Pots and Pins

Merry Freakin' Christmas!!

I have Good, Better and Best News to share with you today!!!   First the Good...and this should get those sugarplums dancing in your head doing the watusi!  We were informed last night that our house won our neighborhood's Best Traditional Holiday Light display!  Hilarious, no?!?  Every year the mister is outside swearing his head off while he blows one fuse after another, which ends up with us having half of our lights on at any given time.  Every year we put out the same crap, the plastic Frosty family and some candy canes...but this year we won!  Go figure!?!?!  Oh, we won a $25 gift card to Amazon...nothing to sniggle at I assure you, I'm going to frame the card and hang it in a place of honor as we are both stunned and tickled crimson red!

While everyone is still scratching their heads on how we could have won any kind of light display contest, let me tell you the Better news...a week of holiday baking has culminated in a vast array of goodies, all within reach 24/7...

 

 

 

 

Lemon Bars, Amaretti, Cinnamon Rolls and not shown, Sugar Cookies, Gingerbread Men, Peanut Butter Balls, Lemon Truffles, Caramels, Fudge and Christmas Pudding!  Whew!  It's times like this when being diabetic really sucks!  And now for the Best News of all!!!

The Best News is my little people arrived Sunday night!!!  It's been absolutely magical having them here...it's been just like Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

Poor pics!!  Max and Elsa also loved making gingerbread houses with Gramma...for every one candy that went on the houses, one went in the mouth-ses!

They loved the giant gingerbread houses and the carousel and the Westlake Christmas Tree - so fun to be able to see the sights with them!  It's going to be a very Merry Christmas for us...and we wish you all a Merry Christmas, too!  Now back to the Nerve Center...it's time to prepare the FEAST!

Merry Christmas!

Quilting Friend...

It happens every year...I have a list a mile long of things that have to be done before Christmas yet I decide to spend my precious time making something new!  And this something new was fun, as in F*U*N*! 

I saw a pic on Pinterest a year ago of a "Singer Sew Girl" (pic on left) made from an old Singer Sewing Machine Oil can, she's quite the looker!  Button earrings, thimble hat, and stylish socks and shoes!  I loved her!  The link that is on the Pinterest page (www.paraperamarket.blogspot.com) for this beauty goes to a site that is written in a language I don't know - maybe Russian?  After searching for the picture and hoping for some kind of tutorial, I found nothing and gave up - you might have better luck.

Since I happened to have two old Singer Sewing Machine Oil cans  (with oil still in them!) I decided I would make my own Sew Girls! I gathered what supplies I could from my stash but I didn't have any blocks with letters so I had to make a run to the shops.  After visiting two toy stores and not finding any blocks, I gave up and purchased a kids bracelet kit that had wooden letters and that's the only thing I bought!  Everything else came from my sewing room - it pays to be a Level One Hoarder!  Three glue sticks and an hour later - my Quilting Friends were born!

She's a beauty, no?  And before you say, "Who in their right mind would want one of those?!?"  I know plenty of quilters who are not in their right mind and I'm sure they'd want one of these!!  At least, that's the theory I'm going with because I made this one to give as a gift at my quilt group Christmas exchange party!!   I also included a few other things, just in case whoever gets my gift doesn't have an appreciation, err, an eye for art!  (This kind of thing is my favorite kind of gift to give - it serve no purpose except to make one smile.  Even if it's a pity smile.  A smile is a smile, right?)

This is the other one - SEW Ca-UTE!!!  If only I had more oil cans...

**Update:  If you want to make your own Quilting Friend, you don't necessarily need to use an oil can, one of my readers suggested using a large spool of thread - now that would be great!  I did not empty the oil from the can, I just sealed the top with glue so it wouldn't come out. I think the pic of one that was my inspiration probably drained the oil and poked holes in the can for dowels so the spools were threaded on them.  I just didn't see the need for that, hot glue worked great and I had no where to put the drained oil! 

Time to head back into the fray...the clock is ticking - the grandkids arrive in two days - Santa comes in less than a week - and the mister has already begun his annual tranformation into The Grinch.  Merry Freakin' Christmas!

English Muffin Bread...

Let's just get this out of the way right here at the top...this bread, this magnificent loaf of Heavenly goodness needs to be on your Christmas breakfast table...or your lunch table or your 3:00-I'm-having-a-meltdown-table - because it's a 5 danger my friends.  Five Solid Dangs.  It's so dang good, wait, let me rephrase, it's SO dang, dang, dang, dang, dang good that the mister and I ate ONE ENTIRE LOAF in a three-hour-Father-forgive-me-for-I-have-sinned-period.  I'm not ashamed to admit that, perhaps just a tad humiliated but the bread was so good I could not leave it alone.

