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.
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