Lyme Ricky

Incredibly Easy (and tasty) Risotto in 15 minutes!

2011-11-18T13:45:00.001-08:00

Recently I was given the greatest gift! I've never even heard of it before, it's the Electric Multicooker from Amazon.com. This is a great appliance for the kitchen. The browning function actually works to saute garlic & onion for this recipe. I'm still putting the appliance through its paces, but I've used the slow cooker to make BBQ chicken. The rice cooker worked well for this tasty risotto. It's creamy, cheesy and a perfect compliment for chicken and fish dishes.

I'm not sure how well the recipe will work in other cookers. This is the only rice cooker I have ever used, so experiment as instructed by your appliance. The instructions listed below are for the appliance shown here:

Creamy Gruyere and Parmesan Risotto

by 3-in-1 Electric Multicooker Recipe Book, but adapted by me

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

1/4 cup minced onion

1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice

3 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 cup grated Gruyere Cheese (4 oz)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the butter and oil in the cooker on the brown setting. When the butter has melted, add the garlic and onion. Saute until you can smell the garlic -- about 2 minutes.

Stir in the rice to make sure it's coated thoroughly. Pour in the stock. Lock the lid in place and set to rice cook.

Once rice cook cycle is complete release pressure but allow the risotto to rest on the warm cycle with the lid on for about 5 minutes.

Open the lid, stir in the Gruyere and Parmesan. Let it rest for about 3 minutes.

Salt and pepper to taste, serve immediately.

Taco Soup

2011-11-13T15:32:00.001-08:00

Big Batch Taco Soup
Here is my favorite recipe for taco soup. I really prefer the Old El Paso mild taco seasoning flavor, I think it's the best tasting of the prepared packets.

I think of this soup as a dump soup -- you just dump all the ingredients into a pot and let it simmer until you are happy with the taste. This one is incredibly healthy and tasty at the same time.

Big Batch Taco Soup

2	lb	ground beef, browned & drained
3	cups	onion
2	can (15 oz)	kidney beans
2	can (15 oz)	black beans
2	cans	corn
6	can(28 oz)	tomato, diced
3	package	taco seasoning
1	carton	beef broth

Servings: 22

Nutrition Facts

Serving size: 1/22 of a recipe (16.9 ounces).

Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories	307.88
Calories From Fat (11%)	33.44
% Daily Value
Total Fat 3.79g	6%
Saturated Fat 1.36g	7%
Cholesterol 27.51mg	9%
Sodium 1153.49mg	48%
Potassium 1263.75mg	36%
Total Carbohydrates 50.39g	17%
Fiber 13.75g	55%
Sugar 2.6g
Protein 22.49g	45%

Wonderful pumpkin cookies

2011-11-13T14:18:00.001-08:00

I don't even like pumpkin. Really. I don't. Having said that, these pumpkin spice cookies are amazing! My family loves them! Give them a try, you won't be disappointed!

Fall 2011 Quilt Festival Entry -- Schnibbles Plan C

2011-11-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

My entry this fall is a quilt that is now residing in Copenhagen, Denmark. I made it as a thank you present for our host family. These wonderful people left town to let us use their home for a month. That is amazing kindness! Even more amazing if you consider I have never met them face to face.

71.5 by 71.5 inches tall

I used the Schnibbles Plan C design by Carrie Nelson and an April Cornell fabric line with white muslin.

I tried free motion flowers all over, but learned that my quilting was too close together to really see well once it was all washed and crinkly. Shucks! Oh well, live and learn.

I miss the quilt, but I'd trade it again in a heart beat for the wonderful trip and the great adventure. Thanks Anne & Jens!

I love the Bloggers Quilt Festival! This one of my most favorite times of the year. Click on the logo to join in the fun!

Sugar Cookie Frosting

2011-10-30T13:32:00.001-07:00

You can't have great cookies if you don't have a great frosting! Here's the one I learned from my mom:

SugarCookie Frosting

ByJan

INGREDIENTS:

2 Tablespoons Milk

1 stick butter

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 pound powderedsugar

Dash salt

DIRECTIONS:

Combine wet ingredients until smooth.

Slowly add powdered sugar until desired consistency.

Sugar Cookies

2011-10-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

Back in college, I used to make these sugar cookies just to have dough in the freezer. There were times friends would even pay me money to make the dough for them to eat. It's my mom's recipe and I consider myself lucky that she's been willing to share it with me.

In addition to great tasting dough, these make the best sugar cookies I've ever tasted, very similar to a pink frosting cookie sold in stores.

There are two tricks to baking these cookies.

First, be sure to combine the butter & sugar and beat until very light in color. Add the eggs and beat until fluffy. Don't rush this step!!!!

The second important step is to take them out when they've just finished baking. If you wait until they turn brown, the cookies will be very dry and crumbly.

SugarCookies

ByJan

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ sq. Butter

1 cup Sugar

3 Eggs

1 TBSP Baking Powder

3 ½ cups Flour

¼ tsp Salt

2 TBSP Vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Cream sugar and butter together. Add eggs and beat until fluffy.

Add remaining ingredients.

Bake cookies at 350 for 6-7 minutes - do not over bake!

Books for Young Readers

2011-09-19T05:49:00.000-07:00

A while back, I asked friends to give me a list of the books their children have loved to read. Here's a compilation of their recommendations. I haven't read all of them, but many of them are absolute favorites.

Good luck!

A Boat to Nowhere
A Wrinkle in Time
Al Capone Does My Shirts
All-of-a-Kind Family
Amber Brown is Feeling Blue
Because of Winn-Dixie
Beezus and Ramona
Breaking Through
Call it Courage
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlotte's Web
Chronicles of Narnia series
Dying to Meet You
Ella Enchanted
Emily Windsnap series
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch
Encyclopedia Brown Boy Detective
Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues Encyclopedia Brown Gets His Man
Fairy books by Daisy Meadows
Fever 1793
Freak the Mighty
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Harriet the Spy
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Hattie Big Sky
How to Eat Fried Worms
Indian in the Cupboard
Inkheart
Inkspell
Island of the Blue Dophins
James and the Giant Peach
Knights of the Round Table
Little Women
Misty of Chincoteague
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
Mysterious Benedict Society
Nancy Drew Clew Crew books
Number the Stars
Old Yeller Oliver Twist
Percy Jackson
Peter and the Starcatchers
Rainbow Magic fairy books by Daisy Meadows
Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Ramona the Pest
Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution
Saddle Club books
Seedfolks Shiloh
Sister's Grimm Summer of the monkeys
Summer Reading Is Killing Me!
Superfudge
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The City of Ember
The Enormous Crocodile
The Fairy Painting The Ghost,
The White House and Me
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Indian in the Cupboard
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Penderwicks
The Princess Tales
Treasure Island
Tuck Everlasting
Where the Red Fern Grows

Plan C finished! Renamed Plan Copenhagen

2011-07-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

Plan Copenhagen
71.5 x 71.5 inches

Finished June 2011

I started this quilt in July 2010. The fabric had been a Christmas Gift from Santa in my stocking, but it took a few months until I figured out what I wanted to make with it. This quilt is made from a pattern in the Schnibbles book by Carrie Nelson. Love that book! The pattern went together fairly quickly. I loved the way the stars started to pop out, even before the white was added.

Here you can see the quilt beginning to come together -- this is only one or two days worth of sewing.

After piecing together the top, I took a break for a few weeks. That always seems to happen to me -- borders must get me down! But, in mid-August, I finally pieced together the piano key border and the top was finished.

It was so large, my living room floor wasn't quite big enough to get a clear picture. The quilt sat in my storage room for months! I couldn't figure out how I wanted to quilt it, so I just left it alone. Then, I had grand ideas that I would finish all my quilts that are just sitting waiting to be quilted while I recovered from foot surgery. That didn't happen! They're still downstairs waiting to be quilted.

But, in May my husband was asked to go to Denmark to take a class. A wonderful family offered up their home as a place for my husband and his colleagues to stay for a month while they took their class. I am amazed at their generosity! This quilt came to mind -- to me it just says 'Denmark'. That's also why I changed it's name to Plan Copenhagen -- just seemed to fit. :)

So, I finally had a reason to push myself to finish it. I quilted it in the first two weeks of June and it was ready to fly to Copenhagen.

I stippled it with really tiny flowers and leaves. I have to admit, the quilting was not exactly as I like it. I did it really tight together, which makes it difficult to see the design. Oh well. Live and learn.

The quilt flew in my suitcase to Denmark and now resides in this adorable little house outside of Copenhagen:

This is a picture of the summer guest house out back. We actually stayed in the basement of the big house, but the guest house just looks so Danish I had to include it here. :)

Thanks Annie & Jens -- we had an absolutely lovely time! We loved every minute in your home and in your country. Thank you for being so kind to share it with us. Hopefully this quilt will help you to remember over time how much we truly loved it! Thanks!

Twin Quilts

2010-12-28T09:35:00.000-08:00

I made these two quilts for family this Christmas. I tried out some new quilting, but forgot to take pictures of the quilting itself -- we had to hurry and snap these pictures before they got shipped off for the holidays.

Each quilt was about 68" square. I made it using the fabric line Snippets by American Jane.

I started the centers well over a year ago. I loved them, but didn't know what to do for the borders. It took months until I found the right combination of movement without too much distraction from the center. When I started the border I had no idea how much work it would take -- there are a lot of squares in that thing! I really think it works though.

I doubled up the batting for the first time as well. It made the blankets much heavier, each one weighed about 5 pounds when finished. I really like using 100% cotton batting because it breathes so well. And, I can't deny that the crinkles from the cotton just make me smile!

But, over time the blankets get pretty thin. I'm hoping that by doubling it up, they will stay much thicker.

Overall, I was very pleased with the final result. Hopefully they will be loved by their new owners.

Thank you!

2010-12-27T08:20:00.001-08:00

During the Blogger's Quilt Festival, I was fortunate enough to win a fat quarter pack of Thistledown from Jillily Studios. What luck! This is the first prize I have won in years!

Thank you Jill! I really appreciate your generous gift -- I'll always remember your kindness and the extra effort you put into my gift! Thanks!

I've been in love with this fabric ever since Jill showed it on her blog in September. The colors are just beautiful! I can't wait to put something together with it. Right now I'm leaning toward the design Twin Stars featured in the original Jelly Roll Quilts book. I haven't cut any fabric yet, I'm still making sure it's what I want to do.

100 blocks blog tour -- come see!

