Monday, December 23, 2013

Yum! Yum! Yum!.....and a new quilt top!

I spent the entire weekend baking my cookies for the trays that I send out.  I usually make up 6 trays for some neighbors and friends, and then a huge tray goes with hubby to work.  He works in the Snowmaking Department at Sunday River Ski Resort, and there are a couple dozen young, hard working guys that spend their whole shift trudging through snow banks, hauling hoses up and down the mountain, and generally working their butts off to make it great for skiers!  A lot of these guys are away from home, with no home-cooking (or baking) the entire time they're here.  So I feel good about supplying them with a sugar overload a few times during the season!  lol

This year I made 4 new cookies to add to my trays!  And they all came out GREAT!  Woohoo!

Here's my first attempt to photograph food like all the foodie-bloggers do.  Yep.....it's harder than it looks!  When you see a really great photo of food, that blogger knows what they're doing!  Me.....not so much!  lol

First of the new ones......and the BEST DANG THING EVER!  It's vanilla fudge center with dried cherries and walnuts, then dipped!  YUM!  It was originally going to be just fudge, but when I cut it up, it was kindof sticky, so I thought......let's dip it!  lol  And it's the best mistake EVER!  It's a little like a nougat.....swoon!

Next up, Peppermint Bark (just like Williams Sonoma!  HA!)  So good, and SO EASY!  And didn't cost $30 for a little tin, either!  lol

Next are the Candy Cane Cookie Dough Truffles that I got the recipe from Jocelyn at Inside BruCrew Life blog.  Totally awesome in every way!  (Check out her yummy blog.....you won't be sorry!)

And the last new item, Pecan Pie Bars from Lizzy at Your Cup of Cake.com.  Again, totally awesome!  Lizzy's site is filled with easy recipes, most using a cake mix!  So great!

I usually make snowflake sugar cookies every year, and these came out prettier than ever!

Here's a look at all 15 different kinds at once!  I can't stop eating them, so I'll be fixing another tray for hubby to take tomorrow, too!  Then they'll all be OUT OF THE HOUSE!  Whew!  And then I'll be able to seriously get back to Weight Watchers on Thursday!


Ok......so that was all the Yum Yum Yum part of this post......here's the newest quilt top!



It's made with recycled shirts for the Rolling Stone blocks and yardage I had for the sashings and cornerstones.  The blocks finish at 11 inches...... the sashings are 6.5 inches wide!  I love that look!  I got the inspiration for this quilt from some photos that Bonnie Hunter and friends took at 2 visits to Sisters, Oregon over the last couple of years.  They had been looking at one of the antique quilts booths and took pics of this quilt, and the minute I saw it, I just knew I had to remake it!  I didn't use any reds or blacks like the original; my blocks are all blue and brown with white to beige center rings (very subdued in comparison).  I switched out the background white for a soft blue, too.  You know me......I can never just follow a pattern exactly.....something ALWAYS has to be different!  And my orange is a softer one, too.....don't want to freak my hubby out!  lol

(Original quilt from Bonnie Hunter's blog, 2012)


My plans are to REALLY get busy quilting up these latest quilt tops.  I'm hoping to have several to post about in the first few weeks of January!  Keep your fingers crossed for me, huh?

And if you know me at all, you'll understand that this post is #139, so it's my last one of the year!  I just LOVE prime numbers, and it's a quirky need of mine to end the year on one!  LOL

So, I'm wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a happy and healthy New Year!

And no.....I'm not even going to look at that stupid list I made last year of my UFO's.  (What was I thinking!  Sheesh!)   Nope.....not even gonna look!  HA!

regan

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Snow....snow....snow!!!

We're loaded with it right now!  And I love that!  I'm hoping we'll be skiing by the weekend!  :o)

I have been quilting like crazy this past week, and will hopefully have pics of my latest quilt top to show in the next day or two.

But I need to have a pic of some kind on this post......so......

.....Hubby just brought in the mail, and we had a good little laugh!  Only in a small town could you send out a card like this, and have it actually delivered correctly!  We love that!

And what's really funny......it's our town clerk who sent it.....and she KNOWS our address!!!!  HA!



Hope you're getting some time to relax and enjoy the season!  My baking marathon doesn't start until Friday, so I have a few more days to relax and sew!  Yay!

regan