A Sewing Caddy and an Unusual Dinner

Hi and happy Sunday everybody!  I am excited to have tomorrow off from school so I will be sleeping in a little.  I am trying to shake yet another cold which is threatening to turn into a sinus infection.  Rest is probably going to do me good! 

I can't wait to share this adorable sewing caddy I made.  I got the idea from this tutorial from Flamingo Toes.  I love her blog.  It will be so handy to not have to get my sewing kit out just to grab a tool that I use frequently.  My husband cut the block for me out of scrap wood and I painted it and distressed it with a dry brush and sand paper.  I used little wooden spools for the legs.  I also used thumb tacks in place of the upholstery tacks she used.  I glued on buttons and a cute sewing machine button(shank removed) to dress it up further.  I love it and it will be handy.  I love cute things but I really love cute and useful things! 

I also wanted to pass along a recipe for pierogi casserole.  I love pierogies but it never occurred to me that a casserole of these flavors would be successful!  Think of it-potatoes and pasta?  I have died and gone to heaven!  Cook 9 lasagna noodles as the package directs.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl put 4 cups hot mashed potatoes(I used instant), 1/2 cup cream cheese spread with onion and chive, 6 thinly sliced green onions, 1/2 cup crumbled crisply cooked bacon, and 1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and layer the pasta and the potato mixture.  On top, spread 1 cup shredded cheddar and another 1/2 cup chopped bacon.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until heated through.  Uncover and bake another 5 minutes.  Let sit for about 5 minutes and serve.  We used it as a main course and served it with bread(more carbs!) and a Caesar salad.  It was delish.  The bacon was enough meat for me, but if you bring this to a pot luck or other gathering, it could be a side dish.  Enjoy! 

I hope everyone has a nice week and manages to stay warm and well.   I got a charm pack of Nancy Drew fabrics for Christmas and I am dying to do something with it.  Take care.  Nancy

Resolution Keeping and A Snowman

Happy Sunday evening everyone.  We have been busy around here lately-except for Mickey of course!  She has a life of leisure.  Every time my husband tries to lay on the couch to watch a game, Mickey is right there to stretch out with him.  I think he is as crazy about her as I am!  We have been very busy trying to organize our household.  I am a huge lover of organization and order, as is my husband so we decided to really try to make our life less stressful by making everything as neat as possible.  He has been tackling our desk and mountain of paperwork.  I can't get over how much we accumulate.  We are on the right track and things are going well.  A resolution that is actually being kept-who would have thought! 

The bare table in my kitchen has been driving me crazy so I sewed a table runner. 

Isn't he cute?  I got the idea from Amy at Sew Incredibly Crazy .  I had to make one snowman instead of two like she did because my table isn't very big in the kitchen.  I also omitted the arms.  I am very pleased with how it turned out. 

I got in a hurry to finish it before dinner and wasn't paying attention and sewed it together face to face with the batting in the middle.  Have you ever done something silly like that when hurrying?  I was kind of annoyed with myself.  It ended up taking me longer to rip it out and redo the stitching.  Now I have a zillion tiny white bits of thread all over my floor.  Lesson learned-take your time!  All's well that ends well because with a little vacuuming, my craft room will be back to normal and I love the finished runner.  Finally my table has some color and character. 

I mentioned some time ago I would share my cream of broccoli soup recipe.  Because it is not a real recipe but a concoction I just throw together, I will give you the general idea and I am sure if you choose to make it, it will be fine.  I just cook frozen broccoli and baby carrots in chicken stock until tender.  Sometimes, I use water flavored with chicken bouillon cubes(quite a few) to cook my veggies in instead.  The result is saltier but that can be a good thing!  I cook whatever veggies I would like.  Sometimes I add potato cubes or cauliflower in the beginning and I almost always add frozen corn towards the end of the veggies cooking.  When everything is done to your satisfaction, you can add half and half to taste.  If you go this route, add a couple of pats of butter and you are done.  It is a thinner soup, but very delicious.  If you require a thicker soup, make a roux with 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons flour and slowly add 1 cup half and half.  I like to add shredded cheese blend if I intend to thicken the soup.  Add the thick cheesy goodness to your chicken broth based veggies and stir until thickened.  Either way it is awesome.  It is a great way to use up vegetables and I love that it is customizable for whomever you are feeding.  My oldest only likes potatoes in it-which makes it cream of potato soup! 