2010-11-08T16:59:00.001-08:00

I'm always searching for new ideas and inspiration. This month, Quiltmakers 100 blocks volume 2 comes out -- what a great way to spice up my quilting life. As part of the celebration, there is a great giveaway series and fun blogs to visit. Come join the Quilty Pleasures blog tour and get some great ideas.

Mama Bear Quilt

2010-10-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Mama Bear Quilt

about 78" square

made with Hoffman and batik fabrics

Thanks to Amy for hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival -- what a great event! Here's my entry this fall -- my Mama Bear Quilt.

Several years ago, my sister's life was suddenly changed forever by a brain aneurysm and a previously undetected AVM. It was devastating to our whole family to have her struggle on the brink of death. We powerless to do anything. I was thousands of miles away -- with nothing I could do to help. Some days she was so sick, she couldn't even talk on the phone.

So, I did the only thing I could think to do -- I made her a quilt. As she faced months of surgery and struggles, I packaged all my love into this quilt for her. Every cut, stitch, and seam was made with her in mind. I made it long enough to cover her from head to toe -- at that point it was the largest quilt I'd made. It took some time, but I was finally able to send it to her.

My sister made it through. Today, you'd never know she ever faced such a physical challenge. Every day I'm grateful she's here and healthy. Words cannot convey how important she is to me.

Years later, long after my sister had recovered, she had it on her daughter's bed. It reminds me now that even when we think life is at it's worst, it can always get better and brighter.

Schnibbles progress

2010-08-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

I've been out and about on vacation with my family for the last month. In the midst of all the fun, the Plan C quilt from Schnibbles is progressing nicely. As I've been putting it together, I'm perplexed at how I'm going to quilt it.

I want to improve my free motion skills, so I think I'll try something difficult. I just haven't decided how to do that yet. The quilt has such large spacing, but I want to highlight the stars at the same time. It's such a pretty quilt, I'd like to emphasize the design with quilting that will enhance the overall picture. I'm toying with the idea of trying feathered loops, inside each square with outline quilting and repeats inside the stars, but it doesn't seem exciting enough.

More thinking to come....

Schnibbles Plan C

2010-07-18T19:06:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased the book Schnibbles Times Two and I'm in love!

The first pattern I decided to complete was called "Plan C". I've wanted a blue and yellow quilt to snuggle with on my bed, so this was a perfect pattern for April Cornell's Nature's Notebook by Moda. It incorporated stars as well as bright spots of blue and yellow to catch the eye.

I'm starting to see the potential for the quilt, but it's still got a way to go.

Bruschetta

2010-07-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

Our tomatoes are finally turning red! I picked some decent sized Early Girls today -- I love it when you're cutting up a tomato warm from the summer sun. It just makes them taste better somehow. We've had a bug eating our basil this year, but I was able to get a few leaves to use for homemade Bruschetta. Usually meant as an appetizer, our family eats Bruschetta as a meal on Sunday afternoons in the summer. When the tomatoes are ripe, I just can't get enough! The recipe says 16 servings, but my family of four usually eats about two-thirds of a batch when we serve it up as the meal.

Photo courtesy of cooks-catering.com

Bruschetta

2 tomatoes, diced
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
two 16-inch-long French-style baguettes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. Stir everything but the baguettes and oil in a small glass or ceramic bowl, and let the mixture rest for at least 10 minutes at room temperature.

2. Slice the baguettes about 3/4-inch thick, on the diagonal. Brush one side of each slice with additional olive oil.

3. Place slices oil-side-up on a baking sheet, and broil (carefully!) just until the slices are lightly browned. Remove them from the broiler and place in a serving dish so that the bottoms don't get soggy.

4. When ready to serve, place about 2 to 3 teaspoons of the tomato mixture on top of each slice of bread.

Servings: 16

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/16 of a recipe (1.8 ounces).
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 108.86
Total Fat: 3.63g
Saturated Fat: 0.61g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 191.17mg
Potassium: 85.34mg
Total Carbohydrates: 16.13g

Square Foot Garden Progress

2010-07-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

Our garden is doing remarkably well since it gets little or no attention from us. OK, that's not entirely true -- Maddie's new job is to water every day and she's been very responsible.

Here's our first few harvests:
The plants are growing tall and taller. Last year our zucchini and cucumbers just withered and died by mid-July. This year they've gone nuts! I'm worried that they're going to choke the tomatoes to the point that we don't get the bounty of red tomatoes I'd hoped for this year.

So, I decided to smoosh the zucchini down a bit in the hopes that the tomatoes could have a chance. Hopefully I haven't killed the plants:

I'm still stuck on what to do with the cucumbers. They're blocking all the sunlight on the right half of the garden.

We planted a few zucchini in normal dirt to see what would happen. So far, they are about 12 inches high and just have a few flowers. I think something has been nibbling on them, but I'm not sure.

Here's some of the hundreds of tomatoes that are just hanging out green and tiny on the vine. I'm hoping they turn red soon...

Bloggers Quilt Festival Entry Spring 2010

2010-05-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

I love the bloggers quilt festival! It's so much fun to look at every quilt and get ideas for the coming six months.

Here's my entry:

I made this quilt for a friend having a baby boy. It was a really good project to try out new stuff. This was the first time I've quilted shapes using my machine. I was astonished at how easy it was to do--

First I found clip art online.
I printed it out and then cut out the shape.
Using a water-soluble marker, I traced the pattern onto the fabric.
Then I quilted the pattern using free motion quilting
The stippling helps to give each design added depth
Then I sprayed the markings with water to make them disappear

The quilt was pretty easy to put together, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process.

In to win!

2010-04-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

So, I heard about this blog contest today, and I just can't resist -- I'm desperate for help!

Help me Wilsonart -- you're my only hope!

My family used to spend about 30% of our life in our basement. We love this room, I sew, the kids play, we watch movies. Most of our family time together is spent in our wonderful basement. At least until March 30, 2010.

I went down that morning to turn on a video for my son and my foot stepped in 3 inches of water. I suddenly realized that all of our treasures were floating. It didn't stop -- about six hours later we had about 10 inches of water.

Pictured here is only about 3-4 inches. It was flooding so fast we tried to get all the valuable things out before they were ruined.

Because we were so distraught, we forgot to take a picture at full water depth. Just imagine the couch resting on large food cans to try to keep it above water.

After the waters finally receded four days later, we had to move everything from the basement so that it could dry outside.

All of the family treasures(toys, fabric, sewing machine, tv, stereo, etc) are now waiting in the garage for our all-purpose basement to get fixed.

We've cleaned, replaced the ruined drywall, painted and are preparing to finish the walls with wainscoting. In the next two weeks I hope to have the carpet back in too. Here's to hoping!

But, I still have all of this stuff to organize and put back downstairs for my family to use. Oh, how I would love to have a wonderful organization system to store all the toys, games, crafts, and electronics! Please help us!

Can't you just imagine a beautiful storage system for

toys, sewing/crafting and games?

Even though I really want to win I'll be good and share all the contest information so that you can try too:

The contest runs through April 30th (so hurry over!), and one winner will receive expert design advice, as well as a customized cabinet/counter top organization utopia for your room valued up to $5,000!

Take a photo of your family room, craft room, or basement. Whatever you think needs some organization love.

Post the photo on a blog post and tell us more about the room. Who uses it, what takes place in that room, etc. Also include what you’d like the design team at Wilsonart to help you accomplish with the Spring Clean.

Learn more about the contest here. Submit the link to your blog post here and you’ll be entered to win the $5,000 Spring Cleaning Room Makeover!

Party in Pink

2010-03-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-17T19:32:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-03-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-13T08:11:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-03-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

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

2010-03-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

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

2010-03-09T07:38:00.000-08:00

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!

Whirlygiggle repeat

2010-02-26T12:25:00.000-08:00

I've had a hard time parting with the Whirlygiggle quilt. So, in order to make it easier to give away the baby quilt (which has no real use in my house right now and thus no real reason to keep anyway) I'm making a BIG couch quilt.

It's going to be about 64"x74" when it's finished. Yahoo! A quilt to snuggle with that reaches all the way to my toes! The best part -- every single scrap of fabric came from my stash downstairs. I didn't buy a single thing for this baby! I even had the batting! I LOVE FREE QUILTS! (OK, so I did at one time pay for all this stuff, but it was for another project, so it's like getting it for free since it's leftovers)

I'm hoping to quilt and bind it this weekend -- I've got some new purse patterns I'm dying to try! This time I promised myself I had to finish my current project before starting a new one.

Crock-Pot Cafe Rio Beef -- Spicy Beef

2010-02-22T10:32:00.000-08:00

This is one of my most favorite dishes. You can use this beef in tacos, on a salad, burritos, chimmichangas, almost anything Mexican will work. I've even used it to make empanadas. Yummy!

For those of you familiar with Cafe Rio, this is my adaptation of their recipe:

Spicy Mexican Beef (Cafe Rio Beef)

3 lb Chuck Roast
2 cups salsa
1 cup beef broth
1 can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon cumin
3 cloves garlic
1 onion, cut into rings

1. Put the roast in the crock pot.
2. Mix salsa, broth, tomato sauce, cumin and garlic in the blender or food processor until smooth.
3. Pour mix over the beef.
4. Top with onion rings.
5. Cook for 7-8 hours on low.
6. Remove the onion and shred the meat, removing any visible fat.
7. Return to crock-pot juice and simmer for about an hour.

Serve as tacos with cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce, and beans.

Grandma's Quilt

2010-02-16T20:15:00.000-08:00

I made this quilt in stages. I started piecing the log cabin blocks back in 2003 with the great intention of giving my family each a Christmas quilt for the holiday season that year. I worked on it quite a bit, but just when the blocks were almost finished I gave up for some unknown reason. I picked it up again in the spring of 2009 and finally finished the job. It took me forever to decide how to make the borders. I just couldn't wrap my head around it, but in the end, I like what I chose.

We gave the quilt to my husband's grandma this year for Christmas.

Whirlygiggle complete!

2010-02-16T06:57:00.001-08:00

Whirlygiggle -- 40"x40"

I really love this quilt! I think it turned out so cute! I debated whether to stipple it or quilt some swirls my friend has been trying out, but the stippling won because it would be faster. I'm so glad I did -- now the pieces have a kind of puzzle look to them. It adds a great dimension to the design.

Now I just have to force my kids(and me) to part with it so that we can give it away. Does anyone else have a hard time giving away their projects? Am I the only greedy quilter? It's so sad to see my little babies go to someone else!

