I was in the quilty shack today!

I wasn't sewing though.I was using these. Don't worry, all of my digits are still attached.

I SHOULD have been sewing, but alas I was rearranging. I need to go to furniture re-arrangers anonymous. Seriously. Last week in Sunday School I suggested we rearrange the furniture. So we did. It is like if I feel the furniture would work better a different way, it will just eat away at me until it is done. Freak show, I know.

So some ideas had been lurking around in my head about the optimal layout in the quilty shack and they had to be acted upon...post haste.

I'll try to take pics tomorrow for a little reveal.

Here is Alvin on the quilty shack porch...Nothing says sewing room more than a napping cat on a quilt right?


There was a bake sale at blonde rascal's school last week. I made chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. Oh my.

The cookie dough inside ends up not raw but not cooked either....sort of in between the two. Delightful I tell you. Kids go nuts for them. I got the recipe here. Only difference being I used a cake mix, canned frosting and that Pillsbury break apart cookie dough.

Last night was the rowdy, sugar crazed, exhausting fall festival at blonde rascal's school. Is it just me? I can't wait for that thing to be OVER every year.

Here is B.R. and his buddy the grim reaper. B.R. was an FBI agent. See his little secret agent ear piece? Seriously, we go all out around here.

Gosh, looks like our brave agent is taking out a sniper in the school gym rafters or something.

By the way all you people with daughters, check out this costume....
It was Volleyball Barbie. So cute. The shower thing was fun too.


In other news, we adopted another stray kitten.
Scrappy. Look at that cute little booger. We take all the barn cats we can get. Barn cats= less snakes. Amen.


Look who is driving the tractor?
Yes, he is 10. Yes, that would be his father who let him do that. His mother was in the house and unaware that her baby was driving a large farm implement.

And here he is driving cattle!
Or pushing them or moving them or whatever it is called.

My goodness I love that boy.

A recipe you need to know

This recipe was in our electric co-op magazine thing that comes monthly. They post member's recipes. The only reason I look through the thing is for the dang recipes. Only folks that live in the country use an electric co-op....and we all know good ol' country folk make some wicked good chow.

Well, I should clarify. This recipe is not wicked good. It is wicked easy....and good, but not wicked good. Many times easy surpasses wicked good in my book. Ya know what I'm saying?

So here it is...

Peach Cobbler in a mug:

1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon instant nonfat dry milk
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
dash salt
1 snack sized container of diced peaches, drained.

Microwave butter in a mug until melted. Add sugar, flour, dry milk, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and 2 tablespoons water to cup. Stir, then add peaches on top of batter. Do not stir. Cook for 2 minutes in microwave at 70% power. Let stand in microwave for one minute. Remove and let stand until cool enough to eat.

FYI it is cool enough to eat immediately....assuming you plop a big scoop of vanilla on top. Right?

I made mine w/o the dry milk....because who has dry milk in the pantry? Not me. It was fine w/o it.

Easy and good. It's a keeper!

My Most Favorite Valentine's Day

Oh geez, I got my pictures inserted all out of order. Sorry, Jack has nothing to do with my most favorite Valentine's Day ever.

Valentine's Day 2000. I was 6 months pregnant with blonde rascal. We had tickets to see Elton John in concert. Just Sir Elton and his piano. No band, just raw talent. Sure, throw in some crazy sunglasses and sparkly jackets too!

It was incredible. The man is good I'm telling ya. All the songs you know and love with his incredible piano playing.

Hubs, who was still a police officer (homicide detective) at the time, got paged about an hour into the concert. Somebody murdered on Valentine's Day? During our date??? They are dead, can't the investigating WAIT until after the concert???

Hubs had another officer come pick him up so I would have the car to drive home...alone...from our date. Hubs kissed me and went off to look at dead people.

I was sad, fat, alone...but those emotions all passed because Elton was soooo good and entertaining.

