Rosemary

Love my Rosemary bush it is a nice size,if we lived in a wetter climate it would be 3 times the size . We do not get a lot of water here but enough to get my bush up to my knees. I cook with rosemary in chicken ,breads,puddings and drinks. My Dog loves to smell the rosemary when it is fresh cut but he never gets near in my garden.

Little Girl In The Autumn Season

Yeah I have finished sewing my blocks onto this quilt top today. I worked all day on this top and happy to see it finally together !!! Now for the solid strips I will be appliquing flowers with stems on those strips to blend with the colors of my quilt. So I have a ways to go before this top is done but I only wanted to get it finally together so I can see how I progress in the design of my flowers for this quilt

I love the little girl material and this was the only way I could use them because if you cut them up the design is gone . So I had to fussy cut the design out and I had just enough material to get 6 panels.

Tomorrow on to the next quilt !!!!!

Hearty Spring Breakfast

I was wanting something different for breakfast so an open parama cheese bread ,and roasted tomato/pepper soup hit the hungry spot this morning !!!

First off make your self a nice cup of morning tea or coffee to get your day started ! I also make my self a orange bubbly drink of half orange jucie and Italian bubbly water with a twist of lime ,and fresh mint this gets my day started with a cool light  drink !!! Now on to the recipe ~

Take one red pepper and cut in half ,tear out the seed pod and white part of the pepper, pat dry the pepper.( Set the pepper seeds aside too dry and use in your garden this summer.) Place the red pepper in an oven proof pan and rub both sides with olive oil and bake at 350* covered with foil for 20 minutes . After baking for 20 minutes take off foil and bake another 10 minutes. Turn the pepper ever so often to brown.

 For the basil olive oil : 10 basil leaves pull off the stems and discard. Wash well and pat dry. Gather the basil leaves and mince them fine,then add fresh ground sea salt and your favorite olive oil.I like using Italian, Spanish,or California olive oil. Mix well in a mortor and pestel and set while you make the bread and soup.

For the bread I used sourdough boule bread ,or use your favorite bread be it olive bread, 12 grain bread, mini rolls,what ever has your fancy for your morning breakfast. Place one piece of bread in toaster and toast lightly. After toasting  add 1-1/2 teaspoon of basil herb spread on the toasted bread. Grate the parma cheese on top of the basil bread and broil lightly to melt the cheese.

Place 1-1/2 cups of tomato soup, baked red pepper and blend in the blender. Pour the red pepper soup into a sauce pan, cook on medium heat til hot. Take one small tomato,de seed, slice tomato into small cubes and add to the tomato soup ,then cook to warm the tomato's for about a minute.   The tomato's should keep their shape so do not over cook. The heat from the soup will warm up the tomato's quickly. Pour into your pretty soup bowl ,top soup with basil/olive oil spread ,oregano dried herb and fresh ground pepper. Sometimes I add fresh greek yogurt to the top of this soup !!!  :)Hearty Appetite !!!

Spring Has Sprung

Flowers blooming on my apple tree! Don't you just love the hint of pink in the blossoms !!!!!

Back To Sewing

I have to get my fingers running again along my pretty fabrics and finish up two quilt tops today !!!

Went down the road yesterday with family,enjoyed the day out and about !!!  I finally got a call from Best Buy so they are going to replace my Nikon Cool Pix which I have taken back exactly 6 times to be fixed. I had a warranty for 4 years. My camera would have been two years old this April. So they did a swap out and finally figured out that my camera was a dud ( Not going to call it a lemon cause I like lemons)and I now have another Nikon but this is a Coolpix L810. I miss my old pocket camera and the advantage of just stuffing it into my pocket. But the new camera is light not pocket worthy which is ok. The built in zoom is fantastic and the pictures are clear and bright. I have a lot more studying up on where what is on the camera.

I have everything almost on this camera as the other one but I have a 3D photo shoot system if I want to use. Beware if you have children this is not good for their eyes to look at 3D photo's a lot since their young eyes are growing. This is not something I will use very often. What I would have liked that was on my other Coolpix was the sketch feature. I could draw my own cute pictures since it was a touch screen and that feature I would use much more. So maybe in time I can find a pocket camera that will have this feature on it with a fish eye.

I love photography and cannot imagine not taking photo's or having a camera with me in my pocket. They have changed the warranty for cameras.  Now one can only get a 3 year warranty on protecting ones camera ,so I would never walk out of an electronics store with out a warranty. Best to be safe than sorry later on !!!

Josh's Colorful Spring Supper

My youngest son made a healthy supper the other night. Jalapeno honey glazed chicken which was baked in the oven. A saffron rice dish with peas, and butternut squash which was also baked in the oven.

