Mountain Chronicles

I Miss the Blogging...

2010-03-19T23:29:00.005-04:00

..After almost a year away from Mountain Chronicles. I'll start off slow but I really enjoy documenting, sharing, and writing about the events of my life. Over the past year, I've welcomed another grandson into the world, continued my passion of sewing on my Berninas and cooking. It appears that Blogger changed a little and I need to scope out the changes and search my brain for the missing Blogger instructions and data stored in there someplace. I've been following several different blogs over the past year and I need to get them posted on on my home page. I started using Facebook last year and this became my outlet for communication. I need to connect the Blog and Facebook, more instructions, I need to read. I'll get it all together within the next couple of weeks hopefully...

It's a warm beautiful Friday night in West Virginia. After our long cold snowy winter, I'm delighted with the weather. Camping season is here and I can smell the campfires and lake water 25 miles away. We spent the night in our camper a few weeks ago with snow on the ground and ice on the lake...but it was a wonder weekend.

Frozen Summersville Lake

Somewhere...

2009-04-28T22:34:00.004-04:00

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.

Monday, Monday!

2009-04-20T23:00:00.001-04:00

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 byI 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.

Bear PJ's......

2009-04-17T10:00:00.002-04:00

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.

A Rising Explosion

2009-04-17T07:00:00.003-04:00

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!

I carefully removed the container from the refrigerator.....and gawked with amazement. Now what? The container was hissing at me, it sounded like my pressure cooker. I knew the thing was going to blow at any minute and a big doughy mess was inevitable, if not damage to my kitchen. I could take the container outside, but I needed to get ready for work and I did not want my dough to get hot. I tried to open the container with long handle tongs, I did not want to get too close, that did not work....I tried to punch a hole in the lid with a long handle knife but the plastic was too heavy. Finally I decided to bite the bullet, press my luck, and just use my hands and open the container. BOOM.....POP.....KABANG. I jumped three feet! then loosely put the lid back on the container, put the container back in the refrigerator and got ready for work.

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.

The Patchwork Towel....

2009-04-16T21:55:00.003-04:00

...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

Bread...Quick and Easy...

2009-04-15T09:34:00.009-04:00

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.

Do You Like Tapioca.....

2009-04-15T00:28:00.007-04:00

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.

Our Easter

2009-04-14T15:30:00.009-04:00

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.

She's Pouting..

2009-04-10T07:00:00.004-04:00

......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.

Easter Baskets

2009-04-09T23:20:00.002-04:00

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.

The Orange...

2009-03-14T19:00:00.001-04:00

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.

It's Friday

2009-03-13T15:30:00.001-04:00

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.

West Virginia Sends Pitt Home

2009-03-13T14:09:00.006-04:00

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.

Debbie Mum Decorated..

2009-03-12T14:11:00.006-04:00

......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.

Mountaineers Beat Notre Dame

2009-03-11T22:15:00.001-04:00

.....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. .

Amish Food Store

2009-03-11T06:07:00.004-04:00

....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.

Quilt Along with Judy L

2009-03-08T11:28:00.004-04:00

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.

I Found a Quilt Shoppe

2009-03-06T18:43:00.005-05:00

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!

Another Late Night

2009-03-04T23:00:00.001-05:00

....... 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 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.

Grandma Brag Books

2009-03-02T21:30:00.001-05:00

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

2009-03-02T07:21:00.001-05:00

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!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-03-01T23:00:00.002-05:00

...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.

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

2009-03-01T22:28:00.003-05:00

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!

The Bottom of the Lake!

2009-02-15T21:45:00.004-05:00

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.

I covered my stools in the kitchen tonight and hopefully I'll get the new chair cushions made this week, if I'm not swamped at work. I'll take some pictures if I get them finished.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Quilt Along with Judy L

2009-02-12T23:29:00.004-05:00

I've decided to participate in the Quilt Along with Judy Laquidara. This is the one and maybe only way I will ever finish a quilt. And who knows, I may learn something along the way. So the pressure is on to keep up with the gang. I think I'm up to the challange. We'll see. Here are my fabric choices for the Bears in the Farmhouse Quilt.

Do you Remember Dickeys?

2009-02-10T22:45:00.000-05:00

After spending a wonderful weekend with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson, I’ve come back down to reality and started my next phase of winter cleaning. I just about threw several turtle necks in the trash when I decided to recycle them. I recycle jeans and buttons so why not turtle necks. Remember the ‘70s, turtle necks were all the rage! High collars, dare we show our chest! But we sure did show the legs! I still like a turtle neck under a sweater or sweatshirt but with the big MP I tend to roast like a chicken. But I like the warmth around my neck when I’m outside. I cut out the turtle “necks” and serged the cut ends and made what we used to call “dickeys”. Are you old enough to remember?

Now I have all these knit scraps, I’ll save them too for embroidery practice stitch-outs. Or maybe I’ll use the sleeve bottoms for something like adding to the bottom of a sweatshirt sleeve, who knows, I’ll just hang on to them until next winter when I clean out my sewing room closet again, find the darn things, and wonder why in the world I kept this junk.
I picked up my framed embroidered pictures from Hobby Lobby on Friday afternoon. They look great. When I went in to claim my “original art work” there was a note on my claim ticket to call this number. Apparently an interior designer in the area saw the pictures while they were being framed and wants to purchase some pictures like these. WOW, that was a shocker, I’ve never been ask that question…..I’ve never thought anything I made was worth anything to anyone except me or maybe my family. (oh I’ll add close friends) But for a price, I’ll have to give this some thought. I did not call the lady….I can’t put a price on my hobby. Once I start selling my hobby, it’s no longer a hobby, it’s a JOB and I already have several of those. So as of today, I still have no interest in selling my hobby. But, remember, I’m a woman and it’s my prerogative to change to my mind.

Hopefully Don will help me hang the pictures this weekend and I’ll take some pictures. (Did that make since?) Now all I need is to rearrange some furniture and find an oversized chair that makes a bed and my sewing room is finished. We’ve been looking for an oversized chair for over a year. They are not hard to find, but finding the right one is our problem. I need a twin bed in my sewing room for my grandson to sleep on when he is older. But I do not want the bed in the way all the time. So, an oversized chair is the solution. I found a leather one at Home Goods, it would work but it just didn’t jump out and say buy me. We thought the price was a little high for a Home Goods chair, and they would not come down on the price when I pointed out a scratch in the leather on the back side. I knew it wouldn’t show and I guess they did too. But I’m not paying asking price for damaged goods.

Valentine Table Topper

2009-02-05T01:25:00.006-05:00

I made this little table topper for Valentine's Day. It's very simple to make. I piece all the squares, add the embroidery, use the ruffle attachment and sew on a ruffle, line the back with quilting and backing, sew around the outer edge and flip.

This little package is coming to see me this weekend. In the picture he's eating celery with ranch dressing, watching the super bowl, in his favorite outfit; his diaper. I won't get much sewing done this weekend but it's a good trade off. I'd much rather be spending time with my grandson, son, and daughter-in-law. Family always first. Sometimes I go months without visiting them, and grand kids grow up so fast. But work and distance keep up apart. I should be thankful that we all have jobs and that's what keeps us apart. It could be a lot worse, especially with the economic crisis our country is experiencing.

Relaxing with the Bernina Designer Software

2009-02-02T21:55:00.009-05:00

Our friend and Delegate came over this evening to discuss issues with the Elderly and Disabled in West Virginia. The WV Legislators are getting ready to go back to work after their Christmas recess. Tom is a good guy and really cares about WV.

I rushed home from work, cook pork tenderloin in the pressure cooker with a white wine sauce, rice in the rice cooker, stirred fried some fresh veggies and threw together a blackberry cobbler with fresh frozen blackberries. I had dinner ready in 35 minutes from the time I entered the house. Thank goodness for all the modern appliances. I did not know I was having company until after I was already at work today. Good thing I keep a stash of food around the house. I did not have to go to the store on my way home. Our Delegate friend left with his head full of information. I probably talked so fast and rambled so much he was totally confused and relieved when he left the house.

After I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen, I decided to relax with my Designer Plus Software. I really don’t spend as much time with the software as I did when it was new. Sometimes it’s fun to just play around with the functions. I’m trying to put together some stitch recipes for borders. I want to create a border for the fabric that I’m using on my pressing board.
Gee Whiz….how may combinations of stitches are there to use with the software? Thousands, maybe Millions? I could play with this for weeks.

I used industrial strength Velcro last year and attached my Bernina accessory boxes to the wall behind my sewing table (they are still hanging on). Every once in awhile I get around to cleaning them out. Tonight I decided to wind some bobbins while I was playing with the software.
That should do me for a few weeks if I don’t get too carried away with sewing. I really need to quilt my table topper but I just don’t have the energy tonight.

Scissor Cases...In-the-Hoop

2009-02-01T21:50:00.002-05:00

These In-the-Hoop scissor cases are too much fun to make. I made three for my large scissors today. I found the embroidery design at Embroidery Library . I plan (oh those plans) on making four of the smaller size scissor cases for my smaller scissors. I have this little three hook wall mount to hang the three large scissor cases. I’m waiting until my embroidered pictures are framed and I’ll incorporate the hanger into the picture collage.I'm going to cover my pressing board soon, maybe this week. I've had plans (oh those plans) to cover it for some time now. I'm going to use stitch recipes on the border around the pressing board fabric.

Oh what a Super Bowl game….the Cardinals just pulled ahead! Before I could get my pictures uploaded the Steelers are ahead…..maybe, they are reviewing the play. TD, now the Steelers are ahead. I'm really not into pro football. I like college football, especially if the Mountaineers are playing! Our local high school basketball team is #1 in the state right now. Go RED DEVILS! Maybe we'll win the states this year. It's been years since they have been State Champs!

Once again the weekend went by too fast. Tomorrow is Monday once again. I hope everyone had a good weekend and you're ready for the week ahead.

