Free tea samples from Twinings!

From my collection of vintage advertising cards

 Just a quick post tonight with a public service announcement!  If you enjoy tea, you will want to check out this link: Twining’s Tea Samples!  You can choose three samples of tea for free, at least as long as the supply holds out.  Be sure and scroll all the way down the list of teas; there are some seasonal ones on there, some organic teas, some cold brewed ones and so on.  A huge variety to choose from, so head on over and see what you would like!

Forgotten Jambalaya

Photo from Taste of Home

That's the name of the recipe I made for the potluck at church this past Sunday.  I suppose it is called "forgotten" because one puts the ingredients in the slow cooker and then forgets about the dish until it's time to eat (or to add the shrimp).  In my case, it could also be called "forgotten" because it's from a Taste of Home 2008 issue.  I made the jambalaya at least once back when I first received the magazine, and then promptly forgot about it, it seems.  But it shouldn't have this title, because really, it is too delicious and easy a recipe to forget.

Here's the link: Forgotten Jambalaya.  I served it over instant brown rice and it was so yummy.  I made a change with the sausage.  We usually buy chicken sausage, and what I had in the freezer was the Italian variety (fully cooked, the Al Fresco® brand), so that's what I used.  I can't imagine it would have been any more wonderful with what the recipe called for.  I also used the frozen fully cooked shrimp and added them to the slow cooker about an hour before we ate.  For quickness of preparation, I used frozen chopped onion, frozen diced green peppers, and dried minced garlic (about 1 1/4 teaspoons, to equate to the 5 cloves of garlic). 

I don't plan to forget about this recipe again!  Maybe you would like to try it, too.

More tea time table runners -- part 2

One of the prettier table runners

Last week, I shared pictures of a table runner I had made using children's vintage hankies.  It was a prototype for two more runners I wanted to make for my daughters.  Today (and this is a bit of a repost from 2012) I'm sharing photos of those prettier table runners.  First, the backstory:

Some years ago, my mother gave me a bag of vintage handkerchiefs.  Some had been mine as a child, some had been hers, and I think some are even older than that.  She had kept them in a fabric bag in a dresser drawer all those years.  I just don't believe in doing that with heirlooms -- stashing them away so that no one, not even the person who stashed them there,  ever sees them or enjoys them.   I had always wanted to put these hankies to some good use, and had actually planned to make them into a quilt. 

I was so determined to do this that I had found a free pattern I wanted to use and had even bought the fabric for the quilt.  I had even tried sewing several of the vintage hankies into the center of the quilt blocks.   But as much as I wanted to make the quilt, I just couldn't get enthused about the project or get off the ground with it.  I don't know if other people ever feel this way about projects, but sometimes I do.  It just wasn't looking as nice as I'd hoped, and -- truth be told -- was somewhat of a boring project.  (I hope my grandchildren never read this, as they are not allowed to use the "B" word at my house.)  So for awhile it just languished in a heap of UFOs and fabric. 

Then one year, I came up with the idea to use some of the hankies to make a table runner instead.  I wanted to make more of these for gifts, so I decided to use the kids' hankies that had been mine as a child in blocks for a sample table runner and see how it all worked out.  I decided to use the hankies as "doilies" or "napkins" under various tea-themed items such as teapots, teacups, etc. which I would applique out of coordinating fabric.  Well!  It took quite awhile, and some time on the part of several craft forum friends, to find enough motifs to use for the tea-themed items, but in the end, I ended up with more than enough ideas.  This was way more interesting than the quilt I had planned!

I made the runner for myself that summer of 2011,  and it turned out quite well even using the cartoon-themed hankies and the brighter colors.  It was a fun summer project.  (That would be  the runner that I showed pictures of last week for the link parties I joined in on.)

I planned to make two more tea-themed runners, one for each of my daughters, for Christmas that year.  The hankies for theirs are some of the prettier floral designs, plus others.   I managed to get one runner done in time for Christmas, and finished the second one in mid-January of 2012. These runners were the ones I'm showing here today...

One half of the runner

The other half of the runner

Now, for a closer look at the individual squares and their motifs and the hankies I used.

A pink teacup with blue saucer.  Love this pretty hankie!

A pink-frosted cupcake.  This is an unusual hankie.

A stack of teacups and a pretty paisley hankie

A rose-colored teakettle on an unusual hankie

Pretty aqua teapot on another paisley hankie

Teapot and teacup on a blue & white hankie

Hope you have enjoyed this look at more of my tea-themed table runners!  I am so happy to have found a use for those vintage hankies so they can be seen and admired.  And there are still more of them left for other fun projects.  In a Gooseberry Patch Christmas book I saw a wonderful idea for Hankie Blankies -- sort of throw-sized quilts made from vintage hankies -- and I hope to eventually make some of those for my granddaughters. 

I'm linking today with Sandi's No Place Like Home and Bernideen’s Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party, as well as Stephanie's Roses of Inspiration.    Also linking with Share Your Cup Thursday and Vintage Charm.

Recipe reviews!

Blank printable recipe card from Graphic Garden

Last weekend I made two new recipes and combined them into one dessert.  It turned out fantastic!  I had seen Sandi's recipe for Banana Split Cake and wanted to try it for our church potluck.

 I did adapt the recipe just a tiny bit to make it a little lighter, but didn't change much.  The crust part called for 3/4 cup butter, and I tried cutting it to 1/2 cup, but that was not quite enough.  So I melted 2 more tablespoons and added them in.