Whirlygigle ideas

2010-02-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

I fell in love with the whirlygigle quilt from Crazy Mom Quilts that is pictured above. I'm so sad she has left the blogging world, but I still find her quilts inspirational. So I decided to imitate her whirlygiggle pattern. I really tried to find out where the pattern comes from, but it seems that most people refer back to Crazy Mom Quilts at some point. My blocks are 8" square, for a total quilt size of about 42" -- a perfect size for a baby quilt. I cut all the colors out to make 75 squares -- enough for three baby quilts.

Now I just have to decide which design I like most. Our friend had a baby last Friday and I'm a little slow on getting her a present. I figure that one of these should go together fairly quickly. We have a big snow storm coming and I have all the supplies here at home.

YEAH! Let's sew! Oh and make homemade doughnuts and oatmeal cookie pancakes. Bring on the party!

Unfinished projects

2010-01-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

This year one of my goals is to finish as many of my works-in-progress as I can. Each of those bins pictured above contains at least one unfinished quilt. UGH! What a mess!

Not only is it a big mess in my storage room, but they are starting to loom large in my mind and beginning to cause me overwhelming guilt. Most importantly, all that fabric makes me feel like I can't buy more until these quilts are done. I love buying fabric(a completely obvious statement!). I always want more! But, I need to force myself to finish these projects before going crazy with more stuff.

Here's all the quilts in various stages of completion:

two self-designed and as yet un-named patterns for the Oh Cherry! fabric
three pinwheel quilts in the American Jane Snippets fabric
one nine-patch from the quilt-along made from all my scrap fabrics
one triple-Irish chain for John's baby quilt
one blue & white in various fabrics
two Christmas log-cabin quilts
Underground Railroad quilt in blue, red and green
one disappearing nine-patch in pastel colors
one quilt from this quilt along, but I'll probably change the pattern
one alphabet quilt
one cream and red nine-patch

(That's a total of 15 quilts in progress)

I also have a lot of fabric purchased, but the quilts have not even been started. Here's just what I can remember off the top of my head:

Yellow & blue fabric from April Cornel's Nature's notebook line by Moda
Snippets fabric for this quilt -- a whirlygigle pattern
Plaids for crazy nine-patch
six-inch squares for an 'I Spy' quilt
a purple medley of half-yards
about 40 different pink fat quarters
a black and white collection

(A total of 7 quilts with fabric purchased)

I've recalled all this from memory, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. All told that's 22 quilts. UGH! If I finish one every two weeks I might be done by the end of the year -- wish me luck!

New Year's celebration

2010-01-01T16:43:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the food! We had a party for New Year's Eve, and you'd think the three cooks involved hadn't eaten for weeks. We all cooked and brought our treats together. Here's the menu:

Appetizers:
Bacon Wrapped Pineapple
Stuffed Mushrooms
Spinach Dip

Main Course:
Many Bean Chili
Spinach, Chicken and Pasta Salad

Dessert:
Cream cheese Brownies
Haystack Cookies
Shortbread cookies
Oreo Rice Krispie treats

O000-eeeee! It was tasty! I find it absurd that the food was almost gone by 9 PM. We divided up the scarce leftovers for absent loved ones and everyone went home to start their New Year's off right -- fat and happy!

Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

2009-12-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I had a terrible need for a KFC biscuit. After convincing the family to pick up dinner, KFC had the audacity to be out of biscuits. Seriously! What fried chicken place runs out of biscuits? Well, they did and I was forced to come up with my own. Luckily I had some buttermilk on hand and was able to adjust a recipe to fit my taste.

I like a moist biscuit with a crunchy outside. A strong butter flavor is required absolutely required. These became an instant household favorite. My daughter now requests them often and I will do my best to stock buttermilk so that we're ready at a moments notice.

Oh, and these babies take about 20 minutes from start to finish -- perfect for adding to almost any meal. We like to eat breakfast sandwiches around here with ham, egg and a biscuit. These will work perfectly!

Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

3 cups Flour

1 Tbs sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup cold butter

1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat your oven to 450°F.
2. Place the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a food processor.
3. Add the butter to the food processor and run until the butter is cut into the flour mixture.
4. Add the buttermilk and blend quickly -- not too much.
5. Place the dough on a cookie sheet in lumps about 1/4 cup in size. Squash them a bit with your fingers into a loose biscuit shape.
6. Brush the tops with melted butter.
7. Bake the biscuits for 12 to 14 minutes, until they're golden brown.

Servings: 12

Christmas projects finished!

2009-12-20T08:13:00.000-08:00

All the Christmas gifts are in the mail. This was my final gift project. After it has been delivered, I'll show the entire quilt. I'm pretty jazzed about this one -- I made up the pattern and finished it all in about 6 weeks. Compared to some people, that's a quilter's lifetime. For me, that's pretty speedy!

Now I'm off to make my kids Christmas pajamas! Yahoo! It's almost here!

Hash Brown Heaven

2009-12-20T08:02:00.000-08:00

When you bake it, the food will be taller than this, I like it squashed flat, and forgot that I needed a picture for the blog.

So, here is the squashed serving.

I've been looking for a hearty breakfast recipe that I can prepare ahead of time that meets many requirements: healthy, tasty, filling and yet not too heavy on calories. Also, I need to be able to re-heat it in the microwave and have it taste the same as it did when it came out of the oven.

This baby is the winner. I've pulled together several different recipes and tweaked it so that we had the perfect meal. My husband loves it so much he ate almost 1/2 of a 9x13 pan for dinner this week. Note: It is not low calorie if you eat half the pan.

This will make 8 hearty servings, with about 350 calories per serving.

Hash Brown Heaven

1 medium onion
14 oz turkey kielbasa
2 green peppers
4 cups frozen hash browns, thawed(one bag)
1/2 cup sour cream3 eggs
8 egg whites
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups Mexican cheese

1. Dice green pepper and onion very small.
2. Dice kielbasa very small. Brown and set aside.
3. Combine all ingredients reserving one half of the cheese in a greased 9x13 pan.
4. Top with the remainder of the cheese.
5. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until set.

Servings: 8

Amount Per Serving Calories 346.04
Calories From Fat (44%) 153.67%
Daily Value Total Fat 17.52g 27%
Saturated Fat 8.7g 44%
Cholesterol 142.63mg 48%

Cooking a turkey

2009-11-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

I'm surprised how many people are afraid of cooking a turkey. I've done it for about 10 years now, and it's surprisingly easy and a very economical way to add protein to a menu. I will often cook two turkeys in November while the meat is sold at a discount price and freeze one in small vacuumed sealed packages to use through the winter.

This is going to sound like a made-up story, but I swear it's true. My sister had a friend, who had a brother that worked in a restaurant. His job was to make the turkeys during the holidays. He put together instructions, and gave them to my sister, who in turn gave them to me.

Now, there are probably as many ways to cook a turkey as there are turkeys on the planet, but this method has never failed me. In fact, I now use it for roasting chickens as well.

Kristie's Tasty Turkey
For an 18 lbs. Turkey

You will want to use a roasting pan with a rack to raise the turkey and the roasting pan should not be too big. The Turkey should only be 1-2 inches from the sides of the pan. Thaw turkey completely – 3 to 4 days in the fridge
Soak turkey(in the packaging) in cold water with 2 cups of salt in the kitchen sink for at least 4 hours or up to overnight -- this is called brining
Once completely thawed & brined, rinse turkey, remove everything from inside and pat dry
Separate skin from breast and rub a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic pepper and poultry seasoning inside between the skin and the breast meat
Rub and dump 3-4 handfuls of salt in the internal cavity
Tie back the wings under the breasts
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cook turkey upside down, uncovered @ 400 degrees for 1/3 of projected cook time (18 lbs. = 50 minutes, or so)
Turn Turkey breast side up, drizzle skin with butter and shake salt and pepper on the outside
Add 1-2 cups of water to bottom of pan to add to the juices and make basting easier
Drop temperature to 325 degrees and cover with a tight foil tent
Baste every 30 minutes
Begin checking the temperature for doneness after a total of 2 hrs of cooking. Reduce temperature if cooking too rapidly.
When temperature reaches 165 – 185 degrees with a digital instant read thermometer in both the legs and breasts, remove from oven and baste again, immediately wrap completely in a tight foil blanket and then wrap that in a towel.
Allow to rest for up to an hour before carving.

Spaghetti Bake

2009-11-20T15:21:00.000-08:00

This recipe is a slight modification of one that my mother-in-law makes. The first time she made it for me was just after I had my son and was completely incapacitated from the surgery. My wonderful mother-in-law came to stay with us for a week and took great care to love and feed us while she was there. This recipe will always remind me of her kindness.

Aside from it's wonderful memories, it's tasty too.

Spaghetti Bake

16 oz package spaghetti
1 pound hamburger
1 green pepper
1 medium onion
1 package pepperoni, chopped into small pieces
1 tablespoon butter
1 jar spaghetti sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Boil noodles, but drain them about two minutes before you would normally remove them. They will continue cooking in the oven.

In a fairly large pan, brown and drain the hamburger.

In the same pan that you cooked the hamburger, saute pepper and onion in butter until tender. Add the chopped pepperoni. Saute for two minute more.

Add the hamburger back to the vegetables and pepperoni. Add the spaghetti sauce and heat until warm.

Place the cooked noodles and the vegetable/sauce combination into a 9x13 baking dish. Mix thoroughly.

Top with cheese and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is brown.

Oh Cherry Oh! idea

2009-11-20T06:11:00.000-08:00

I've been working with some fun fabrics lately, sadly I haven't figured out how to import fabric to Electric Quilt yet. I'll just suffer through with their sample swatches to make my designs.

The quilt design I'm working on right now uses Oh Cherry Oh! fabrics by Moda's Me and My sister line. I purchased the pre-cut turnovers and have been trying to figure out how best to use them on quilts for an un-named upcoming holiday. I really like how they look on point, and I think that may be my final choice. I don't have any yardage of the fabrics, so I think the end of each row and the borders will be bleached white Kona muslin.

Any thoughts?

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

2009-11-18T16:51:00.001-08:00

This soup is always a hit! I take it often to people that are sick or need a meal brought in. When taking it to someone, I always pair it up with my hearty white bread.

It freezes VERY well, just remember to heat it slowly because it is cream based. If you reheat it in the microwave, just set it at a medium power setting.

Good luck!

