Winning and Some Pretty Good Pork Chops!

First of all this evening, I would like to tell you all I am very excited! I won a stash of fabric from Nancy at Silly Stitching. I received it today and there are some beautiful pieces of fabric that I can't wait to use. The wheels are turning in my brain figuring out what I want to do with it. Thanks again Nancy and thanks for getting it in the mail so quickly for me. Tonight, we had pork chops for dinner. Not just any pork chops mind you- Teriyaki Pineapple Pork Chops. They were fantastic. They marinate for several hours and they grill up so juicy and flavorful. You have to try them. Just put 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, and the juice drained from an 8oz. can of pineapple rings in a bowl. Mix well and pour in a zip-loc bag with 4 pork chops. I use loin chops but you can use what you normally choose for pork chops. Marinate for up to 8 hours in the fridge. Keep the pineapple rings separate. (They will be grilled up right after the pork chops are done). Grill the pork chops 20-30 minutes basting with the marinade. Grill those pineapple rings before you are done. Place the pineapple rings on the pork and serve. They were a big hit with my family. I served them with baked beans and french fries. And for dessert, I baked up some of these. They were from a mix but they were still pretty good!I wanted to show you one of my finished projects in action. The car trash bag from One Yard Wonders looks just like the picture in the book(minus the dog). If you look back several posts, you will see the page from the book. I thought that was pretty cool! I am presently working on a project from a tutorial from one of my favorite blogs. Hopefully, I will be able to show you tomorrow. Have a great Saturday night and take care. Nancy

Pillow...Check

I finished my Initial Commitment Pillow from Pretty Little Presents. For the most part, I am happy with it. I am not a great seamstress. I can do alot of basic things, but I have very little patience for things that take alot of gathering or basting. I just want to sew it once and move on to the next step. First off, I didn't understand the pattern instructions in the book. I think the dimensions it requested for the binding was wrong. Maybe I am the one who is wrong-that is entirely possible! Anyway, I have never mitered corners with binding, and on top of that, because I had cut my binding pieces too short by half, there was alot of piecing. So, please don't look too close at the binding on the next picture! I didn't have a 12 x 12 pillow form and because it was 1:00 in the morning, I made do. I used a 14 x 14 form I had. Actually it makes it so puffy, It makes my binding imperfections almost disappear!

I am proud that I made buttonholes for a finished project without breaking a sweat! And check out those buttons I picked. They are squirrel footprints. I thought because this is supposed to look like initials carved in a tree, and squirrels live in trees....Maybe I should wait to make such decisions after I have had some sleep and not in the middle of the night! The pillow looks like it is a little overstuffed in the back, but I do like it. I am a hopeless romantic when it comes to my husband and I just had to make this when I saw it.

This is a project I finished a little while ago. I mentioned how much I love One Yard Wonders and I made a couple of things from that book in an earlier post. This bedside caddy with pockets has been very functional. It was super easy and you actually use that gripper/shelf liner stuff to help it stay put under your mattress. As you can see, I have put it to good use. It helps me keep my bedside table looking like this:

....which would be so much worse with all the remotes, my headphones, and my Avon books. .

Thank you so much for stopping by. I am enjoying this whole experience of keeping a blog and corresponding with the many great people I have met. Oh, and by the way, guess what came in my mailbox yesterday?

There are so many great projects in there to do. I can't wait! Take care. Nancy

Easy Peasy One Two Three

Tonight, to go with my shrimp scampi and pierogies, I made cheesy stuffed bread. It is so easy, it is fool-proof. Set your oven to 350degrees or you can put this on the grill. If you put it on the grill, use heavy duty aluminum foil. There are only three ingredients. Take a crusty loaf of Italian Bread, and use a serrated bread knife to make slices the thickness you want. Don't slice all the way down. Leave the loaf somewhat connected. Spread some sun-dried tomato pesto in all the sliced pockets. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella. Make sure that cheese gets down with the pesto.Wrap the loaf in aluminum foil and bake or grill for about 15 minutes. I love the sweetness sun-dried tomatoes have. One of my boys thought it tasted like pizza bread. I hope you try this and enjoy it. Take care. Nancy

Dessert Anyone?

This toffee bar cheesecake is so impressive without much effort. It tastes like you would get this at a restaurant. Are you ready to wow someone? First: set the oven to 325 degrees and grease the bottom only of a 9 in. pie plate.

