone to the RV and use it on the grill to make bread this summer when we are camping. YES you can make bread on the grill. Great pizza bread too. Why heat up your house in the summer to make good bread in the oven.
This is only a brief of how to make bread in five minutes per day. You really need to purchase the book if you want to make perfect bread. The instructions in the book are in great detail.
Do You Like Tapioca.....
Pudding? I made a large batch in the crock pot this evening. Did you know that Tapioca comes from the cassava plant.
It is one of many plants which manufactures cyanide to deter animals who might want to eat it. It does this by producing a chemical called linamarin which releases hydrogen cyanide when it is broken down by the linamarase enzyme. Scientists say the plant from which it is derived may help cure cancer. I don't have cancer to my knowledge but I'm giving it a pre-cure just in case it's lurking in the wings
This recipe is really easy and good. It makes a huge pot, so we'll be eating Tapioca for a few days, thought I'd get a big early jump on the cancer. All kidding aside, this pudding was/is really good, here's the recipe, so give it a try, it's healthy.
Crock Pot Tapioca Pudding
Add one cup Large Pearl Tapioca to a 4 quart crock pot
Pour 2 quart whole milk or 2% milk over the Tapioca
Add 1 1/2 cups of sugar
Stir well to combine
Cook over high heat for about 2.5 hours until the Tapioca is tender. (mixture will not be thick)
When the Tapioca is tender, beat 4 eggs in a seperate large bowl, add a small amount of the Tapioca mixture to the eggs and stir and then continue to add small amount of the hot Tapioca to the eggs until the eggs reach the same temperature of the Tapioca mixture. Add the egg mixture to the Tapioca and stir very well. Add 1 tablespoon vanilla. Replace lid and cook stirring frequently for 20 minutes on high. Remove the crock pot liner and scrape pudding into a large heat proof bowl. Cool for two hours and then refrigerate.
Eat daily for Cancer prevention and your enjoyment. When the serving bowl gets low, make another batch.....it's easy.
Ice tea prevents Kidney Cancer so have a glass of Ice cold tea made from real tea bags or tea leaves with your tapioca.
It is one of many plants which manufactures cyanide to deter animals who might want to eat it. It does this by producing a chemical called linamarin which releases hydrogen cyanide when it is broken down by the linamarase enzyme. Scientists say the plant from which it is derived may help cure cancer. I don't have cancer to my knowledge but I'm giving it a pre-cure just in case it's lurking in the wingsThis recipe is really easy and good. It makes a huge pot, so we'll be eating Tapioca for a few days, thought I'd get a big early jump on the cancer. All kidding aside, this pudding was/is really good, here's the recipe, so give it a try, it's healthy.
Crock Pot Tapioca PuddingAdd one cup Large Pearl Tapioca to a 4 quart crock pot
Pour 2 quart whole milk or 2% milk over the Tapioca
Add 1 1/2 cups of sugar
Stir well to combine
Cook over high heat for about 2.5 hours until the Tapioca is tender. (mixture will not be thick)
When the Tapioca is tender, beat 4 eggs in a seperate large bowl, add a small amount of the Tapioca mixture to the eggs and stir and then continue to add small amount of the hot Tapioca to the eggs until the eggs reach the same temperature of the Tapioca mixture. Add the egg mixture to the Tapioca and stir very well. Add 1 tablespoon vanilla. Replace lid and cook stirring frequently for 20 minutes on high. Remove the crock pot liner and scrape pudding into a large heat proof bowl. Cool for two hours and then refrigerate.
Eat daily for Cancer prevention and your enjoyment. When the serving bowl gets low, make another batch.....it's easy.
Ice tea prevents Kidney Cancer so have a glass of Ice cold tea made from real tea bags or tea leaves with your tapioca.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Our Easter
Don I spent Easter weekend at the campground. I cooked a big spread of food and my youngest son and his wife joined us for dinner Saturday evening along with some friends at the campground. I cooked a marinated leg of lamb and two racks of lamb on the grill. It was delicious. Then we built a huge bonfire and sat by the fire until midnight. The sky was clear and the stars were beautiful. But it was COOOOOOLD, 20 degrees by 2 AM. I think the furnace in the RV and the electric heater ran all night. It warmed up Sunday and we had a great Easter.........