Criss Cross "Cross" Coasters

2009-01-29T23:58:00.003-05:00

I traveled 60 miles one way to my Greenbrier County office today. The sun was shinning and most of the snow melted. It was a peaceful drive with my thoughts to myself. Lots of executive decisions made during the drive. I won't bore you with the Home Health business decisions, but I decided I would finish my table runner this evening, even if it isn't perfect, I'll use it in the RV and with all the kids coming and going I won't worry about cool aid spills, then I'll trash it after it has a few stains.

I rushed home this evening after a quick trip to Joann's, I needed to use my 50% off coupon. I quickly cooked a beef roast in the pressure cooker with mushrooms and onions and added sour cream after cooking for a thickening. We ate and I cleaned up the mess and headed upstairs to tackle my table runner, and I literally tackled and attacked the darn thing. After stretching and pulling, pushing, pinning, and cussing, I got the large blocks to fit together decently. Not perfect by any means. It does not lay perfectly flat but maybe my quilting will help that.

The biggest problem with this pattern is my choice of colors and fabric. I should have limited the number of different charm squares and the strips should be all the same fabric. This has been a learning lesson and I'm please with what I've learned. I am definitely going to make this again with different fabrics. I'm not down and out yet.

I made criss cross coasters with the left over small squares. This is a different take on the Criss Cross, I guess you might say they are criss cross "cross" coasters. These did not turn out too bad. I'm going to make them again using only two colors of fabric one color for the cross and another for the blocks.
If any one attempts this before I get around to it, please let me know and send pictures.

TGIF in about 5 minutes. The weekend will fly by. I have my stitching list ready for the weekend. I may stay up all night Friday night and sew......stitch my flannel PJ's. A twist on the old adage...make it today, wear it tonight. I'll make it tonight and wear it in the morning. I love an all nighter......

Book Sense and Quilting

2009-01-28T23:26:00.010-05:00

I've been dabbling a little in quilting off and on over the past couple of years. Most of my quilting is tote bags and sweatshirt jackets. When I upgraded my 200 and got the BSR I thought I had the quilting bug, but it really never bit that hard. I've read every blog out there about quilting (OK, not really every blog but lots and lots of quilting blogs), watched PBS, Fons and Porter and America Sews, etc., joined lots of quilting groups, read magazines, bought several books, all about quilting. I've never taken an actual quilting class. So with all this book sense you would think....I can do it, I've got the knowledge......READ ON!

I have four packs of Moda Prairie Paisley charm squares and three Jelly Rolls. I made a tote with about twenty squares, so do the math, I have about 150 charm squares left. I decided I'd give a table runner a try. I starched the charms and jelly rolls, cut them diagonally and cut the strips down to size. Pieced the charms with the strips. Guess what, some of the squares don't match up. The charms are not all the exact same size. Look at the bottom of the picture and notice the two small squares are about 1/2 inch off. They won't match up. Boohoo, I'm aggravated. I need to cut some more charms and piece some more small squares. I need one more large block and then hopefully I can square up my blocks enough to stitch the large blocks together. These colors do not match my house. I started out with plans to make a small lap quilt for my RV. I have the red, and blue theme going on inside the RV. Almost immediately the charms did not cooperate, so I made an executive decision (sure sounds good) to change from a lap quilt to a table runner for the table in the RV. If I can't get the large squares to square up and match up, they will be potholders in a millisecond, I won't even have to think about this one. When I get finish, I either post pictures of a table runner or half dozen pot holders.
I dropped off my textile pictures at Hobby Lobby for framing after work this evening. They will be ready for pick up on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished project.
After I finish this table runner or potholders, depending on how it goes, I'm going to start on my flannel PJ bottoms and embroider T-shirt tops to match. I'll need these when we start camping, it'll be cold at night for the first couple of months. Don likes to keep the heat in the RV down low, and I freeze to death. I believe the BIG M is finally over.

Snowy, Cold, Monday

2009-01-26T12:35:00.004-05:00

It's snowing and cold outside. I just want to leave work, go home, bake bread to warm up the kitchen, put on my flannels, and curl up with a good book and my fleece blanket.

Pictures

2009-01-25T20:36:00.008-05:00

I spent Saturday working on my pictures for my sewing room. I completed two more, re-stitched one, and added new borders to the others. I think they are finally ready to frame. I wanted to embroider two more but I think I already have enough for a wall mural . I have a few other pictures that I plan on adding to the arrangement.

We went out to eat with friends at "Pies and Pints" and then later Saturday night I finished the other set of coasters that were already cut out. These little cross cut coaster are really fun to make. I keep telling myself, "you don't need any more coaster," or I'll make two dozen, just for the "fun of it". I used them with my coffee this morning. Sorry the pictures are really bad, I just can't get used to the new camera, I'm just about ready to go back to using the old Olympus.
We did not go skiing, and I really accomplished at lot around the house this weekend. I can't believe how fast the weekend passed. There won't be many more weekends and we'll be camping, the campground opens in 35 days.

Don is trying to find a good deal on airline tickets, I think we'll go to FL sometime in March. I'd like to visit with my parents and there are some really good deals on property, we need to try and find a good deal, buy something now, and have it for our retirement. That's if we can afford to retire.....our 401K is well, you know, I don't even like to think about it. And I really don't see it getting any better over the next four years! And that's if the government doesn't take it all in taxes.

Lots and Lots of Fun

2009-01-24T02:00:00.001-05:00

My order arrived from Nancy's Notions. I wanted the sixth finger stiletto,(not pictured) also bought 3 yards of Birdseye Diaper Cloth, to make lint less dish towels and 3 yards of insul-bright to cover my pressing board, two sweatshirts to embroider, three t-shirts to embroider, a denim shirt to embroider and wear as a jacket, and a sweatshirt make over pattern and a t-shirt makeover pattern.(not pictured) It's amazing how fast I can order new supplies compared to the rate that I finish my new projects.
Tonight after I got home from Greenbrier county, Don and I had dinner out, and then I completed the coasters that I cut out last night. I made the simple cross cut coaster that were so popular a few months ago, I'm always behind. I have 4 more cut out to stitch together tomorrow.

I need to finish my embroidery pictures for the wall in my sewing room. It started out being 5 pictures but I keep finding stuff I want to embroider and frame. I said I wasn't going to show pictures of the designs until I have them framed. At the rate I'm going that will be spring. No, hopefully, they will be completely finished and hanging on the wall by next weekend. I can not deal with unfinished projects, it drives me insane. If I see its hopeless and I've lost my spirit and I'm not going to finish it....in the trash it goes or to someone that wants to finish it. Mostly it's filed in T.

I'll recover the stools in the kitchen this weekend and make new seat pillows for the chairs. This is a must do job rather than let us have fun. We bought new stools for the table and the fabric does not match the kitchen, and the cushions on the chairs need replaced. Hopefully by next week I'll have the other pictures embroidered and every one framed.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, It was 60 degrees in WV today, a good way to start the weekend. We may go to the ski slopes tomorrow with friends. I may spend my time in the lounge and let Don hit the slopes. I don't know if my ACL (knee) repair will allow me to ski this year. The screws in my knee are aggravating me. I always knew I had a screw loose some place and it finally surfaced LOL.

Home Alone

2009-01-22T08:19:00.005-05:00

Don's out of town for the week, he's in PA meeting with the DEP and the attorney's. Wining and dining while I'm here "home alone" working myself to the bare bone. NOT....I'm enjoying my time, still working on my pictures for the wall in my sewing room. I decided to re-stitch the one that the stabilizer shrank when I ironed the attached border.

Not having to cook dinner every night sure does allow more time for play in the evenings. But I stayed up late last night, washed all the clothes, cleaned the kitchen really good, and still had plenty of time to embroider.

Yesterday I let the dogs out when I got home from work....forgot about them. About 2 hours later when I called for them, they would not come. Frightened me into a panic, especially with Don out of town. I called and called for them, rang the door bell...that usually gets them home, they think someone is here other than me, started the car with the remote starter....hoping they would think we were going bye, bye...still no dogs. Finally after about 5 minutes here they came. They did not feel cold and it was about 19 degrees outside.....hummm they were inside some one's house. They go visiting sometimes, the neighbors love them. But I really wish they would not let my dogs inside their house! I have a feeling they are feeding them also, my lab has gain an enormous amount of weight. I've cut her food back to two cups per day for the last 3 months and she has gained more weight. I'm glad the neighbors, really it's more like the neighborhood, like my dogs. I have very well behaved animals. They stay in their yard and I have never tied or leashed them. My lab will heel for miles and miles on a walk, we never leash them, except to go to the vet. The only reason they have started leaving the yard recently is the neighbors to the back of our house are feeding them and letting them in their house. If I see the dogs going over there and call them they come right back. But I have catch them in the act. Who wouldn't go next door for a free hot meal when all you get at home is dry food and reduced fat to boot. I suspect they go to their back door and bark to get in. The couple is elderly and in their 80's. Years ago they would not have let the dogs in the house, I think they are lonely and want company. I've spoke with them about this but apparently it did no good. I guess the responsibility falls on me, as it should, and I will keep a better eye on my dogs.

I'm headed out the door to work, I'm going to finish the other three embroidered pictures this evening after work.....no dinner again tonight...and hopefully get them finished so I can have them framed this weekend. The sun is shinning on the snow, it is a beautiful day.

Snow, Snow, Snow!

2009-01-19T16:08:00.005-05:00

Snow, snow, and more snow. It's going to snow all week and we have this much on the ground already. Wishing for Spring and it's only the middle of January. I guess I should not wish time away.

Women and Financial Planning

2009-01-19T08:16:00.002-05:00

I received this in an e-mail this morning and thought I would share......

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.

When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with which to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.Her natural beauty took his breath away.

I may look like just an ordinary man,' he said to her, but in just a few years, my father will die, and I'll inherit $65 million.'

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are so much better at financial planning than men.

