A completed embroidery project!

This project has been a long time in the making, but the results were worth it!

Many years ago, when an elderly lady in our church passed away, her husband gave me many of her sewing and embroidery things. Included in them was an unfinished project in a grocery bag -- a gorgeous embroidered tablecloth. One corner had been barely started; the rest still had to be embroidered. I put the bag in my craft closet and forgot about it.

One day a few years back, I was thinking about how I'd like to take on a challenging embroidery project. I was sorting through my craft closet in the same time frame and came upon this grocery bag. I had found my project!

As I worked on the tablecloth, I decided it would be for my daughter Carrie. She often uses tablecloths and I didn't think she had one specifically for spring. For a couple of years, I set a goal to give this to Carrie at Christmas -- then, when it didn't get finished, I would aim for her birthday in April. Finally, in March this year, I finished it!!! I love the flowers and the clear vintage-y colors.

Here's the center of the tablecloth. This took the most time, as you might guess.

Here's a close-up of the center.

This is what the corners look like.

And this is how the tablecloth looked on Carrie's lovely Easter table.

A very satisfying project completed at last!

A Blessed Easter to All!

Just wanted to wish all of my readers a very blessed Easter Day!

Ideas for Easter Breakfast

Would you like some good ideas for Easter breakfast? Some of these recipes work admirably for taking to Easter breakfast at your church, or for a potluck brunch with friends. Others are better suited to being prepared and eaten at home. Many of them can be made with ingredients you probably have on hand.

Here's what we made to take to Easter breakfast at church last year:

No-Fry Doughnuts

(Photo by Taste of Home)

And this "Champions of Breakfast older post contains a ton of our breakfast recipes. The Chocolate Chip Coffeecake is what I plan to take to church for this year's breakfast.

You could also click on "breakfast" in the label cloud at right for more recipes.

Hope you find some recipes you'd like to try!

What are some of your family favorite recipes for Easter breakfast or brunch?

Easter egg dyeing with natural dyes ~ a fun project!

Here's an idea  for Easter fun with kids and grandkids. Two of my granddaughters and I tried our hand at dyeing eggs with natural materials. I found the instructions here (in a marvelous resource called Mrs. Sharp's Traditions): And a few other places as well. Basically, what you do is to put up to 6 white eggs in a saucepan and cover with approximately 2 cups of natural materials. We used yellow onion skins, red beets, red cabbage, and shredded spinach. Then add a tablespoon of white vinegar to set the dye. Bring the eggs to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the eggs to remain in the dye bath for 1 hour. Then remove from saucepan and allow to cool. If desired you may brush them with vegetable oil for a nice shine. Here are the results: From yellow onion skins: From red beets (these came out light pinkish brown -- actually sort of the color of brown eggs): From red cabbage: The yellow ones in the photo below are from spinach! Aren't they pretty? We had so much fun with this project -- took the eggs to church for decoration at Easter breakfast and asked people to guess which color came from which material.

Homemade chocolate Easter eggs

Peanut Butter Eggs
(Photo by Taste of Home)

Chocolate Eggs
(Photo by Taste of Home)

For those who may be interested in making their own homemade chocolate Easter eggs, I have a couple of fun links to share. I made these eggs with two of my granddaughters last Easter, and have been waiting all this time to share this post.

Both recipes may be found at the Taste of Home site: First, a recipe for Peanut Butter Easter Eggs; and second, a recipe for Chocolate Easter Eggs. Both kinds are dipped in chocolate and may be decorated with frosting and/or sprinkles.

Here are the finished centers:

We dipped them in almond bark,

melted,

and trimmed with sprinkles.
The dipping process:
Chef M.

Two chefs:

The sprinkling process:

The finished eggs:

Hope your family enjoys these wonderful chocolate eggs if you try either recipe!

A fabulous clam chowder recipe

(Photo by Taste of Home)

Just had to quickly share this Taste of Home recipe I tried last night for supper: Golden Clam Chowder. It was easy to prepare and absolutely delicious! I used sliced green onions (because I had some to use up) instead of a regular onion, which worked fine. I also cut down on the garlic to 3 cloves and used only 1/2 tsp. thyme. This is definitely a keeper recipe which I will make again and again!

Quote for today

I recently copied this encouraging quote onto a pretty file card and tacked it up over our bathroom sink. This is something I need to keep before me every day!

"If we know God, we do not need to know why He allows us to experience what we do. He is not only in control of the universe and all its facets but also of our lives; and He loves us. Though His ways are sometimes beyond our comprehension, we should not criticize Him for His dealings with us or with others. God is always in control of all things, even when He appears not to be."

~ Charles Ryrie

Hope this encourages someone else today as it has encouraged me!

Cookie recipes galore!!!

I thought I would join in this week with Gooseberry Patch's recipe round-up, which is featuring cookies. Cookies are my favorite thing to bake and there is no way I could link to only one recipe here on my blog. So I am sharing several assortments. Here are the links:

Fun and Festive Cookies (This assortment features cookies that are fun for any festive occasion -- including, but not limited to, Christmas.)

Family Favorite Cookies (This assortment features tried and true delicious favorite cookies of our family.)

2 Favorite Big-Batch Cookie Recipes

Would you like to get in on this recipe roundup? Find out how and join in below.

A glorious sunrise

Yesterday morning, the sky was absolutely glorious! I was reminded, of course, of the old saying "red sky at morning, sailors take warning", for I knew that bad weather was predicted. Sure enough, we had snow all morning and then rain in the afternoon. But what kept going through my mind as I thought about that sky was this verse:

"From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD's name is to be praised."
(Psalm 113:3)

No-Turn Omelet ~ a great "breakfast for dinner" recipe!

(Photo by Taste of Home)

If your family enjoys breakfast foods any time of day as mine does, you might like to try this old favorite recipe of ours: No-Turn Omelet. As written, this is an egg dish with cheese and sausage. But it is a very adaptable recipe.

I am not sure I have ever made this with sausage. I usually use either chopped ham or crumbled cooked bacon. I most often make this with shredded cheddar rather than the Velveeta®-type cheese that is specified. It would also be good with shredded Swiss cheese or maybe even Pepper Jack, I would think. Many similar recipes call for cubed bread or croutons, but this one calls for crushed saltine crackers, making it both easy and inexpensive. A meatless version is a possibility too -- one could add some chopped or sliced mushrooms in with the peppers and onions, maybe even chopped or shredded zucchini.

Hope your family enjoys this as much as we do!