Another Ornament Recieved

Met up with some stitching friends today to stitch, what a great way to spend part of New Year's Eve.  Marguerite made this mason jar lid ornament for me!  I love it! 

Such a wonderful remembrance of my "year of making jam"!

Thank you Marguerite!

A Christmas Gift in the Mail

This came in the mail yesterday!  All the way from Italy!  It is a RICO kit to make this lovely bow, and the writing is in German.  My dear friend Rosanna sent it!  Thank you so much for thinking of me!

One of my Most Favorite Christmas Gifts

I received this lovely afghan for Christmas!  It was crochet by my daughter-in-law's sister, Christy.  It is soft and warm and so very pretty. 

I just love it!  I will keep it out all winter and not pack it away with the Christmas things.

He Likes It, Hey Justin!

 Justin received the framed Superheroes Alphabet for Christmas.  He immediately found Batman, who seems to be his favorite at the moment.

 But the piece needed very careful further inspection!  He seemed fascinated for quite some time.

Here is the entire piece framed close up.  I am quite happy with how it turned out.  I would have chosen a different frame, but Justin's parents wanted a black frame, so that's what we did.

An Ornament Received

At our yearly Holiday Party, the member of our EGA Guild, Needle's Nest, have an ornament exchange.  Most years I participate, and this year I received this stunning ornament from Jan Christiansen.  It is beautifully stitched (Over 1!) and finished.  It has a place of honor on my tree.

Thanks, Jan!

Cardinal Ornaments

 I stitched these over the course of the year, but didn't ornamentify them until Christmas Day, shortly before they were given as gifts.  I purchased them when I visited Dixie Darlin' in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, a few years ago.  I recently called the shop to see if I could order some more, but was told they have been unable to get more from their supplies. 

I did 3 sizes.  The small and medium (shown above) and the large on the right.  One had already been gifted when I took the picture. 

A Christmas Visitor

On Thanksgiving Day, we had a Cooper's Hawk visit our deck and partake of his breakfast.  He returned on Christmas Day, and was probably hoping we would provide a bird for his breakfast, but alas, he came up empty handed.  We were too busy cooking and getting ready for the big family feast that was to take place later in the day.

Merry Christmas to all!

The Last of the Christmas Baking

 ....well, for this year!  First up are Honig Busserln.  Literally translated: Honey Kisses.  I am not fond of these, but one of my sons and my sister love these cookies. 

Lastly, Spritz Cookies.....these almost killed me.  I misread the recipe....twice!  This is the third attempt at the dough, and they finally turned out. This is my mother's recipe, but it is too stiff for my cookie spritzer....next year, I will have to use hers to get the desired effect.

Merry Christmas to one and all, stop by if you can, I have plenty of cookies!

More Christmas Baking

 First up, Kolatschki....the German Version.  they may not be pretty but they taste good!  I used my homemade jam, but it oozed out of some of them.  I need to work on this recipe a bit.

 Next:  Peanut Butter Blossoms.  I have never made this before and always thought they were hard to make, but they were quite easy and taste  good too!

This recipe is called Christmas Crack.  Homemade toffee pour over saltine crackers then baked, and topped with chocolate.  I forgot to add the sprinkles.

Almond Joy Cookies

Another new cookie recipe today, Almond Joy Cookies!  They are yummy!  Definitely a keeper.

More Cookie Baking

Today I baked Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.  Everyone loves Reeses Peanut Butter Cup candy, so when I came across this recipe for a cookie, I had to try it.  They came out yummy.

Baking on a Very Cold Day

 Sunday was bitterly cold in my neck of the woods.  I stayed in and did a little baking.  I made thumbprint cookies, using my own homemade jam.  This is a new recipe, and they turned out well.  They are yummy!

I can't forget my grandpuppies, they want cookies too!  I found this recipe for doggie treats, and I hope Murphy and JoJo will like them!

Happy 4. Sunday of Advent

First Batch of Cookies!

This week's baking adventure has turned to cookies.  I have not baked cookies on over 20 years!  I decided that this is the year to start again!  I started with a chocolate chip short bread cookie, a new recipe to me, and I am very pleased with how they turned out.  My taste testers liked them also.  I do know that I made them a bit too large and next time I make them I will have to make them a bit smaller. 

I went shopping yesterday evening for cookie scoops so that I can make more uniform cookies going forward. 

