Thursday, August 27, 2009

a lesson learned

I was on another blog early this morning, and saw she was giving away some quilt batting. Hmm, thought I, that would be nice. So I commented, thus entering myself for the drawing. Then I saw I could check a box, and follow-up comments would be sent to my email address. Ahhh, thought I, she needs to be able to reach me if I win! I checked the box.

I checked my email this afternoon. Oh no, thought I. I had at least 200 emails notifying me of comments made to her blog following mine.

Won't be doing that again, thought I.

Monday, August 24, 2009

little cowboy

I found out late last week that one of the fellows at work and his wife have just adopted a baby. Needless to say, I started thinking about a quilt for the little one. I found a piece of Lil Cowpokes material in my stash, made a trip to the LQS (local quilt shop) for some coordinating prints, and have gotten this far. (Click on the picture so you can see the print better.)
I still need to trim the right side, but I'm not sure yet how wide I want it. And it's not a fancy layout, but I wanted something that would come together fairly quickly. And it's not a totally original design. I've seen some similar on other blogs where they make many to donate for babies. Cute, isn't it?

That's pretty much my excitement this weekend. :)

Sunday, August 16, 2009

inspiration...

Yesterday I went to see Julie and Julia with Carolyn, Marilyn, and Jennifer. Really cute movie, and yes, I give it a 2 thumbs up.

I came home thinking, I really need to try preparing one of her recipes one of these days. I wonder if I can con the family into coming over if they know I'm experimenting again? I'll have a better chance with John and Bonnie, and Nolene and Joe. Whether they're truly open to trying new things, or just polite, I'm not sure. (I have noticed that they now ask what we're having before committing!) But my kids are not so adventurous. Ah.

So anyway. This morning I got hungry, but didn't have a lot on hand and didn't want to get dressed to go to the grocery store. I scrounged around, and found a biscuit mix, deciding on cinammon biscuits. Should be easy and quick enough. Well.

First I reduced the amounts, just needing a few biscuits and not a whole panful. I may have been off a tad on my measurements, but no matter. (As I remember now, Julia did mention in the movie that all recipes needed measurements.) So I stirred it up, patted it out, and placed them in a pan. Into the oven they went.

They baked, I washed a few dishes, read a blog or two, and the timer went off. Hmmm. They don't look a lot different. Onto the plate they went.

I tasted, and I think I can honestly say they were about the worst biscuits ever. Flat. Bland. Even with the cinnamon-sugar topping. Into the trash they went.

It's a good thing noone was here. If anyone had seen this, they might not want to try future recipes!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Gracie handbag project - check!

I picked up some fabric about 3 months ago to make a couple of purses, and finally got one finished just a bit ago. Well, close. Just need to get a button or some kind of embellishment for the closure flap. It stays shut, thanks to the velcro on the underside, but the embellisment will give it a nice finishing touch. There's a link on the sidebar to see the video on making one of these.

Always nice to get projects checked off the to-do list!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

thanks to Friends of the Daingerfield Public Library


Recently I won a terrific drawing for an apron, which Brunhilda confiscated, and the Daingerfield Public Library's cookbook, all courtesy of Sherry over at Keep You In Stitches. Today I got a chance to try the recipe on page 85 for Honey Chicken Wings. As Rachel Ray would say, "yummo"!

I was browsing through looking for a recipe for chicken tenders, and could see right away that I could adapt this to work with the chicken breasts I had already cut up into approximately 1" to 2" cubes. Making a sauce of honey, ketchup, soy sauce, vegetable oil, pepper, and minced garlic, all items I had on hand, couldn't have been easier. Bake it in the oven for about an hour, basting every 15 minutes or so, and that's all there is to it.
Oh, I forgot. I did sprinkle some seasoned bread crumbs over the chicken when I pulled them out for the first basting. Here's the finished product "plated up", as they would say over on the Food Network. They were gone in a very short time...finger-licking good.
Thanks, Sherry! And especially I thank Snooks in Columbus, Texas for submitting the recipe!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

a shower today, but no rain

I may not have posted a lot in the last month or two, but I've been limited on what I could make "public", waiting for the great unveiling at Elizabeth's baby shower. It was today, and everyone had a good time.

I got to make a diaper cake. I'd seen a few here and there, and after watching a youtube video, decided to give it a try. I can't say I did everything the way she did in the video, but it was close.

I gathered together a few supplies...a big box of diapers (mine took about 75 or so), baby's hooded bath towel, and some rattles and teething toys to tuck in here and there. After bundling 3 diapers together several times, they were placed to form a circle and joined together with a good heavy string. I used twine. The hooded bath towel was then folded to be about the height of the diapers, and wrapped around the first layer of the cake. This was placed on a lazy-susan type base. Made it a little easier to flip it around to work on one side or the other.

Then I repeated the process for the second layer, only I didn't have quite as many bundles of 3 as I did on the first tier. For this layer, I wrapped netting around the outer edge. After that, I placed it on top of the first layer and secured it with a couple of 12" wooden dowels. You can see I started placing a couple of the small items.



The third and top layer went together really easy, using very few diapers. I wrapped it with netting also, and placed it on top. The ducky went on top, a few more items were tucked in, and ta-da! It was done!


Now, at this point in my posting I realize I'm slipping a bit. I find I neglected to get a picture of the finished version of the quilt I made for Little One, so this one will have to do. Just picture in your mind that it has binding and has been quilted! Edited to show the finished quilt. Do you know how many pics I have with those legs sticking out at the bottom of the quilt???

And not only that, I didn't get a picture of the crib skirt and bumper pads that Elizabeth and I worked on together. Sigh. Take my word for it, they're pretty. Edited to add the picture!

Okay, Little One. We're ready for you!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

a little family time

I went with Robert and Angela and the kids to the beach for a few days. It was my first time to go just with the idea of playing, and it was fun. I'd been a couple of times on business trips over the years, but that wasn't the same at all.

Ashlynn and Rhett love the beach. They were so excited, for days ahead of time actually, and more so on the way there. It's probably about a 6 hour drive, 8 when you count the potty and stretch breaks along the way, and quite a few "we're going to the beach!" and "how far to the beach?" comments along the way. They did really well.

It was really nice to spend the time with them, and see their family interactions over more than just a couple of hours at a time. You know you've done something right when you see your children be terrific and loving parents.