Our weather has been bizarre this last week.  I feel that Easter should be around the corner with the balmy temperatures we have had!  Maybe the madness will end and Winter will continue.  I have some snow days to hope for!  Take care.   Nancy

Happy New Year

I hope this Sunday evening is finding everyone doing well.  I had a good and fairly uneventful weekend-just the way I like it!  We put away our Christmas decorations and I put out all my snowman stuff.  Every year I try to make some things to add to my collection.  This year I will be making a snowman table runner for my kitchen table.  Actually that is in the works.  Today, I stitched a cute little pillow hanging I saw in a magazine. 

It is made of felt.  I used 4"x4" squares for the front and back and just traced a very simple snowman onto white felt. I used blanket stitching and basic embroidery for the features to finish him up.  I love the button color I used.  I had some satiny black rope trim that I used to hang him up and there you have it.  I can't remember what magazine I saw this in, but I recalled how cute I thought it was and thought it would be quick to make. 

He fits in quite nicely with all my snowmen!

I also found time to get in the kitchen this morning and make a yummy coffee cake.  It is a pecan cherry coffee cake and it was easy.

 Turn your oven to 400 degrees and spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.  Melt 5 1/3 Tablespoons butter in a small saucepan.  Pour that melted butter in the bundt pan and swish it around up the sides.  Sprinkle the melted butter with 1/3 cup brown sugar, 6 oz. whole maraschino cherries, and 1/3 cup pecans.  Set aside and prepare your batter: 2 cups Bisquick, 2 Tablespoons white sugar, 2/3 cup milk, 1 egg and 2 Tablespoons very soft butter.  Mix it by hand until smooth and spoon it over your sugar mixture in the bundt pan.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Immediately flip onto a plate.  Cool for a bit and glaze as desired.  As you can see from the picture, I desired much glaze! 

I have a tip for you about Bisquick.  A long time ago, when I was single and didn't bake as much as I do now, I went to make a Bisquick Impossible cheesecake for a party at work, and discovered my Bisquick had become "buggy" in the cupboard.  I had to run out to the grocery store and purchase a new box to make my cheesecake.  I talked to my Mom and she shared with me that she had experienced that once with oats so she kept her oats in the fridge from then on.  I decided to keep my flour, oats and Bisquick in the fridge and have done it ever since!  It has never affected the performance of any of these ingredients, and I feel better using it.  I used to keep my Bisquick in a clunky plastic container that poured and I usually made a mess trying to measure it for a recipe.  Well, I found something better!

This container is made by Oxo and I found it at my local Bed Bath and Beyond.  It was kind of pricey but it has been a lifesaver!  Measuring out my Bisquick is easy and mess free.  I just keep it on the bottom shelf of my fridge-right next to the canister of flour and the cardboard container of oats!

I also wanted to pass along a killer hot drink idea I found on another blog. 

  This is a picture of a hot caramel apple cider float and it is beyond good!  I found it on Shaken Together and had to give it a try.  I am not a coffee drinker and due to my newly discovered chocolate allergy, I had to give up hot chocolate.  I love my tea and my chai but sometimes you need something special to warm you up.  This is it!  The only problem I had is that I wanted one every night!  Proceed with caution-you will be hooked! 

I have several projects in the beginning stages, so I hope I have time this week to work on them.  It has been wintry here which is different from last winter.  It makes curling up in the evening and watching tv really cozy.  I suspect I will want to knit and crochet more instead of sewing.  The snowman table runner I am making should entice me back into my sewing room!  Stay warm everyone and take care.   Nancy

Bearded Hats and Chicken Taco Pizza

Hi everyone and happy almost New Year!  I love the new year because I can envision a clean slate on which to imagine myself doing everything I should be doing or all the things I always wanted to do.  Maybe one of these years I can make those things a reality-at least a few of them!

