stuffing after Thanksgiving

I'm talking cotton,
not too many turkey dinners!,

though "cotton" could be an euphemism for over-eating too :)
Even if I did have THREE Thanksgiving dinners last week,
I'm still not talking about me and my stuffing...

I'm talking cotton stuffing because
I love little pin cushions.
Holding them,
collecting them, 
Making and stuffing them.
And I'm sold on this stuffing:

What's your favorite?

I'm back to cotton-stuffing some little pin cushions,
not me and my face:)

what's slower than molasses

on a cold Thanksgiving week?
ME!

(And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! - more on that later :) )
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving week!
  I had a great holiday -
Fun, laughs, lots of family - and too much food for sure! 
With full turkey dinners on Thursday, Saturday, AND Sunday,
you know what that spells:  o-v-e-r-e-a-t-in-g :)
And that just slows me down.

BUT,
that's not the "slower than molasses" part.

I'm talkin' 

what's slower than slow molasses?

ME - I'm so bad - and I admit it.
I had a give-away in February,
for my birthday.
And, because I'm slow,
I had the gifts ready to mail
in, say May.
So right there - already a quarter of the year late.
And I feel bad.  But, you know, life happens...
I'm busy and I need to learn to say no, or something...
anyway, no excuses, but I need to work on this.

I put the birthday give-away

gift boxes into this nice, red market bag,

put the red market bag into the back of my car,

ready to go to the post office.

And, WaLa! 
Done.
Finished.
Checked off my (mental) list!

 Totally forgotten - 

an out-of-sight,

out-of-mind kind of thing.

Do you remember that I shared that 

we had a home break-in

(while we were sleeping)?

If you don't, here's the edited version:

Early June.
A young man broke in, rummaged around,
ate some cookies from the pantry, and used the
half-bath facilities by the garage.
(ask me how I know that last part - yuck)
Took cash and phone.
Then he stole my car.

Evidently, he had been on a whole night roll,
breaking and entering, 
stealing, and being "just missed" by
the three different county's officials
that were following said intruder.

Our local township police force
(thankfully) saw a suspicious looking male-
disheveled, sweaty and tattered,
driving a late model vehicle (mine) at 5 a.m.,
and pulled him over.
He led them on a high speed chase,
yes, HIGH SPEED chase in my car,
video-d by police-car dash-cam,
through the local hills and dales of rural, central Ohio.
Finally,
he crashed my car,
ran through the back of three connecting neighborhoods,
and hid.
This is where they impounded my crashed car as evidence.

I got my car back from impound in a couple of days(then sent it to the repair shop), 
but had to wait for the "Stuff" in the car
that may have been something he "imprinted"
that could be used for evidence.  
I got the bag of evidence returned in October.  
And completely ignored it
for weeks...
until right before Thanksgiving.

Sorry, that was a long interlude to the

MOLASSES part of the story...

(aren't you glad it was the edited version? :)

So this past week, before Thanksgiving company arrived, I was going through all the accumulation around the house, including the Red Market bag.  There were a few things in it- a couple of  newspaper adds, coupons, gas receipts, a pair of sunglasses, a container of hand wipes...you know the junk that can accumulate in your car...well, the police had kept it all for me.
Here's the good part:
remember those checked off the list - birthday winner's packages

that were in the red market bag?
They got to go on that crime-spree-joy-ride!!!

My Birthday Winners giveaway packages!!!

Still in the red market bag...

that I had "Checked Off my List"

of things DONE, COMPLETE, FINISHED!!!

But, really forgotten...

Only one box was opened - and nothing damaged or stolen.
Just the boxes
a little worse for the wear crime-spree-joy-ride
and being impounded!!

So, ladies...

I, slower than molasses on a cold Thanksgiving week,

have taken your February prize winnings to the US post office!

 Today!!

So, only nine months late -

Happy Birthday!!!

(Also, Happy Independence Day,

Happy Thanksgiving,

Happy ALL the Holidays

I missed between February and now!!)

and so, so sorry!

From now on,
I'm going to try to work closer to the wood-burner -
it might warm up this molasses!
(and I promise to myself to work on the out-of-sight, out-of-mind thing)

Happy Monday!!!

mis-placed, not lost :)

At work early last week

I had used my camera &

I thought I had put it into my project bag

that was in the

big blue & white duffel bag.

Later when I looked for it, 
my camera wasn't there in my project bag.
And I was bummed...
I looked and looked for it. 
To no avail. 
(I even looked around work/parking lot a few days later when I worked again.)