Wild Rice Soup

1 large Onion
2 cups Carrots, diced
3 cups Celery, diced
½ cup Butter
2/3 cups Flour
6 cups Water
2 tablespoons McCormick chicken base (or 4 Bullion Cubes)
2 pkgs Rice-A-Roni Long Grain and Wild Rice
5 Chicken breasts (cooked and cubed)
2 cups Half and Half
½ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Pepper

1. Chop vegetables and place in large soup pot. Melt butter and sauté vegetables until tender.

2. Add flour and stir until vegetables are coated. Let the flour cook for about 2-3 minutes until it has a golden blond color.

3. Slowly add water and stir vigorously until flour dissolves. Prepare Rice-A-Roni as directed on box, then add to the soup.

4. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer on low until well blended, usually about 1 hour.

Servings: 20
Yield: 20 cups

Meal Plan for November 16-22

2009-11-16T07:22:00.001-08:00

I'm back to meal planning again after a few months off. It was just too much hassle if I don't plan ahead. Without a plan, I find myself trying to find ways to convince the family that we should eat out instead of cooking. Not really money-saving at all.

A friend recently explained to me that in their family, each person gets to choose one meal during the week, and the mom chooses for the days left over. I thought it was a great idea. We tried it for a bit last week and had very happy results. The picky eater in the family was thrilled that people had to eat what she liked, and she didn't whine as much on the other days. So, my family members have shared the duty again this week, and we put together the following menu:

Monday -- French Dip Sandwiches
Tuesday -- French Peasant Bread with Cream cheese chicken and rice
Wednesday -- Wild rice soup and homemade bread
Thursday -- French toast and bacon
Friday -- Chicken Tacos with Black Bean Salsa
Saturday -- Spaghetti Bake
Sunday -- Crock pot BBQ pork chops with simple roasted potatoes and Alabama white BBQ sauce

I'm getting into the habit of thinking ahead. Next week, on my day we're going to have Tostadas with shredded beef that's already made and waiting in the freezer.

I love Shutterfly!

2009-11-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

I love Shutterfly because they give me screaming deals on things I already wanted to buy. You can see some of the things I've put together over here on my share site.

The company gave me the chance to host a party last weekend, and each guest received a free 8x8 photo book and 12 free Christmas cards. Oh, and a really cool pen. Loving the pen! Hoarding the pen.

I worked on my photo book this week, and put together my purchase this morning. All in all I purchased:

an 8x8 photo book that was 54 pages
50 -- 4x6 prints
12 -- nice 5x7 foldable Christmas cards
6 -- 5x7 prints for decorating around the house

For all of that I paid a whopping $23. That's it! I saved $91.10 on my order.

Shutterfly lets you save coupon codes and it will apply all the available ones to your order, so I got free shipping, 10% off, a free book, free cards, free prints, etc. I am one loyal customer! And, by using ebates.com, I was able to earn money back on my purchase as well! What a bargain.

Oh, and if you haven't ordered from Shutterfly before, their printing is the best around, and I'm a picky customer.

By the way, they didn't actually give me money to share my positive opinion -- I love them anyway!

Our Favorite Brownies

2009-10-05T17:02:00.000-07:00

I was very tempted recently to try a new recipe on Smitten Kitchen, one of my most favorite foodie websites.

Oh baby! These are the most wonderful brownies I have ever made at home -- and I did it from scratch! I've tried cream cheese brownies before, but sometimes the brownie part leaves something to be desired. By melting chocolate chips with the butter, it makes a better starting point than using cocoa in my mind. Plus, I always have semi-sweet chocolate chips around, but I often run out of cocoa.

I changed the recipe from Smitten Kitchen a bit. I'm pretty cheap, so I use chocolate chips instead of bakers chocolate. Either will probably work, but this is easier for me.

Oh, and did I mention that I whipped these up in less than five minutes, used the same bowl for both batters and had them baked so fast I hadn't even finished licking the bowl clean? My family didn't even bother with plates. They are really that good.

Cheesecake Marbled Brownies

Brownie batter

1 stick butter, cut into pieces

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Cheesecake batter

8 oz cream cheese, well softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg yolk

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Topping

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan.
3. Melt butter and chocolate chips in the microwave -- about 30-45 seconds was all it took. Combine well.
4. Whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined.
5. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in baking pan.
6. Whisk together cheesecake batter ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a knife or spatula.
7. Sprinkle chocolate chips over cheesecake/brownie batter swirl.
8. Bake until edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: Makes 16 2-inch square, thick brownies

Bithday Invitations

2009-10-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

My daughter's birthday is coming quick! I needed to make invitations today, and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I used Photoshop Elements and some clip art to create the following images:

I'll print them on blank 5X7 cards that I had on hand. Woohoo! Free birthday invites!

Pizza Party Night

2009-10-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

We recently had a family over for a Friday night pizza party. I made the pizza crusts and did the pre-bake before everyone arrived. The crusts had time to cool before we put all the toppings on -- I think this was one of the key factors to the perfect crust that we enjoyed that night. But, the best part was that I realized as I was assembling all the pizza toppings that they were all salad toppings as well. Everyone was able to make their own salad and their own pizza to fit their personal taste. All the guests were happy, and it was a pretty easy event to make happen! I was very happy! I highly recommend doing this for a family get-together or a dinner party. I think the adults were the most pleased.

The pizza crust I used was from King Arthur, and the toppings I put out were tomatoes, green peppers, onions, olives, mushrooms, pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, pineapple, several different kinds of cheese and lettuce. We had a few salad dressings to choose from and Prego traditional sauce for the pizzas.

Yummo!

Furniture Re-vamp

2009-09-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get so excited about a project it starts to consume your every thought? I'll admit it happens to me often. I obsess on an idea or a project and I just can't get it out of my thoughts.

The past month my dining room has been my obsession. I have driven to furniture stores all over the state looking for a black dining room table and hutch. They are outrageous expensive! I just can't spend the money required to get a quality set. So, my mind shifted gears and I started wondering if I could create such a set.

I've spent hours and hours researching how to paint furniture, looking at furniture on Craig's list and talking to the experts at Lowe's and Sherwin Williams.

Last weekend, I dragged my family to a town about 30 miles away to purchase a small hutch on Craigslist. It's now sitting in the garage, just waiting to become a beautiful piece of re-created glory. I have all the supplies, all the tools.

But, my excitement is starting to wane, and I'm terrified I'll screw it up! What if I ruin a cute little piece of $50 furniture and my new vision for my dining room is not going to work??? I know I have to get over this sense of fear and just get out there. I do. I understand that.

Time for the internal pep talk and to change into painting clothes.

Blog Combination

2009-09-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

I was feeling too schizophrenic trying to keep up two blogs. Should decorating items go with food or quilting???

It was too complicated to figure out what I wanted to put on each one, so today I combined them back both into the one Lyme Ricky blog. I won't delete the Quilted Patch for a while, but I imported all the posts here -- that's why you may see a bunch of unread posts in your reader account.

Sorry for any confusion or heartache this might have caused all of my regular readers -- I apologize.

Homemade Chicken Things

2009-09-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

We made Homemade Chicken Things last night and they were great! I highly recommend them. The entire family ate them and enjoyed it! Now, in this house, that's really saying something!

I changed the original recipe a bit. Here's what I did:

Homemade Chicken “Things”

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 cups milk

2 tablespoons vinegar

5 drops Tabasco sauce

3/4 cup complete (just add water) pancake mix
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Oil for frying

1. Trim chicken breasts and cut into desired size nuggets or fingers. I cut mine into 3/4 inch cubes.

2. Soak chicken pieces in milk mixed with vinegar and Tabasco for 3-4 hours.

3. In a large bowl whisk together pancake mix, water, salt & pepper. Add more water to thin if needed. (Note: You want the mix to be a little thinner than you would for making pancakes, but not very much.)

4. Heat oil in a fryer or in a medium-sized pot. Add chicken pieces to the batter and stir to coat completely.

4. When oil is hot, use a fork to transfer chicken from the batter to the oil. Don't put too many pieces in at once or it will lower the oil temperature and they will not cook as well.

5. Cook about 3 - 4 minutes per side, until batter is browned and chicken is completely cooked.

Entertainment Center

2009-09-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

I've been going crazy in our house changing things around. It's like a switch went on in my mind, I looked around and said, "I just can't take this!" It's nesting worse than I ever had when I was pregnant, and I'm not pregnant. I just got fed up.

The entertainment center above is a perfect example. It's been a great piece of furniture. My parents gave it to me for my birthday the year we got married. We've used it for ten years. It's really met our needs until lately. The TV has started to go on the fritz, so a flat screen is now imaginable in the future. This entertainment center doesn't fit in our basement, and has been put in a corner where it has caused trouble opening the doors on either side. We really just needed a change.

I finally became motivated enough to get off my duff and find our new option. It's a great piece of furniture at an extremely reasonable price -- and it's not even press-board! It's a wonderful change and we love it!

We love you new 'TV console'.

Pinwheel Progress

2009-09-05T06:26:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my quilt this week. I'm finally getting back in to sewing now that school has started. I think it's looking pretty good! I took a Snippets turnover and then cut my own 6" squares and then cut them in half. I've got a bunch of these that I'm going to make into several quilts.

I did notice when putting up this picture that I had put a few orange next to each other. When you look at the quilt straight on, it doesn't seem quite so drastic. I think I'm going to start taking pictures BEFORE I sew the blocks to make sure I have the right balance in the future.

Snippets Pinwheel

2009-09-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my Snippets Pinwheel quilt this week. I'm loving how it looks so far. Hopefully my version will end up looking like the one I saw that started my whole adventure:

Color Transformation

2009-08-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

Our painting project is finally finished! It makes such a shocking difference in the room! I can't believe how dark it was with the red.

I will say that going from the dark red to white was a pretty intensive project. We had to use Kills as a primer to cover it. Then we did a coat of each color. When we took the tape off, we learned that the Kills was pulling off at the edges with the tape. What a pain! We had to do about 4 hours worth of touch up painting. But, I can honestly say that the paint job is the best one that my husband and I have ever done.

If you wondered if my husband is happy with the new room -- yep. He is. He can't believe the change and how much brighter it is in there. We spend a large portion of the day in there since my computer office is also my dining room. I love being in there and I really enjoy how classy it looks. I can't wait to pull together the wall decor and really make it shine!

We are victims!

2009-08-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

We have been plagued by blight this year. First, we lost the zucchini plant. Then the cucumbers. Now, the tomatoes are starting to succumb. It's so sad! We're going to have to ride it out and see what happens, because once your garden is infected, it's almost impossible to stop.