I want to begin this post by sharing a project I am pretty proud of.  I am a novice to crochet and I managed to take info from several places on the internet and make 7 of these beards.  My sons have the greatest group of buddies.  My husband and I feel fortunate that they are such good kids.  They tend to hang out in my husband's shop several nights a week watching movies and playing games.  They call themselves "bros" because they have been friends since grade school and are as close as brothers.  I wanted to make them official bro hats and I loved these lumberjack looking bearded hats I saw on various crochet blogs.  I didn't have time(or the skill) to make 7 hats too so I cheated and bought seven basic Winter hats at Target for a little over $3 a piece to start.  Then I bought 2 big skeins of basic dark brown yarn and a 9mm"N" crochet hook.  I had to fiddle with how many to chain on for a men's size because I saw alot of info for kids hats on line but I came up with chaining 24 loosely with two strands of yarn.  I had to keep my tension loose because I tend to knit and crochet pretty tightly.  The whole thing is done in half double crochet so you just do that for the first row then you chain 2 and turn.  Go into the second stitch and 1/2 dc 8 stitches then chain 4 for the mouth opening.  Skip 4 stitches on your project and continue 1/2 dc until the end.  The next row is all normal until you get to that chain 4,  then yo just 1/2 dc 4 times into the opening and finish the row like normal.  Now you taper off at each end by doing the first and last 2 stitches differently.  You yarn over and go into the first stitch you would normally do, but then you pick up the next stitch, yarn over again and go through all 4.  This may not make sense because I am not a true crocheter(is that a word?)  Maybe I should just say decrease each row at both ends the way you would normally.  I think they turned out cute and the whole gang of bros liked them.  I hear they keep your face really warn while shovelling snow!  We have gotten quite a bit of that lately!

     Here is my youngest son Christmas morning trying on a shirt he got for Christmas and being a good sport to model his bro hat.  I am amazed I got them all done in time for Christmas Eve but I am very happy I came up with the idea. 

On to a yummy idea my husband had.  Christmas Eve we usually have hot and hearty appetizers for the four of us.  We watch a Christmas movie or two and play games.  It is a very special tradition we enjoy.  This year, while discussing what we wanted to have, my husband came up with this pizza idea-chicken taco pizza.  I started with a Boboli pizza crust.  I mixed mild taco sauce and Ragu pizza sauce and spread that on the crust.  In a large frying pan, I heated the shredded breast meat of a rotisserie chicken, water and taco seasoning mix.  I cooked it until the water and seasoning mix really coated the chicken and became thick and bubbly.  I put the chicken all over the crust and sprinkled shredded Mexican blend cheese over the chicken.  I baked it according to the Boboli instructions.  Meanwhile, we chopped tomatoes and shredded lettuce to put on top.  My oldest doesn't care for lettuce or tomatoes so we let everyone put on their own but you could pile that stuff on when the pizza comes out of the oven.  We served it with taco sauce and sour cream.  It was fantastic.  We will definitely have that again!  We also had Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip and we played Clue and Uno and Mario Cart on the Wii.  It was a great Christmas Eve.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I can't believe how fast this vacation has gone.  I am not even close to being ready to go back to work this week!  Have a safe and happy New Year and take care.  I will talk to you next year!   Nancy    

Last Minute Christmas Projects and Cookies!

Hi everyone and happy Sunday.  I have been very busy these past few days doing my last few handmade projects for Christmas.  I made this felt Ninja lip balm holder for my great niece as a package tie on for her gift.  I think it turned out cute.  She can attach it to her backpack and it will go everywhere with her.  I love that you can personalize it by choosing felt colors the little girl likes.  Riley likes pink and purple.  I found the pattern and instructions in the new magazine Make it Yourself .  It is a Better Homes and Gardens publication.  There are a lot of great projects in the magazine.  It was a first issue. 