Vanilla Infusion Kit & Other Sunday Night Ramblings

2009-01-19T00:00:00.001-05:00

I've been making my own vanilla with this infusion kit. The bottle comes with the vanilla bean. You add premium vodka and keep it in a dark, dry, cool, environment for three months. After that you can use the vanilla and replenish it with more vodka for up to 7 years. I started the one on the right back in March 08. I started the second one about two weeks ago. It has not matured yet. This is very good vanilla but not quite as good as the Rose and Ivy Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. I think I will add Bourbon to the Infusion Kit for the next batch.
I spent most of the weekend stitching out embroidery designs that I am planning on framing. I finished four of the five. I added borders to three. I still have one more stitch out and borders to add to two more. I want to take them to Hobby Lobby and have them framed for my sewing room. I'm in the process of reorganizing, rearranging, and redecorating my space. I'm going to wait until I have the embroidery designs framed before I post pictures. But I can tell you I spent about 15 hours working on these little pictures. One of the designs was 92 minutes of stitching time and 31 thread changes. All are vintage sewing machines, spinning wheels, and sewing designs, with a Victorian era flare.

I made one BIG mistake...I forgot to steam shrink my cut away stabilizer, after I added the border pressed the miter corners, what a wrinkled mess I had. I tried cutting the stabilizer in every little corner and curve, but it still is not flat. I may have to do this one over.....it's the 92 minute/31 thread change design. I normally use tear away but since these were pictures I wanted permanent stabilizer, but not a wrinkled mess. After that mess, I threw the entire 3 yards of cut away into the washing machine and washed it on gentle with hot water, threw it in the dryer and pressed it. I won't make the same mistake twice.

I'm gradually getting through my list of projects. I'm skipping around and not going in my planned order but it's getting done. I want to work on my market basket but I do not need it until March when we start camping. My grandson is coming in the first weekend in February so I'll start working on the little outfits I have to embellish with embroidery after I cover the new stools we bought for the kitchen.

I know you're saying "enough ramblings"....okay I concede, "Hope everyone has a good Monday." I dread it, wish I could stay home and finish my pictures. I'll work on them tomorrow night after work and dream about them all day.

Panettone Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce

2009-01-17T15:25:00.001-05:00

I made Panettone Bread Pudding this afternoon. I love this Italian bread that you can only find in the states around Christmas. I usually stock up when it comes into season. I find it at Sam's; this year I bought four loaves. I have a recipe to make the bread from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book, I even bought the Panettone paper wraps from King Arthur Flour to bake the bread in, but I didn't get around to it this year. I also make French toast with the Panettone, it is delicious.

Panettone Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce

Sauce:
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup half and half
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup amaretto liqueur
5 teaspoons cornstarch

Pudding:
1 (2-pound) loaf panettone bread, crusts trimmed, bread cut into 1-inch cubes
8 jumbo eggs
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups sugar

To make the sauce:
Bring the cream, milk, and sugar to a boil in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, mix the amaretto and cornstarch to blend and then whisk into the cream mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Set aside and keep warm. (The amaretto sauce can be made 3 days ahead, cover and refrigerate, re-warm before serving.) Personally, I don't cook this too long after I add the Amaretto, I do not want to cook the alcohol up, I think it reduces the flavor.

To make the bread pudding: Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread cubes in the prepared dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk, and sugar to blend. Pour the custard over the bread cubes, and press the bread cubes gently to submerge. Let stand for 30 minutes, occasionally pressing the bread cubes into the custard mixture. (Recipe can be prepared up to this point 2 hours ahead, cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake until the pudding puffs and is set in the center, about 1 hour. Cool slightly. Spoon the bread pudding into bowls, drizzle with the warm amaretto sauce, and serve.
Paula Deen says on her show, "I wish we had "smell-a-vision" so you could smell this wonderful........" I wish we had "smell-a-blog" so you could smell this wonderful Panettone Bread Pudding or better yet, "taste-a-blog" so I could share a bowl with you.
I have no self control, I had to sample it HOT OUT OF THE OVEN. Don will have to heat his up when he gets home. (if there's any left)

Table Cloth, Napkins, and Coasters

2009-01-16T14:30:00.004-05:00

I found this tablecloth and napkins set today and it really reminded me of camping. I need to make this for our RV before the end of March. I have some blue fabric similar to this fabric and the pictures reminded me of my stash. I was planning on making quilted placemats with the fabric but I think I will make a tablecloth and put the rick rack around the edge. I always think of rick rack being so old fashion, something my mother would have added to my dresses or her aprons. But seeing it added to the napkins really adds character.

I like this quilted coaster set. I'll going to use the idea but add rubber sheeting fabric between the batting and the fabric to make the coasters more water proof. I purchased the rubber sheeting fabric last year to make a changing pad for my grandson and did not get around to the project. He's almost old enough to potty train, I don't think he needs the pads now. So I'm re-inventing a use for the rubber sheeting.

My new iron arrived last night. I bought the Digital Conair Iron with the Crafters Choice Auto Shut Off and a light. I'm sure I will love the choice of shutting off the Auto Shut Off, which I hate. As far as the light, I've never had an
iron with a headlight. I don't know if this is advantageous or not. I usually don't have too much trouble seeing when I iron, nor do I have a habit or ironing in the dark. After I test drive it I'll let you know.

TGIF! I have so much to do this weekend. I hope I can stay home the entire weekend. I love weekends when I do not leave the house from the time I get home from work on Friday until I go back on Monday morning. I usually get rested up and accomplish so much. I'd like to embroider my tote this weekend. We'll see.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday and looking forward to a good weekend. It will be a cold one in West Vifginia!

It's Possible

2009-01-15T13:08:00.004-05:00

My sister-in-law just sent a picture of the tote she embroidered, so it is possible. Now this makes me bound and determined to get mine embroidered.

Snow

2009-01-15T09:23:00.004-05:00

This is what we woke up to this morning and the wireless thermometer said the temperature was -7 degrees. I took the picture from our bedroom window. The sun shinning on the snow is absolutely beautiful.

Toting Attitude

2009-01-14T21:50:00.001-05:00

I've looked forward all day to working on my Market Tote this evening after work. So far it's not going well. I usually do not have trouble hooping anything, I hoop sweatshirts, can koozies, duffel bags, jeans, etc. For the life of me I cannot get this market tote hooped. I know how to do hoopless embroidery and I plan on using the technique with this tote but I cannot get a hoop to fit and then bring the bottom of the tote up out of the way. There's no way the mega hoop is working, so I settled for the large oval and I will adjust the size of the design or heaven forbid re-hoop.

The way I see it, I have three choices: 1. take the stitches out of the bottom of the tote so it will lay flat 2. buy the pattern and make a tote to fit the frame, I can embroider before I stitch the tote together 3. buy the new Bernina 830 or Happy Voyager so I have a bigger embroidery field. The practical side says "take the darn bottom out of the tote and quit complaining, just do it.

I had a bad day at work, didn't get a break all day, cooked homemade spaghetti for dinner (I still need eggs or chickens in the backyard before I can make the quiche), set up Don's new computer, and now I want to sew, not rip seams out. So much for the attitude. I'll just read my e-mail, I'm about 85 messages behind, drink a glass of wine, and I'll feel better, and then go to bed early. Why make sewing a chore, when it stresses me, it's time to quit. Tomorrow is another day!

Here is what the frame to the Market Tote looks like.

Chickens in the Back Yard

2009-01-13T17:36:00.005-05:00

I stopped by the store on the way home from work, picked up heavy cream and crab meat to make a crab meat quiche. The store was packed, it started snowing and everyone in town thinks they need to run to the store when it starts snowing. Thank goodness for my food stash, but I really wanted to make the quiche for dinner and I needed cream and crab meat, that's all. I hurried home, booted up the computer to get the recipe, first ingredient; eggs, three of them, I have two in the refrigerator. I need some "chickens in the back yard". My niece has chickens in her back yard, she said she always has plenty of eggs, too many eggs, she needs to sell eggs. She's a city girl from Chicago and now, at the age of 25, she has chickens in her back yard in Tennessee. I need one more egg. I'm not going back out to the store. Once I'm home from work, I'm home to stay. I could call Don, he can bring eggs home, but it will be too late to bake quiche when he gets home. I like dinner on the table when he walks in the door. We'll just eat the left over turkey casserole we had last night, it was good. I really wanted to save it for my lunch tomorrow but we'll eat it tonight.

If anyone is interested, here's the recipe for my crab meat quiche. I already have the crust made and ready to roll out. Let me know if it's good....

Crab Meat Quiche
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 c. heavy cream
3/4 c. milk
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/3 lb. crabmeat,
3 tbsp. celery, chopped fine
3 tbsp. scallions, chopped fine
4 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped fine
3 tbsp. white wine
Pastry for one 9 inch pie
Pick over the crabmeat to remove bits of the shells and cartilage. Combine the crabmeat, celery, onion, parsley, and wine; refrigerate one hour. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a 9 inch quiche pan (or pie plate) with pastry and prick the pastry; bake for 5 minutes.
Spread the crabmeat mixture in the prebaked pastry shell. Combine the eggs, milk, cream, nutmeg, and salt and pepper; mix until blended. Pour over the crabmeat mixture. Bake for 10 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for about 20 minutes longer or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and top is nicely browned.

Scarves, Scarves, and More Scarves

2009-01-13T09:37:00.008-05:00

I guess I was jealous of the dogs new scarves so I stitched a couple for me last night. I found fabric in my fabric closet that I purchased last year for scarves. A little piece of fabric will make a nice scarf for half the cost of buying ready made. I used this #64 foot, the rolled hem foot, to hem the scarf. It was really easy. I wear scarves to work over a sweater frequently in winter months. Same sweater with lots of different scarves creates lots of different outfits for very little cost. (sorry the pictures are still bad, the learning curve thing!) I started to serge the edges with the rolled hemmer on the serger, I'm sure it would be faster but, this little #64 foot did a fantastic job with my 200/730. I was playing with some decorative stitches on the machine and came up with this scarf for Valentines day. I used a scrap piece of fabric, not cost for this one other than thread. I'm having a problem with blogger enlarging my photos when you click on them. I'm working on getting it fixed. Last night I got instructions on how to re-link my photos but it did not work. I'll see again today is someone on the blogger list can help.

