Dresden Plate Applique

Another unfinished project ...

I had the opportunity to meet Kim Diehl in person and take a class from her (well like 6 months ago), wow how time flies.  I have this pile of partially sewn blocks and need to get busy with the applique portion.  I might be a little out of practice since finishing my mom's wall hanging at Christmas -- another one of Kim Diehl's patterns.  If you don't know who she is google her name.  She is a very talented lady who lives in Pocatello, Idaho, designs her own patterns and lines of fabric and is amazing.  I love civil war fabrics and these blocks have lots of them, I need to set a goal to finish this one .... maybe by October?? (that would make it about a year).  There are lots of vines and small berries left to do.  I have one sewn to the background and it even has the center on it (upper left hand corner) ... I think I need some encouragement.

Any ideas????  I probably shouldn't tell the whole world (my mother knows), but I have two other quilts that are partially done that are Kim's designs as well.  Do they have hospitals for people like me?

I haven't been lazy ...

Here are a few quilts that I have sewn and quilted this month.  They are finally quilted, but I have not bound them or I would display a picture of the entire finished project.  They will have the binding completed in another week or so and I will post pictures of the completed projects and a description.  My very dear friend, Marci, and I have worked on a couple of these projects together.  Hers are complete with bindings -- she's on the ball!  

Diaper cover

If you remember my black, white, pink and lime green quilt I posted a while back, I mentioned I was making something darling from the scraps.  This is a diaper cover I made for the baby.  I had enough left from the back of the quilt for the main part of the cover and strips I used for the ruffles on the back.

They are still a little big for the baby, but they will look so cute with a onesie for a hot summer day.

Mint Brownies

I have lots of brownie recipes I make for my family and this one is usually a big hit.  Because food coloring is added with the mint flavoring, it is a good dessert to make for holidays by adding different colors of food coloring.  I used the traditional green this time I made them.  They are fairly rich, I would recommend cutting them into small pieces.

Cake part of brownies:
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
4 eggs
16 oz. or 1 1/2 c. Hershey syrup
Mix the above ingredients together and bake in a 9 x 13 cake pan for 25-30 minutes.  The cake part  has a bit of a different texture and may not look done, but you don't want to overcook.  Cool completely.

Mint Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 c. butter
1 Tbsp. water
3/4 t. mint extract
3 drops green food coloring (or color of your choice)
Mix the above ingredients together and spread over cooled cake.

6 Tbsp. butter
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Melt the butter and chocolate chips together, mix well and pour and spread over Mint frosting.

This cake is best when served cold.

Works in progress

I haven't finished my scrap quilt for this month, or my charm quilt -- and am not going to meet my self-made deadlines but I do have pictures of my finished blocks to share.  This was to be my June scrap quilt which is made using the fabric line Oasis by Moda which my girlfriend gave me from a quilt she made.  I have had to purchase a little bit of a yardage, so I have enough for binding and backing, but am going to get a quilt measuring approximately 80 x 80 out of it.  There are nine patches, star blocks and borders.  Here's a glimpse ...

Hopefully in the next month or so I will have the blocks put together and quilted and a completed project to show.

4th of July onesie

First of all, let me thank Julie for taking care of the blog lately, it seems like I don't have enough hours in a day.  I have been working on a few things, this little onesie I made for my granddaughter Reggie.  I found the white onesie at Old Navy, added some ruffled ric rac, a blue square of fabric and button for the star.  I love it and I hope she gets quite a bit of use out of it.  My thought is that with her daddy in Iraq she can use it for a while showing her patriotism too!

Garlic Bread

Really, can you go wrong with Garlic Bread? It goes with everything! Pasta, Chicken, Beef, Salads. We love it and I have tried many different kinds, but I think this recipe is definitely the best. Even our Chocolate Lab begs for this bread....well okay he begs for everything.

• 1/4 cup butter at room temperature
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic

Combine all ingredients and spread on French Bread. Broil for about 3 minutes.

Note: If you want to double this recipe, just store the unused portion in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Julie

Best Corn On The Cob!

Okay summer is here, finally!! One thing that I love about summer, is buying corn on the cob. It is such a great vegetable and my kids love it, so you cannot go wrong with that. A few years ago, my friend Stacy taught me this little trick for cooking corn on the cob and it is fantastic. It is so easy to prepare and it keeps all of the flavors and nutrients in. Have you ever been to a restaurant and they bring you out corn on the cob that has been sitting in boiling or hot water all day? Give this a try, you will be very surprised! It does not get soggy and still has a little crunch to it.

Parchment Paper
Corn on the Cob ( Cleaned )
Butter
Salt
Pepper

I use pre-cut parchment paper but you can also buy it in a roll at the grocery store. Put 2 small pats of butter on one side and then salt and pepper the corn. I place the corn down on the butter when I roll up the parchment paper. Twist both ends of the parchment paper and microwave about 3-4 minutes. Note: It may take longer depending on how many corn on the cobs you put in the microwave and how many watts it is. Just push down on the corn through the paper and if it feels soft, then it is done.
Unroll, and enjoy!