We've been loosing leaves from the tomato plants for a while, but were uneducated as to how brutal this was going to be. Today, this is how we found several of the tomatoes:

For those of you on the East Coast, you may or not be familiar with blight. It arrived in the area about 10-15 years ago, and has been destroying crops ever since. It is a fungus that develops well in wet, moist conditions. It survives in temperatures up to 95 degrees in the day and as low as 65 degrees in the night -- a perfect New England summer. This is the same disease that destroyed potatoes and caused the great Irish potato famine that resulted in the Irish immigration to America in the 1840s to 1850s. There are no real remedies for blight once it has arrived. Currently, there are no plants that are resistant to the fungus.

Learn more about blight here.

We picked about 8 pounds of tomatoes today, bringing our grand total to 37 pounds. Not bad considering the blight plague. We're hoping to get more, but it's going to be an effort to beat the blight now. I'm afraid it's going to take over.

All in all, our garden has not yet provided enough produce to have paid for it's construction. It cost about $350 to put together, plant and fill with the proper soil. We've probably saved about $150 in produce expenses. Over time, it will pay for itself I guess, but so far we're in the red. Hopefully next year won't be so moist.

Painting Day 1.5

2009-08-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

I know it's almost impossible to see the differences in paint color here. And, I had to take the pictures out of focus because the camera couldn't find something to focus on. But, you get the general idea of where we plan to go.

Right now I think we're going to go with 'Hanoki' as the color. Check back. It seems to be changing by the hour.

Painting Day One

2009-08-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

Here's what it looks like after one coat of primer. I think we'll do the color next -- that is if we ca decide on which one.

Temporary Hiatus

2009-08-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

I've had to put a hold on sewing this week. I've forced my family into accepting a re-model of our dining room. I'm the only one that's really excited about it. My husband is a very reluctant participant. He has really enjoyed the red and isn't sure he wants it to go away. I have to give him credit though -- he's doing the work right along with me and not complaining one bit.

This red is where we started. I can't wait to see where we end up!

Fantastic Voyage Step #7

2009-08-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

If you've been following along for the Fantastic Voyage quilt, we've reached step #7 -- putting the top together. I love this step! It always makes me feel like the time and creative energy was worth all the effort.

The trick to getting your top together correctly for this pattern is alternating the orientation for every block. The outside strips should be at 90 degrees from each other. It's easiest to look at the picture and figure it out. Promise!

I liked sewing two blocks together and then two additional blocks and so on. Then it's easy to iron them and stack them and then proceed to sew two to two. The four to four.

The final strips will each have 8 blocks. You should have eight strips of eight blocks each. By the time the entire quilt is assembled, it will be 8 blocks x 8 blocks.

That all came out a bit confusing sounding, but it should be pretty easy to interpret I hope.

All Right Garden!!!

2009-08-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

It seems like we have really turned a corner in the garden. I've been able to get about 8 pounds worth of tomatoes over a 48 hour time period this week. I attribute it to three things:

Time
Not watering -- thanks Wendy!
Heat - finally we have had a few sunny, hot days in a row

I did a lot of research on how to turn your green tomatoes into red ones. One of the basic tips was to only water every 2-3 days. I've been watering every single day. I didn't know they only needed water every 2-3 days, even in the heat of summer. So, I stopped watering this week. I haven't given them any water since Saturday, and we seem to be doing much better now. I'll probably throw on a little water today, but not too much.

If you're struggling like I am -- I live in fear of all those 200 tomatoes dying in the soon-to-come frost, there are additional ways to turn your tomatoes if that frost is headed your way. I've gathered a few from the Internet here. Now, I haven't tried these yet myself, but if we get closer to the first frost and I still have bunches on the vine, you can bet I'll start trying different things to save them!

The ol' brown paper bag trick -- apparently this works on tomatoes as well as peaches
Place them a box, in the dark, with an apple. The apple apparently provides the necessary chemicals in the air to turn them red. Who knew?
Pick them and just let them sit on your counter out of direct sunlight until turning red.

Canned Salsa

2009-08-17T19:42:00.000-07:00

Last August I canned salsa and have thoroughly enjoyed the fresh taste of summer all year long. I had really hoped to take peppers and tomatoes from our garden to make more this summer. So far, I'm really out of luck! We've only had enough tomatoes for one meal about every other day. UGH! We're just finishing off the final two jars from last year.

But, for those of you that have an abundance of produce and are looking for a good canned salsa recipe, I highly recommend this one! It's got a fresh taste, a little bit of vinegar bite and the yummy background flavor of cilantro.

You do need to cook it until the water disappears -- it will be runny if you don't cook it until it's at 1/2 the original volume. Warning -- it goes fast! We eat several cups worth each time we have nachos.

Canning Salsa

3 qt. tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 qt. onions, coarsely chopped
1 c. green peppers, coarsely chopped
4-6 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
4-6 cloves garlic
1-2 tsp. salt
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. 5% apple cider vinegar

Cook down to 1/2 volume. Put into sterilized jars; seal and water bath 20 minutes for pints or pressure at 5 pounds for 5 minutes.

Summer Quilt-a-long progress

2009-08-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

This quilt has been such a challenge for me! I'm finally making real progress. I tried laying out all my squares on white fabric just to see what it would look like. I'm starting to like it, but it's so different from my usual attempts it's a mental struggle to work on it. I've been distracted with a million projects, but I'm promising to finish this one by the end of September. Pinky promise!

Toy Management

2009-08-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

I love our basement! When were looking for a home, a usable basement was a must have! We've put the TV and all the kids toys down there. It makes the rest of the house much easier to keep clean.

Until two weeks ago, the toys were all over the place. I've been dreaming of these toy organizers from IKEA for years. This summer, the dream became reality. YEAH!!!! I love them! The kids are actually playing with the toys and then they clean them up every night before going to bed. It's amazing! My 20-month-old will clean up his own toys and knows that the bin needs to be put away before the job is finished. I'm in Mommy Heaven!
I've been thinking about how I could make the bins even cuter than they are, and here's what I've done -- I designed labels for each of them. There's both pictures and words so that kids of varying ages will know what's available and how to clean it up when they're finished using something.

I have a few bins left to finish, but I've run out of steam for a bit. I'll come back to it in a couple of weeks and finish the rest.

To the Food Growers of America

2009-08-11T10:38:00.001-07:00

To the Food Growers of America,

Thank you! Thank you for every ounce of effort you put into feeding my family. Thank you for choosing to support your families in a profession that is getting less and less respect. Thank you for working long hours in the hot sun to bring healthy fruit and vegetables to my table.

Until this year, I did not appreciate your valiant efforts. Now I understand how hard you must be working. I understand the acres of plants you must nurture to have enough crop to make money. I understand the sadness when a plant in your care dies. I now understand the amount of education and experience you must possess to produce enough crops to feed your family.

I thank you. For my garden has not produced enough to sustain us. We have enjoyed its fruits and hope to learn and grow to make it more productive over the years. You, dear farmers, have offered up your wonderful product when ours has failed to meet the demand. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

For those who may doubt the sincerity of my thanks, I offer you the evidence of my gratitude. After 4 months of service, our garden has produced these wonderful vegetables:

I'm grateful for what we have been able to grow, and I hope we continue to see more. But I am also very thankful for the farmers that will take up the challenge and produce the food I cannot seem to grow. Thank you!

Yahoo!!!

2009-08-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

This morning, I was missing my beloved EQ5 as I worked on my new computer. For my birthday this past year, I saved all my pennies and bought this great new laptop which I love, love, love! But, it is Vista, and I didn't think that EQ5 would work on Vista.

I tried it out and sure enough it works!

I've spent the morning playing with my long lost software friend. I've been dreaming up ways to use my wonderful Snippets fabric from Moda. It's a take on this quilt -- just a grown-up size using turnovers instead of a charm packet.

I'm off to sew!

Fantastic Voyage Step #6

2009-08-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

I love getting to the part where it all starts to come together!

In this step, you're going to add the 1.5 x 8.5 inch strips to the side of each block. Use two strips of the same color for the frame on each block. It helps to give the quilt a small bit of consistency and definition.

Take your block as it is, then add one strip to the left, and one to the right. I did not use chain sewing on this step -- I wanted to make sure I was duplicating the correct color.

As always, iron each block. I have to lay mine out on the floor as I iron so that I can see the effect of the quilt as it starts to emerge. LOVE IT! This part always makes me feel warm and fuzzy!

Fantastic Voyage Step #5

2009-08-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

You are going to sew two of your small blocks together in opposite directions. If you look at the picture above, you can see that the large pieces to the side end up on opposite ends from one another. This is what helps to give it such a scrappy look.

For this step, again you need to make sure that all the blocks look the same when you finish sewing them. The easiest way to do this is to set them into a stack, all facing the same way. When you pick up two to sew together, turn one so that it is in the opposite direction and then sew. Again, I used chain sewing to make this go really fast. After sewing the two halves together, iron and lightly starch them. It will make every step after a bit easier.

You should end up with 64 blocks -- our final number!

This step took about an hour.

Fantastic Voyage Step #4

2009-08-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

Step #4 -- It's starting to come together! Stack your mini-blocks all together. Turn the stack so that you have it with piece C on the bottom. Place another piece C (2.5 X 4.5) next to the piece you have already sewn. It should look like the block in the picture above. Sew with right sides together. Duplicate for all 128 blocks.

Iron and open.

I'm realizing that I may not have enough pictures for visualization. If someone actually reading this would like more detailed pictures, let me know.

Fantastic Voyage Step #3

2009-08-06T05:23:00.000-07:00

Step #3 is also fairly easy. There's only one trick -- sew everything on the same side. Lay out your pieces from step #2. Next to them, place your stack of Piece C fabric. You're going to sew Piece C to the long side of your two pieces with the right sides together. It will make three parallel seams.

If you don't sew all the pieces on the same side, the next step in the quilt will not work properly. So use caution!

Iron open and starch. When finished, you should have 128 building blocks for your quilt that have three strips of fabric in each.

Fantastic Voyage Step #2

2009-08-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

Step #2 is easy and fun. All you do is take two Piece A strips -- these are 1.5 x 4.5. Sew them together down the long side. I used the chain piecing method(where you don't cut the thread between each set of strips. That way it only took me about one hour to finish this step.

When you are finished, iron and starch as desired. I like stacking in groups of 10 so that I can be sure all 128 building blocks are there.

Fried Green Tomatoes

2009-08-05T17:43:00.000-07:00

Yep. My southern-belle of a grandma is rolling in her grave. Her Yankee grand-daughter just grew a tomato in Connecticut and then made fried green tomatoes with that same tomato and loved it.

