the torch has been passed

For quite a few years, I've made deviled eggs to take to family gatherings. What's ironic is my own kids don't even care for them, but my sister's kids seem to really like them. "Is Aunt Elsie bringing her deviled eggs?" I can even remember quite a few Christmases ago showing two of the next-generation cousins, Brenda and Stephanie, how to make them. They were young girls then, but the seed was planted.

Back in July I went to a baby shower for grand-niece Brenda. Everybody brought a little dish of something, and she requested I make the deviled eggs, which I did. Alas, when I left that afternoon I forgot my egg container.

Then for yesterday's gathering, I was asking my sis what she needed me to bring. I had thought of baked beans, but no, they had that covered. She did say that Brenda wondered if I was bringing deviled eggs. Since I was at the store, I picked up another container, went home and made up some eggs. Well.

I got to sis's house, walking in with my eggs and no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies (another favorite...yum), and lo and behold there was my first egg container filled with eggs! Brenda made some herself! Mighty proud of that girl, for the eggs were quite tasty. I told her, the container is now yours, and the torch has been passed.

The question for future family gatherings? Is Brenda bringing her deviled eggs?

edited to add "recipe" on making deviled eggs:

I don't use specific measurements. Peel some boiled eggs, cut in half length-wise, and scoop out the yolk. To the yolks, add a nice spoonful of Miracle Whip, a squirt of mustard, a spoonful or so of pickle vinegar, and some salt...all to taste. Mash/stir to a less than pasty consistency...you don't want it too dry, but not too runny. Spoon the mixture back into the egg whites, and sprinkle the top with paprika. I usually chill them for a bit before serving. Theoretically you'll get 2 deviled eggs per egg. Actually I usually lose one or two halves in the process...some might be "fragile" and split, but also I like them to have a nice rounded filling, so I fill the firmest eggs first and toss the one or two that might be left...or use them in another recipe.

jingle bells, jingle bells...

I'm surprised I don't have Christmas music in the cd player, it's feeling so much like Santa's workshop around here. (Am I telling my age by mentioning cd player? So many have their ipods now...)

Anyway...I've mentioned the quilts for the grandkids. I found the fabric for the third quilt this week, and can get started on it. I've pre-washed it, but that's all so far. I've been working on quilting Spidey-man, and that's taking a chunk of time. I've about decided to tie off the next two, partly for simplicity, but also because I want to practice more on smaller quilts before I free motion on these. Spidey's quilting doesn't show up as much as it would on these two, and I want them to look as good as him. Make sense?

I'm participating in a Secret Santa Stocking Swap over on the HGTV message boards. I've made this little stocking to hold the goodies. Our size limits were 8" by 12", and I'm right there. I'll probably come back and put her board name on there some way or another, then our instructions are to have them to the recipient so we can all open them by December 23rd. Surprises are always fun. I like what she's getting, hopefully she will too.

I'm also working on some handwork for the girls at work.

Oops, speaking of work, gotta go finish getting ready so I can head out the door. Merry Christmas all!

my photo shoot

"Slide your top off the right shoulder. Lean in towards me. Step to your left. Roll your shoulder in. Stick your back side out."

What's this? Have I turned into a fashionista? Was I in a photo shoot or something? Work it, work it!

Oh, there were pictures taken alright. Probably some of the most important ones I've had taken this year. I'm sure you've guessed by now that today was my mammogram day.
How about you? Have you scheduled yours this year?

too late for the parade, but....

Doing a little surfing, and I came across this blogger who hosted a Rooster Parade! She had links to people in bloggerland who all showed their roosters, though I don't know if all the links are still there. The parade day was late in August, so I have it bookmarked to go back and look at those who commented, and I'll look at their individual parades.

Of course I'm a day late and a dollar short, as the saying goes. Since I missed out on her rooster parade, I thought I'd post my own for all the world to see...or at least those who choose to visit me! Some chickens are in the parade, but that's okay...they can join in too.

I found this little pin cushion at an antique mall, resisted for a day, and went back the next day and got it.
I've always liked redwork embroidery, and when I saw this pattern, it was a no-brainer to do it. The nifty bird to the right actually came from sister Sue. It originally had a fabric behind it that was starting to unravel (probably why she was ready to let this gem go). I may put a fabric backing at some point, but like it this way just fine.
I came across this candle holder at Mervyn's, back when they were still open in our part of the world. It's one of those rare purchases that I didn't even wait for it to go on sale...I figured it would be gone and I'd regret it.