 

 

I also made a loyalty card wallet to put a gift card in as a gift.  These loyalty card wallets are fun to make and easy. I just thought it was way nicer to present a gift card this way instead of just keeping it in that cardboard card they come in.  This way it's two gifts in one!

I wanted to share my favorite traditional Christmas Spritz cookie recipe.  I have made these every year since I was on my own.  My Mom made them every year when I was growing up.  They are so delicious and festive too.  Cream 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 cup softened real butter.  Add 3/4 cup sugar and 1 egg.  Blend and add 2 1/4 cup sifted flour, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon almond extract and green food coloring.  Blend until a fairly stiff batter comes together.  Fill a cookie press fitted with a tree disc.  Form the trees on an ungreased cookie sheet, decorate with colored sugars and bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.  Remove to a cooling rack.  I use the old-fashioned metal Mirro press my Mom got me as a Christmas gift my first Christmas in my apartment at 18 years of age.  It was just like hers and I love it.  It brings back such memories.  Traditions are my favorite part of the holidays. 

  I haven't shared a picture of Mickey in a while so I thought I would throw this one in!  She was sprawled over my husband's lap as he sat and talked to me in my craft room.  Don't you love her Christmas collar?  She was sound asleep and when I was about to snap this picture, she awoke just enough to give me a dirty look for disturbing her!  Here she is, five years old, and she acts like a kitten with the Christmas tree.  We can't put the skirt under the tree because she runs and bunches it up under the tree.  We got tired of fixing it.  She is also chewing on the tree(and it is an artificial one!) and makes it move when she hides under it.  Hopefully she won't tip it over. 

I wanted to thank all of you who dropped me a line hoping I was feeling better.  I am feeling better, thank you.  I am working on a fun project for some of my son's friends.  It involves crochet and it is a lot of fun-more on that later.  Well, have a wonderful week and take care.   Nancy   

Ornament Swap and Some Amazing Sweets

 Hi everyone.  I am officially struggling with yet another upper respiratory infection, a severe one, or so the Urgent Care doctor said.  So, I am benched from going to work for the next two days.  I have lost my voice due to the lovely tickle cough making my throat raw so I am being picked on by the men in my house.  They are calling me "squeeky" and asking me to repeat things as they snicker.  I am trying to hold on to my sense of humor.  So far, so good! 

On to my crafty adventure of the week.  I joined an ornament swap hosted by the Natural Nester sisters.  My partner is an avid runner.  I asked her what she collects and she said running shoes!   We could either make or buy an ornament.  I felt it was important to make one so I set out to make a running shoe.  You know how I am without a pattern.  I stressed about it a little and then I got a photo-like picture off the web of a good running shoe.  I was trying to figure how to translate that into felt when a friend suggested I use a clip art picture instead.  That worked out much better-thanks Nicole!  So I was off and running-no pun intended!  I think it turned out kind of cute.  I used pinking shears for the tread and embroidery floss for the laces.  I lightly stuffed it with fiberfill and sewed everything by hand.  I hope she likes it.  It was fun when I headed in the right direction. 

 

I don't know if I mentioned that I found out recently that I am allergic to chocolate.  It really upsets my stomach so I stopped eating it.  It has been several months.  I went for a check up and my doctor mentioned that I had lost weight and he wanted to know if it was intentional.  I kind of thought about it and said it must be the chocolate and explained it to him.  Well, I better keep the stuff you see above out of my house or I will be gaining weight and will have some explaining to do!  That amazing stuff in the jars is crock pot dulce de leche from Your Homebased Mom.  She mentions that you will probably eat it by the spoon right out of the jar and she was tragically right!  It is amazing.  I made the three jars as a trial run because I want to give some as gift add ons for Christmas.   I think I should make a disclaimer and put it with the jars to warn the people who I give the jars to so they will be aware of the danger!  It really is that good.  Seriously there are recipes to make with it, mine just never made it that far! 