I don't know what that traditional southern way of making fried green tomatoes is supposed to be, so I just made up my own way.

This poor little tomato had fallen off the tomato plant. He seemed in perfectly fine shape to me, so I thought I'd fry him up for dinner. Here's what I did:

Fried Green Tomatoes

Batter:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, beaten

Slice the tomatoes fairly thin, about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. I liked the thinner ones the best -- they had a good crunch to them.

Dredge in beaten egg.

Dredge in flour.

Gently place into VERY hot oil -- if it isn't hot, the tomato will get all oily and soggy instead of crispy.

Fry for about 2 minutes on each side. Try not to jostle or flip the tomatoes too roughly or the tasty batter will fall off.

Place on a paper towel to drain.

Serve with dipping sauce. I used Alabama BBQ sauce, but it would taste great with Ranch too.

Fantastic Voyage Step #1

2009-08-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

The first step in making this quilt is to cut all the little pieces. If you cut them all in the beginning, the quilt is a speedy assembly.
You can start with 12 half-yard pieces of coordinating fabric. Or, you can use two honey-buns and one jelly-roll (the pre-cut Moda fabrics). Either way, you're going to be cutting them into these same little pieces.

First, iron and starch all fabrics for a smooth start to cutting.

Then, prepare the following pieces:

Piece A --

1.5 inches wide by 4.5 inches long
you will need 256 of these pieces
Pre-cut fabrics -- cut seven Piece A sized strips from each of the 40 fabrics included
Half-yard method -- cut three strips that are 1.5 inches wide from each of the twelve fabrics. Then cut those at 4.5 inch intervals. You will need eight Piece A to be cut from each 1.5 inch strip

Piece B --

1.5 inches wide by 8.5 inches long
You will need 128 of these pieces
Pre-cut fabrics -- cut four Piece B sized strips from the second package of honey bun fabrics, making sure to use each of the fabrics included
Half-yard method -- cut two 1.5 inch wide strips from each fabric. Select two fabrics and cut an additional 1.5 inch strip from each. Then cut all of the 1.5 inch strips into pieces that are 8.5 inch long strips. You should get five Piece B's from each 1.5 inch strip

Piece C --

2.5 inches wide by 4.5 inches long
You will need 256 of these pieces
Pre-cut fabrics -- cut seven Piece C sized strips from each of the 40 fabrics included in the Jelly Roll package
Half-yard method -- cut three strips that are 2.5 inches wide from each of the twelve fabrics. Then cut those at 4.5 inch intervals. You will need eight Piece C to be cut from each 2.5 inch strip

Phew! That's quite a bit of cutting. I believe the cutting took me about 2.5 hours to finish.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

2009-08-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

While our friends were in town, we had planned on having molten chocolate cake which I posted last week.

As is always the case, I found a better recipe just before making it and decided to try it instead. Thanks to the Pioneer Woman, it was a huge success. We loved it so much we made it again later in the week. I've tripled the Pioneer Woman's recipe. We baked it in a 9 x 13 pan and just scooped it out and served it with ice cream.

It probably would have been cooler in individual cups, but I don't have twelve of them.

Molten Chocolate Cake -- Pioneer Woman
12 oz Semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup butter
3 cups Powdered Sugar
6 whole Eggs
6 whole Egg Yolks
1 cup, 1 ounce Flour

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spray 12custard cups (or a 9 x 13) with Pam and place on cookie sheet.
3. Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. whisk until chocolate is also melted.
4. Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.
5. Divide between cups.
6. Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.

If using a 9 x 13, bake about 2 minutes longer -- 16 minutes should do it.

Beach Blanket

2009-07-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

Beach blanket -- measures 65 inches by 91 inches

We've been spending a bit of time at the beach this summer. Not quite as much as I'd like, but enough that I have a tan line. We have a couple of major events coming up this weekend that will require time spent sitting on dirt and grass. So, I used it as motivation to make a beach blanket. I've had it in mind for a while now, just needed something to push me over the edge into actually doing the work.

Believe it or not, I actually had this HUGE piece of fabric in my stash. It's from back in the day when I used to make purses.

Here's the steps I used to turn it into beach blanket:

1. Cut the fabric in half from selvage to selvage.

2. Cut each piece in half again, from selvage to selvage.

3. Sew two pieces together along the selvage edge. Repeat for remaining two pieces.

4. Open both pieces of fabric up, and place them with right sides together. Pin around the perimeter. The selvage edges should match on both short sides.

5. Sew around the perimeter, leaving a 12 inch hole for turning the blanket inside out.

6. Turn it inside out. Iron the edges for a smooth finish. Iron the opening so that it will close evenly with the rest of the edge of the blanket.

7. Sew a second seam about 1/4 to 3/8 from the edge. This will help it to have a more finished look even when wrinkly.

8. Sew several seams similar to quilting lines inside the center of the blanket to keep the two halves together.

I hope this blanket has many sunny days in it's future!

Worth the money

2009-07-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

In my quest to make wonderful food, I've learned that cleaning up after my cooking tests and trials is getting more and more messy. Since I spend most of my time recently working on the art of bread making, my counter has that yucky flour cement stuck to it. I hate trying to get it off.

My favorite store has been advertising this mat and roller for quite a while. I'm a little behind the times because I hate to spend money on things that I won't use, or that are only good for one or two tasks. It has to be a multi-tasker because I don't have that much cupboard space.

With all of that in mind, I love my new mat and pastry pin. They are fantastic. I was worried that the mat would be too small. Not even close. It's huge! If it were any bigger I wouldn't be able to clean it in my sink. The rolling pin has little rings that you can stick on to make sure your dough comes out even and to the desired depth. Pretty cool!

Wait until you see some of the other gadgets I finally ordered. I've been drooling for so long over these things! It's been like Christmas in July!

Divide and Conquer

2009-07-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

I decided that I really love posting about food. I also really love posting about quilting and craft projects. Not all people are interested in both however, so I've decided to divide the two topics of conversation into two different blogs.

You are in the right place for food! Lyme Ricky is my food devoted blog. Come and join me here for my recipes, tips and favorite cooking topics.

For my quilting, see my new blog:

I'll be posting all my crafty things there.

Hopefully, by dividing into specific topics, I'll gain more Internet friends rather than loosing the few that I have :)

Sourdough Starter

2009-07-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

I got my stinky sour dough starter in the mail this week. I've never been so excited for something smelly before! I've nurtured it, discarded and nurtured some more. We've tried two different recipes so far -- mild and strong. The family voted for the strong version. I went back to read the recipe again and realized I'd missed a step. Hopefully I'll make it again soon and it'll be even stronger.

At first I was afraid of the idea to have another living entity to take care of in my home. Now, I'm learning to love this little guy. I hope to nurture it for years to come!

Fantastic Voyage Quilt

2009-07-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

Fantastic Voyage measuring 65 X 65

I made this quilt for my mother-in-law to thank her for watching my kids for a week. I wanted her to have something special to help her remember just how much we love and appreciate her.

It was very unusual for me to do this kind of quilt -- normally I stick to traditional geometric shapes and patterns. Also, I use pastels and fruity type colors. So, this was stepping pretty far out of my comfort zone. As I worked on it, I kept asking myself, "Does this look OK?" or "Is this going to work???"

I think in the end it turned out very nice. The random patterning actually appeals to me now -- I think I'll be trying more like it in the future.

I like this quilt so much, I'll be putting a tutorial up in step-by-step form for you to use at your leisure. It will use pre-cut fabrics to make it even easier! Yeah! I love easy. I wish I had thought to use the pre-cut fabric before I cut all those little pieces by hand!

The Christmas Log Cabin

2009-07-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

I started this quilt so many years ago it's hard to remember for sure, but I think I started it in 2003. I had this grand idea to make Christmas quilts for each of my siblings. Um. Yeah. Needless to say, that didn't happen. I just finished this quilt last week. So embarassing, but true.

Throughout the creative process on this one, I kept stumbling along. I think that's why it took so long to actually finish. I had trouble picking out the borders, the binding and the back. Christmas fabric that coordinated was often VERY ugly. Finally I found a combination that I think went together to produce a nice finished product.

Preparing for House guests part 2

2009-07-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

Writing down a plan helps me to think through my grocery lists, plan for special events, or prepare for a week of meals with guests. So, I always sit and think through the problem. Sometimes the thinking through gets to be more fun than the actual work! I like playing with all the pieces of the puzzle and figuring out how to make it fit.

In preparation for our guests next week, I already put together the menu plan. Now it's time to work out anything I can prepare ahead of time, and spread it out over a few days so that it doesn't seem like so much work. I'm sure I'll modify it a little as I work through the agenda -- I always run out of ingredients and need to change the plan.

Here's a good start:

Tuesday(Eight days to go)
Pot Roast
Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

Wednesday (Seven days to go)
French Dip Meat -- prepared and frozen
French Dip Rolls -- prepare the dough through the first rise. Shape and freeze.

Thursday (Six days to go)
Clam chowder -- prepared and frozen
Sour Dough bread -- fully prepared and frozen

Friday(Five days to go)
Prepare three batches of cheese bread and freeze after first rise.
Raspberry Turnovers -- prep to just before you bake them, then freeze.

Saturday(Four days to go)
Brown the hamburger for spaghetti night --freeze
Calzones -- prep to just before baking, then freeze

Sunday(Three days to go)
Chocolate Cherry Scones -- prep to just before baking and freeze

Monday(Two days to go)
Gorditas -- fully prepared and frozen
Cubed cooked chicken --fully prepared and frozen

Tuesday(day of arrival)
Final grocery trip -- purchase lots of fresh fruit, salad fixins, eggs, butter and milk

Now, during the actual visit, there are little things that you have to do to make the frozen food easier to use -- particularly where the bread dough is concerned.

The best way to handle it is to take the frozen dough out of the freezer the night before and put it in a bowl and rub it with oil. Put the dough in the fridge side and it will defrost overnight. At lunch time, pull it out of the fridge and roll it out. Let it rise for about two hours -- that's longer than normal because the dough will still be cold. Bake as usual.

For most of the frozen items it is best to follow that same plan -- put it in the fridge the night before so that it can defrost slowly. Then it should be defrosted by the time you want to use it the next day.

Planning for Houseguests

2009-07-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

I LOVE having people come and stay with us. It gets us out the door and doing fun things. I enjoy the running around, trying to see everything in one week and enjoying the wonderful area where we live.