Today's project

By special request, Orange Marmalade!

Happy 3. Sunday of Advent

This Week's Baking Adventures

This week's baking adventure was Mason Jar Pies.  I made six apple and six cherry pies, and they were a hit.  All gone.  I didn't even get one!

Happy 2. Sunday of Advent

November Progress and December Goals

Again, not as much stitching as I would have liked, but I will take what I can get.  I only have one piece left to finish for the crazy January Challenge, so that will be my focus for December.  Meanwhile, I am gathering a list for the 2017 crazy January starts..........

November

WISPS:

10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
Antique Map and Needlebook
Heirloom Christmas Sampler
Oveture II 

In Progress

4 person RR Marguerite’s
Mini Embellishment Project 
French Alphabet Sampler page 3 
April flower of the month

Crazy January starts (28 new starts in January)

Justin’s Birth Sampler  finished
Landon’s Stocking  worked on it

Future New starts

Crystal Violets
Peter’s stocking
Mark & Karen’s wedding sampler
Tony & Melissa’s wedding sampler
Carnival
Walking on Water’s Edge
November Joyful World
December Joyful World
Small bargello ball  worked on it
4 cardinal ornaments finished
 

December

WISPS:
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
Antique Map and Needlebook
Heirloom Christmas Sampler
Oveture II 

In Progress
4 person RR Marguerite’s
Mini Embellishment Project 
French Alphabet Sampler page 3 
April flower of the month
Small bargello ball 

Crazy January starts (28 new starts in January)

Landon’s Stocking 

Future New starts
Crystal Violets
Peter’s stocking
Mark & Karen’s wedding sampler
Tony & Melissa’s wedding sampler
Carnival
Walking on Water’s Edge
November Joyful World
December Joyful World
 

WIP Wednesday

This is the Santa Train Stocking I should have been working on all year.....well I was doing well until I hit a stitching slump, and now here it is only a short time until Christmas.  Still hoping to get it done in 2016!

Happy 1st Sunday of Advent

Adventures in Baking

This week's adventures in baking found me making a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie...well, I made
two.....  my Saturday taste tester group has become quite large, and one pie just wasn't going to be enough!   It turned out rather yummy, and I was told "don't change a thing!"

So, here is the recipe:

This pie is best when it is made a day ahead so that it has time to cool and fully set. Once cooled, wrap with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until served and refrigerate remaining pieces.

Ingredients Serves:10-12 servings

Prep time:10 mins, Cook time:60 mins, Total time:1 hour 10 mins

·         1 9-inch pie crust (store-bought or homemade)

·         1 cup granulated sugar

·         1 cup light corn syrup

·         ½ cup butter (1 stick)

·         4 large eggs, beaten

·         ¼ cup bourbon

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         ¼ teaspoon salt

·         6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (approximately 1 cup)

·         1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

1.     Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a deep dish pie plate with the pie crust, set aside.

2.     Combine sugar, corn syrup and butter in a saucepan. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until butter melts and sugar completely dissolves. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

3.     In a large bowl, combine egg, bourbon, vanilla and salt. Mix thoroughly. Very slowly pour cooled sugar mixture into egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the heat from the sugar mixture doesn’t cook the egg mixture. Add the chocolate chips and pecans and stir to mix well.

4.     Pour mixture into pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until set and golden on top.

5.     Serve warm or chilled.

 

...and More Jam....

Perhaps I need an intervention!  I made more Christmas Jam this week.  Why, because I had some left over cranberries that I wanted to use up, and because the Christmas Jam has become my new favorite!

A Finish!

I finished this one over the weekend, well actually, right before I left the retreat on Sunday afternoon!  This is the Superheroes Alphabet for my little Justin.  Second time I have stitched this piece. 

Stitching at the Beach.....

 This past weekend, I attended an annual stitching retreat.  I always look forward to this event, because it is truly a get-a-way!  The event is held at Illinois Beach Resort and Conference Center in Zion Illinois. 

 Although the building is a bit dated, it is still a great place!  Most of the time, we never leave the hotel!  This is the view of the hotel from the water. 

 And this is a view of the beach.

 

 Here we are....from the left, Marguerite, Deb is in the middle and I am on the right.  Deb drove up from Kentucky to spend the weekend with us!

 On the left is Eileen Gurak, the designer of Handblessings Designs, and her sidekick, Bobby O'Brien.  They are the organizers of the retreat.  And they do a wonderful job!