Then I called my son that lives in VA that evening......here is how they spend their Easter!
This breaks my heart.....apparently my grandson was vomiting non stop and became dehydrated and needed IV therapy. He totally missed Easter! But he is better and home from the hospital now. It's amazing how we worry about our children even when they are grown and then about our grandchildren. I absolutely HATE living so far from them, especially at times like this. I want to help and I feel so helpless.
I'm working on a quilted beach towel. I guess you can't call it a quilt because there is no batting only the patchwork on top and the towel on the back. I'll call it a patchwork towel. I hope to have it finished soon and post some pictures. The entire front of the towel is covered with patchwork. I used the Neptune fabric line by Moda for the the patchwork and I'm using nautical embroidery quilt designs for the quilting.
The lake is filling up with water finally. I can't wait to get the boat in the water.
Then I called my son that lives in VA that evening......here is how they spend their Easter!
This breaks my heart.....apparently my grandson was vomiting non stop and became dehydrated and needed IV therapy. He totally missed Easter! But he is better and home from the hospital now. It's amazing how we worry about our children even when they are grown and then about our grandchildren. I absolutely HATE living so far from them, especially at times like this. I want to help and I feel so helpless.I'm working on a quilted beach towel. I guess you can't call it a quilt because there is no batting only the patchwork on top and the towel on the back. I'll call it a patchwork towel. I hope to have it finished soon and post some pictures. The entire front of the towel is covered with patchwork. I used the Neptune fabric line by Moda for the the patchwork and I'm using nautical embroidery quilt designs for the quilting.
The lake is filling up with water finally. I can't wait to get the boat in the water.
Friday, April 10, 2009
She's Pouting..
......Mommy's going to work. She's a little (big) sneaky dog. She's in the guest bedroom "on the bed" a big no, no! The door to this room is usually shut and I forgot and left it open. The dogs are just like little kids, if its off limits then don't give them a temptation or an open door.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Easter Baskets
Whew......I didn't realize I'd been away from blogging for so long until I just saw the date of the last post. I've been very busy with work, I met with West Virginia's Governor, Joe Manchin yesterday. I've been working hard on preparation for the meeting for several weeks. Hopefully things will get back to normal around here soon.
We stayed at the campground in the RV last weekend, the weather was beautiful and all our friends were there. We had a lot of catching up to do. We drained all the antifreeze out of the water lines, filled the hot water tank, just so it would SNOW Tuesday and Wednesday. Our RV is fairly well insulated for an RV, I don't think the lines froze. We ran up to the lake this evening to check on things and they don't appear to be froze now or broken, but that will only show up later when we have water damage.....
I made this little Easter Basket for my grandson, and mailed it to him filled with little goodies.
I found the recipe for the basket at the Moda Bake Shop Blog . It turned out so cute I ordered more Honey Buns to make two more with a different line of fabric. I think I will make them without the handles and use them as junk baskets in the RV. I thought about wrapping the rope around my plastic ice tea glasses about half way up to use as insulated coasters. The plastic cups would slip in and out for washing and the rope would add a decorative touch. We'll just have to see what my imagination comes up with.....may be good may be terrible, I run about 50/50.
We stayed at the campground in the RV last weekend, the weather was beautiful and all our friends were there. We had a lot of catching up to do. We drained all the antifreeze out of the water lines, filled the hot water tank, just so it would SNOW Tuesday and Wednesday. Our RV is fairly well insulated for an RV, I don't think the lines froze. We ran up to the lake this evening to check on things and they don't appear to be froze now or broken, but that will only show up later when we have water damage.....
I made this little Easter Basket for my grandson, and mailed it to him filled with little goodies.