 

 

 

I'm not talking about "home-made-bread-good" because this bread is unlike any home-made bread I've had in recent memory...it's dense, it's got a delightful "chew" and, and, and, when it's toasted and slathered in butter any impromptu or planned meltdowns evaporate and nothing is left in their place except pure happiness.  Amen. 

Here's one more thing to love about this bread - one recipe makes FOUR loaves!!!  FOUR!!!  That's enough bread to last 12 hours!!!  Hahahahaha...but my thighs aren't laughing!  AND it's quick to make - takes all of about 10 minutes to get the bread into the pan and ready to rise - it's a one-pot-mix, too, got to love that!   This is the Holy Trinity of Bread...it's Quick, easy and delicious!!  This makes an excellent gift, too, and it almost pained me to give it away...almost...but I did just that, I gave away three loaves because I wanted my friends to experience pure toasted joy and happiness!   

English Muffin Bread - Adapted Slightly from One Good Thing By Jillee 

5 1/2 cups warm water

*3 packages Rapid Rise Yeast (1/4 oz. packets each)

2 tablespoons salt

3 tablespoons sugar

**11 cups flour (I used bread flour but all-purpose will work, too.  11 cups will take up most of a 10 lb. bag of flour so make sure you have enough before you start!)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (for brushing on tops of baked bread)

*Jillee noted that regular yeast can be used but then the bread will need to rise twice, once in the bowl, till it reaches the top, and then again in the pans, till it reaches the top.  With Rapid Rise you only need to let it rise once in the pans and then it's ready to bake.)

**Just a note about flour...if you spoon flour into your measuring cup, as you're supposed to do, you will need about 12 1/2 cups of flour, however, if you use a measuring cup and dip into your flour so it's packed in a bit more, you will just need the 11 cups.  The dough should not be sticky-wet but soft and able to touch with the hand without it sticking.

Grease 4 bread pans and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the water, yeast, salt and sugar, mix very briefly, just until combined.  Add in the all of the flour, turn mixer on and mix until just combined.  Turn mixture out onto the counter and knead just a few times, cut into four equal parts.  Put dough into the prepared bread pans.  Allow dough to rise in pans until it reaches the top of the pan, about 35 minutes to an hour, depending on how cold/warm your kitchen is.) 

While dough is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake bread for 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.  (The first time I made this bread it was done after 40 minutes, be sure to check so you don't burn it, you want the tops to be a golden brown.)  After 25 minutes, brush the tops of the bread loaves with melted butter.  Makes 4 loaves. Bread will be moist at first so allow to cool completely before cutting.  (I couldn't wait and cut into the hot bread - it was fabulous!  But when it's cool you can slice this bread like nobody's business - thin or thick - it's pretty great - and even greater toasted!

 

Homemade Marshmallows...

Birthday week has ended and I'm officially another year older, sadly however, I don't seem to be any wiser.  If I were, I would have known that homemade marshmallows are infinitely better than any you can buy and they are unbelieveably easy to make.  Plus, homemade marshmallows that are dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes can only be described as supernal, heavenly, divine.  If there is food in Heaven, then homemade marshmallows will be served at every meal. 

 

 

 

Better late than never, right?  I now know homemade marshmallows are the only way to go when it comes to marshmallows!!!  For years friends have told me that homemade marshmallows are superior to store bought, but I always assumed the difference couldn't outweigh the convenience.  I was wrong - so very wrong!  When I was in Vermont at King Arthur Flour, I had one of their marshmallows - I wouldn't say it was life-changing - but maybe more life-affirming.  Homemade marshmallows are not a reason to live, surely that would be taking it too far, but I dare say I'd get out of bed a bit faster each morning if I knew I could put homemade marshmallows on my cereal or in my hot cocoa or toss them high in the air and catch them with my marshmallow hole! 

 

 

 

The variety of flavors are endless...along with the traditional vanilla, what about almond, cherry, or peppermint?  Whatever flavor floats your marshmallow boat!  Make them for your family, for your friends, make them for Christmas or Kwanza or for the highest of holy days - Seahawks Sunday!  Fold them into your Jell-O salad, sprinkle them over your baked sweet potatoes, package them up and give them for neighbor gifts...everyone likes marshmallows because it's a Marshmallow World! 

 

Last week was chocolate week - between the three of us we dipped about 900 chocolates by hand...and this was my first time dipping homemade marshmallows - they turned out SO great!  I think they're my new favorite but I could still be in the homemade-marshmallow-honeymoon-phase.  

We rented a large chocolate tempering machine but it gave us more trouble that it was worth so we ended up not using it on the second day of dipping...two days of being up to our elbows in chocolates...best anti-depressant there is!