Then that crazy bedazzled Elton said "Are there any pregnant women in the audience?" and I was thinking WHA... HE is talking to me!!! It sounded like maybe 3 people responded including myself but it was hard to tell with the arena being sold out. I yelled "WOOOO-HOOOO" and started clapping. Elton then said "This song is dedicated to your unborn child" .....oh my gosh Elton just threw me a bone because he knows I am sad and alone at this awesome concert while my Valentine is off tracking down some butt head criminal!!!

So he proceeded to sing "Blessed" which I had never heard, but it is now one of my all time favorites. I have it on my i-pod and it still gives me chills....

"I know you're still a dream/your eyes might be green/or the bluest that I've ever seen/Anyway you'll be blessed/And you, you'll be blessed/You'll have the best/I promise you that/I'll pick a star from the sky/Pull your name from a hat/I promise you that you'll be blessed"

I was spellbound, in my emotional pregnant state the beautiful words of his song washed over me like a wave. The tears rolled down my checks and I am sure I would have been described as a glowing pregnant woman at that moment!

And yes he was correct, my boy is blessed...and I am even more blessed by having him.

In case you are wondering, it was not a murder. A death yes, but natural causes. No foul play. So hubs came back to the concert and got to hear the last 2 songs.

There you have it, my favorite Valentine's Day just me and Elton John...oh and hubs too for a few hours of that evening anyway!



Now back to this...


We went to a restaurant last month in Buffalo Gap, TX. "Huh?" you say, yes it is a SMALL town! But they have a family owned steakhouse there called Perini Ranch Steakhouse. It had to have been one of the best meals I have had, topped only by an Italian restaurant in Chicago that was divine. Anyway a delicious meal at the Perini Ranch followed by bread pudding. Hub's aunt and uncle were with us and they had both eaten there before and insisted that we get the bread pudding. We were all miserably stuffed but they AND the waitress said we could not miss out on the bread pudding. So hubs and I split one.

For the love of all things sacred...I don't think I have ever been that close to euphoria. That was the best, most incredible dessert ever created. A taste bud amusement park! I said I could have bathed it it!!!

So that is what I am making for hubs for dessert this here Valentine's day! I bought the recipe book at the ranch just for this dish! Don't worry, blonde rascal gets his own little Valentine cake and vanilla ice cream with sprinkles.

Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce:
2 eggs
2T. melted butter
2T. vanilla
2 1/2 C. milk
2C. sugar
2C. sourdough bread, cut into 1" cubes.
1/3C. chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 325. Beat eggs, add the butter, vanilla and milk. Gradually add the sugar and mix thoroughly until the sugar is dissolved. Place bread cubes in the bottom of 9" round baking dish. Pour liquid over bread, making sure the pieces are fully saturated. Sprinkle pecans over the bread and push them down into the bread. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Serves 8-10.
Whiskey Sauce:
1/2C. sugar
1 stick butter
1/2C. cream
1/4C. Jack Daniels
Combine the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Stir constantly over low heat until mixture reaches a low rolling boil. Pour a small amount over individual servings of bread pudding.
(Edited to say I cooked for 50 minutes, but next time will cook for and hour or more if needed. Also I just poured the sauce all over the pudding instead of following the directions. Whoa, that was too much so next time I will just pour a little over each serving)
Then say a prayer because it is all going directly to your ass!

Soooo good...

....you'll wanna slap your grandma!!

I'll go ahead and say that if you are concerned with any of the following: calories, cholesterol, cellulite, plaque in your arteries, a bulging stomach....then don't read the following recipe. However IF you want to: fix your family a meal after which they will sing your praises for months, eat something reeeheally yummy or totally delight yourself in the ultimate comfort food then this is the recipe for you!

I'll go ahead and say this too, all of the credit for this tastebud fantasy goes to my crazy good pal Kristen! Check her out in my sidebar at The Lewis Family. I believe she told me this was a long time family recipe. Oh yeah baby, you know the ones!

