Pots and Pins

It Was A Very Good Year...

And a very busy one!  As I looked back through my blog I discovered I made not one, not two but NINETEEN QUILTS last year!  Well, actually, truth be told, start to finish I made ten quilts.  I pieced five new tops that are waiting to be quilted and I finished four quilts that were in various stages.  That's got to get me some kind of award, don't you think?  Here, take a look!

               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whew!  Maybe I'm not such a slacker after all!  Out of the 19 quilts/tops pictured here, I have TEN and the other NINE I gave away...doesn't that just warm the cockles of your heart?!?  Again, shouldn't I get some kind of award?!?

This year, my plan is to GO BIG...totally clean out my work room of all UFO's...unfinished objects...and free myself from the pile of quilt tops that silently scream at me to be finished!  A silent scream heard only by me.  SEW Nerve-wracking,  But I silence them with silent screams in return.  Silence is beholden when it comes to quilt tops...eventually their silence cannot be silenced and they have to be finished.  Feel free to quote me. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 

Hoppin' John With Ham Over Cheddar Grits...

If I was on the ball I would have given you this recipe days ago because eating black-eyed peas on New Years Day is said to bring good luck all year long and I'm willing to give anything that promises even the remote chance of luck a try.  I was prepared to beg your forgiveness but the mister said that wasn't necessary...he, being somewhat of a prognosticator of pontifical rhetoric, said eating black-eyed peas ANY day during the first week of the New Year would still bring the promised good luck...so fear not.  (I don't know how he knows this because the last time I checked he was not a card-carrying member of the Soothsayer Society.)  The mister knows a thing or two about luck, after all, he is STILL married to me, has a dog who he lets think he's his personal chew toy, has children (5 at the latest count) who still talk to him, and  last week the mister held in his hand a winning lottery ticket...he won the largest amount he's ever won, too...TWENTY DOLLARS!  Luck could be his middle name.  And now, after eating Hoppin' John for dinner, I'll hardly be able to sleep just wondering what LUCK will be headed our way!

You might be wondering where the name Hoppin' John comes from...if you find out, let me know as I have no clue. This is a two-pot dish...one for the Hoppin' John...onions, smoked ham cubes, black-eyed peas and tomatoes and the other pot is for the Cheddar Grits...smooth, creamy and cheesy...definitely not on my diet but for a chance at luck I was willing to take an hour off from dieting and I suggest you do, too. 

 

Hoppin' John With Ham Over Cheddar Grits - Adapted From Southern Living Magazine

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups smoked ham, cubed

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cans (15 oz.) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 can (29 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (4.5 oz.) mild green chiles

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

For Cheddar Grits:

3 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cups uncooked quick-cooking grits

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add onion and saute for 5 minutes or until tender.  Stir in ham, and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until the ham just begins to take on a little color.  Stir in black-eyed peas, tomatoes and green chiles.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook uncovered for 10 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Cover and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.  Serve immediately over cheddar grits.

To make cheddar grits:  Bring chicken broth and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Gradually whisk in grits, and return to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occationally, for 5 minutes or until thickened.  Stir in cheese until melted.  Serve immediately.  This dish serves 4 to 6 unlucky people.