I found the recipe for the basket at the Moda Bake Shop Blog . It turned out so cute I ordered more Honey Buns to make two more with a different line of fabric. I think I will make them without the handles and use them as junk baskets in the RV. I thought about wrapping the rope around my plastic ice tea glasses about half way up to use as insulated coasters. The plastic cups would slip in and out for washing and the rope would add a decorative touch. We'll just have to see what my imagination comes up with.....may be good may be terrible, I run about 50/50.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
The Orange...
send West Virginia Home. Syracuse beat us in overtime. It was a very close game and back and forth with the lead the entire game. But the Orange team won and that's what counts. I still feel good about beating Pitt, the number 2 team in the nation....now I hope Syracuse beats Louisville tonight for the Big East Championship. That will make me feel better about our loss to them.
Last night Don took me to Charleston to see the Blood, Sweat, and Tears. You have to be older than dirt to remember this group when they were in their hay day. And unfortunately I remember.....It was a good concert, not great, but good. We had a good time and listened to the game as we drove home and arrive home in time to see the last 10 minute on ESPN.
Today we went to Summersville to an Estate Auction. Don bought 2 old leaded stain glass windows. They are beautiful. We've not sure what we will do with the windows yet, for starters we will clean them up. I think they would look really neat handing from the ceiling in front of a window. I remember my grandfather buying stain glass windows at an auction when I was a little girl, he actually replaced windows in his home with the old stain glass windows. We probably won't go that far. They would also make a nice table top. We'll have to use our imagination and see what we come up with.
I'll take some pictures of the windows tomorrow. It's rained all day today, and we did not get them out of the truck when we got home. We also bought a lawn mower (like we needed another one) and two prints of ducks. I'll probably hang the duck prints at our Mt Nebo House/Office because they go with the cabin lake theme decor.
I'm hoping go get in some sewing time this evening and tomorrow. Like always the weekend will fly by.....I see the wings flapping faster now.
Last night Don took me to Charleston to see the Blood, Sweat, and Tears. You have to be older than dirt to remember this group when they were in their hay day. And unfortunately I remember.....It was a good concert, not great, but good. We had a good time and listened to the game as we drove home and arrive home in time to see the last 10 minute on ESPN.
Today we went to Summersville to an Estate Auction. Don bought 2 old leaded stain glass windows. They are beautiful. We've not sure what we will do with the windows yet, for starters we will clean them up. I think they would look really neat handing from the ceiling in front of a window. I remember my grandfather buying stain glass windows at an auction when I was a little girl, he actually replaced windows in his home with the old stain glass windows. We probably won't go that far. They would also make a nice table top. We'll have to use our imagination and see what we come up with.
I'll take some pictures of the windows tomorrow. It's rained all day today, and we did not get them out of the truck when we got home. We also bought a lawn mower (like we needed another one) and two prints of ducks. I'll probably hang the duck prints at our Mt Nebo House/Office because they go with the cabin lake theme decor.
I'm hoping go get in some sewing time this evening and tomorrow. Like always the weekend will fly by.....I see the wings flapping faster now.
Friday, March 13, 2009
It's Friday
I'm too glad it's Friday.....this is how I felt all day at work today!
Corporate TAXES are due Monday.......We finished them today. Although we've been working on the darn things for several weeks, nothing like finishing at the last minute. Well maybe not the last minute, midnight Monday would be the last minute.
Corporate TAXES are due Monday.......We finished them today. Although we've been working on the darn things for several weeks, nothing like finishing at the last minute. Well maybe not the last minute, midnight Monday would be the last minute.
West Virginia Sends Pitt Home
West Virginia beats the number 2 nationally ranked basketball team. The third time was a charm for the Mountaineers in the Backyard Brawl. 74 to 60 was a pretty impressive victory for the Mountaineers. And Syracuse beat U-Conn 127 to 117 in 6 Overtimes. U-Conn is ranked third in the nation. Wow! What a night for the Big East. WV plays Syracuse tonight. Hopefully they are really tired after 6 overtimes last night and it'll be a snap for WV. In honor of the WV victory, I'm posting pictures of the can koozies that I embroidered for our friends at the lake. 
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Debbie Mum Decorated..
