Fabric Giveaway at Cotton+Wood!

(The fabrics pictured below are from my stash and are for illustrative purposes only.  They are not the fabrics being given away at Cotton+Wood.)

I made coasters (seen below)  from some of my stash fabrics!

I love fabric; it's an established fact.  Years ago, my family gave me a magnet reading "I'm a Fabric-holic!" and it was quite true.  Even today, my daughters know that a sure-fire gift for me is a selection of fat quarters or half-yard pieces of a variety of fabric.  But I think I can probably now say that I'm a recovering fabric-holic.  I tend not to buy fabric unless I have an idea of what I will use it for.  And I've done a fairly decent job of using up fabric from my stash.

Still, I must admit that my heart beats a little bit faster when I see some wonderful fabric online or when I read about a fabric giveaway like this one:  Fabric Giveaway at Cotton+Wood!.  Maybe you too would like the opportunity to win some new fabric.  If so, head on over to Cotton+Wood and get in on the fun!

Tomato Chicken Rice Soup

(Photo by Taste of Home)

I tried a new soup recipe last night and we really enjoyed it, so I thought I would share the link.  You can find it here:  Tomato Chicken Rice Soup.

I should note that I changed a couple of things.  First of all, I skipped the step of browning the flour at the beginning -- in fact, I skipped the flour completely.  I achieved the slight thickening of the soup (which may not even be necessary) by way of reserving 1/2 cup of the water until the end of the recipe and mixing 2 Tablespoons cornstarch -- the equivalent of 1/4 cup flour -- into it.  Then I stirred this into the simmering soup at the very end.

The other thing I changed was the herbs.  I was running low on thyme and I don't care for large amounts of that herb anyway.  So I substituted 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (which typically contains both of these herbs in addition to others) for the oregano and thyme.

We thought this soup was absolutely delicious and I will be likely to make it whenever I have some leftover cooked chicken on hand.  Perhaps your family would enjoy this hearty soup as well!

What are some of your favorite soup recipes?

A sparkly winter centerpiece

I came across this beautiful idea on Homespun with Love and immediately knew I had to try it before winter was over.  It's a centerpiece made with these Frosty Pillar Candles. 

All of the components, other than Mod Podge®, may be found at Dollar Tree.  You may even have things like pillar candles and glass plates already around your house.  I had to buy the candles and plate, but had Epsom salts and Mod Podge already on hand.  The greenery I used is vintage plastic greenery (with a touch of glitter) from the 1950s.  I knew I had been saving that for something!  I gave it the Epsom salts treatment too.  The only word of warning (and this may not bother you, but just in case) is that once you get all three of those candles unwrapped and in close proximity to one another, the aroma is just a bit overwhelming.  It might even be prudent to set the centerpiece outdoors or on a porch for awhile, just to let the scent dissipate for a bit before displaying it. 

Have fun with this idea!  I certainly did, and a friend suggested these would be nice to do in red and pink for Valentine's Day.  I just might have to try that!

Cran-apple sauce

(Photo by Taste of Home)

I've been meaning to post this link for some time.  We enjoyed this delicious sauce with our roast pork for Christmas dinner, but it would be nice with turkey or a roasted chicken as well.  Here is the link:  Cran-Apple Sauce.

We loved the flavor of this fruity applesauce.  However, I didn't puree the sauce as the recipe says to do; I just mashed it a bit with a potato masher.  So the batch that I made didn't have the smooth appearance of the one in the picture.  But if you think you would like your cran-apple sauce better if it was silky-smooth, then by all means go right ahead and puree it.  Enjoy this yummy recipe!

A hearty soup for a cold winter day!

(Photo by Taste of Home)

A few weeks ago, I found a small package of cubed ham in the freezer and was trying to decide how to use it.  I remembered this great Cheddar Chowder recipe I used to make years ago.  So I tried it again, making the recipe somewhat lower in fat, and we really liked this soup.  Hearty and comforting on a cold day!  I have changed the recipe so much from how it was written in an old A Taste of the Country cookbook that I will just write it out the way I made it.

CHEDDAR  CHOWDER
 3 cups water
3 cups diced potatoes
2 cups diced carrots
1 to 2 cups diced celery
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 cups milk
6 Tablespoons flour OR 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup (or more) cubed ham

In a large soup kettle combine water, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes or until carrots are nearly tender.  Do not drain vegetables or turn off stove burner.