 For the squash cut the stem off the top of the squash,watch those fingers when using your knife. Slice the squash in length and scrap out the seeds.( Set seeds aside to dry and plant in your garden later during the summer.) Take a large pan and place the squash facing down in the pan and place in the oven. Add about 1-1/2 cups of water to the pan. Let bake for 30 minutes or til the skin of the squash is soft . After cooking turn the squash over and spoon out the beautiful orange squash meat onto the plates. Sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon.

The rice was cooked in a rice cooker and the peas were added into the rice within the last 4 minutes before serving. When using frozen peas add the amount of peas you need to a small strainer ,rinse off the peas ,set aside.  The hot rice will cook the thawed peas quickly after mixing them with the cooked rice. This way your peas will still be vibrant green in your rice dish.

The Indian bread we bought at Trader Joes which my son browned up in a skillet that had been wiped down with olive oil. 

Country Banana Pudding

Banana Pudding

2 Cups milk, 2 eggs ,1/2 cup sugar,dash sea salt, 2-1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch,beat all together place in a sauce pan cook on low heat til thickened.  Remove from heat ,and add 1 tablespoon lemon juice,1 tablespoon butter and 1-1/2 ...tablespoon vanilla ,stir well.

In small canning jars place a shortbread cookie then sliced banana,then add some pudding ,cookie then more sliced banana, more pudding keep layering til you end up with pudding on top. Place in frig and cool then top with whip cream, shortbread cookie and a sprinkle of cinnamon !! enjoy !!

 

Note:  I add lemon juice to this pudding so the bananas will not turn brown. You will not notice the change in taste what so ever ! It actually brings out the taste of the pudding.

Spring Blocks

I just love the colors of these blocks and I have enough fabric to make a few more blocks. This fabric is about 10 years old so I doubt if I will ever find any more of these color patterns.

Lucky I have a lot of the yellow/orange and deep green but I will have to find the beautiful pale green in a different pattern as I only have a small piece left of that fabric!

Always remember if you  really,really love a certain fabric to buy a bit over what you need !!! The hunt is on now for a fabirc I can blend well with the other two colors !

Happy Endings

                                  Cherry/Blueberry Cobbler that is ready to serve to the family !!!

Peppermint Pattie

I have tried a lot of coffee creams but this one knocked my socks off in taste. If you like peppermint patties this coffee cream is right on point in taste !!!!!

Cherry Blueberry Cobbler

Place one Jar of whole pitted cherries with liquid in a sauce pan then add 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries. Place 4 Tablespoons Lemon juice to sauce pan , 1/4 cup sugar and 5 tablespoons cornstarch.  Stir well and heat cherry/blueberry filling til thickened. Take off stove and add 1 tablespoon of butter, stir welland set aside.   Then I add 1/3 cup of Sangria to the sauce,so have Sangria on hand in your pantry . Add the Sangria to the Cherry/blueberry filling after you take the thicken sauce off the stove. Stir well. This should not be a thin filling.

Mix two cups of flour, 4 Tablespoons sugar,1/3 cup olive oil, 3 Tablespoons baking powder, 1 cup buttermilk filled to the rim of your glass measuring cup, and 2 tablespoons of butter cut up ,then blend well. Grate one orange rind and add to cake mixture.

Butter pie dish ,pour cherry/blueberry filling into the buttered pie plate,spoon the cake dough on top of the cooked cherry/blueberry filling,and top with 2 tablespoons of sugar ,cinnamon and extra fresh orange rind.  Bake in 350* oven til cake has risen and browned for 45 minutes. If the top of your cobbler is browning too fast cover the cobbler on top with tin-foil.    The filling for this cobbbler should be tart and not overly sweet.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or orange whipped cream.

Note:) Whip up some fresh whipping cream add 1 Tablespoon powder sugar ,1 teaspoon orange flavoring ,with a splash of fresh orange rind.  As your cobbler is baking, have a glass of Sangria  !!!

Extra Notes: I prefer to buy the cherries in their own liquid which have not been thickened. I can add exactly how much sugar I want in my cobbler.  As far as the butter milk I added around a cup but if your dough is too thick add a bit more. With this recipe I usually eye balled the ingredients, this batter I have made it so many time. The batter will be a medium thick consistency almost like a thick pancake batter. I remember as a child I would watch my paternal grandmother bake, and I was amazed how she would cook with no recipe in sight. I asked how how she cooked like that. She replied that when I get older and cook a lot that I will do the same thing in my kitchen some day! She was a wise woman and oh so right !!!!!!!