 

My husband enjoys using my Babycakes appliances from time to time to make some goodies.  He recently made maple-glazed donuts  from Making Memories.  They were awesome.  My maple extract is way darker than the extract used in the original recipe.  It almost looks chocolate.  I think we made way too much frosting but better too much than not enough!  I am a frosting girl for sure. 

I have asked for the cupcake maker from Babycakes for Christmas.  I have liked all the other Babycakes makers I have so I am sure the cupcake one should be fun.  It is like the Easy bake oven for grown-ups!  I LOVED my Easy bake oven when I was little.  I used it every weekend! 

 

I hope everyone has a great week.  Are you finished with your shopping?  I am almost done.  I have a few things to make yet and I have get togethers starting this week to exchange gifts.  I also have to come up with what to make for Christmas Eve here with my own family and what to bring for my husband's family gathering Christmas day.  We usually have elaborate appetizers and hot dips Christmas Eve.  I'm thinking homemade pizza and chicken wing dip.  Stay healthy and take care. Nancy

Handmade Gift Exchange and Cooking with Leftover Pumpkin

Happy Sunday everyone.  December is here and now time will literally fly until Christmas.  My mother always used to say that the older she got time just flew by, and as a youngster thinking Christmas would never get here, I didn't really believe her.  Now I do!   

I participated in Craftaholics Anonymous's Handmade Gift Exchange for the third year and had alot of fun making my partners gifts.  I asked what the colors of her dining room were and I made her a really cool 4 fat quarter apron.   I enjoyed making this and will probably make myself one when things die down after the holidays.  You know what a collector of fat quarters I am!

 I also made her a loyalty card wallet because I loved mine so much.  I really loved the fabric I used for this.  Mostly it came from a charm pack I won in a giveaway from my Friday Night Sew In and I also threw in scraps from fat quarters.  I finished it by using my machine to embroider her name on a ribbon so it is uniquely hers. 

I enjoy doing this gift swap.  It is alot of fun trying to really make something personalized toward your partner. 










Now onto my leftover pumpkin dilemma.  I bought a ginormous can of pure pumpkin this year.  I am not sure why except to say that in years past all of my local stores sold out before Thanksgiving and I had to use the preseasoned pumpkin pie filling.  Anyway, I decided to make the Impossible Pumpkin pie this year from Bisquick.  That left me with some serious pumpkin left.  I hate to waste food and, besides that my husband loves pumpkin so I set out to find other recipes to use it up.  Here we go...

We have the pumpkin cream cheese braid.  It was delicious and amazing.  I like to have breakfast for dinner once a week so I really fancy it up and make sure I have either a coffee cake or danish to go with the savory foods.  This was perfect.  It was gobbled up very fast! 

I also made pumpkin muffins.  They were super easy and I ate them for breakfast for a couple of days as well as the fact they served as our bread course for Thanksgiving dinner.  Blend 1/2 cup pumpkin, 1/2 cup milk and 1 egg with a fork in a bowl.  Stir in 2 cups Bisquick, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon ginger until just moistened.  Fill 12 muffin cups 2/3 full and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.  By the way, please don't judge the amount of spread on them in the picture.  That is I Can't Believe it's not Butter- not the real thing!

Last, but definitely not least, is my pumpkin pudding.  You won't believe how easy this is.  Combine in a large bowl: 1 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1 small package instant vanilla pudding and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice.  Whisk all the ingredients until thickened.  Stir in 1 cup pumpkin.  Chill and eat.  It is amazing.  It seems like it would be much more complicated but it is easy. 

We put up our Christmas decorations yesterday and I discovered some areas lacking so I am going to start working on making what I need to fill the gaps.  I could use some real Christmas tree skirts on a couple of my small trees that have fabric puddled at the base.  Also, I need to make two place mats for my kitchen table.  I have a couple of contenders so I better decide and get going!  I hope everyone has a great week.  Take care.               Nancy