Shake together the milk and flour until well combined.  I like to use one of those Tupperware® plastic shaker gadgets.  These only hold 2 cups, so I did 1 1/2 cups and 3 Tblsp. flour to start with and then did the remaining 1 1/2 cups of milk and 3 Tblsp. flour.  (If you prefer to use cornstarch, it will work better to stir the cornstarch into the milk until it is smooth.)  In either case, flour or cornstarch, slowly stir the milk mixture into the simmering vegetables.  Continue stirring and cooking until the soup has thickened.

Stir in the cheddar cheese until melted; add the cubed ham and heat through.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

This is becoming one of our favorite winter soups!  I hope that you and your family enjoy it, too.

A small flurry of handmade gifts

I still have one belated Christmas gift which I'm working on.  But I thought I would show pictures of the last few more-or-less handmade items that I gave.  You'll see why I say "more-or-less" in a minute.

Quite a few years back, I came up with a small "puzzle kit" gift for kids which really seems to go over quite well with kids and parents too.  Basically, it's a small-size child's puzzle from the dollar store or Walmart, packaged with a packet of microwave popcorn and one of hot cocoa mix.   (If you know kids who can't eat popcorn, or their family doesn't have a microwave, you can just adapt this by using animal crackers, fruit treats, or something else instead of popcorn.)I designed Christmas packaging for the packets and a little instruction tag for the kit.  Sometimes I will design new packets specifically to go with a a certain puzzle, like Cars, Toy Story or Thomas the Tank Engine.  Here is the blog post where I tell about how to make the kits. Puzzle Kits

And here are some of the kits I gave this year. I tied them all together with some candy-striped yarn I found at a dollar store in Nevada.


 

I also made some more "His Eye is on the Sparrow" embroidered pillowcases.  These are a slightly different design from the ones I did last year.

Here's where to find the bird designs:  Bluebird Embroidery Designs.  And, if you would like to read my post from last year about using the designs in other ways, plus learn exactly how I transferred the designs to the pillowcases, you can find that here:  Bluebird & Sparrow projects.


Lastly, I did several crocheted pot holders.  My daughters use these as hot mats on the table, and they keep them in a drawer, so I eliminated the hanging loop on these.  This is the pattern I use:  Scalloped Potholder.  This easy pattern can look so different depending on your color combinations.  I saw one done in red & white which I really loved.  Future project!

In Christmas colors

The reverse side of the hot mat below

More Christmas colors

The variegated color in the next few is called "Winterberry".  I actually only made 2 mats, but they are double-sided.

 

Hope  you have enjoyed this look at a few little crafted gifts!

Homemade granola bars

 
This Christmas I tried a couple of new-to-me recipes from my favorite recipe newsletter, Cook & Tell for some of my kitchen gifts..  I had these in mind particularly for a friend and a grandchild who must avoid gluten and wheat.  The first recipe, which can be found here:Date-Nut Casserole Cookies, contains no wheat and is actually more of a sugar-plum like confection than a cookie. The second recipe, Ashley's Granola Bars, did call for wheat germ but I left it out and added coconut instead.

Both recipes are very delicious and they both freeze well.  They are very handy to keep in the freezer in tins or plastic containers for when a little snack is needed.  Here's the granola bar recipe:

ASHLEY'S HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup flaked or shredded coconut
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
4 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
8 to 10 ounces dried fruit, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400º for toasting.  In a large bowl, combine the oats, coconut, sunflower seeds.  (I added the almonds here, also, so they could toast at the same time as the other things.)  Spread mixture on a shallow pan and toast for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Line a glass baking dish (I used either a 9-inch square or an 11x7 oblong, I forget which) with waxed paper.  (Be sure to leave overhanging wax paper on the sides so you can more easily lift out the whole mass for cutting later.)  Spray the waxed paper with cooking spray.

Combine the brown sugar, honey, syrup, butter and salt in a medium heavy saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, till the mixture thickens and will drop off a metal spoon in a single drip.  Remove from heat and add the vanilla.  Stir in the toasted ingredients.  Add the fruit (and almonds, if you toasted them separately).  Press the entire mass evenly into the waxed-paper-lined sprayed dish.   Cool for 2 hours.

Remove from dish to cutting board and peel off the waxed paper.  Cut into small bars and wrap individually in plastic wrap.  The amount of granola bars will depend on how small you cut them, but I got a good number from the recipe.

As mentioned, the recipes came from Cook & Tell.  I did adapt the granola bar one somewhat.  Hope you enjoy these recipes if you try them!