After this cobbler sits for a day, spoon out onto a plate and heat in microwave because the filling will be more congealed after it sits. Tonight I am going to take a large biscuit cutter and cut out rounds of the cobbler and invert them on to a plate . Spoon on the fruit, heat and serve with whip cream or ice cream. I also prefer to bake my cobbler in a large glass pie pan( mine I bought at Wal-mart) so I can cut out the rounds of cake to place on my plates. Or you can invert the whole cobbler onto a nice platter before serving to your family or guests.   Will add more photo's later !!!:)

Biscuits Again !

                                          Buttermilk Biscuits for supper last night ~

Time To Plant

                                                       Heirloom Tomato's

Australia & South Africa

                                              Beautiful Fabrics from friends in swaps !!

Quick Pickles

My way of not throwing out the pickle juice after the pickles are long gone is to cut up English Cucumbers and marinate them for a week or so ,and enjoy !!!!

Browns ,Yellows,Reds,Greens & Oranges

                                                 Blocks for the sides of my quilts~

Happy St. Patricks Day

Are you wearing green today? It is a rainy day today with half sunny/dark skies with rainbows. CrAzY for sure !!!! Blessings to my family and friends !

What Block Goes Where?

Trying to play around with my tiny Evening Star blocks to see which background I prefer,so some of these blocks will go into another quilt top I am making.  I want more of the color yellow to be on the fore front in this quilt. The left corner block which is gold will go into another fall quilt.

Tea Break

                                                 Time for a cuppa hot tea or coffee !!!

More Blocks

I prefer the imperfection of my blocks ,which will give my quilts more personality !!!

Really???????

                                                           Going ,Going Gone !!!!!

Grilled Cornish Hens

                                         Yumme Yumme  Yumme Yumme Yumme Yumme

Cracked Pan

Hum Rachael Rays pan is so crackled. Have not placed pan in hot water or cold after cooking dinners. After use I let it cool then wash. I think I got a lemon !! My tiny bowl like this is perfect.

Friendship Star and Abstract

Two different patterns one is for a summer Quilt and the other an Abstract quilt with the background in black sewing items~

Crazy Patchwork Blocks

I startd this quilt a long time ago before I even had babies. My first try at quilting and was it a crazy effort !  The red block we bought in Hong Kong, the owl was made by a great aunt!

Pillow Covers For Fall

Here are my patchwork pillow covers for fall pillows. I hope to do some ribbon embroidery on the white squares to pop the design. I used upholstry material to make the cover tops.

Scratch My Ear

My sweet spoiled Mr Man !!!

High Rise Biscuits

The only difference in these biscuits and my other recipe is I added 1 package of yeast to this recipe. We live 3,000 feet above sea level so I love the outcome of my biscuits!!! It was a running joke about how flat my biscuits use to be but I was making scones !  

Bits & Pieces

The thing about sewing is you get these Bits & Pieces all over when sewing your blocks. They seem to hang onto my clothes or my scarf . The threads all everywhere snip here and there ,what a happy mess! The outcome of my blocks bring a smile to my face, only to think yeah another block done and on too the next step in getting this lap quilt top finished !!!

When I finish getting this top done I am going to get started on my Dear Jane finally !!! The blocks I have been working on are small so this is good practice for me to do work in detail before I start my DJ !!!

Pineapple Upside Cake

Place in the bottom of a cake pan 4 Tablespoons melted butter, 1/4 cup butter pecan pancake syrup , sprinkle with some  cinnamon. Placed the marinate pineapple rings and liquor on top of the butter syrup,then the walnuts.

Note * I marinated my pineapple rings in Italian Amaretto Liquor for 3 days before making this recipe.

 Made a simple homemade cake batter out of  1/4 cup egg beaters substitute + 1 Egg White ,1 cup + 2 tablespoons White Lily flour,1  1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 5 tablespoons pineapple juice, and 1/2 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons real vanilla.  Poured cake batter on top of the pineapple mixture. Bake at 350 til cake has risen about 40 minutes .

Place cake platter on top of baked cake,then invert onto platter!

Sprinkle with a bit more cinnamon. Then add the fruit.   I like using these kind of pie baking cherries better than the drink marachino cherries. These kind of cherries have a sweet/sour bite !  Then added fresh blueberries and serve warm with whip cream !

* note everyone's ovens are so different so my cooking time might be different than yours . I have an oven from 1983. So keep a watchful eye and enjoy ! Your cake should be a nice brown when you pop it out of the oven!!!

Sewing Blocks

I have been busy sewing some small blocks for my quilt below. I will edge the quilt with these blocks and solid blocks to finish up ,and add a plain strip border around the blocks.

Mini Blocks For Lap Quilt

My mini blocks for a lap quilt. The colors for Fall,and I have many more to finish ! The middle four squares are done ,now they are only waiting for me to lay them out as I have in the photo to finish !