Homemade Marshmallows - From King Arthur Flour

3 packages (1/4 oz. each) unflavored gelatin (there are four packages in one box)

1 cup cool water, divided

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

crush peppermint candies, optional

powdered sugar to sprinkle on top and to make cutting marshmallows easier

Combine gelatin and 1/2 cup water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt and the remaining 1/2 cup of water in a small, deep saucepan.  Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.  Raise the heat to high and cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.  Remove from heat.

With mixer on low speed, slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the softened gelatin.  Increase the speed to high and whip until the mixture is very thick and fluffy.  Mixture will cool as it's being whipped and will increase in volume; depending on your mixer, this takes between 3 and 10 minutes.  Add vanilla (or whatever extract you want) to the mixture.  You can add crushed candy canes to the marshmallow mixture while it's being whipped, which will tiny the marshmallow pink and add more flavor and a bit of crunch.  When the volume as increase and the mixture is cool enough for you to handle without being burned, about 95 degrees, spread the marshmallow mixture into a greased 9 x 13-inch pan (glass or ceramic is best).  Using the back of a wet spatula, smooth and flatten the marshmallows.  You can sprinkle crushed candy canes over the top at this point, if desired.  If not using crushed candy canes, sprinkle powdered sugar over the top and let sit for several hours (or overnight) before cutting.  Use a greased knife or dip knife into powdered sugar between cuts to make squares or other shapes.  Makes about 100 1-inch squares.

Pumpkin Tomato Bacon Soup...

The mister is still reading the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and when he's not reading he's watching the Military Channel so it should come as no surprise that when he's sleeping he's back in the jungles of Vietnam.  If he wants to read about war, watch TV about war and then dream about war, it's all fine with me...until he starts to act out the war in his sleep!!     Mumbling, trashing about, hitting the bed with FISTS and waking me up with his carrying-on!   I am bleary-eyed this morning from not sleeping last night!!  Suffice to say, the mister is MY Vietnam!!  Since war seems to always be on the mister's mind, this morning when I was putting on my gym socks, he looked a little confused and asked where I had gotten socks from "Hue"...which is a city in Vietnam (also the place of a horrific battle during the Vietnam war) and it's pronounced "way".  I reminded the mister that he was in America where people speak English and my socks said HUE, as in the hue of my legs matches the hue of the carpet which is hard to see given the way my right foot looks!   

 

 

 

And speaking of hue...the hue of this soup is beautiful!  Pumato?  Tomakin?  Pumtomcan?  Their names don't blend as easily or sound as good as this soup tastes.  It's perfect for this time of year...warm, comforting, filling and if you're tired (from not sleeping) and don't want to make a huge feast it can be on the table in 30 minutes! 

The mister loved this soup and and so did I.  It's different.  Think of it as a really savory tomato soup...the pumpkin is almost undetectable - it gives the broth a richness and depth...along with the caramelized onions and bacon...YUM!  I served this soup with grilled cheese sandwiches but it's good enough to stand on it's own!  You can puree the soup so it's smooth and creamy or leave it chunky like I did...either way, it's the perfect meal for a cold, rainy, blustery day.

Pumpkin Tomato Bacon Soup - Adapted (heavily) From Tracy Bermeo, Verona, NJ

(The original recipe calls for using a whole, fresh pumpkin, peeling and dicing it and cooking it in a slow cooker...hello???  Who has time for that?!?  Also, the original recipe calls for 6 cups of pumpkin, granted, peeled and diced cooked pumpkin might come out to equal the 2 cups of pumpkin puree I used, but I took the easy way and used what I had on hand...2 cups of leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge.  I didn't want a really strong pumpkin flavor, so 2 cups did the trick.)

3 tablespoons butter

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes

1/2 large yellow onion, finely diced

8 slices bacon, thick cut, fried till crisp

2 cups pumpkin puree

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely minced or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot, melt butter; add onions and cook over medium heat until onions are soft and just beginning to caramelize, 8 to 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Slowly stir in chicken stock, tomatoes and pumpkin.  Chop up 6 slices of bacon (set aside two slices) and add to the pot along with the thyme.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Check for seasonings and add salt and pepper is needed.  Garnish with remaining pieces of bacon, either by breaking into small pieces and sprinkling on top or serve the soup with the bacon sticking out of the bowl.  Serves 4.

 

Happy Birthday To ME!!!     

(In the off chance the mister reads this post, I want him to know what he missed.)

Having a birthday is Mother Nature's way of telling us to eat more cake!!  Glad my age isn't measured in dog years, I would have to be put down!  It's been scientifically proven that people who have more birthdays live longer!  YAY for ME!

Quilt Group Friday...