......my front porch. I found these boots, watering can and door mat at Joann's Fabric Store. I thought they would be cute for spring and Easter. I'm looking for the Debbie Mum fabric to match the boots and I'll make pillows for my porch chairs.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Mountaineers Beat Notre Dame
.....74 to 64. Let's Go Mountaineers. Tomorrow night we play Pittsburgh....another backyard brawl. We're only 75 miles from Pitsburgh and we've lost to them in basketball twice this year already. In honor of West Virginia beating the Fighting Irish, I'm posting a picture of my Irish table topper. 
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Amish Food Store
....is one of my favorite little shops. I had meetings in Charleston all morning yesterday and after lunch I shopped at TJ Max for flavored Olive Oil. 
Don I love to dip bread in the olive oil. We have this almost every evening, delicious with a glass of wine. I'm going to make my own when I get the correct recipe. I've been buying the basil flavored for years now and love it. I'm afraid mine won't be quite as good. And I would have to wait on it to age. I do make my own vanilla and it takes 6 months to age.
I bought all kinds of goodies at the Amish Food Store. I did not know they started selling wine....I picked up two bottles. Who would have thought the Amish would make wine. But their label is on the front. We'll try it and see if they can "make" wine.
We have so many vineyards around our area, the wine is good, and I usually just go to the different vineyards for our wine stock (stash, like fabric). I also picked up wheat berries for apple salad, toasted large coconut to add to my cereal in the morning, dehydrated mini marshmallows for the homemade hot chocolate, we love this at the lake on cool nights, pecan flour for pie crusts, almond flour for pie crusts, and other stuff that is not even pictured. I love the little gram pretzels we dip them in softened peanut butter or I make chocolate peanut butter for dipping.
I usually make my own pecan and almond flour with my food processor but when I saw it on the shelf, I thought I would save myself a mess to clean up. I also like the pecan flour in banana nut bread. I reduce the regular flour and add the pecan flour. I am addicted to the toasted coconut....I add a hand full to my bowl of cereal, it is especially good on Special-K. Why not add some calories to a healthy food, not to mention that coconut is very high in cholesterol. I haven't started my diet yet. The cherries looked too good to pass up, I have a chicken recipe that calls for black cherries and and red wine.
I fixed Cinnamon Pineapple Pork Tenderloin for dinner. The jalapenos just make this recipe pop.
Ingredients:
1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 8 crosswise pieces (or substitute 4 boneless pork loin steaks) 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
2 Tablespoons butter, divided
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks in natural juice, undrained
1 Tablespoon peeled, grated fresh ginger root
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh jalapeno pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Preparation:
Pound each pork tenderloin medallion to 1-inch thickness. (If using pork loin steaks, pound to tenderize.) Sprinkle with salt, thyme, and sage. Place large heavy skillet over medium heat and wait until it gets very hot. Add half of the butter and sear each tenderloin until browned, about 3 minutes per side. Remove to a platter and keep warm. (If you do not have a large skillet, you may have to do this half at a time.)
In the same skillet over medium heat, melt remaining butter. Quickly cook red bell pepper just until it becomes limp, but not mushy, about 3 minutes. Carefully add wine to the bell peppers. Stir, scraping up any browned bits, until the wine begins to reduce and get syrupy. Add chicken broth, pineapple chunks with juice, ginger, jalapeno and cinnamon. Gently simmer, stirring often, until reduced to about 1/4 cup of sauce. Taste sauce, adding salt and pepper, if necessary.
Return seared pork tenderloins to the pan, turning to coat with the sauce, just until pork is heated through. Serve pork with the sauce on top and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro.
I fixed Baked Cheese Grits and stir fried Asparagus with the pork....delicious.
Don I love to dip bread in the olive oil. We have this almost every evening, delicious with a glass of wine. I'm going to make my own when I get the correct recipe. I've been buying the basil flavored for years now and love it. I'm afraid mine won't be quite as good. And I would have to wait on it to age. I do make my own vanilla and it takes 6 months to age.I bought all kinds of goodies at the Amish Food Store. I did not know they started selling wine....I picked up two bottles. Who would have thought the Amish would make wine. But their label is on the front. We'll try it and see if they can "make" wine.