Now this, my friends, is "Chicken Pockets"

A rotisserie chicken, with meat taken off into bite size pieces/shredded. (I like these chickens because dang they are good, and I am lazy. But anyway, procure some cooked chicken meat by whatever method your prefer!)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small carton sour cream
1 small can evaporated milk
shredded colby jack cheese
2 cans crescent rolls

In a small pan on the stove mix the soups, sour cream and milk. Heat and stir just until combined, set aside. Press 2 triangles of the crescent dough into a rectangle. Sprinkle some shredded cheese and chicken onto the rectangle. Fold together, pressing & sealing edges to make a "pocket." Continue with remaining crescents, you will end up with 8 pockets.
Pour half of the soup mixture into the bottom of a 9X13. Place pockets on top of the soup mixture and then top with the remaining mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top during the last 5 minutes of baking.

Hubs went nutty over this, could NOT stop talking about it! I was the hero that night! Blonde rascal said it tasted like cheesecake! (Don't know if he thought that literally or if that was just his highest form of compliment!) It really is just downright soothing. Comfort food at its best. You won't leave the table hungry. In fact in preparation you should just go ahead and put on your velour sweatpants beforehand. You'll thank me, your family will thank me, for sharing this recipe!

Monday...again!

Yep, it's Monday. It is a cold and cloudy and misty and grey Monday. I did not go to the gym this morning...BUT I have already taken all the trash to the dumpster, fed the horses for hubs who was in a huge hurry this morning, put a load of laundry in, moved some firewood onto the porch, gave Missy a bath, have beans soaking and a ham bone defrosting so we can have a big ol' pot of beans for dinner!

Now I am resting for a minute with my cup of coffee. I have the tree lights on....ahhhhh. Missy, who is mad because of the before mentioned bath, is sitting behind me by my neck, shivering. I put the heating pad on her as a peace offering and now I think she may be a little less mad.

We had good weekend. Friday hubs took me out to dinner with MIL and blonde rascal for my birthday. We had mexican food and, as is always the case, post- dinner I felt uncomfortably full and questioned why I would stuff my face like that! Not too full, I should mention, to pass up ice cream afterwards. Hey, it was my birthday afterall!

So I got the results back from my blood tests and everything is completely normal. My thyroid levels were right on track. Obviously that day at the dr.'s office my thyroid was simply having a puffy day. It happens to all of us! I guess what I thought might be symptoms i.e. dry skin...hello eczema on my face..and hair loss...I thought I was losing more hair than normal when I combed it after a shower....are all just a part of my quirky self. Of course the eczema could be explained by the fact that I live in a desert...and the hair, I am letting it grow so maybe longer hair seems more substantial leftover in the comb, than shorter. The trauma of having blood drawn...all for nothing! Well, I am thankful my blood is normal though. That is very nice to know!

Saturday I was busy in the kitchen. I made cookies for Christmas Cookie Lorie's Christmas Cookie Exchange Party. (Say that three times fast!) And I made Shabee Chick's homemade hot chocolate mix for the neighbors.



The best part of that day in the kitchen was Pioneer Woman's "Penne a la Betsy" recipe, which is shrimp penne pasta. Holy cow, THAT was good. Blonde rascal even chowed on it! It had heavy cream in it......gee maybe I should have gone to the gym this morning!


Blonde rascal put on his dancing shoes Saturday morning!



Getting his groove on!


That kid, he is good for my soul. He does know how to crack his Mom up!


So, today. I am making this cute (and hopefully easy) tote bag...


out of this CUTE fabric...

for someone for Christmas.

I got the email from Shutterfly saying the Christmas cards are on their way! I have to get cracking on the address labels. Then, there are 2 remaining scrapbooky type gifts to be finished. Looks like I have enough to do today to keep me out of trouble. Better luck tomorrow!

Recovery

Ouch. Someone help. I can't button my jeans. I wonder if I have any old maternity pants hiding somewhere. I need a stretchy panel. I am pregnant....with turkey, dressing, sweet p's, rolls, pie, cake, whipping cream, etc... Why? Why do I lose all self control at the Thanksgiving table? Indigestion is the name of the game for the duration of the weekend. But let's be honest...it was sooooooo good!!!!!! My MIL makes the best dressing, I could make a total meal out of it. She also made a delish pecan pie and a pumpkin cake that I will just have to post the recipe for, because it was the perfect dreamy combination of moist and flavorful. Oh my gosh you have to get Pioneer Woman's recipe for sweet potatoes. (Sorry, still have not figured out how to insert links in my posts.) I adore, and wish I could marry, sweet potatoes and let me tell you this recipe did not disappoint. It was yummy beyond belief.

