Party in Pink

I just saw this recipe in the April issue of Traditional Home Magazine and I didn't want to forget it. I think it would be great served at a baby shower or backyard party.

You could freeze half and mix the two in a blender with fresh raspberries for a pink margarita too.

I'm a teetotaler, so this mine is the alcohol free version:

The Pink Drink

7 cups Raspberry Lemonade
1 cup Pomegranate juice
mint to garnish

Chili Cook-off

I'm off to our church's annual Chili Cook-off contest with two of my favorite stand-by recipes -- Black Bean Soup and Cheese Bread. Technically, neither one is chili. I learned last year that I'm not really a big fan of chili. Also, I'm such a picky eater, for pot-luck stuff I usually bring food that will make me happy. I really have a hard time eating food when I don't know the standards by which it was prepared. I guess I'm admitting several neurosis here. But, don't judge. I bring enough to share. Generally I don't boil the soup this high, but I needed to cook the celery quickly. I realized I started the soup with only one hour until it was time to go -- by boiling the heck out of it, I'm hoping the celery will be soft by the time we make it to the church. UGH! I just realized my jeans are in the washer -- I'm off to throw them in the dryer in the hopes that they'll make it in time! Wish me luck on all counts!

Take Note

Ruth -- Thanks! You're the only reader who even tried to guess my ambiguous movie quote! You will be getting something lovely in the mail. Let me know if you have a color preference or two. Ummm. I'm not sure of your address. I'll go through back channels to get it though :)

For the rest of you, I have a wonderful website to offer to you -- there are many classical piano pieces with free MP3 files. Definitely worth the few moments to download some of these beautiful pieces!

Some of my favorites that I have played in the past are(hopefully these links will let you download them directly):

Chopin's Waltz
Fur Elise
Minuet in G
Musette

I often ask my piano students to learn these songs, and now I have free MP3's to send them! I love free!

Delusions of grandeur

Do you ever have "delusions of grandeur"?


(OK, just to make it interesting, I'll give a purse out of my pre-made stash to anyone who can name the movie I just quoted.)

I've been home, sick, lying on my couch for three days. In those three days, I've decided that I can do amazing things. Now, keep in mind, I haven't moved a muscle. I've not picked up a hammer and nail or any such thing. I've just been reading the best blog I've ever read -- Knock Off Wood.


I BELIEVE!


I think I'm going to make these for the entry way:
And these for the basement:

And this bed for my daughter's room:

with this on the side:
And this for me and my sewing room:

And, maybe if I have some time left I'll whip up this dining room table:Did I mention that I'm the kid who cut the top of her thumb off in shop class? Watch out world! Here I come!

What's in store...

Now that I finished the Whirlygiggle quilt, I can start on new projects to use up my fabric stash! I can't wait to see how these babies turn out!

Stocking the Freezer

I love a yummy breakfast each and every day. But, I HATE cooking that yummy breakfast every morning. In fact, if I have to cook the breakfast, usually I just don't eat. Not eating is not good for my disposition. I become mean when I haven't had good breakfast.

To help combat an ugly situation, I have created this wonderful plan -- freezing breakfast. About once every three weeks I bake up a batch of Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes. These are the best -- packed with nutrition and tastiness, they make the perfect freezer food.

So, I whip up a double batch, fire up my most treasured griddle and put a good movie or TV show on the computer. It takes about an hour to griddle up 80 pancakes(I use about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake).

I let them cool on parchment paper for at least an hour. Then -- this is the important part -- I cut up that same parchment paper and stick it between layers of pancakes in a Ziploc bag. If you don't put the parchment paper between them, they stick together and just become a messy, unmanageable situation.

After loading two Ziploc, I stick them in the freezer. Now -- instant breakfast. I take out as many as I need and warm them up in the microwave each morning.

Whirlygiggle repeat is finished and it's fantastic!

This baby is 72 inches by 66 inches and absolutely vibrant! It's so much more dramatic in person than in a picture. I love it! It'll be perfect in my basement to help lighten and brighten the room without windows. I always love my quilts when they are finished, but I'm really enamored with this one. It just makes me feel happy inside to look at it. Yum!

I had not expected to finish the quilt this week. We are so packed with things that I thought I'd have to wait until next week to sew. Wouldn't you know it -- my daughter got the stomach flu and I had to cancel everything on Monday and Tuesday. Well, stuck at home means sewing time for mom! Yeah! But, I'll always remember this as the quilt I finished when my daughter was devastatingly ill. (She wasn't sick when I staged this photo, so there are no germs on the quilt)

It's gone to a better place

I finally gave away the Whirlygiggle quilt. I was sad to see it go, but the big one is almost finished! It's beautiful!

Stuck in my mind

Do you remember the band They Might Be Giants from high school? I loved them! Some of my most favorite memories of my sophomore year include driving my mother's suburban loaded with 20 or so of my most treasured friends. (These were the days before seat belt laws) Sometimes my friend Jenny would play the guitar and sing. Most of the time it was They Might Be Giants that led us on our adventures. We'd often play the song "Cow Town" and fly a kite out the back window. Oh, what sweet memories!

Well, They Might Be Giants has released a new CD/DVD recently, and it's really been stuck in my mind. We've been playing it as a family and loving the music. Not only that, but it's educational and the videos are really cute. We've been watching them on YouTube for a couple of months now. So that I don't have to keep hunting for them every time we want to watch, I thought I'd put our favorites here, and that way you can join in the fun too! Yeah! It's just like the good old days!