These have been around for awhile...
and this little chick was at a senior citizens craft fair in Cleburne. Love it! Simply an empty can painted black, with the chicken hand painted on it...for about a dollar if I remember right. What a deal. :)
My little spoon rest has been around many years, one I made back in my ceramic days. Let's see, that would have been in the 80's. Almost an antique, wouldn't you say???

This little fellow keeps watch over the front yard.

And you could say my kids are part of my rooster collection.

This is my latest acquisition. I actually got 2 of them, but figured the picture of one would serve the purpose.

I have quite a few other roosters, but as I pulled up the pictures I took, it came home that I'm not the best duster on a day-to-day basis. So rather than clean house top to bottom, let this suffice...


Hmmm...I may have to have a moose parade too one of these days...

second top finished

Spiderman has made good progress this week, and the top is finished. Just need to get the backing together, and it will be ready to move on to the quilting part. I'm pleased with how it came together, even though it's not the original shadow quilt I had envisioned. That's how it is sometimes...start out in one direction, then take a turn in the road. When the stripes didn't work out for the shadow, I wasn't sure what to do until I decided to separate it from the darker blue print with a border. I chose to have the stripes going out from each side, and mitered the corners. And really, I don't think that little grandson of mine will care too much about the design once he sees Spiderman all over the place!

I've told them at work that I'll be retiring come the end of March. Kind of scary in a way, but not enough to change my mind! I think they've finally realized I really intend to do this, so they're starting to take steps to fill my position. Some of my projects only come around once or twice a year, so this will give them time to learn a bit about it. As fast as this year has gone already, just a couple more blinks of the eye and it will be here.

And I forgot to say in my last posting that I've topped 100 geocache finds! That's not a lot in the geocaching world, where many people have hundreds, some even have thousands of finds. But it's been fun, and there will come a day when I'll have more time to pursue it. In the meantime, I cache when I can. Check out the link to learn more about geocaching.

That's it for now. Stay healthy, and have a good week.

another yummo

Just a nip of Fall in the air, and I start getting the urge to cook something. As I've mentioned before, I have been known to bring in unsuspecting guests to try out a new dish on them. This time I thought I'd actually try it first.

I really enjoy country pork ribs. Reggie used to fix them on the smoker, and m-m-m they were good. After he died, I managed to fix them once or twice that way, then the smoker gave out. I didn't see much sense in getting another one for the little bit that I'd use it. This recipe isn't the same as his by any stretch of the imagination, especially since it's fixed in the crock pot and not a smoker, but it came out well. I do think I'll be making it again.

So, here it is: Tasty Crock Pot BBQ Country Style Pork Ribs:

Uh oh, I may have to re-think this. Going over to hook up the link to the recipe, the nutrition facts jumped right out at me. Darn. Alright folks, you don't have to worry about me serving you this the next time you're over. I'd like to keep you (and me!) around awhile.

I'm on Grams' leave

I'm off this week on Grams' leave. New moms and dads get maternity and paternity leave, so I think my time can be designated as Grams' leave without any problem.

Ellie and I have got to spend a little bit of time together. Well, along with her Mom. ;) But we get some quality bonding time when Mom's taking a nap or I feed her. Yesterday we hung out together while she got some tummy time in. To give credit where credit is due, Elizabeth took this picture, but since it was appropriate I snagged it to post.

And I've been able to get started on the grandkids' Christmas presents. I've decided on quilts for the older kids, and have made a good start. Here's the fabric so far. I found the Spiderman fabric on line, since I was having a hard time finding anything locally. This was my first time to order fabric this way, and it's certainly more convenient, but I would have preferred to feel it first to know the quality of the material. If they would put the thread count in the description, that would certainly help. Anyway, Spidey will be a shadow quilt, similar to how I did this t-shirt quilt. The puppy dogs are checkerboard, and will have one or two dogs appliqued on the back side. I'll probably pick up my third print in the next few days. I plan on doing the quilting myself on Maggie (my new little Janome Magnolia), so I'll certainly get some practice in!