One of my favorite things about house guests is preparing good food for them to eat. Tasty meals and good friends are two of the best things in life.

However, the two favorite things often conflict. Making good food takes time. Time is short when you're trying to cram in all the adventures possible. So, to help things along I prepare as much a possible before the guests arrive.

Here's the menu plan for one week's visit:

Wednesday Breakfast
scrambled eggs
oatmeal cookie pancakes
fruit

Wednesday Lunch
clam chowder
sour dough baguettes
nectarines
cookies

Wednesday Dinner
BBQ bacon chicken
cheese bread
salad
rice
watermelon
peach pie

Thursday Breakfast
scrambled eggs
Peaches & Cream Scones
fruit

Thursday Lunch
sandwiches
pickles
chips
fruit
cookies

Thursday Dinner
French Dip Sandwiches
salad
small baguettes
cantaloupe
strawberry shortcake

Friday Breakfast
scrambled eggs
chocolate chip cherry scones
fruit

Friday Lunch
hot dogs
chips
fruit

Friday Dinner
Eat Out

Saturday Breakfast
leftover scones
scrambled eggs
fruit

Saturday Lunch
eat out

Saturday Dinner
spaghetti with meat sauce
salad
cheese bread
fruit
Double Chocolate Layer Cake

Sunday Breakfast
leftover scones, pancakes

Sunday Lunch
snacks while driving

Sunday Dinner
Chicken Gordita Picnic:
cooked cubed chicken
Gordita flat bread
tzatziki sauce
lettuce/tomato
fruit
chips
cookies

Monday Breakfast
Raspberry Turnovers

Monday Lunch
Mystic Pizza

Monday Dinner
pot roast
mashed potatoes
gravy
peas
cheese bread
salad
fruit
warm chocolate melting cake

Tuesday Breakfast
Blueberry Muffins

Then sadly, a trip to the airport to send our guests back home. You can bet after all this food, we'll be eating leftovers for the rest of that week!

Blueberry Muffins

2009-07-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

These muffins are great! Everything you look for in a muffin -- moist, tangy and full of flavor. The little touch of lemon adds a flavor boost and makes the blueberries taste even better.

Blueberry Muffins

2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tablespoon lemon peel
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups blueberries
coarse white sparkling sugar for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with papers, and grease the papers.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand-held or stand mixer, until light, fluffy, and almost white in color. Start the mixer at low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, then gradually increase speed to medium-high until the desired color and texture are reached.
4. Scrape down the bowl to make sure all the butter is incorporated, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the vanilla and sour cream or yogurt, and mix until incorporated.
6. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the batter is smooth. It will be thick.
7. Fold in the berries by hand.
8. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, using a heaping 1/4-cup for each. Sprinkle with regular granulated or coarse white sugar, if desired.
9. Bake the muffins for 18 to 24 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Remove them from the oven, cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan to finish cooling on a rack.
Servings: 12

BBQ Bacon Chicken

2009-07-24T06:36:00.000-07:00

This is a family favorite. It's so simple, you can serve it to almost anyone and they'll like it. But, it also works great for guests because it just tastes so good!

BBQ Bacon Chicken

4 strips cooked bacon, diced
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup cheddar cheese grated

1. Place chicken in a baking dish.

2. Cover each breast with 2-3 tablespoons BBQ sauce

3. Crumble bacon and place on top of the chicken.

4. Top with cheese.

5. Bake covered for 35 minutes at 350.

6. Remove cover and bake 5 minutes more.

OamealCookie Pancakes

2009-07-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from Rachael Ray originally. I modified it a little to fit our family's preferences for chocolate without nuts. Give this recipe a try -- it's a great way to get fiber into your kids for breakfast!

One tip -- with the brown sugar content, these can burn easily. Be sure to start your pan on low heat and increase the heat as necessary.

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 really ripe bananas, mashed up
3/4 cup chocolate chips
½ stick melted butter
Maple syrup or honey, for drizzling

DIRECTIONS:

Mix dry ingredients, the first 7, in a bowl.

In a another bowl, mix the wet ingredients, the next 4.

Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined, then fold in the mashed up bananas and the chocolate chips.

Stir in the melted butter.

Heat a griddle over medium-low heat and brush with additional melted butter.

Cook pancakes, each about 1/3 cup, until bubbles form on the top, then turn.

Cakes will cook in about 2 minutes on each side.

Keep pancakes tented with foil as they come off the griddle to keep them hot.

Serve with drizzled honey or maple syrup over the top. Yields about 24 pancakes.

Warm Melting Chocolate Cake

2009-07-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

This recipe came in an email from Carnival Cruise Lines. It sounded good to me -- we'll try it for the first time next week.

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

8 oz semisweet chocolate

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

7 eggs, divided use

6 Tbs sugar

1/2 cup flour

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Melt chocolate and butter; cool 10 minutes.
3. In separate bowl, mix four eggs with sugar.
4. Whisk. Add flour and whisk.
5. Add remaining three eggs.
6. Add egg mixture to chocolate mixture.
7. Pour in individual ramekins.
8. Bake until just done, about 15-20 minutes (interior will be melting).
9. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones

2009-07-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

I first tried scones a few years ago at one of those places where you put together dinners to take and bake at a later time. They were pretty good, but a bit dry for me. Since then, I've tried several scone recipes, but fell in love with this one. I'm so in love that I even passed on chocolate chip cookies last night in favor of scones -- unbelievable!

I think a good scone should have chocolate chips. Always love the chocolate. Also, I'm a huge fan of dried cherries. If you aren't, or don't have any on hand, dried cranberries will work too -- just swap them for the cherries in the recipe below. So I modified the beloved recipe to become this -- my favorite recipe for scones:

Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones

1 1/2 Tbs freshly grated lemon zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbs butter, cut into 8 or 10 chunks
3 Tbs sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup dried cherries

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. With a vegetable peeler remove the zest from lemons and chop fine, reserving lemons for another use.

3. In a food processor pulse flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and zest until mixture resembles coarse meal and transfer to a large bowl.

4. Add chopped cherries and chocolate chips to flour mixture. Toss to coat.

5. In another small bowl lightly beat egg and yolk and stir in cream. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.

6. Shape scones as desired. Bake at 400 for 15 to 20 minutes, just until they start to turn a light golden brown.
NOTE: Dough can be frozen. I usually divide the batch into two halves and freeze the second half for another day.
Servings: 12

Fresh Peach Pie

2009-07-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from my husband's aunt. It's so good! The crust is one of the strangest things I've ever made, but it turns out so sweet and is a perfect companion to the fresh peaches.

I'll post some pictures after I make it tomorrow, but I wanted to link up the recipe to my Sunday Dinner menu plan today.

Fresh Peach Pie

4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
14 soda cracker squares
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans(optional)
6-8 peaches
Whipping cream or ice cream

Smash the soda crackers into small bits and reserve.

Lightly grease the pie pan.

Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Beat the egg whites until stiff -- about 5 minutes.

Gradually add the sugar, beat in on high, stirring constantly from now on

Add the crushed soda crackers.

Add the baking powder, vanilla and chopped pecans.

Place the batter into the pie plate and bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven -- it will be a light golden brown. Let it cool completely. The crust will seem gigantic -- about 4-5 inches tall. It will settle when the peaches are added.

Slice peaches into a bowl. Be sure to taste test the peaches -- add sugar if they are too sour.

Add the peaches to the crust. Top with whipping cream if desired, or serve with ice cream. If you're using Whipping cream, put it on top before refrigerating.

Either way, be sure to refrigerate for 4-6 hours before serving.

Sunday Dinner Menu

2009-07-18T12:37:00.001-07:00

I'm preparing a big Sunday dinner this week for a friend and her familiy that are coming to town to visit. This is a great menu for guests, mostly because some of the preparation can be done the night before.

Here's what we'll be eating:

Pot Roast
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Garden Salad
Green Beans from the garden
Cheese Bread
Fresh Peach Pie for dessert

Saturday:

Cheese Bread -- once the dough is put together, and kneaded, place it in the fridge overnight. You'll only have to warm it to room temprature, roll it out, put on the cheese and let it rise again. Then bake just before the meal on Sunday

Pot Roast

Place all the items in an oven bag and let it sit overnight in the fridge. Pop it in the oven three hours before dinner and you're set!

French Dip Sandwiches

2009-07-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

My mother-in-law makes the best French Dip Sandwiches. We recently had her French Dips for Sunday dinner when visiting in their home. Wow! I really love the flavor of the meat in this recipe!

Sarah's French Dip

1 boneless chuck roast, trimmed(3 to 4 pounds)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 beef bouillon cube**
1 bay leaf
4 peppercorns
1 teaspoon fresh or dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder
12 French sandwich rolls, split horizontally

Place roast in a slow cooker. Combine everything but the rolls and pour over the roast. Add water to slow cooker until roast is almost covered.

Cook, covered on LOW setting for 7 hours or until very tender. Remove roast, reserving the broth. Discard bay leaf.

Shred roast or slice very thinly. Place roast in rolls and serve with broth for dipping.

*** I think the next time I make it, I'll use a package of Au Jus mix instead of bullion to see if it gives a slightly richer flavor.

Projects, Projects, Projects

2009-06-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a thouand different quilting projects. I'll put pictures up here soon. I'll be putting this blog together over the next few weeks -- stay tuned!

Emergency Preparedness Class

2009-06-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

I recently taught a class on being prepared for emergencies. In preparation, I put together a packet of information. The packet helps you to prepare you and your family for anything from a day at the beach to a major evacuation.

Please feel free to use the information, but please give me credit for putting it together for you:

72-Hour-Kit(also called a Go Kit) and a Car Emergency Kit
Family Disaster Plan
Financial First Aid Kit and Letter to Survivors -- this is a list of all the things you might need to have with you in an emergency. It includes copies of important records. The Letter to Survivors is a list of things you should prepare for others to have if you were to die. Not a pleasant thought, but still a necessary preparation item.
Disasters are impending -- a list of potential disasters and the things you might need to prepare for them
Evacuation List -- things you should grab if you are forced to evacuate your home

Grandpa Gift #2

2009-06-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

Here's another template for you to use if you have more children to put into the picture:

If you are new to elements and have not added pictures to existing items before, follow these simple steps:

1. Select the item you want to put the picture into with the pointer tool until it is highlighted and you can see the dots at the corners.
2. Click on the magic wand tool
3. Click on the box you had selected. Now the bounding box will 'sparkle' to show that it is selected in a unique way
4. Double click on the picture you plan to use
5. Choose 'select all' from the select menu
6. Choose 'copy' from the edit menu
7. Double click back onto the original item where you plan to paste your photo-- it should come back up in the big window
8. Select 'paste into selection' from the edit menu
9. Your picture will appear inside your box. It is probably not exactly how you want it to look, hit 'Control-T' to modify the photo within the selection. When you are finished, click the green arrow to accept your changes.
10. Choose 'Deselect' from the select menu to release all of the selected items so that you can choose another box.