We have so many vineyards around our area, the wine is good, and I usually just go to the different vineyards for our wine stock (stash, like fabric). I also picked up wheat berries for apple salad, toasted large coconut to add to my cereal in the morning, dehydrated mini marshmallows for the homemade hot chocolate, we love this at the lake on cool nights, pecan flour for pie crusts, almond flour for pie crusts, and other stuff that is not even pictured. I love the little gram pretzels we dip them in softened peanut butter or I make chocolate peanut butter for dipping.I usually make my own pecan and almond flour with my food processor but when I saw it on the shelf, I thought I would save myself a mess to clean up. I also like the pecan flour in banana nut bread. I reduce the regular flour and add the pecan flour. I am addicted to the toasted coconut....I add a hand full to my bowl of cereal, it is especially good on Special-K. Why not add some calories to a healthy food, not to mention that coconut is very high in cholesterol. I haven't started my diet yet. The cherries looked too good to pass up, I have a chicken recipe that calls for black cherries and and red wine.
I fixed Cinnamon Pineapple Pork Tenderloin for dinner. The jalapenos just make this recipe pop.
Ingredients:
1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 8 crosswise pieces (or substitute 4 boneless pork loin steaks) 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
2 Tablespoons butter, divided
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 can (8 ounces) pineapple chunks in natural juice, undrained
1 Tablespoon peeled, grated fresh ginger root
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh jalapeno pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Preparation:
Pound each pork tenderloin medallion to 1-inch thickness. (If using pork loin steaks, pound to tenderize.) Sprinkle with salt, thyme, and sage. Place large heavy skillet over medium heat and wait until it gets very hot. Add half of the butter and sear each tenderloin until browned, about 3 minutes per side. Remove to a platter and keep warm. (If you do not have a large skillet, you may have to do this half at a time.)
In the same skillet over medium heat, melt remaining butter. Quickly cook red bell pepper just until it becomes limp, but not mushy, about 3 minutes. Carefully add wine to the bell peppers. Stir, scraping up any browned bits, until the wine begins to reduce and get syrupy. Add chicken broth, pineapple chunks with juice, ginger, jalapeno and cinnamon. Gently simmer, stirring often, until reduced to about 1/4 cup of sauce. Taste sauce, adding salt and pepper, if necessary.
Return seared pork tenderloins to the pan, turning to coat with the sauce, just until pork is heated through. Serve pork with the sauce on top and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro.
I fixed Baked Cheese Grits and stir fried Asparagus with the pork....delicious.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Quilt Along with Judy L
I just finished the blocks for the Quilt Along with Judy L. This project is lots of fun, but I'm having a hard time keeping up, all of a sudden I'm too busy for a Quilt Along. And the pace picked up with the class. We really had a lot of work to do in one week. I'm going to try and finish with the group. If I can't keep up then I can always purchase the pattern and finish the quilt at a later time. If you want to see some of the other quilts here is a link to Photo Bucket where everyone is posting pictures of their progress. The quilts are going to be beautiful and there are some unique ideas surfacing.....not everyone used a stripe...take a peak if you have time.
Friday, March 6, 2009
I Found a Quilt Shoppe
in my back yard. It was like finding the mother ship, the mother load, whatever it's called when you find the find of all times.
My day did not not necessarily start off too great. I had so much on my plate. The PLAN (oh, those plans) get up early, put dinner in the crock pot, quick trip to the mall, and back home to clean up the front porch and then off to work. My son, daughter-in-law and grandson are coming in tonight. Last night I bought groceries for the weekend, enough to feed an army for several days. Cleaned the house, etc....I'm having company.
I accomplish everything and head for the office and decide to make a quick trip by an old country shoppe in Fayetteville. I'm looking for a new outside spring flag for the house. When I walked in the door, I remembered they sold fabric, not really good quality fabric, but I thought I would take a peek. OMG, they changed everything....they had all the Moda lines and Thimbleberries. Rows and rows and rows of beautiful fabric. Seven miles from my house. Keep in mind this is West Virginia, we do not have fancy shops and stores here. I was going crazy.....