And the Winner Is?????

 

Recently we asked our followers what their favorite cookbooks were and why, here is a couple of comments that were posted.

This is what Kristi said...

Believe it or not, my favorite cookbook is Better Homes Cookbook. I remember my mother using her 3 ring copy when I was growing up. I still call her for recipes from it that aren't in the new paperback edition that I have. It's just an easy, home cookin', old fashioned recipe book.  Kristi

This is what Celia said:

I have to admit...I don't have a favorite cookbook...but, I LOVE Susan Branch...does that count?
Celia

So congratulations, you are both getting the Homemade recipe book by Susan Branch. Thanks for supporting our blog! But...here is the catch, you have to make a recipe from your favorite cookbook and send us pictures and a description because we will be posting it on our blog!! 

Barbeque Chicken Pizza

This is our favorite pizza! You can add so much or so little to it and it always comes out perfect. If I have time, I like to make my dough. But there are some really good pre-made pizza crusts. Albertsons has some in there bakery that are really good and so nice to have if you are in a hurry. This is how I make my dough.

31/2-4 cups bread flour, plus more for rolling.

1 teaspoon sugar

1 envelope instant dry yeast

1 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3 teaspoons olive oil

Directions:

Combine the bread flour, yeast and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and combine. While the mixer is running, add the water and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and beat until the dough forms in to a ball. If the dough is too sticky, add additional flour, if it is too dry, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball.

Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm area to let it double in size, about 1 hour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cover each with some plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll out dough and decorate your pizza however you desire.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Barbecue Chicken:

1 cup barbecue sauce (use whatever you have at home)

4 cups shredded mozzarella

2 cups diced Parmesan chicken (recipe is on Parmesan Chicken Farfalle Recipe)

6 strips of bacon cooked and chopped

1 small red onion

2 Tablespoons Feta-cheese

1 small red or green bell pepper chopped into small pieces

Bake for 12-15 minutes. This pizza is also great for leftovers!    

Julie

Oh yes, before I forget, make sure you have some ice-cold root beer to go with this pizza, it really is essential!

Fruit Pizza

Fruit Pizza is a tradition at our home in the summer. My husband begs me to make this, so Troy this is for you. I try to get an array of different colors of fruit ranging from blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, grapes, really whatever you like, put it on. I make this pizza a couple of different ways. Sometimes I cheat and just buy Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough, as in the picture above. It is still really good in this. Other times, I make sugar cookie dough. I find it easy to pre-cut the slices and decorate each one individually. This makes it a lot easier to cut and serve. When fruit is really expensive, I just buy a bag of frozen mixed berries, it can save you lots of money if the berries are not on sale.

2 tubes Pillsbury refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough

Topping:
1 8 ounce Philadelphia Cream Cheese (Room Temperature)
1 8 ounce tub of Cool Whip (thawed)
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

Fresh or Frozen fruit

For the glaze:
1 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons Corn Starch
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (bottled is also okay)
1/2 cup water

On large baking sheet, or pizza pan, roll out cookie dough. (I use Pam to avoid cookie dough from sticking). Bake in oven at 350 F, just until cookie dough turns a light brown, usually about 12 minutes. Let cool completely. In a saucepan, combine all of the glaze ingredients and mix on medium heat just until mixture boils for 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool.  Meanwhile, mix together cream cheese, cool whip and powdered sugar. When cookie is cool, spread evenly over entire surface. I pre-cut my pizza to make it easier to cut when serving. You can either decorate the entire pizza as one piece, or each piece individually. Once the glaze is cool, drizzle glaze over the pizza ensuring that all of the fruit is covered. I would tell you to refrigerate and cover, but I do not think you will have to worry about that. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!    Julie

Bowtie Parmesan Chicken

This is hands down one of my children's most requested dinners! The nice thing about this recipe is you can make it with or without chicken. My friend Stacy used to make this all of the time and I took the recipe and added Parmesan Chicken to it.

3-4 chicken breasts cooked and diced
2 Tablespoons butter
1 box Farfalle Pasta
2 cups Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Cook and drain pasta according to package. I always add a couple of teaspoons of salt to my boiling pasta water, this helps flavor the pasta.  Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes. In a large pan, add butter. When it melts, add your chicken. When the chicken starts to brown on sides, add 1 cup Parmesan cheese. Cook until Parmesan cheese is incorporated, set aside. When pasta is finished cooking, drain pasta and return to the stove on medium heat. Add the heavy cream, salt and pepper and allow it to thicken in pasta (this takes about 3-4 minutes) add remaining 1 cup Parmesan Cheese, chicken, and peas.       Julie