The mister jumped on the No Shave November bandwagon...and he's still there.  He now has a nice beard, which is fifty shades of gray.  The mister was admiring his new face in the mirror, and maybe it was the red sweater he was wearing or the bad lighting...but he smiled, patted his stomach and let loose with a, "Ho-Ho-Ho!"   For one second there was a twinkle in his eye...and then Bad Santa appeared...the mister may look like Santa and he may sound like Santa but I know Santa, and he ain't him! I am posting this as a Public Service Warning...if you are in my neck of the woods and you see a man who looks like Santa, approach with caution because if it's the mister, you'll be sorry!

Let's talk quilts...our group met the Friday before Thanksgiving and it had only been a short three weeks since we had met so I didn't expect to see too many quilts - but I was happy to be wrong!  We started off with blocks for Stephanie.  She asked us to make her the blocks pictured above, except about half of them were sewn wrong.  Stephanie gave us the instructions, told us what to cut and then sew...but if you look closely you'll see the center strips in some of the blocks are wider than others.  Here's why this happened:  Usually when quilt instructions are given, the cutting is done at one time, and then the instructions for sewing are given.  Stephanie gave us cutting instructions, so we cut.  Then, because we assumed we were done cutting, we sewed...but after sewing the center strip Stephanie told us to cut them to size and several of us missed that step...we like to pretend we know what we're doing so we looked at the picture and sewed it up.  So a simple block turned into a bit of a nightmare for Stephanie!  I'm sure Stephanie will get them all sorted out...and it will be a wonderful quilt.  I'm going to wait and tell you the story behind this quilt when it is finished...but I'll give you a hint, it's for a Gold Star Mother. 

Last month Lori and Helen took a class from Freddy Moran, (you can read my posts about Freddy Moran and see some of her quilts by clicking here and here.)  Lori brought in the quilt she made at that class.  Lori pieced the black and white background and then cut out the flowers and glued them to the backing.  Once the glue is dry it is not gummy and will not cause any problems with sewing machine needles...and this quilt top will be machine quilted, which is why I mentioned the glue!  The flowers are raw edge, but this quilt won't be washed or used - it will probably be hung on a wall or maybe even framed!  I really like how this turned out - love the colors and how bright and happy it is - just like Freddy's quilts!

Isn't this a cute quilt?  I wish I could tell you who's quilt it was...but I don't remember!  However, I'm sure someone will let me know???  Someone?  Anyone?  Buehler? 

This is Helen's quilt - I would recognize her handi-work anywhere!  She "found" these blocks in her workroom...only Helen has blocks like this just lying around!  This is a bit of a Christmas Kitchen Sink quilt - all kinds of fabrics and blocks - and it is fabulous!  Helen said this was therapy for her, making this quilt, so I hope Helen stay in therapy because what she creates while there is just toooooo fun!

 

Helen brought in this project she is working on - making Hexie's without sewing...well, sort of.  Starting with a circle, the fabric is folded around and around and it's finger-pressed...the only kind of pressing I like.  Then a few stitches are taken in the center so the Hexie wiill hold it's shape or a button could be sewn on.  Helen hasn't decided how she's going to use her Hexie's yet but I LOVE this idea and I just might be working on my own Hexie project! 

This is Neva's quilt.  It's the perfect lap size made with some very fun fabrics - don't you just love that stripe?  Nicely done Neva!

This quilt had us all a little speechless.  Janet made it from her husband's shirts - just look at all of those little pieces in the sashing!  It's so beautifully pieced!  Janet worked on this quilt for a very long time, it was her therapy quilt and I know this quilt holds a lot of memories for Janet - and a lot of love.

This is a close-up of one of the corner's - every stitch was made with love.  It's beautiful Janet!!

Stephanie made this quilt top and if I remember correctly, it started with the block in the center which Helen gave her.  It is draped over a coffee table so you can't really see how big it is or the edges - I love orange and green together - one of my favorites!

I'm so sorry about this picture - it just doesn't do the quilt justice.  This is a whole-cloth quilt made with The Ghastlies Christmas fabric.  Kareena made this quilt and IT IS HUGE!!!  I think it's queen-size but it could be king-size - it is huge-er than huge!  Terry quilted it and it's a shame you can't see the quilting because Terry outlined EVERY PERSON and EVERY TREE and EVERY LITTLE THING!!!  It is heavily quilted and it's going to be so fun on someone's bed this Christmas!!

Well that's it...it was a great show, no?  Our show was followed by a fabulous lunch made by Janet who hosted us...it was a very rainy cold day (as always!) but it was so fun to be with such good women in Janet's beautiful home...I live for days like that!  November proved to be one of the busiest months for me this year...two birthdays, a trip to Utah, wedding flowers and dress alterations, pies with kids-kids-kids, Thanksgiving and putting up Christmas decorations and blowing fuses with Christmas lights...glad November is over so I can now concentrate on the calm month of December!