If during this time, something goes wrong, you can always use Control-Z to undo.

Here's the background I used, click it to download:

Grandpa Gifts

2009-06-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

I'd been wanting to make something for my father for Father's Day, but really, the man needs nothing. He's got everything. So, what could I do????? Thanks to Tip Junkie, I saw this great idea and decided to blatantly copy it.

Here is my version, with all nine of my father's grandchildren(did you follow that???):

If you'd like a copy of the template, you can download it here.

Clam Chowder

2009-06-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

I've been experimenting for a couple of months trying to find the best version of New England clam chowder. I figured since I live in New England, I should be able to make it, right?

Well, we love a restaurant in Salt Lake called Market Street Grill. In my mind, they make some of the best chowder out there. So, this recipe is based on theirs. I added more veggies to make it a bit more filling and removed the alcohol.

This is a big pot of soup -- 20 one cup servings. I make it about once a month and freeze the rest in portion sized bags. If I can actually freeze the soup before we eat most of it, I have ready made lunch for a month! I love cooking, but I love eating tasty food with minimal effort even more.

The Best Clam Chowder

3 cups of potatoes, diced less than1/2 inch
3 cups cup of celery, diced less than1/2 inch
3 cups of onions, diced less than1/2 inch
1 large green pepper, diced less than1/2 inch
5 cans diced clams(with juice)
3/4 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tablespoon whole thyme
6 bay leaves
1/8 teaspoon Tabasco
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white grape juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 cups water
1 1/2 cup butter, melted (3 sticks)
1 3/4 cup flour
2 quarts half and half

1. In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients except butter, flour, and half and half. Simmer until potatoes are thoroughly cooked.
2. In the meantime, combine melted butter and flour in a baking dish and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, (to eliminate raw flour flavor and to stabilize chowder)
3. Stir the butter flour mixture, into the chowder and cook, stirring frequently until thick. The mixture should be nearly the consistency of cookie dough.
4. Remove chowder from heat. Stir in half and half and blend well. Heat to serving temperature, stirring occasionally.
5. Serve!

The BEST Chocolate chip cookies

2009-06-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

This cookie recipe is the best we've ever had. It's the perfect balance between salty, sweet and chocolatey. They come out having a slightly toffee taste. YUM!

The first trick to making these cookies perfect is to start with butter that's almost to room temperature. It should still be a little cold when you hold it. If it's too warm, the cookies will not raise as well.

The second trick is to combine the butter, white sugar and brown sugar forever. I mean it. It'll take about 7-8 minutes of mixing to get them to a light and fluffy texture. Be sure to scrape down the sides or it won't all get light and fluffy. Don't skimp on this step, or you won't have the toffee taste. When you first put the ingredients in the mixer, the color is a dark tan. By the time it is finished, it should be almost the same color as the butter you started with, but a bit lighter.

Other than those two things, you just dump in the rest of the ingredients.

Martha Stewart's Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 sticks butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Combine flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
2. Mix butter, sugar and brown sugar until it is light and fluffy
3. Add eggs, vanilla and salt. Cream well, scraping down the sides to make sure it is all incorporated.
4. Add the flour and baking soda.
5. Add the chocolate chips
6. Scoop onto a baking sheet in balls slightly smaller than a golf ball.
7. Bake at 350 for 11 minutes.

In case you fall in love with this recipe and wonder what else could be in the best cookie cookbook ever, this recipe came from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

Quilt-A-Long Number Two

2009-06-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

Since I'm getting back in the sewing grove, I thought I'd try another quilt-a-long at the same time as the nine-patch. I'm using up stash fabric and it feels wonderful! I'm shocked at how much fabric I have. I thought I knew what was there, but more and more keeps appearing!

I haven't bought a single piece of fabric for the two quilt-a-longs, it was all in bins in my 'dirty room.' I'm so proud of myself restraint!

I'm a week behind in this quilt-a-long, but I'm catching up quickly. I finally chose all my fabrics. Now I need to cut the 2.5 inch strips and sew them together. Many of my fabrics are fat quarters, but I think I'll make long strips out of them so that it works better for piecing.

My Squares

2009-06-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

I've been slowly working on the quilt-a-long to make my nine patch squares. We're supposed to have about 40, I only have 8. But, I've got fabric cut to make about 50 more, so the rest should fly when I get a chance to sew them among all my other projects. At first I was really hesitant about the many colors included in the quilt, the more I sew the blocks together, the more I like it.

Very Full Freezer

2009-05-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

I've been packing my freezer until it can take no more! Now it's time to eat it all before it goes bad. Then, I'll pack it again.

Here's a menu plan for the next few weeks to get rid of all of it. Some of the items will be listed a couple of times because we have multiple of them prepared or because it's a family favorite. I'm going to number it so that I'm not stuck to a certain day of the week:

Homemade pizza --
Garlic Chicken and fettuccine
Hamburgers & hot dogs
Chicken tacos & black bean salsa
Cheesy Mexican Chicken
Chinese Chicken Salad
Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches
Chicken & Broccoli with corn bread
Spaghetti Bake
Chicken Garden Salad
BBQ Salmon and baked potatoes
Zippy Casserole
Calzones
French Dip Sandwiches
Beef Fajitas
Beef Shiskabobs
Stromboli
Breakfast Sandwiches
Garlic Chicken Pasta
Black Bean & Kielbasa soup and empanadas
Chicken Pot Pie
Spaghetti with meat sauce
Chicken Nuggets & Fries
Garlic Chicken & Fettuccine
Stuffed Shells
Calzones
Chili & Corn bread
Chicken Rice Salad
Won tons and salad
Stromboli
Citrus Pork Chops
Hamburgers & Hot dogs
French toast & bacon
Italian crock-pot chicken
BBQ bacon & cheddar chicken
Wild rice soup and whole wheat bread
Chicken Kiev
Chicken tacos & black bean salsa

I often save leftovers and freeze them in smaller sized portions. I've put these in vacuum sealed bags in the freezer and they're ready to defrost. So, for my lunches:

Beef Stroganoff
Wild Rice Soup
Crustless Quiche
Egg Rolls
Calzones
Black Bean Soup
Stromboli

Nine-Patch quilt-a-long

2009-05-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

So, I joined a quilt-a-long to make a beautiful nine-patch scrappy quilt. I love the idea. I have tons of fabric scraps. Yet, I found I couldn't motivate myself to get started. It was going to take a quilting therapist to figure out what the road-block was.

My therapist(a bowl of ice cream) and I sat down to talk. Together we figured it out. It was the scraps. I'm held back by the scraps. I love going to the store to pick out and match fabric. I love an organized, color-coordinated quilt. The adage to pick one or two fabrics that 'pop' isn't really my style. This quilt is really pushing me out of my comfort zone --- the colors don't match!!!! I recognize that's the beautiful thing about this quilt. But it's still a really large mental hurdle for me to conquer.

But, I decided that was exactly why I needed to buckle down and get going -- I'm about 20 squares behind right now. So, last night I went through my scraps and ironed them to see what was going to work for the 2.5" starting squares I need. Today I started cutting squares and 2.5" strips from the fabric. Before you know it, I'll have put together a scrappy quilt. Will I love it???? That's the question.

Easy Breezy Cheese Bread

2009-05-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

This stuff is the best bread on the planet. Take it to a friend and they'll love you for life. I'm not exaggerating. Really! I should keep it to myself, but it's so good, I guess I'll share it -- you just have to give me credit :)

The original recipe comes from King Arthur flour. I love their products and all of their information. PLEASE use King Arthur bread flour when making this recipe -- you'll notice the difference. It'll raise higher, taste better and it isn't bromated, so it's much safer to use. I buy my flour at Walmart, so you can probably find it no matter where you live.

I have modified the original recipe so that it is now much easier to use. There are two ways to let the dough rise so that you get what you want -- more flavor or speedy results. It's up to you.

Cheese Bread

4 3/4 cups King Arthur bread flour

1 3/4 cups warm water

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoon yeast

4 cups grated cheese -- we use a colby/monterey jack combo

Combine water, yeast and one cup flour. Mix well. Add salt. Slowly add the remaining flour. When the dough cleans the sides of the bowl, you'd added enough. Depending on the humidity, you may or may not need all of the flour called for.

Knead for 6-7 minutes. The dough should be smooth and slightly tough when you finish kneading.

Place in a well oiled bowl and cover. Choose your method for rising:

Speedy -- place in your oven and turn the light on. Let it rest for about 2 hours or slightly more than doubled in bulk.
Tasty -- If you can wait, put the dough in the fridge. We like it best when it's been in the fridge for 2-3 days before shaping it into loaves. This is called a 'cold rise' and it gives the dough a slightly sour flavor. Don't let it sit for more than a week or you really do get sourdough bread. Pull it out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to shape it into loaves, it's easier to work with that way.

Once your dough is risen, roll it out into a rectangle about 18 inches high by two feet wide.
Spread the cheese evenly over the dough.

Roll the dough as tightly as you can. If you let it flop, you'll get big air bubbles between the layers. Cut the dough in half.
Place it on a greased cookie sheet or in a bread pan. Cover. Let it rise for 65-80 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 425. Spray the bread with water just before you put it in the oven. This will give it a crunchier crust.

Bake for 30-40 minutes depending on how dark you like the crust. We usually pull it out at about 35 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

Lynn Valley Lodge Coconut Cookies

2009-05-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

When I lived in North Vancouver, we volunteered at a fun little rest home. I just loved the ladies there! My adopted 'Aunt Phil' was such a hoot, telling me about her escapades in her youth. There was a group of women that played Yahtzee every Tuesday and we would eat these cookies. I'm sure they've all long since left Lynn Valley one way or another, but I'll always imagine them dueling over the little tables every time I eat these cookies.

Lynn Valley Lodge Coconut Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks butter
1 ¼ cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/3 cups flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 ½ cup rolled oats
¾ cup coconut

DIRECTIONS:

Beat butter, sugar and egg until smooth and creamy.

Combine remaining ingredients.

Bake at 300 for 10-12 minutes.