 Here is an overview of the room.  People are not just sitting around stitching, but they wander around the room to see what everyone else is stitching.

 lots of happy, smiling stitchers!

 The beach is lovely at sunset too!

 It was a great weekend, that ended much too soon!

....and I Made Even More Jam......

I found a recipe for Christmas Jam, and really needed to make some.  Then I read the recipe.  It called for 5 lbs. of sugar!  Surely that was a type-o and they meant 5 cups?  I e-mailed the blog author and she confirmed that it was indeed 5 lbs.......yikes!  But....she mentioned that someone else had made the jam using low sugar pectin and much less sugar, so I decided to give it a try after all.  I used 48 oz. of frozen strawberries, 1 lb. of frozen cranberries, 2 boxes of low sugar pectin, and 5 cups of sugar.  After defrosting the berries, I chopped them in the food processor, and left them a bit chunky.  My taste tester liked it!  So.....I will have to make some more!

October Progress, November Goals

October was a bit better than September, but not by much!  I did get one thing finished, and am almost finished with Justin's Birth Sampler (aka Superheroes Alphabet).  Looking forward to more stitching this month!

October Progress

WISPS:
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
Antique Map and Needlebook
Heirloom Christmas Sampler
Oveture II 

In Progress
4 person RR Marguerite’s
Mini Embellishment Project 
French Alphabet Sampler page 3 
April flower of the month
October Joyful World  finished

Crazy January starts (28 new starts in January)

Justin’s Birth Sampler  worked on it
Landon’s Stocking 

Future New starts

Crystal Violets
Peter’s stocking
Mark & Karen’s wedding sampler
Tony & Melissa’s wedding sampler
Carnival
Walking on Water’s Edge
November Joyful World
4 cardinal ornaments
               

November Goals

WISPS:
10 hours on Rocky Mountain Christmas  
Antique Map and Needlebook
Heirloom Christmas Sampler
Oveture II 

In Progress
4 person RR Marguerite’s
Mini Embellishment Project 
French Alphabet Sampler page 3 
April flower of the month
 
Crazy January starts (28 new starts in January)
Justin’s Birth Sampler 
Landon’s Stocking 

Future New starts

Crystal Violets
Peter’s stocking
Mark & Karen’s wedding sampler
Tony & Melissa’s wedding sampler
Carnival
Walking on Water’s Edge
November Joyful World
4 cardinal ornaments
 

Apple Strudel

I backed an apple studel.  It looked good, but I don't know how it tasted.  My taste testers ate it all, and I didn't even get a crumb!  I will just have to suck it up and make another one!

Something New from My Kitchen

My favorite appetizer or snack at a German Restaurant is Obatzda, a Bavarian Cheese Spread usually served with Bavarian Pretzels. 

The creator of the original obatzda recipe was Katharina Eisenreich, the innkeeper of the Bräustüberl Weihenstephan from 1920 -1958. She served it to her guests as a light snack to accompany their morning beer and soon the idea spread, with many beer gardens creating their own special recipes.

I have been wanting to try and make my own for a long time, and I finally did it!  And I like it!  I will be serving it to my taste testers soon, I hope they like it too!  I will have to work on my Pretzels, this one is from Marianno's.

This Week's Baking Adventure

A few weeks ago, I baked a raspberry cream cheese coffee cake.  It was good, but I felt I could do better, so I set out to bake it again last night.  I increased the cream cheese and sugar in the cream cheese layer, and doubled the fruit on top, and used blackberries instead of raspberries (because the blackberries were on sale really cheap)! but other wise it was the same...

It was a hit!  All my taste testers declared it better than version 1, and there isn't a crumb left

WIP Wednesday 10-19-2016

Got some stitching time in this week.  I am working on the Superheroes Alphabet.  I would like to get it finished so it can be framed and given to my little Justin for Christmas.  Hope to have it done next week.

This Week's Baking Adventure

This week I baked a Plum Upside Down Cake (I had some plums I needed to use up).  We can also call it Plum cake, version 5.  My taste testers liked it a lot!  Version 4 was their favorite but this one came in a close second.   I forgot to get a picture of the entire cake, and this was the only piece left. 

The recipe called for 4 plums, I used 5 but next time I make it I would use even more, I just like a lot of fruit on my fruity cakes.