I must also give a shout out for Shabee Chick's chicken noodle soup which was wonderful. It was even better the second time around warmed up. And her gingerbread...perfect-o!

We had a really great turkey day. The most delightful part was that it snowed!!!! Yea snow!!! Fabulous meal, fire in the fireplace, just a perfect relaxing day spent with family that I love so dearly!

It snowed again last night and is forecast to snow off and on today & tomorrow. Not a lot, but enough to make blonde rascal's eyes light up!

(yes he is wearing my leopard trim gloves! He had already lost one pair of his and the other pair was soaking wet!)

My parents left this morning and so today's schedule is low key... laundry and dragging the Christmas decorations out of the attic. Snow on the ground, fireplace roaring, hot chocolate and decorating for Christmas. This is good stuff people. I do know that I need more Christmas quilts. N-E-E-D them. Lots of blog land girlies have been posting pictures of their Christmas quilts and I am so jealous. The good news is that in my massive sewing room organization project I discovered that I have accumulated a lot of Christmas quilt projects, patterns and kits just waiting for me. This time NEXT year my house will bursting with cute festive quilts! With my cool new sewing machine and a lesson under my belt there can be no excuses!

Did any of you crackheads partake in the Black Friday shopping madness? Opps... sorry Judi Plumtickled. I don't think YOU are a crackhead. A no thumb having heck of a gal, sure, but crackhead no way. Go see Plumtickled's blog, she joined in the black friday ruckus and made it actually sound kind of fun! But me? Not happening. The only thing that would get me out of bed at 4am would have to be a house fire. I mean maybe, and it is an "iffy" maybe, if a store was GIVING away cars....or Matthew McConaughey... or a live in maid for the rest of my life....then maybe I would go at 4am. But to get a free game with the purchase of an X-box? No deal.

I got a weird comment on my last post from my brother-in-law...opps, no I mean a weird comment in another language. I know I come across as the serious, intellectual, cultured and no doubt multi-lingual type of gal but that is just not true. I mean, I am ALL of those things except multi-lingual. I took Spanish in both h.s. AND college and can, sadly, say that I retained "gracias" and that is about all. Anyway I guess that is a blog spam. Hope that stops! I didn't click on it so hopefully my computer won't crash or anything.

And since I just mentioned him, (if you read Pioneer Woman's blog (which I highly recommend you do because it is the most funny and interesting thing you could ever hope to find) you will recognize this borrowed phrase) I'll tell you about my "pesky brother-in-law" Mark! I was remiss in not mentioning him in my previous post about what all I was thankful for. I am indeed thankful for my pesky brother-in-law Mark because well...... um, well....... well, without pesky brother-in-law Mark then I would not have the most wonderful sista-in-law Sherri whom I adore to pieces, and 2 perfect & beautiful nieces and the most cool nephew on the face of the planet!!!!! See pesky brother-in-law Mark? I AM thankful for you!!!!

Well looky here, it is lunch time. I guess I could squeeze in one more, small, plate of leftovers. Oh, I forgot to mention I am really thankful of stretchy sweat pants. Amen.

P.S. we watched "Firewall" last night. Good one. Go rent it.

Happy Turkey Day Week!!

Geez-o-pete has it been crazy in your life too? I have not been blogging regularly due to the non-stop running around that seems to be a part of the pre-holiday routine. So here I am. I have so much to share with you, mostly nonsense but I will share it anyway! My parents will be here tomorrow so I may not post again until later in the weekend. However I could post Thursday afternoon and show you a picture of my happily distorted bulging full belly just for laughs. That is assuming I am not in a Triptophan (sp!) induced coma at that point!