Now the terrible part....this morning I received an e-mail from Kimberly at the Fat Quarter Shoppe with Friday's Feature....I bought 8 yards of assorted Moda Patisserie at $9.25 per yard. This little country shoppe in Fayetteville has all their Moda for $6.47/yard. And today they had a sale...1/2 off. I wanted some of everything but walked away with a few yards of Howard Marcus Heritage Collection for a Cause. I kept telling myself you can come back, it's only a few miles away. I want to make a laptop/briefcase with this fabric.
While I was shopping for Moda, my cell phone rings, my son is not coming to West Virginia this weekend. Apparently my grandson is sick and they do not want to make a six hour trip with a fussy child. I can't say that I much blame them. So now I'm inviting everyone to eat all weekend at my house, I have meals planned and food to feed an army. Oh those PLANS.
I guess we will go to the campground sometime this weekend, the weather is beautiful. I can smell the campfire burring right now.....I'm going to get back to my glass of Pinot Grigio. It's Friday evening, the house is clean, dinner is cooked and waiting.....what more could a woman want. Don't answer that!
My day did not not necessarily start off too great. I had so much on my plate. The PLAN (oh, those plans) get up early, put dinner in the crock pot, quick trip to the mall, and back home to clean up the front porch and then off to work. My son, daughter-in-law and grandson are coming in tonight. Last night I bought groceries for the weekend, enough to feed an army for several days. Cleaned the house, etc....I'm having company.
I accomplish everything and head for the office and decide to make a quick trip by an old country shoppe in Fayetteville. I'm looking for a new outside spring flag for the house. When I walked in the door, I remembered they sold fabric, not really good quality fabric, but I thought I would take a peek. OMG, they changed everything....they had all the Moda lines and Thimbleberries. Rows and rows and rows of beautiful fabric. Seven miles from my house. Keep in mind this is West Virginia, we do not have fancy shops and stores here. I was going crazy.....
Now the terrible part....this morning I received an e-mail from Kimberly at the Fat Quarter Shoppe with Friday's Feature....I bought 8 yards of assorted Moda Patisserie at $9.25 per yard. This little country shoppe in Fayetteville has all their Moda for $6.47/yard. And today they had a sale...1/2 off. I wanted some of everything but walked away with a few yards of Howard Marcus Heritage Collection for a Cause. I kept telling myself you can come back, it's only a few miles away. I want to make a laptop/briefcase with this fabric.
While I was shopping for Moda, my cell phone rings, my son is not coming to West Virginia this weekend. Apparently my grandson is sick and they do not want to make a six hour trip with a fussy child. I can't say that I much blame them. So now I'm inviting everyone to eat all weekend at my house, I have meals planned and food to feed an army. Oh those PLANS.I guess we will go to the campground sometime this weekend, the weather is beautiful. I can smell the campfire burring right now.....I'm going to get back to my glass of Pinot Grigio. It's Friday evening, the house is clean, dinner is cooked and waiting.....what more could a woman want. Don't answer that!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Another Late Night
....... at work....just like last night. I got home at 8:30 last night and 7 PM tonight. When will this schedule end? I fixed steaks on the grill and baked potatoes and salad for dinner. It's doesn't get any easier, other than carry out, and I hate carry out (in). The weather warmed up today and it's suppose to be in the 60s this weekend. My son and daughter-in-law with my darling little grandson may come for a visit this weekend. We won't know for sure until tomorrow. If we don't have company, I'd love to go to the lake and check on the RV, start cleaning up everything, and getting things hooked up in the RV. But we really don't want to drain the antifreeze with the kind of weather we've had this year. I can't clean without water.....hot water, so that means filling the hot water tank, forget it, it's not happening.
I made these little pin cushion jars and filled them with tread, buttons, and other little trinkets.
It's not really that hard to get the thread out of the wide mouths. A little practical decoration, but I'll probably be tired of them shortly and they will go back to their original purpose, canning.
I hope to be home early tomorrow from work. I really need to work on my Quilt Along; Bears in the Farmhouse Quilt so I don't get kicked out of class. I have the next part cut out and all the small blocks stitched but I have to put together the big blocks. I need to finish them before the weekend, they are due on Monday.
I made these little pin cushion jars and filled them with tread, buttons, and other little trinkets.