Monday, It's Almost Over

2009-01-12T22:53:00.003-05:00

Collapsible Market Tote

2009-01-12T14:32:00.005-05:00

Have you seen the Collapsible European Market Tote? My sister-in-law bought me one and I plan on embroidering WV on the side. (it's blue) I want to get a couple more and embroider initials on the side for gifts. The baskets collapse for easy storage and are perfect for transporting my groceries to the RV every weekend, lunch on the boat, tailgating, grocery shopping, going to the pool or beach, the uses are endless. I need to work on my design in the Artista software before I embroider it. Probably do a test stitch out first. I do not want to mess up my tote. The canvas comes off of the metal frame and therefore it is easy to embellish with embroidery. I also found this pattern to make your own collapsible market tote. I think I'll start with emblishing a ready made tote and if it goes well then maybe I'll order the pattern and make one.

Lazy Day

2009-01-12T10:08:00.011-05:00

I spent most of yesterday being lazy. It was very cold outside and rainy. Don spent the day at his shop cleaning things up, with him out of the house, I just rested. I did quickly stitch up the dog collars and scarves. Now that Monday is here.....I wish I was more productive yesterday. I'll do better this week. I need to learn how to use the camera and all the photo software in my computer. That is another New Year's resolution. The flash is showing in this picture. The software would probably fix it but it would take me an entire day to figure it out. I'll work on that one evening while I'm being lazy. I have Corel Paint Shop Pro 2X, Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter Essentials 4, Olympus Master 2, and various other free photo and painting programs. So it appears I have the tools. I just need the knowledge. I also need to read the manual that came with my new camera, that would probably help.

I'll take a picture of the dogs this evening when I get home from work, sporting their new wardrobe.

Wrong Bathroom Phobia?

2009-01-11T00:33:00.005-05:00

Do you have a fear of walking into the wrong bathroom? Often I've read the words on the door twice just to make double sure it's the women's room. We ate at Red Lobster tonight (not my favorite restaurant), we had a gift card. After shopping for several hours we both needed a break. After being seated and ordering Don excused himself to the men's room. He returned shortly laughing hysterically! He could hardly control his laughter to tell me the story....... He entered the men's room, one gentleman was using the only urinal, another washing up at the only sink, both stalls were occupied. Don leaned up against the wall and waited his turn. The stall door opened and OUT WALKED A WOMAN! Looking at Don she said, "are you in the right.......(now looking at the man using the urinal) Oh my, I'm in the wrong place," and the red faced lady walked out the door. All three gentlemen started laughing, loud, they are sure the lady (probably about 60ish) heard them. The man at the urinal said, surely when she entered the restroom she noticed the urinal.....that should have been a dead give away.....maybe she didn't.
About 5 minutes later we noticed the "wrong restroom lady" leaving the restaurant, Don said he should have waved but he controlled himself. Why embarrass someone again who was already terribly embarrassed.

After we finished eating I went to the restroom, carefully reading the words on the door. The TP roll was empty in my stall and when I washed up there were no paper towels to dry my hands nor a hand dryer. Another lady also shared my same predicament. As we walked out of the restroom we were both shaking our hands. I sat and down and explained to Don the situation in the woman's room and shaking dry, everything, and he politely said, "you should have used the men's room, that's what they do at Red Lobster, how long has it been since you ate here?" Red Lobster is not my favorite restaurant and that did not change tonight. We arrive home too late for any other activities (cooking, sewing, etc) so I'll have a lot of catching up to do tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

I'm still not over my "wrong restroom phobia," it's probably worse after tonight. I'm traumatized, just knowing it can and does happen, HELP ME........I'll have to read the door three times now and ask directions....

Busy Saturday

2009-01-10T11:00:00.000-05:00

I ready wanted to sew, cook, set up Don's computer and finish organizing my sewing room today. Like always, all good plans change around here. Don wants to go to Charleston to exchange some Christmas presents before everything is picked over. It's not a bad idea. I need to exchange an outfit and my Bernina Dealer is having their semi-annual teachers open house. The new winter class schedule is out and the shop has an open house where you can see the projects, meet the instructors, and sign up for classes. I think I'll take one class some time in February. After we start camping I don't have time. I'll probably run by the Bernina Shop and take a quick look.

I started cleaning out my sewing room closet last night. I worked until 2 AM. It's probably about half finished. Refolding all the fabric is a real pain. I want to re-arrange the furniture also, now is the time to move the computer cabinet before I get Don's new desk top set up. I use my laptop with a docking station on my sewing table, that's not too bad to move, but it won't be moving anyway.

I'll sew my dog scarves tonight. I found some silk (real silk) in the closet. I'll make a couple of scarves for me when I do the dog scarves. It will be a scarfing night.

Maxine

2009-01-09T01:19:00.004-05:00

The Tote is Finished....

2009-01-08T21:02:00.007-05:00

Finally! I thought I would never finish this project. Working only a little every night, it took four nights, unbelievable. I've had too many interruptions this week.

I'll start on the dog scarves tomorrow night. I'm going to use this brown and blue cotton fabric and they will be reversible. Paws on one side and circles on the other. I'll probably do a decorative stitch that will show on the paw print side just to add some interest to the scarves.

It snowed about three inches last night and the ice under the snow made driving dangerous this morning. Route 19 was closed from about 6AM until 9AM, some kind of traffic accident. The DOT closed the road after the accident so they could clear the accident and salt the roads. Route 19 is a major four lane highway and my route to work. I waited until the road opened before I left for work. Days like this make me want to quit my job and stay home, hibernate like a bear. The weather report says no more snow until Saturday night, but very very cold. Yuck....I hate cold weather.

We have lot to do this weekend. I bought Don a new desktop computer for Christmas and we have yet to set it up. I guess we need to set it up this weekend. He is using a laptop for everything without a docking station and that can be a real pain. He's looking forward to the huge monitor, new programs etc. I had the computer customized and ordered everything wireless. I hate all the wires that it takes to connect the computer. Our internet connection, printer, fax, and scanner are wireless so why not have everything wireless. The only two connections will be the power cord and the monitor cord.....wonderful. No rats nest (wires) underneath the desk.

Flooding in West Virginia

2009-01-08T00:55:00.004-05:00

The rain continues for the 6th straight day. Our creeks and rivers are leaving their banks and as I'm typing it still continues to pour the rainy snowy mess outside. I traveled to my Greenbrier County office today, it is about 60 miles northeast from my home. It poured the rain non stop all the way. The fog was so thick you could not see more than 50 yards in front of your vehicle. I was using my defensive driving skills today. Watch out for the other guy because he may not see me and hopefully I see him first. I stopped along the way and shot a picture of the New River. This river is normally very shallow in this part of the state. You can wade across the the river and fish in the summer. The water is so high today that white water rapids were roaring. I mark a red arrow on the picture where normally a little tiny stream of water trickles into the River, today the little stream was a huge creek with rapids rolling down the hill.
I think these trees forgot to lose their brown leaves in the fall. They are hanging onto them in January. It is strange to see leaves on any trees this time of year. We've had several wind storms lately and all the leaves should fall during a wind storm. Oh, I should never question an act of God. The pictures are not good because of the dense fog, but you can see what a terrible day we experienced. If the snow we're having tonight keeps falling then the rivers will stop over flowing, temporary, until the snow starts to melt. We will see what tomorrow brings, we really need sunshine to brighten our spirits. I can certainly see why so many West Virginians become depressed in the winter (after the holidays). The weather alone is depressing and makes it hard for our elderly population to get outside and enjoy fresh air.

2009-01-07T00:24:00.007-05:00

I found these cute little reproduction 1930's tin boxes at Joann's Fabric today when I stopped in to pick up the Pellon Fusible Fleece. They came with 4 spool of Gutermann's Thread. I put my red straight pins in one. The antiquity of the tins goes with the machine.
I did not get my tote bag finished tonight, although I junked up my sewing room working on it. I used the Bernina 200/730 with the BSR for quilting the lining, the walking foot for quilting the front of the tote, the Singer for piecing the inside pockets and outside envelope pocket. I'm pleased with the results so far, but not pleased with the amount of time it's taking me to finish. I seriously doubt if I finish it tomorrow night. I'll be working late and by the time I cook dinner and wash clothes, my stitching time is limited. The pocket is only pinned to the front section of the tote but all the quilting is finished except for the handles that are not even cut out.

I have the fabric out and ready to make my dog's scarves, as soon as the tote is finished. They're tired of being naked. The neighbors are asking about their scarves, they usually have a different scarf every month.

I have Baby Lima beans soaking tonight. We'll have beans cooked in the pressure cooker tomorrow evening. I have beef brisket to cook one night this week but I marinate it over night first, so it will have to wait until the Thursday. I'm tore between smoking it or slow baking in the oven. I want to make the Pioneer Woman's Brisket Recipe so I'll probably opt for the oven. If you don't like Beef Brisket ( I don't) you'll love it prepared the Pioneer way.

I just looked at the clock and it's Wednesday already, so HAPPY HUMP DAY, especially to all those who work a 40 hour week outside their homes. We're half way up the hump and ready to come down the back side so we can play on the weekend. Enjoy your Wednesday.