So the good news is that I will not have to wear shorts starting tomorrow!!! Yeehaw!!! It has been 80 stupid degrees all of November and I am tired of it. We have a cold front blowing in tomorrow, chance of snow Friday. I say...BRING IT!!!!! Blonde rascal and I are going to try this afternoon to find what remains of our dwindling wood supply which is buried in a mess of unruly weeds, and make a stack on the porch for the weekend. Now where is my red and black lumberjack flannel shirt....?

Blonde rascal and I made some treats for his class....

Are those cute Pilgrim hats or what? I got the idea from none other than fabulous creative mom Shabee Chick. Go check her, and all of her glorious ideas, out!

Speaking of cooking, thanks to this blog network I have so many new yummy recipes to try this year! We normally fry a turkey because it is SO dadgum, well easy first of all, moist and flavorful. But I am ready for a change so this year I am going to brine the turkey and roast it, check out Pioneer Woman she will show you how! I am also using her sweet potato recipe because sweet sugary delicious sweet p's at Thanksgiving make me SOOOOO happy! Then Weds. night when my parent's arrive, and it will hopefully be COLD AS HELL by then, I am making Shabee Chick's homemade chicken noodle soup! Have mercy check out that recipe, it has heavy cream in it! Somebody pinch me, I dreaming!!! AND then I am also making her Gingerbread cake which sounds out of this world. So at the end of this paragraph it would be appropriate to say that I am thankful for....my gym membership!

While I am speaking of being thankful, look who is feeling good again...

Yep, it is my buddy Val. Here he is doing his best to look irritated and aloof as is par for him, but he was really looking for some lovin'. He is the one who had the abscess under his chin and it turns out is diabetic. So now, insulin shots 2x a day and special diabetic kitty food, and our free kitten turned very expensive cat is feeling so much better! THAT makes me happy and thankful.

I finished the table runner for blonde rascal's teacher...well almost, I still am going to do some quilting around the star.



I was back at the Goodwill store. I still did not find any sterling silver tea sets or anything like some of you lucky ducks do, but look what I did find...

A storage drawer thingy! $10 and the sewing room is on its way to being crazy organized! Well sort of. I bought some shelves to put in the closet...


This will hopefully allow a little more efficient use of that space. I need to find plastic storage boxes that will fit perfectly on the shelves.

Here is the sewing room after the closet threw up!

Hopefully, sooner rather than later, I will be taking you on a tour of a wonderfully organized sewing room. Wish me luck!

I must go and continue to prepare for the festivities but first I'll share what I am thankful for! I am so thankful for my family and friends. I mean really isn't that what life is about? People to love, who love you in return and enjoying being with them. I am thankful for the health of our family. I am thankful for this country, flaws and all, where else would we have it so good? I am thankful that in this country I can freely worship God. I am thankful that my husband is employed and we have a comfortable house with food on the table. I am thankful that I have joy in my life. I am blessed.
So all of my bloggy friends I hope you enjoy your blessings this week and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Yummy Dr. Pepper Cake!

I made this cake last night. 19 year old brown haired rascal and cute sweet girlfriend were over for dinner. It was de-lish. I sent the remains home with both of them so that I wouldn't eat ALL of it! Aunt Gay emailed the recipe to me. When Gay sends a recipe you can be assured that it will bring down the house with rave reviews and go directly into the keeper file! That Gay, she is the total package...she quilts, cooks like a chef, gardens, cans & jellies the "garden results", has a warm inviting home...the list goes on and on! I wish she lived closer so some of it would wear off on me!!
Anyhoo...go directly to the store and get the stuff to make this cake. Your family will be singing your praises for days, weeks, even years!!!

German Chocolate Cake mix
Vanilla instant pudding, small box
2/3 C. vegetable oil
4 eggs
12 oz. Dr. Pepper
1 t. vanilla

Mix all together following "mixing" directions on cake box. Grease and dust with cocoa a 13x9 pan. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes. Cool.

Icing:
8oz. cream cheese
1 lb. powdered sugar, sifted (although I never sift!!)
1/4 C. cocoa
1 stick butter
1 t. vanilla
Cream all together and spread on cooled cake.
Enjoy!
P.S. This is a 100% fat free recipe!