It's not really that hard to get the thread out of the wide mouths. A little practical decoration, but I'll probably be tired of them shortly and they will go back to their original purpose, canning. I found these Martha Pullen Sewing Accessory Designs and made the patchwork pin cushion and small patchwork scissor case. I was not pleased with the scissor case. For some reason I always think I'm going to like the in-the-hoop designs, but for the most part I'm usually disappointed with the end result. But I keep on buying more of them, I'll never learn. But I did like the patchwork pin cushion. I just noticed in the picture that I forgot to hand stitch the bottom closed after I stuffed it.
I hope to be home early tomorrow from work. I really need to work on my Quilt Along; Bears in the Farmhouse Quilt so I don't get kicked out of class. I have the next part cut out and all the small blocks stitched but I have to put together the big blocks. I need to finish them before the weekend, they are due on Monday.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Grandma Brag Books
I made these little brag books for my pocket picture albums yesterday. The fabric matches my wallet, tote bag and sun glasses. I bought new Vera Bradley Prescription Sun glasses a few months ago. 
Then I needed to coordinate (that's a bad word) everything, so I bought the tote bag, wallet, makeup case, and checkbook cover. I really should have made all the little stuff but I wanted it to match the sun glasses. (coordinate, that really is an expen$ive word)
I wanted the picture holders to match the rest of the ensemble. So today, I leave for work, all dolled up with my new ensemble....I stop at the store to pick up a few items. I go to dig out my wallet and everything in the bag matches. OMG where was my head when I was coordinating, I could not find my wallet, it matched everything else. How long I will carry this mess? Who knows, it was rather aggravating with everything "coordinating" inside the tote.I found this fabric and pattern for a beach bag. I'm going to use boat rope for the handles and tie knots through the O rings.
I'll use smaller rope for the draw string. We have huge reels of white rope on the boat. I don't think Don will mind if I borrow a little! It won't match my sun glasses, (darn) but I guess everything can't coordinate. Maybe I'll have to get new prescription glasses to match the bag this time. LOL
Crock Pot Chicken Lasagna
I have chicken in the crock pot, Buffalo Chicken Lasagna to be exact. I tried this recipe from Stephanie (Crock Pot Lady) a few weeks ago and Don and I both thought it was delicious. So it's "what's for dinner tonight"! I'm not a big fan of the crock pot, I like my pressure cooker 100% better, but every now and then, I really need to cook dinner while I'm at work.
We had more snow last night and Don is shoveling the driveway right now, so I can get out. I really wish he wasn't so considerate, I'd call the office and tell them I was working from home. That's really a bad idea. I'd love to work from home everyday, but my bond is too close with the Bernies and I know exactly what I would be doing.....bet I don't have to tell you.
Happy Monday! March came in like a lion!
We had more snow last night and Don is shoveling the driveway right now, so I can get out. I really wish he wasn't so considerate, I'd call the office and tell them I was working from home. That's really a bad idea. I'd love to work from home everyday, but my bond is too close with the Bernies and I know exactly what I would be doing.....bet I don't have to tell you.
Happy Monday! March came in like a lion!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Busy, Busy, Busy
...as a bee and not a quilting bee. I'm so busy right now my head is spinning. I've been taking steroids for a severe reaction to a medication and I'm exhausted from the hyper-activity caused by the steroids. First the biopsies and then all the doctor appointments are bad enough without any side effects from the treatment. Oh well, enough about that stuff, nurses are the worst patients anyway!
Over the past three weeks at work I've been through a Medicaid Audit, standard procedure for Home Health Agencies, but still a pain the butt and they always just show up with only 24 hours notice, not to mention that Corporate taxes are due in 15 days and I have four companies plus personal taxes due on April 15. We have accounts that take care of this stuff but we still have to gather up all the "junk" and make sure it's correct........and so on.
I've actually been sewing a little and finished part of my sewing room. I have one wall in the room finished. Just three more to go. I usually work in little doses when it comes to decorating. I need to finish with one part before I can decide on another.
Over the past three weeks at work I've been through a Medicaid Audit, standard procedure for Home Health Agencies, but still a pain the butt and they always just show up with only 24 hours notice, not to mention that Corporate taxes are due in 15 days and I have four companies plus personal taxes due on April 15. We have accounts that take care of this stuff but we still have to gather up all the "junk" and make sure it's correct........and so on.