A Trip Back In Time

2009-01-06T01:04:00.001-05:00

I finally found time to play with my Singer 66/16 that Don bought me at the auction in Beckley a couple of weeks before Christmas. It sewed like a dream. Smooth even stitches without a single skipped stitch. All functions (though limited) worked to perfection. Don and I took it all apart, cleaned every crack inside and out (although it was already clean) and oiled the machine according to the Singer Book. After all that it stitched even better. So quite, very quite compared to my Bernina 200/730. I sewed on a machine like this when I was a child. Then my mom and dad bought me the Singer Golden Touch and Sew when I was in 8th grade, taking Home Economics. It's amazing how all the procedures just came to mind. I knew how to thread the machine, wind the bobbin, thread the bobbin, take apart and clean the hook system, and even use the knee control. I did not realize how much I missed a knee control. It really is easier on my back and having the machine in a cabinet at the proper height undoubtedly helped also.

The 66/16 only straight stitches but the quality is remarkable for a machine of this age. I will do all my quilt piecing on this machine from this point forward.

I started piecing the charm squares for my Charm Party Tote with the Singer 66/16. I need to pick up some fusible Pellon fleece tomorrow so I can finish the tote.

Duck's On The Menu

2009-01-05T14:57:00.001-05:00

I cooked duck on the rotisserie for Christmas Dinner. I also had chicken on the rotisserie as a backup. This was my first time cooking duck. I had fifteen for dinner and everyone said the duck was delicious, we did not need the backup chicken. We picked the carcass clean. My son e-mailed wanting the recipe, and others asked also. If your interested in a delicious duck recipe try this:

Vanderbilt Traditional Christmas Duck

Prep Time: 25 min
Inactive Prep Time: 8 hr 0 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 30 min
Level: Intermediate
Serves: 2 servings
1 (3 to 5-pound) duck, giblets removed
1 orange
1 sprig fresh thyme, chopped
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
3 Earl Grey tea bags
3 cups water
2 tablespoons molasses
Place duck in a medium glass bowl breast side up. Use your fingers separate the skin from the meat without tearing it. Cut the orange in half and squeeze over the duck, then place the rinds in the cavity. In a small bowl, mix together the thyme, rosemary, 1 tablespoon salt and the pepper. Sprinkle mixture all over the duck. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, rotating the duck after 2 hours so the breast side is down.
In the bottom of a pot with a steamer insert, combine the sugar, tea bags, and water and bring to a simmer. Place marinated duck in steamer legs down and cover. Steam for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Preheat rotisserie to 275 degrees F.
In a medium glass bowl, mix together remaining salt and the molasses. Rub the mixture over the steamed duck. Place the duck on the spit. Cook duck for 1 hour or until meat is cooked through and skin is crispy.
Remove from rotisserie and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.

It's a lot of steps, but really not that difficult, and well worth the effort.

Beauty Is What We Make Of It

2009-01-05T00:02:00.001-05:00

This time of year in West Virginia is brown, cold, snowy and usually cloudy. When we left last weekend traveling south the skies were blue, the sun was bright, and it was by all means a beautiful January day. I pulled my camera out to take a few shots from the window of the car. The battery in my camera was DEAD.

As we crossed Laked Norman in NC the sunset was absolutely gorgeous. Remember, the battery in camera is dead. I have the worst luck with cameras. We arrived in Greenville after dark, unloaded our luggage, and I remembered, I had my old camera with me, it was in the trunk with a fully charged battery. I missed the sunsets, blue skies and sunny mountain tops. All I have are the memories in my mind. And who knows how long they will last. It's also harder to share a mental picture than a photograph. One more missed opportunity.

Even thought the trees are brown and the skies are cloudy on Saturday in Greenville it is a beautiful day. We walked Liberty Bridge and I snapped a few shots. It is apparent Greenville is still suffering the effects of last year's drought. The water level is very low.

When we left WV on Sunday heading to VA the sun decided to stay behind clouds but the temperature was 60 degrees (that's very warm January weather). I snapped this shot from the car window as we traveled I77 in WV, a little farm and big mountains, so typical in WV. I often forget how beautiful the landscape is in WV. When you live here you forget to stop and smell the roses. Even though the trees have lost their leaves and the grass is brown you can still see the beauty of the rose, if you open your eyes and look, past the thorns.

"God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December." - J. M. Barrie

Shop 'Til You Drop

2009-01-04T20:48:00.012-05:00

We returned last night (actually this AM) around midnight from SC and left around 10:30 AM headed to Pulaski VA to my uncle's funeral. When it rains it pours. We have been busy and on the road a lot in the past month, Columbus, OH, to a wedding, Greenville, SC, to visit family, Pulaski, VA, to a funeral, and celebrated Christmas and New Years at home.

I shopped the entire two days I was in SC, with my sister-in-law. We started with Long Creek Mill in Gastonia and then to Mary Jo's and ended up at the Bernian Sewing Center in Greenville. Then Don and stopped at the Prime Outlets in Gafney on our way home. That's why were so late getting home this morning and then turning around and left again.

I bought serger thread, embroidery thread, and lots of stabilizer by the yard at Long Creek Mill.

I bought bug fabric at Mary Jo's to make place mats picnic table at the campground, Breast Cancer Awareness fabric to make a tote, and lots of dog fabric for various projects and scarves for the dogs. I found some silk fabric (pink and brown polka dots) that will be perfect for summer pajama bottoms.

The gals at the Bernina Sewing Center in Greenville were very helpful with helping me match up Christmas fabric (50% off) to make a Christmas Tree Skirt. I found this cardinal fabric, matches my cardinal tree perfectly. Also found holly fabric for place mats and the cutest flannel for Christmas Pajamas.

I can't wait to get started on my projects.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T12:13:00.003-05:00

I'm looking forward to a New Year, reflecting back, 2008 would not go down in my book as one of the better years. I'm hoping the economy will improve all over the world and the war will end with a positive outcome. Fortunately, my family fared okay during the past year, everyone is still employed and in good health. My youngest son was laid off in November but found another job within a week, actually paying more money. WV is not feeling the effects of the down turning economy yet. The coal industry is booming.

We're leaving in about an hour for South Caroline. The weather is beautiful in WV and along the entire route to Greenville. We have a beautiful day for travel. Hopefully traffic is at a minimum, everyone should be home watching football.

Happy New Year,
Wishing You Prosperity and Good Health Throughout the Coming Year.

New Year's Eve

2008-12-31T15:11:00.004-05:00

We'll be going out to eat for our mini New Year's Eve celebration. Last year we were at the Homestead in VA. A wonderful old 1744 hotel and lodge where Thomas Jefferson spent many long days soaking in the hot springs. We love the antiquity of the Homestead and the service and food are five star. We opted for a simpler fare this year. Dinner and a movie. We leave tomorrow for South Caroline.
I ordered a few dog designs from Embroidery Library today. They were having a sale. My 17 month old grandson loves dogs. While here for the holidays he would say woof, woof, woof,.....every time he passed by my dogs. I thought this little basset would be cute on a pajama shirt.

I also ordered the lab for another project, but I'm not sure for what yet.

Happy New Year!

Don't Bug Me...

2008-12-29T23:27:00.010-05:00

All good made plans change, at least at our house, but sometimes for the better. I decided after I got home from work that the Mexican Meat was too much work. I wanted to use my pressure cooker......I cooked a frozen beef tenderloin with Lipton Onion soup, 1 cup of water, and a slice red onion, for 40 minutes, cooled the cooker normally, removed the lid, added two cans of cream of mushroom soup and a little sour cream. Set the cooker on keep warm until Don got home from work...about 2 hours later. The roast was delicious. And we have leftovers for tomorrow night.

The meal went so quickly I had time to wash three loads of clothes and finish my "don't bug me" pajamas that I've be blogging about for a month.

Tomorrow evening after work I'm going to try and find time to make a few more can koozies. If I'm not in the koozie making mood then I'll start on my other pajama bottoms. I have this coffee cup flannel and black bear flannel for pajama bottoms. I have several coffee embroidery designs from Embroidery Library that will go with the coffee flannel. I'll embroidery them on a t-shirt, probably hot pink to match the coffee cups. I'll embroider a saying "don't mess with me until I'm on my second cup." I'll embroider a black bear on a tan t-shirt to go with the red flannel and embroider "Be nice, I growl after a long winter nap". Do you get the idea....I'm not much of a morning person but I'll pick you up in the evening and late at night.

I have these two pieces for flannel pajamas bottoms for Don. I'll get around to making these before we start camping in March. He needs new flannel for the camper and the cool nights.

We're going to SC to visit Don's brother this weekend. We are never home on weekends unless we have guest visiting. All this running around is cutting into my creative sewing time and the stash keeps growing. I'm going to have to buy a storage building or add a room onto my house just to store my fabric. But I'm not complaining too loud, I've been wanting to go to SC for quite some time now. We pass through Gastonia and I love to stop (and shop of course) at Mary Jo's Fabric Shop.

Cuisinart Pressure Cooker

2008-12-29T14:58:00.007-05:00

I've been searching for Pressure Cooker recipes during my lunch break today. My mom and dad bought me the Cuisinart Electric Pressure Cooker for Christmas. While I really enjoy my crockpot and the recipes from The Crockpot Lady, my life style leans toward the pressure cooker. I have a left over ham bone for beans but I'd really like to try something more adventurous.

I found this Mexican Meat Mix recipe. It can be used for Flautes, Taco Pizza, and Stuffed Baked Potatoes. I have all the ingredients on hand. I'll make the Taco Pizza with the Artisan Bread Crust and then freeze the left overs for Flautes or Stuffed Potatoes another night after. This can also be used on buns for Mexican Sandwiches. I love any one dish meal. Maybe I'll play with my new ( Vintage) Singer 66 this evening since dinner will be quick and easy.