So I packed for the retreat,
sad that I wouldn't have a camera.
I packed some of my many UFOs
and the above mentioned hand-stitching project bag.
I gathered all this STUFF and put it into my
big blue and white duffel bag, and
shoved it into the car
along with the sewing machine and clothing suitcase. 

Then a few days into the retreat last week,

I was digging around in my

big blue and white duffel bag

and guess what I found at the bottom???!!!

My CAMERA!!

I'm no longer bummed!  :)

I didn't have it early in the retreat to take pics around town, but

I was able to have it for show and tell! YAY.

Here's a pic of some of the 100 gals "retreating":

Anyway, Luann (who has a blog) was there (with her camera:)
and she has early-in-the-week Shipshewana pics.
Jump over there and check out her pics...
And tell her I said HI!
Luann @ loose threads

Thank you,

big blue duffel bag

for holding my camera for me!

RETREAT: old & new friends, & quilts

Dear Jane/Shipshewana

RETREAT!!

Yep, last week I got to go to

THE Dear Jane Retreat!!!!

in the Amish town of Shipshewana, Indiana!

SOOOO much fun!

So little sleep :)

old and new friends

 Above: Michigan folks, Ohio folks, and Minnesota folks

at my table.

Fun shoes:

old quilts:

New quilts!:

It was amazing seeing all the great quilt works!! 
I'm off to work on Thanksgiving day food prep -
more later,
Happy Monday!

Happy Wednesday!

bummer - lost mis-placed my camera:(

bonus - get to retreat this weekend!! :)

Another smile: I have a few pics
(saved to the SLOW desktop) to share...
Just some little table toppers:

but I think that they're cute!
All in reds and greens and quick to make up!

Happy Wednesday!
And thanks for stopping by.

ps I'm still having those dratted computer issues, so I'm having trouble replying to comments - please forgive me.

Pumpkin Pie Cake and Bonfire

Crumb-topped Pumpkin Pie Cake

As we all know, the weather across the country

during the past few weeks has been,

to say the least - bad.

And that includes the Halloween/beggars night time period.

BUT,

this past weekend was beautiful here in central Ohio.

So, last hour (really two days ahead of time),

after I saw the weather forecast, 

I sent out e-invites

for the Annual Chili Cook-Off and bonfire

that I usually host on beggars night.

 
And we had a great turn-out!

Not as many chili entries

(that's what happens when I don't plan ahead :)

but what was here was Tast - y!!!

Yum, yum!!!

The "blind" taste test was close,
but the "Turkey Chili - medium hot",
was the winner!!!

I have to say, to my taste buds, 
the "medium hot" was a 
little under-rated in the heat department...
To my thinking, medium hot shouldn't make your nose run!!
But it sure was good!

I think the pot was licked clean!

No, it was NOT me licking the crock pot!!

  Anyway,

I had a request for a recipe that I thought I had posted before,

but I couldn't find it, 
and it definitely is an Autumn dish,
so...

Collin - this is for you!

Crumb-topped Pumpkin Pie Cake 

Crust:
1 yellow cake mix - dry (reserve 1 cup of dry mix for topping)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg
Mix those three and pat into 9 x 13 greased pan
Filling:
16 oz. canned pumpkin
3 eggs
2/3 c. evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
Mix the above ingredients and pour over crust.

Topping:

1 cup reserved dry cake mix

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup soft butter

Cut soft butter in with dry ingredients until crumbly, then stir in:

1 cup chopped pecans

Sprinkle topping over filling and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 5 to 10 minutes.  Cool and serve with whipping cream.  Refrigerate leftovers.

A beautiful and clear November night, a crackling bonfire,

great food, and some Pumpkin Pie Cake...

that's what I call the a WONDERFUL night!!

There's change blowing in the wind

The Autumn winds are blowing in...

swirling the leaves around.

A coolness and crispness can be felt in the air.

TIME TO DO SOME SEWING & PIECING!!

Five different shades of muslin,

add some great reproduction prints in shades of Autumn,

and what do you get?

Sugar Maple!!!

This was a September finish that I just remembered to share -
it's a Country Threads pattern and
I put together kits (as pictured)
at the LQS if you NEED it in your life :)
It was a quick one to make and quilt up!
Happy Friday!

crusty bread & chili cook-off time

With all the weird weather and bad storms lately,
I postponed my
Annual Chili Cook-Off and bonfire
until this weekend.