Now assemble some ingredients: 1/4 cup milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2 eggs, 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, and 1/4 cup Bisquick. Put these in a blender and blend on high speed 15 seconds.

Add 2 8oz. packages of softened cream cheese cut into cubes. Blend for 2 minutes. Pour into pie plate. Meanwhile crumble in a strong plastic baggie 12 mini(or 3 regular size) chocolate covered toffee bars. Sprinkle on top of your batter and bake for 30-35 minutes.

The sides should be firm but the center should jiggle just a little. Cool for 1 hour and then refrigerate several hours. Serve with a drizzle of caramel ice cream topping and a dollop of whipped cream. Refrigerate any leftovers. Let me know if you try this. I think you will love it!

I have fallen behind on my crafting. I have been shopping and lunching with friends the last several days. I have managed to get a step further in my wood-look pillow. I got our initials embroidered. I have also been crocheting Riley's pink blanket while watching a little tv in the evenings.



Well, I will leave you with a little Mickey for you to enjoy! My oldest son says I am slightly Mickey obsessed and he might be right. I have more pictures of her on my cell phone than anyone!

Well, enjoy your Saturday evening and take care. Nancy

A Special Day

First of all, I want to tell you that today was a very special day: my youngest son turned 16 today. I am so proud of the kind of young man he has become. We had a nice day and a family party this evening. My older son, who is 19, took him to lunch. Every birthday in our house is accompanied by your choice of dinner and dessert . My 16 year old chose bacon chili cheese dog burgers(say that 3 times fast!) and onion rings. He wanted white cake and chocolate frosting with chocolate trifecta ice cream. He got some video games and we got him a St. Christopher medal engraved with a special message from us on the back. He also got money and some hilarious cards. To cap it off, my husband put a window air conditioner in his room. Now he will sleep better tonight. I think he had a great day! Next, I want to do some bragging on my husband. He is a very talented man and I am so proud of him. I had outgrown my dining room hutch. It was becoming difficult to get to the things I was storing in there because I had them dangerously stacked. In January, we looked at new hutches, but couldn't find any that were right for my needs or taste(or budget!). So he came up with a plan to make me a built-in. I love it so much. It is perfect in every way. I can't believe he made this from scratch. He made the doors just as I wanted so I can put glass in the insets or fabric or chicken wire if I want to. My old hutch is 25 years old and has sentimental value so now I am using it in the living room for storage.

He even made me a microwave cart to match. I think he should do this for a living.

I thought I would throw in a picture of a deacon's bench he made me 10 years ago.

Well, I have one more thing. Does anyone else out there in blogland love that show Wipeout? It is a recent discovery of mine(even though it is in its third season) and I am addicted. All 4 of us watch it and laugh until we cry. They say laughter is good for you-well that show is very healthy for my family then! Have a good night and take care. Nancy

A Sense Of Accomplishment

I got some serious sewing done this evening. Someday, I hope to have a real sewing room so I can relax and do more of it, but for now, I do it when I can. I am sure many people are in my position. I do have a little craft room my husband built me in the corner of our living room but it isn't big enough for a sewing machine and ironing board. When I sew, I have to lock my cat away in my bedroom for her own protection. That ironing board and iron are too interesting to her. So I have to listen to her sad cries because she just knows she is missing something! I made a pillow cover for my reading chair on my sunporch. It is a very basic, removable cover but I had to replace my old one because it was faded beyond keeping. It was Mary Engelbreit fabric with a black background and I miss it! I put ball fringe on it so it looked very Mary! But I really love this sunflower fabric I found by Debbie Mumm. I also made a tomato tea cosy. I collect veggies in my kitchen and dining room so I thought this fabric would be perfect with my tomato teapot. Last, but not least, I made a trash bag for my car. The tea cosy and the trash bag came from the One Yard Wonders book. I love that book. There are several other things I want to make from it. Well, I hope everyone is enjoying their weekends. Take Care. Nancy