Busy

2008-12-28T20:54:00.014-05:00

My family left today and the house feels so empty with just Don and I. I cleaned up the left over remnants from Christmas, washed the towels, sheets, and clothes, and cleaned out the refrigerator. Then I took a short nap while Don went to Mt Nebo to check on our house.
I've been so busy with Christmas preparations that I've neglected my blogging for the past few weeks. Most things happening around here were family events except a couple of weeks ago Don went to an auction in Beckley and came home with a couple of vintage items.
This 16/66 Singer with a cabinet is in excellent condition. Don paid $40.00 at the auction. I've not had time to play with the machine yet. Now, that the holidays are over maybe I'll have time. The machine came with the ruffler, buttonhole attachment, seam guide, straight stitch foot, binding attachment, zipper foot, overlock foot, hem stitch foot, gathering foot, edge stitching foot, the darning or embroidery foot, and bobbin winder.
He also managed to win a bid on a 1999 Cadillac, like we really need another car. Don is so proud of his Cadillac. When I get a chance I'll take and post a few pictures of his treasure. Right now the car is stored in his shop about 3 miles from the house. The next time he brings it to the house I'll snap a few shots.

Christmas

2008-12-22T21:50:00.002-05:00

Christmas, my favorite time of the year......but thankfully it only comes around once a year. It takes me a year to recuperate. The best thing about Christmas is my family being together.

No More Dishes Please

2008-12-09T14:39:00.012-05:00

Fiesta came out with another color, chocolate brown. I do not need anymore Fiesta but I've been collecting all the colors for years now. I love this chocolate brown and it will go with my new kitchen. Maybe Santa will bring it. But I still don't need any more dishes. I really wish Fiesta would stop making new colors. This is a limited addition color.....oh please stop me. I'm wondering if anymore dishes will fit in this cabinet.
I caught the stomach virus that was going around. I felt terrible yesterday and stayed home from work. I really had too much to do at work with three office Christmas parties over the next week but I couldn't go and contaminate everyone in the office. Then they would be sick Christmas.

Don bought us a new Christmas tree tonight at Home Depot. Our tree was about 8 years old and really showing it's age. We put the new tree together in three pieces. It took about 5 minutes. Our old tree had about 100 pieces. Each branch was inserted separately. It was a pre-lit tree and the wires connected each branch. It took two people over an hour to put it together. I'm taking the old tree to Goodwill in the morning....I'm glad to be rid of it. We did not have time to decorate the tree, I'll do that tomorrow night.

Thursday night we are going to see the Nutcracker in Charleston. My time is running out getting ready for Christmas. I really should stay home and decorate, Internet shop, and bake goodies, but I love the Nutcracker Ballet. Don doesn't ask me to go to the Ballet very often, usually he wants to go to Mountaineer football and basketball games. I thought I should say "yes honey I'd love to go," or he my never ask again. He must have read my mind a few weeks ago when I was mentally complaining about tickets to a basketball game on Tuesday night before Thanksgiving. Who goes to a basketball game, two days before Thanksgiving with all the cooking that needs to be done. I was fussing to myself (silently) that we never go to a play, the symphony, or the ballet anymore. My husband is a good mind reader. I guess he's had plenty of practice over the past 32 years.

The Wedding

2008-12-07T20:26:00.006-05:00

I just returned from Columbus OH, attending my second cousin's wedding. My oldest son and youngest son along with my brother, his wife and my parents went also. It snowed about 6 inches the day of the wedding. It was beautiful outside, but I hate cold weather. I froze to death. I'm still flicking icecles off my eye lids.

The ushers handed out sparklers (the 4th of July kinda of sparklers) to the guests as they left the church. All the guests gathered outside around the limo with the twinkling sparklers as the bride and groom exited the church. Snow was poring down, sparklers were twinkling everywhere, it was simply beautiful....and my camera is in the hotel room.

We stopped by the hotel on the way to the reception and retrieve the camera. The wedding cake.......Yes that is donuts! All I can say is:

Reception…………………………………..…………..……$12,000.00
Bar Bill at Reception…………………………………….$2,000.00
Krispy Cream Donut Cake……………………….…...$20.00
Watching the expression on your guest faces when they see your cake…..…PRICELESS

Can Koozies

2008-12-04T17:30:00.008-05:00

I purchased 150 can koozies from the Can Koozie Lady back in the summer. I embroidered WV on 25 koozies for our friends at the campground. I used the glow in dark thread on the kids koozies. Look how many I have left. I really had intentions of embroidering on all of these before Christmas for presents.......I may get a few completed but not all of these.

I made two koozies with fly fishermen embroidery designs and gave to my eldest son when he was here Thanksgiving, darn, I didn't get a picture. I always get in a hurry and forget the photo. Here is a picture of two I made with a "bug in a jar". I found the embroidery designs at Smart Needle Designs . I'm going to try and embroider more of these blank koozies next week. I have lots of Christmas Designs and they will look great on the red koozies.

I may try and keep the Christmas Koozies here. (not give them away, if that's possible) When the boys are home for Christmas or when a football or basketball game is on, the men drink beer. They can each have a different koozie and they won't get their cans mixed up. Like the charms that go on the wine glasses, so you know which glass of wine is yours when you set it down and forget which glass belongs to you (after you've had several). The charms are cute, I have several sets of them, I'll have "can koozies" for the beer and "wine charms" for the wine glasses. Maybe I should coordinate?

More Fabric

2008-12-04T13:54:00.019-05:00

I love Flannel World....ordered more flannel last Sunday evening and it's scheduled for arrival on Monday. Happy Birthday Don. No, I better find him a better gift than flannel, he'd be very disappointed, although I plan on stitching up 2 pair of flannel PJ bottoms for him. With his 36 inch inseam, it's hard to find flannel bottoms to fit.

I need to make a new Christmas table topper, this one from last year really doesn't match my new kitchen. I was on a table topper roll a few years ago and made a different round topper for every holiday and season. The Christmas topper is reversible but I only used the checked side. My piecing skills improved over the years, so I should probably try again....if I find time before Christmas.

As I scanned through my pictures for the Christmas table topper I found a picture of this little night gown I made a few years ago for the daughter of one of my employees at work. She wanted a little white simple gown for her 1 year old's Christmas picture. She was barefoot and holding a teddy bear in the picture. It was years ago that I actually sewed small clothes....this was my first small outfit in over 20 years, my boys are grown. Since sewing this night gown my grandson was born and I am getting lots of practice now. Unfortunately, I've not taken many pictures of the little outfits I've made over the last year and a half. Little girl outfits are so much more fun to create. Someday I shall have a granddaughter, surely the Lord will grant me this one wish. I've not ask for much from him. He gave me three wonderful boys, who became wonderful men and made me very proud. I really don't know much about girls anyway, but just one would be great.

Decorating

2008-12-03T23:53:00.012-05:00

I'm worn out from the long Thanksgiving weekend, working late every evening this week, and trying to get my home ready for the holidays. I started with the kitchen. It takes me about 8 hours to completely change my cabinets over to my Pfaltzgraff holiday dishes. I store my Christmas dishes in a large closet in my family room. I carry the Christmas dishes upstairs and my Fiesta dishes downstairs to the closet. This year I did not start until Monday. I spent 4 hours Monday and 4 hours Tuesday evening after work running up and down stairs carrying dishes. Tonight I rearranged things again. I think I am finally satisfied with the end results and the placement of every dish.

This is the birdhouse and cardinal salt and pepper shakers on the small kitchen table.

I love my Pfaltzgraff Winterberry collection. I started this collection around 10 years ago and it continues to grow yearly. This is the cabinet over the microwave with all the little accessories.

Some of the utilitarian accessories decorating the counter tops

My teapot collection over the kitchen window.

Last night around midnight I decided I needed a few more Pfaltzgraff Winterberry dishes. I was bad and ordered a box full. I really needed (oh, I'll be truthful) wanted these new pieces. And I hope Don gets my secret undercover message and gets the wine chiller.

Here are a few things I ordered. They are all on sale 50% off.

I love Pfaltzgraff, you can check out the items on sale at http://www.pfaltzgraff.com/

I'm going to Ohio to my cousins wedding this weekend. The decorating will be on hold until I return Sunday evening. I'll take pictures of the tree and other decorations when I finish up. This weekend trip to Ohio is going to set me back about 2 days with Christmas decorating. Maybe if I'm lucky Don and I will shop on Saturday before the wedding and buy a few gifts.

I have the Christmas spirit this year, especially with a grandson to play with on Christmas morning. That is all I want for Christmas, my family here, everyone at one time, playing, singing, dancing, eating, sharing life's stories and memories. A free gift with family means more to me than any material item you could purchase.

Thanksgiving Bread

2008-11-26T12:11:00.003-05:00

begins with the basic bread dough from "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day." This is a wonderful cookbook. I love the bread results and it takes no time at all. I made up a large container of dough, I'll keep it in the refrigerator and make bread as we need it. Fresh daily bread....it doesn't get any better. Here is a picture of the large container of dough that I stirred together in five minutes. I already have a batch of Pumpernickel in the refrigerator. Left over turkey on rye, what a wonderful combination.
Happy Thanksgiving

The 2008 Holiday Season Begins

2008-11-25T20:17:00.010-05:00

It’s always been my official belief that the holiday seasons begins with Thanksgiving. I refuse to put out a Christmas decoration until after Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time and I do not want to outshine Thanksgiving by starting Christmas before Thanksgiving. While purchasing a few gifts and even wrapping them is OK in my book, putting up the Christmas tree would jinks the Christmas season. I really like to wait until after Thanksgiving to start Christmas shopping......Black Friday is crazy, fun, and kicks off the holiday season.

I finally got around to making the “cakes in a jar.” It was a fun project and something new to entertain me. But I don’t think I will make these again. I’ll give several of them away and keep the rest for snacks when the cupboards are bare this winter. If you’re interested here’s the recipes. I made the apple cakes first (two batches) and then the Starbucks Cakes next (two batches). These little babies were very time consuming and that’s the one thing I don’t like to be consumed….my time.

Starbuck's Cakes in a Jar
1 pkg. dark chocolate fudge cake mix
1 sm. pkg. chocolate instant pudding
1 pt. sour cream
4 eggs
1/3 c. Starbucks Coffee Liquor
1/4 c. Wesson oil
1 (6 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
Mix all ingredients, except chocolate chips; mix well. Add chocolate chips and fold in. Pour batter into eight greased wide mouth pint jars. Wipe rims of jars clean with damp paper towel. Place jars on a cookie sheet. Bake in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and immediately place hot lids and rims on jars. Tighten rim and allow to cool. Jars should seal as they cool. If jars do to seal refrigerate cakes for up to 2 weeks. Sealed jars will keep in a cool, dark, dry, environment for up to 6 months.