Now that the 40 acre woods back and front yards
are cleaned up from storm debris
we have another brush pile
to add some logs to
for the bonfire.
The weather is supposed to be good this weekend...
And there's a bye this week for the state college football team...
I'm thinking it's CHILI COOK OFF time!!!

And, I made some bread!!

Crusty Bread
 easy, no knead!
Really!

(the left loaf is white, the right loaf is wheat with garlic and veggies.)

Crusty Bread recipe
3 cups flour
2 tsp. salt (I use sea salt)
1 tsp. yeast (not instant)
Whisk together in a good sized bowl
and stir in
1 1/2 cups cool water.
Mix only until incorporated, it will be sticky and messy. 
Leave in bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  
LEAVE bread BOWL ON COUNTER 12 TO 18 HOURS to rise. 
12 to 18 hours later:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Put cast iron, lidded pan* into hot oven for 30 minutes to bring to temperature. 
While pot is heating, turn the wet dough onto a heavily floured board or table and shape into a ball, using your floured hands or a dough scraper. 
Cover dough with the same plastic wrap and let rest while pan heats.
After 30 minutes, carefully remove pan from oven, remove lid from pan, and place sticky dough ball into pan. 
Re-lid and return pan to oven. Bake 30 minutes with lid on, then remove lid and bake additional 15 minutes.

Take pan from oven and with hot pads, remove lid and then carefully remove bread loaf.  Cool on rack.  Slice when cooled (if you can wait that long!)  and store in a paper bag. 

You can store in plastic, but it looses it's crunchy, crusty outside.
I have frozen the finished loaf, let it thaw and then re-warmed in a hot oven, it's not quite the same crusty goodness, but close.

I have, of course, changed up the recipe - that's just how I roll... (ha - roll:)
I've added chopped fresh veggies along with freshly grated garlic... yum!
I've swapped out 1/2 cup of the white flour for rye flour & added caraway seeds...yum!
I've swapped out 1/2 cup of the white flour for wheat flour - also yum! but don't go any more in your wheat flour exchange, 'cause it's a not so good bread - too heavy and dense.
I've added grated cheeses (sharp white cheddar often, Gruyere a few times, Asiago mostly)...YUM!
I also have done fresh or dried cranberries with walnuts or almonds; raisins and cinnamon; cherries and chocolate chips;  I'm sure that are more variations that I've done but not remembered to list.  Guess what I'm getting at is if you like it together, put it in...
you probably won't regret it. 

Lastly, this bread recipe should come with a warning. 
So here it is:
WARNING: this bread is so quick and easy to make that it's addictive -
both to make and to eat :) 

Ask me how I know.

I love to make bread,

but I'm not really a bread "fan" when it come to the eating,

but I can scarf down this bread when it's hot from the oven!!!

*Any heavy, lidded pan will work as long as it can take the 450 degree heat.

Have fun!  and don't try to blame me later for any new addictions :) 

meanderings

My last week of quilting in review...
(I love being able to meander all over quilts for other folks!)

Louise has now finished up all of her family quilt gifts!

This one is for her brother:

I've shared about her before, but,
remember that she is the newbie quilter that has gone WILD?
Well, wild in that she makes up her own quilt designs
AND gets creative and pieces the backs too!

Here's the back of her last quilt:

Isn't that great?  All of her family members now have a quilt gift from her.

(I keep trying to get her to adopt me! :)

Next up - 
This is a new quilter also - Jackie...
she made this as a wall hanging for her hubbies office:

And, lastly this week,

another finish for Joell!

Here's a close-up of the border fabric and the quilting:

Joell is soooo prolific.
She works full time, too.
Don't know how this happens!
Anyway, she has another quilt ready to trim and bind.

All great finishes, don't you think?

I've been stitching away on my hand projects.
I'll share some pics later this week.  Promise!
AND - I'm still shopping around for a new computer- not sure why I've been stalling on this...  Hopefully I will make up my mind soon - that will help my posting stats pick up :)
I hate not being able to just jump online, type a little, drop in a pic and share!!!
But in the whole overall scheme of things, it's just a minor annoyance, isn't it?
I have power, heat, lights, food, and a HOUSE
(I'm thinking all the time about the disaster up northeast, wondering how I can help...).

OK, back to stitching!  
I just heard the delivery truck pull in, 
which means that my order has arrived from my thread distributor, 
so I'm off to the Stitching Races again!!!
(Joell - another king-sized one of yours is coming soon!)

Happy Wednesday!

my two cents

92 years ago
in the United States...

women
fought for and gained
the right

to vote.

Today I will give my two cents.
Hope you do also.

Happy Tuesday!