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