Fresh Apple Cake in a Jar
2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup water
3 cups grated apple
2/3 cup raisins
2/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease the insides of 8 straight-sided wide-mouth pint canning jars. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Set aside. Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and beat in well. Add flour alternately with water and mix until smooth. Fold in apples, raisins and nuts. Fill jars 1/2 full of batter, being careful to keep the rims clean. Wipe off any batter that gets on the rims. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, sterilize the lids and rings in boiling water. As soon as cake is done, remove from oven one at a time, wipe rims of jars and put on lid and ring. Jars will seal as cakes cool. Place the jars on the counter and listen for them to "ping" as they seal. If you miss the "ping", wait until they are completely cool and press on the top of the lid. If it doesn't move at all, it's sealed. Jars should be eaten or kept in refrigerator for up to a week.

I made my lady bug pajamas last week but have not embroidered the shirt yet. I digitized a lady bug design and lettering “Don’t Bug Me” for the front of the shirt. This was my first actual “from scratch” not purchased digitized design. I can’t wait to find time to finish the shirt. I’ll post pictures after it’s complete. Here’s the design:

I love the Designer Plus V5 software. I've played with it for years but this time I actually drew the ladybugs. I'm not a morning person so "don't bug me" is perfect for my pajama shirt.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

George Bush M&M's

2008-11-14T00:41:00.006-05:00

I have two boxes of M&M's with George Bush's signature on the front of the presidential box. Wonder just how much these little boxes are worth with a lame duck president with a 23% approval rating.

It could go both ways on e-bay. Interested people because his approval rating is lower than any other out going president in our life time my bid high on the special candies or interested people because he was succeeded by Obama could bid high. Who knows??????

This is a true certified signature on a true package of M&M's served at Camp David. My eldest son works in Northern PA and has a very good friend working at Camp David. (Good Ole West Virginia boys). My son's friend shared a couple of packs of the notorious Peanut M&M's with me. I thought it quite neat for his friend to work at Camp David and know the President personally. OK Give me a break....he may not be the greatest president but he's not the worse we've had in my humble opinion. Only years from now will we really know how great or poor President George W Bush really was, but I still have the M&M's with his autograph! Good or bad....I bet I could sell them on e-bay for more than I paid...which was not ta,not ta. I may in fact give it a try. I'll post it here and everyone can track my success or failure at selling Presidential M&M's. Watch for more reports on my presidential sale.

I'm leaving in the morning heading to Northern Virginia to visit my other son, daughter-in-law, and 16 month old grandson, that I need to get reacquainted with quickly. It may be a few days before I post again but I'm sure to bring back interesting topics from my travels and visits. Watch for me on Monday morning. And next week I'll be posting picture and directions for the cakes in a jar that I mentioned a few days ago, I didn't forget, my time is limited and I'm trying to get these cakes made before Thanksgiving....so that is next week.

Everyone have a great weekend.

Pumpkin and Pears: Fruits of the Fall

2008-11-13T23:22:00.006-05:00

I canned pears a few weeks ago. They turned out great. This was the first time I canned pears, ever. Pears were on sales last month and I bought 5 grocery bags full. This is all the quarts I got from the 5 bags. I opened a jar tonight...their much better than Del Monte. If I find pears on sale again this winter I'll can more.

I also canned pumpkin when I found pumpkins on sale a few weeks ago. I've canned it before. I always sweeten my pumpkin and then when I use the pumpkin I do not add sugar. It is not recommended by the USDA Extension Service to can pumpkin: http://www.fcs.uga.edu/pubs/current/FDNS-E-P.html but I plan on using these jars of pumpkin before they spoil and adding the sugar will help preserve the pumpkin.

I made pumpkin dip weekend before last and shared it with my camping friends, we dipped vanilla wafers in the dip. It was different and tasted like a pumpkin cheese cake. Very simple to make.

Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients

1 can sweetened pumpkin

2 packages cream cheese

1/3 cup sour cream

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

Soften cream cheese in microwave and stir in remaining ingredients, refrigerate for about 2 hours and serve with vanilla wafers for dipping.

Busy Day

2008-11-12T20:05:00.016-05:00

Whoa, I'm glad it's almost over. It started out something like this....phone rings 6:45 AM problems at work, key office employee calling off....and it went down hill from there. I won't bother you with it. I stopped at the grocery store on my way home, picked up some fresh veggies for dinner and hit the door running. I first started a Crock pot of Granola. Then I started preparing dinner: Grilled Peach Topped Pork loin Chops, Baked Cheese Grits and Asparagus with Carrots and Blood Orange Seasoning.

If you froze peaches this summer, dig them out of the freezer and try this for dinner soon. It is quick and easy.

Grilled Peach Topped Boneless Pork Loin Chops

Ingredients:
Four large fresh peaches pealed, seeded, and diced. (see note at bottom)
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/4 Cup Sugar or Honey
4 Boneless Pork Loin Chops about 3/4 inch thick
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Cook peaches in small sauce pan over medium heat until fork tender stirring frequently. If Peaches are not juicy added 1/4 cup water. Add vinegar and honey and continue cooking to reduce liquid. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes. (do not cover sauce pan) Heat gas grill on high for about 15 minute until very hot. Turn heat down to medium. Salt and Pepper chops and place over indirect heat (if possible). Cook for 5 to 8 minutes and turn chops. Spoon 1/4 cup peach mixture over each chop as soon as they are turned and continuing grilling for another 5 to 8 minutes. Chops are done with meat thermometer reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees. Remove chops from grill to serving platter and serve immediately. Additional peach sauce can be added if desired.
Note: I used fresh frozen Virginia Peaches. I froze bushels of peaches this past summer just for recipes like this. I made this with fresh peaches several times but it was just as delicious with the frozen peaches.

I served the Peach Topped Chops with Cheese Grits and Asparagus

The Granola is spread out and cooling now. I added more fruit than the recipe called for I added extra raisins and coconut and also added dried cranberries, dates, and pecans. I'm looking forward to having this for breakfast in the morning. I'll take a bowl of Granola to the office and add a little milk, um um good. I've already sampled it tonight, it's good plain without any milk.

I need to wash clothes and tidy up the house tonight. We'll be leaving Friday evening for the weekend. A trip to Northern Virginia to visit our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. We miss seeing the kids...wish they lived closer.

Forgot to Thank A Veteran.......

2008-11-12T01:01:00.005-05:00

Oh Geez I forgot to post my "THANK A VETERAN" After reading Judy L post on Patchwork Times I promised myself I would send my sincere thanks to all the United States Veterans especially those fighting the war on terrorism or whatever they are fighting for these days. I have totally lost concept about what the war is about. But the veterans who fight for this country whatever the cause need all the kudo's we have to give. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And my prayers go out to all the families that have family members over seas in harms way now. Lets bring our men and women home safe and unharmed.

Our newspapers and local televised news stations all mentioned Veterans and Veterans Day here in West Virginia. We had parades and small celebrations in several towns located around the state. Fortunately we we're not part of the rude and disrespectful media you discovered Tuesday morning: http://www.patchworktimes.com/category/just-stuff/.

Here is a copy of the editoral in our local Tuesday morning paper:

Veterans
They need our ongoing support long after the parades are over
On Tuesday, cities big and small hosted Veterans Day parades. Many of the festively decorated floats held members of the armed forces who have served their country near and far.The cadence of marching bands and the presence of the Stars and Stripes proudly displayed stirred within us a new surge of patriotism — at least momentarily.Today, the parades are gone and the music has stopped. Thousands of men and women remain on battlefields and in harm’s way.Many of our returning veterans face a different kind of trauma.A new study shows that rural West Virginia veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely to suffer from mental health problems than their urban counterparts.The analysis is based on the ongoing West Virginia Returning Soldiers Study, which has surveyed more than 930 veterans.The study shows that about 56 percent of returning soldiers from rural counties suffer from post-traumatic distress and other mental health problems, compared to 32 percent of soldiers in urban areas and 34 percent of those living on out-of-state military bases. Rural veterans are also at greater risk for suicide.Hilda Heady, a rural health specialist at West Virginia University, says part of the problem is a lack of mental health care facilities in rural areas.How can we call ourselves patriots if we ignore these statistics?These veterans need more than flag-waving and well-wishes. They need mental health care programs designed specifically to meet their needs. We cannot allow people who’ve paid such a high price for our freedoms to live in the bondage of mental illness for the rest of their lives.It’s all the more reason Beckley-ARH needs to keep encouraging the building of a psychiatric hospital in the hub of the southern West Virginia health care system.With all the screaming headlines about mental illness that results from drug and alcohol abuse, many of us may have lost sight of the fact that the trauma of war has put thousands of veterans across the country at risk for depression and other forms of mental illness.We need to take care of our own. Veterans need more than our appreciation and respect. They need our help. We encourage Gov. Joe Manchin and the Department of Health and Human Resources to take advantage of the strong psychiatric infrastructure Beckley-ARH already has in place and move forward to get a new mental health care facility built soon.Every day counts for every person coping with mental illness, but especially for our veterans who have already suffered enough. Published: November 11, 2008 08:49 pm http://www.register-herald.com/

HELP................

2008-11-11T21:22:00.033-05:00

I spent most of my evening trying to design a new template for my blog and gave up using Corel Paintshop Pro. Every time I try using this program I end up pulling my hair out. I'm almost bald. I used Corel Draw for years and at some point (probably when XP Pro hit the market) my Corel Draw became obsolete. I replaced the Corel Suite with the Microsoft Office Professional. When the time came, years later, to purchase a photoshop program I purchased Corel Paintshop, big mistake. This program is not very user friendly. I’m shopping for new photo software but haven’t decided on one yet.