I've actually been sewing a little and finished part of my sewing room. I have one wall in the room finished. Just three more to go. I usually work in little doses when it comes to decorating. I need to finish with one part before I can decide on another.
I've made little things like a pin cushion thread jars, small scissor holders, dress form pin cushion, and some other little trinkets. I'll take some pictures of these little things tomorrow night and post them along with the link to the designs.
Oh, please don't report me to the thread police! I know you're not suppose to expose your thread to dust and light (sunlight). But I have vinyl covering the rack and I keep the blinds shut most of the time, I'm not home during daylight hours anyway. I really like having every thing at arms length when I'm sewing. I don't want to dig in drawers for thread. I do have all my big spool in a large container in my closet. I really hate it when I have to dig in the containers for spools. I can see all the colors at one time with the thread on the wall. Grab what I need and get on with it.
I can't believe it's almost Monday, where do the weekends go? Its snowing here, like everywhere in the eastern US and the campground opened today. It's my understanding that people were lined up at the door at 8 AM to reserve their sites for this summer and the line was over a three hour wait. Apparently the phone lines were all tired up with phone reservations also. Boy, I'm glad I have a seasonal site! And it's ready for camping as soon as the weather breaks. I'm really ready for fresh air, hiking, boating, swimming, sitting by a campfire, all the FUN stuff in life.
Quilt Along with Judy L
Too busy to blog lately but I'm really trying to keep up with the Quilt Along. I cut out the half square triangles and made the 2.5 inch squares last weekend but just now had time to get the pictures up. Just in a nick of time! 
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The Bottom of the Lake!
Another weekend passes, as usual, too fast. Don I went to Mt. Nebo Saturday to check on the office and our house. We made a quick trip by the campground to check on our RV. Everything is fine at both Mt Nebo and the campground. With the high winds we had this past week I'm surprised everything was okay. The storm door blew off at Don's shop and all the planters blew into the back yard at the house in town. We're lucky and we did not lose power like some neighboring towns.
While at Mt Nebo we drove to the Summersville Lake winter boat launch. I love to drive down the launch in the winter when the lake is drained. It is awesome to drive where you know you swim and ride your boat in summer. These pictures are taken on the lake bottom, where we enjoy diving in the summer. 
Summersville Lake attracts scuba divers because of the rocks, boulders, lake depth, and underwater terrain. This picture was taken from the campground over looking the lake. 
Beautiful in the summer and interesting in the winter! I've often thought about hiking the lake bottom during the winter with a metal detector. Think of all the different things that might fall over board. The lake is over 300 feet deep in some areas.
I spent some time today at the office in Beckley. I really hate it when I have to work on weekends but sometimes it's unavoidable. It's close to tax time and with three businesses to close out all the books, it's a busy time of year for me.
Did you notice the Bushfire Quilt Project on the right side of my blog? I made two star blocks to send for the project. This is my feel good project for February. I really need to do something every month that helps someone.....(maybe) feel better.
While at Mt Nebo we drove to the Summersville Lake winter boat launch. I love to drive down the launch in the winter when the lake is drained. It is awesome to drive where you know you swim and ride your boat in summer. These pictures are taken on the lake bottom, where we enjoy diving in the summer. 
Summersville Lake attracts scuba divers because of the rocks, boulders, lake depth, and underwater terrain. This picture was taken from the campground over looking the lake. 
Beautiful in the summer and interesting in the winter! I've often thought about hiking the lake bottom during the winter with a metal detector. Think of all the different things that might fall over board. The lake is over 300 feet deep in some areas.I spent some time today at the office in Beckley. I really hate it when I have to work on weekends but sometimes it's unavoidable. It's close to tax time and with three businesses to close out all the books, it's a busy time of year for me.
Did you notice the Bushfire Quilt Project on the right side of my blog? I made two star blocks to send for the project. This is my feel good project for February. I really need to do something every month that helps someone.....(maybe) feel better.
Hope everyone has a great week.
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