Waiting In The Wings

Today, I got groceries. That is no small feat! I get three weeks worth at a time and I put forth much planning and list making. Then after several stores have been shopped at and every bag is brought in the house, I can be found repackaging things for freezing and picking chickens(as Paula Deen says) to have the cooked meat ready for recipes over the next few weeks. After I was done, I decided to bake something. Crazy, right? But somehow, baking relaxes me after a long day. Tonight I made lemon blueberry bars from Create and Decorate magazine. They were relatively easy and yum-they were good! The family approved so the recipe is a keeper. On the crafting front, I have many projects ready to roll. I just need a boost to get going, like a jump start! Do you remember I mentioned the Pretty Little series by lark books? Well, I am crazy about this little pillow that looks like two lovebirds' initials carved in a tree. The book it is in is Pretty Little Presents. I found the perfect fabric for the faux wood. I decided to use unbleached or even tea-dyed muslin for the part where I will embroider our initials. I also think I will use buttons from my collection instead of covering buttons to match the front. I love taking a project and tweaking it to make it mine. I also have a couple of projects from One Yard Wonders ready to start. I love that book too. Tomorrow maybe I will snap a couple of pictures of those. It is late and I am tired. I can feel my energy shutting down, so I will give in(a rarity I assure you) and go to bed. Nancy

Blissfully Crocheting

It's another muggy, hot day here and I am kicking back crocheting. I have to say, I am loving this yarn craft. I have been knitting since I was 7 years old. My Mom taught me. She was a very creative person. She sewed(and taught me that also), knitted and was a top-notch cook. She always told me that she simply could NOT learn to crochet-no matter what! She tried having a neighbor show her and she bought books on the subject. She just couldn't do it. You know what that means...she loved all things crochet and was secretly envious of anyone that could do it. As I got older, I tried unsuccessfully to learn also. I even bought a VHS tape from Family Circle magazine to try to teach myself. I think I was hung up on Mom's words that it was just too hard. Last year I mentioned to a good friend that I was envious of her crochet skill. She was determined to teach me and she did! I don't think I could win any contests or anything, but I love it. I have made 3 afghans-1 of which was a baby gift for my new nephew Tucker. I am making one now, a ripple, for Tucker's big sister Riley. The colors in the yarn just "screamed" Riley to me!

The two afghans pictured, the one in the basket and the blue big Granny Square, are from one of Vanna's books. The pink/multi ripple is a work in progress for Riley. Don't you love the colors? It is very soft too. I think she will love it. Mickey is sitting right behind that big ball of yarn. I think she was hoping I would become distracted so she could make off with it! I still will knit scarves, pillows, handwarmers and the occasional afghan(I wasn't a sweater knitter-I don't have the patience), but I enjoy the freedom of the crochet that I have been doing. I can really watch a movie while I am doing it. I have always loved the nostalgia of Granny Squares and I can't believe that now I can make them! Well I hope you are able to keep cool wherever you are. Take care. Nancy

Happy Sunday

I am still learning the ins and outs of this blogging so please bear with me as I figure it out! It is beautiful weather here in northern NY. I still require my air conditioner to survive the humidity but many of my friends and family are enjoying the heat.

My sister-in-law was kind enough to recently help me hem a new dress for my class's graduation ceremony. She is a far better seamstress than I am and I get nervous cutting into a boughten garment. I did the hand sewing and as I was taking out her pins, I realized that I have kept her pins in the past when she did this for me. So, I kept her pins separate from mine and today I whipped up a cute little pin cushion from the Pretty Little Pincushions book. I love that "pretty little..." series from Lark Books. I have them all. Here is a picture of it(fingers crossed that the picture makes it to my blog!)

Also, I wanted to share a photo of my little girl Mickey-named after Mickey Mouse because I love Disney World. She is three years old and my little partner in crime! She makes knitting and crocheting interesting as she is always into the yarn!
Well, I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I wanted to give a special shout-out to Karen of Sew Many Ways and to thank her for leaving my very first comment and being my first follower! Nancy

I Finally Did It

I have been following crafting blogs for a long time. After much urging from many of you to de-lurk, I have worked up the courage to start my own blog. I love to knit, crochet and sew and paint so, hopefully, I will have much to share. I tend to be a great planner of projects-I buy the supplies and get ready. I just have trouble actually starting the many projects I have ready to begin! I was hoping this blog would shame me into doing them!
Just a little about me-I have a wonderful husband of 20 years and 2 sons aged 19 and 15. I live in upstate NY where we get some brutal winters but some gorgeous fall colors. I work part-time at a school with 4 year-olds and have done so for going on 10 years.
My crafting is very important to me and I am always branching out to learn new things. I hope you will drop in and leave a comment from time to time because I would love to get to know you and count you as my on-line friends. Nancy