After giving up on my new template, I’ll just post some pictures of my sewing projects.

Towels with Nautical Theme for the camper

West Virginia tote bag

I love my Bernina 200/730 machine. The embrodery is high quality and the results are very professional for a home embroidery machine. I have projects lined up to stitch and an abundance of ideas swimming in my head. Now that winter is here, I plan on stitching and stitching and stitching......wish I was retired from the home health business. But I doubt if my sewing would pay my bills or for the fabric and pattern stash I've accumulated over the past 5 years, so I'll just keep working.

Ring Pillows for my son's wedding and the back of ring pillows with inscription.

I have this flannel ladybug fabric, white t-shirt and green and pink lady bug ribbon ready to start my next project, pajamas and T-shirt with trim. I love Flannel World. They always enclose a thank-you card with the fabric and the fabric is folded neatly and not wrinkled. I wonder if they press it before packaging. These three pieces of flannel are for my pajama bottoms. I'm using a pattern from Taylor Made Designs by Cindy Taylor Oats for Sew Easy Pajama Pants. I'm making the capri length. I hate long PJ's even in the winter months. Capri length keeps me warm enough without feeling trapped. Now I know I really need to quit my day job..... "Sew many projects and sew little time."

Rainy Day Cooking

2008-11-09T12:30:00.022-05:00

It's a cloudy day and cooking is in order. I made Upside French Toast for Breakfast. It's one of those overnight recipes that I love. I prepared it last night around 2 AM....couldn't sleep, put it in the refrigerator and sleeply put it in the oven this morning.

Prep Time 15 Minutes
Cook Time 40 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
2 Tablespoons Corn Syrup
4 Medium Apples, Sliced, Pealed, and Cored (Granny Smith)
12 Slices day old bread (white, wheat, French, it's your choice)
4 eggs
2 Cup milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat cook and stir brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup until slightly thick. Pour mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 11"X9" casserole dish. Arrange apple slices on top of brown sugar mixture. Mix together the eggs milk and vanilla. Arrange 6 slices of the bread on top of apples and pour 1/2 of egg mixture over the bread coating evenly. Arrange the other 6 slices of bread directly on top of the first layer. Pour remaining egg mixture on top of second layer of bread slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat over to 350. Cook French toast on middle rack in over covered for 20 minutes. Remove cover and continue cooking for 20 to 30 minutes until toast is lightly brown on top and crispy.
Serve with syrup of your choice, we like pecan syrup.

While the French Toast was baking I made some brownies. I sorta threw some ingredients together and they turned out pretty tastie.
Ingredients
2 Boxes Ghirardelli Ultimate Fudge Brownie Mix
1 Package Hazelnuts
2 eggs
1/2 Cup Water
2/3 Cup Oil
3/4 Teaspoon Coffee Flavoring
1 Jar Amaretto Cheesecake in a Jar
2 Fudge Toppings included in Brownie Mix

Mix Brownie mix, eggs, water, oil, nuts, and coffee flavoring until incorporated very well. Spread in a greased 10"X15" jelly roll pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove from over and spread the jar of Cheesecake thinly over the top of brownies while hot. Place packages of chocolate sauce topping in hot tap water bath for 5 minutes. Cut corner of package and squeeze both packages of chocolate over top of cheesecake. Spread if desired. Allow to cool slightly before slicing.
Yields about 24 brownies.

I found the Amaretto Cheesecake in a Jar this past summer at the outlets in Williamsburg, VA. I used this to top the brownies.

I have cheater's cabbage rolls in the oven slow cooking. I like them much better slow cooked in a dutch oven than the crock pot. We have errands to run and dinner will be ready when I get home.

I made this handbag for the holidays this weekend.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning…..

2008-11-08T22:41:00.015-05:00

Oh what a beautiful day. It rained last night and I anticipated a rainy Saturday, with everything we had to do. But we woke to sunshine and 45 degree weather. It warmed up as the day progressed and we completed the winterizing of our camper. It was really sad telling our friend's goodbye….but Spring will be here before we know it, and we'll be back at the campground hovered over the fire for warmth, catching up on all the winter gossip with our friends.

Now it's time to get ready for the holidays. I canned Cranberry Conserve. I make this every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We love it with breakfast but it is very good with Turkey and all the trimmings also. In the years past, I always froze enough for both holidays. This year I canned the conserve in pint jars. The recipe calls for processing the conserve in pint jars but I always took the easy way out and froze it. This year my freezer is quite stuffed…..so jars were more practical.

Prep Time 20 Minutes
Cook Time 35 Minutes
Yield: About 3 Pints

1 Pound Fresh Cranberries
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 Can Mandarin Oranges (drained)
1 Cup Pealed Chopped Apple (Granny Smith)
1Cup Pealed Chopped Pear (Asian)
1 Cup Golden Raisins
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
3/4 Cup Coarsely Chopped Pecans

In a medium sauce pan combine cranberries, water and sugar, cook until berries burst, about 10 minutes, add all other ingredients except pecans and cook stirring frequently until mixture thickens, about 25 to 30 minutes. Add nuts, stir to combine. Transfer hot conserve to sterilized pint jars and process in hot water bath for 20 to 30 minutes. Keep jars in a cool, dark place for up to six months.

Note: Conserve may be transferred to non reactive containers and frozen for up to 1 year or kept refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

TGIF.......

2008-11-07T09:41:00.025-05:00

....We have so much to accomplish this weekend. Tomorrow is the first Saturday I will awaken in my bed, in my home, instead of the camper or out of town since last March. I love weekends at the campground in the fall. But we need to roundup the camping and began readiness for the holiday season. Don and I will go to Summersville Lake on Saturday morning and winterize the camper and pull our boat home for storage. We plan to turn the camper around on the site, facing the other direction. For the past two years it faced the woods, (everyone thinks we are antisocial) and we want to face our camping friends next year. Don asked the campground owners to move the power box to the other side of the site this winter. We do not want to add 50 feet of electric cord to the existing cord. Hopefully when we return in the spring, the power box is relocated. If not, Don will turn the camper back facing the woods.

I worked myself hard and furious this past week....washed everything washable in the camper. All the sheets, blankets, towels, beach towels, dish towels, rugs, etc and packed them in XXL Ziploc Bags. I love those huge bags. In the spring when we open the camper every thing will be fresh smelling and clean. Saturday I'll clean the carpet while Don washes the outside of the camper and then we will winterize the water lines, clean the holding tanks, empty the hot water tank, and cover the camper with a huge tarp. Geez...I hope the wind isn't blowing, it's hard enough to cover that elephant without the wind helping.

I hope to be home early enough on Saturday evening so I can make my

cakes-in-a-jar. I have the pint jars and the recipes ready to go...just need time to make them. This is the first time for me, making cakes-in-a-jar. It looks like a neat idea. I want to make apple cakes.

We are dog sitting for Coby,
my son and daughter-in-law's Lab puppy. They have season tickets to WVU football games. We dog sit almost every weekend.

The Blog Begins

2008-11-06T23:04:00.015-05:00

I've read blogs for several years now, considered blogging myself, but felt a little intimidated by the process. Recently I reconsidered the idea and decided that not only could I share my life’s experiences with others, the blog would serve as a diary of my life’s experiences and expectations.

I love my business of Home Health, caring for the elderly and disabled and giving West Virginia’s children a healthy start in life but I am most content sitting in my sewing room creating projects with fabric and thread. I sew and machine embroider on my Bernina Artista 200/730E. I digitize and tweak my embroidery designs with Bernina Artista Designer Plus V5 software. My fabric stash and thread collection is huge. I have more projects and ideas (in my head) than I will ever have time to complete.

Cooking is another hobby of mine and I should say, "it's not very good for the figure." I love baking, especially breads and sweets and trying new recipes. I spend a lot of time during the winter months watching the FOOD channel while I sew. I recently tried this different recipe for chicken salad. I used left over homemade rotisserie chicken. The couscous was different.

Couscous Salad with Chicken and Chopped Vegetables

The yogurt dressing has a hint of sweetness from the honey and an extra zing from the vinegar.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup uncooked couscous
1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 1/2 cups chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup (1/8-inch-thick) diagonally cut carrot
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
3 tablespoons dried currants
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Dressing:
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

Salad Preparation
To prepare salad, bring water, 1 teaspoon oil, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Place in a large bowl; cool to room temperature.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining oil to pan. Add the bell pepper, zucchini, and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes or until bell pepper is tender. Add bell pepper mixture, chicken, carrot, onions, currants, mint, and black pepper to couscous; toss gently to combine.

To prepare dressing, combine yogurt and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over couscous mixture, tossing gently to combine.
Carla Fitzgerald Williams
Cooking Light, JUNE 2004

Don and I spend 8 months a year camping in Summersville. Our home's about 24 miles away and 1 of my 3 offices is only 10 miles from the campground. We have a 30 foot Terry Camper with slide outs and it sits on a seasonal campsite from March 1 until November 30. We spend about half of our time at the campground and the other half at our home every year. My office is a converted lake home in a wooded area about 1 mile from the lake. Don and I own the home and rent it to my business for use as an office. It is a peacefully place and I love working from this remote office. Even though we converted it to an office we kept the lake house character and someday when we retire we can use the home as a second home or rent it on a weekly basis to lake vacationers.

The picture at the top of my page is Summersville Lake in the fall after the Core of Engineers starts letting the water out of the lake. White water rafting seasons begins. The boaters start complaining about the rafters taking our water. Our fall season was long and warm. What a shame that our lake water was drained into the Gauley River. Oh well, it brings millions of dollars and white water enthusiasts from all over the world to our state every year. But we hate to give up boating especially when the fall weather is warm and dry.

I will post pictures of my sewing projects in a day or two after I figure out this blogging thing. Right now I'm doing good getting everything set up to post.