And I did cut the amount of butter in half for the filling, and used 2 eggs (it called for 1 or 2) to make up for any difference.  It worked out just fine to use 1/2 cup butter; still tasted plenty rich.  (Some people have questioned the use of uncooked eggs in this dessert.  Sandi has had no problems with their use, so I went ahead and used them.  I do use good-quality eggs and felt it would probably be fine.   And it was.)

I only used 2 bananas because I only had two, and I tossed the slices with lemon juice rather than simply sprinkling it over.  My cake was going to be chilled overnight and I didn't want to take any chances with the bananas getting brown.

Photo by Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage

The only other change I made was with the topping. The recipe calls for cherry pie filling, and Sandi also suggested sliced strawberries as an alternative.  But I had bags of frozen strawberries in the freezer from our strawberry-picking this summer and wanted to use them.  So I went looking for a  homemade strawberry pie filling recipe.  This Homemade Strawberry Pie Filling from Jocelyn at Inside BruCrew Life worked admirably.

Photo by Jocelyn at Inside BruCrew Life

Jocelyn's recipe calls for fresh strawberries, but mine were frozen.  So I thawed them enough so that they were sliceable.  Then I sliced up five cups' worth and used them in the recipe as directed.  When the filling was cooked, I cooled it completely at room temperature.  I then scraped the filling into a container and chilled it overnight to add to the dessert the next morning.

I assembled the dessert all the way through adding the banana layer and then the pineapple layer and then refrigerated it overnight. In the morning, I added cool whip and then the strawberry filling layer.

The dessert turned out perfectly and got great reviews from our potluck crowd and especially from my hubby.  The strawberry pie filling would work wonderfully in many other desserts, and if you visit Jocelyn's blog, you will be sure to find more great ideas for its use.

Happy baking!

Sometimes the simplest projects ...

... make a world of difference!  The above project may not look like much to you, and I admit it is pretty simple.  But it has sure made a difference in the way the top of my dresser looks.

My earring storage (for lack of a better word) has been bugging me for awhile now.  What I had was a nearly flat wooden container of sorts made from a piece of scrap wood and popsicle sticks, glued together by my then-7-year-old son many, many years ago.  He designed it with four compartments to hold earrings.  I have used it all these years even though he has told me numerous times to just throw it away.  I finally agree: sentiment can be carried too far. 

I kept my more seasonal earrings in a jewelry box and the ones I wear most often on this little wooden tray.  It's nearly impossible to keep it free of dust.  It was never designed to be a long-term earring organizer, but honestly, I am not one to shop for such an item.  This was working okay and I didn't have time to hunt for one.

One day, either on Pinterest or a blog, I forget which, I saw a nifty earring organizer made from plastic canvas in a picture frame.  I pinned it and forgot about it.  A couple of weeks ago I remembered it again,  and did find my pin.  I thought that I had both a picture frame and a piece of  plastic canvas on hand, but didn't have time to do anything about it right then. 

Yesterday I was dusting in the bedroom and just became really disgusted with that heap of dusty earrings.  I hunted up my picture frame, but couldn't find a whole piece of plastic canvas.  So, rather than give up on the whole project, I decided to improvise and just use the partial piece of canvas that I did have, without a frame, and see how that worked.

You can see that it worked admirably. 

When all of the earrings were in place, I needed a quick hanger.  I grabbed a piece of green satin ribbon that happened to be on my crafting desk, slipped it through a hole in the canvas, tied a knot and push-pinned it to the wall.  Easy!

And later that day when I walked into the bedroom, I could not believe the difference it made to have that earring clutter gone from the dresser.  Things looked so neat!  It honestly made a difference to the entire room. 

Yes, I admit I am easily amused.  Not to mention frugal.

Table runners with a tea theme

This is pretty much a repost of a "teatime table runner" I made from vintage hankies a few years back.  I have quite a collection of vintage hankies, and had thought I might make a quilt with them.  I decided to scale back and make a table runner instead.  I used a white-on-white print for the backing, then cut the hankies in half and hand-sewed them on to look like a folded napkin or doily.  Then I found or tweaked applique patterns of tea-themed items and placed one or several items on each "napkin or doily".   For this prototype project (I intended to make two more for gifts) I chose to use some children's cartoon-type hankies that had been mine as a child.  This meant that my appliques had to be in rather bright, crayon-type colors to complement the hankies.

One half of the runner

The second half of the runner

A teapot and teacup motif on a 3 Little Kittens hankie ~ I found inspiration for this motif on a child's vintage metal tea set.

A simple cup and saucer motif on a Donald Duck hankie

A cupcake on a small plate motif atop the second half of the Donald Duck hankie.  The cherry on the cupcake is a button.

A stack-of-teacups motif on a Daisy Duck hankie ~ I found inspiration for this motif on a greeting card.

A steaming-teakettle motif  on a Daisy Duck hankie

A simple teapot motif on the 3 Little Kittens hankie ~ the knob on top is a  button!

Hope you have enjoyed this look at my teatime table runner!  It was encouraging to me that I could figure out a project on my own like this and have it come out quite nice.  I know some people would frown on cutting up vintage hankies, but I found this a nice way to display and use them, especially these with the juvenile motifs that are not quite as pretty as the usual vintage hankies one sees.

I did go on to make two more of these runners, using some of the prettier hankies in my collection.  I gave them to my daughters as gifts, and was thankful I had taken the time to learn how best to put the runners together, since I was sort of making this project up as I went along.  Maybe another time I can share photos of those runners.

I'm linking up today with Sandi's No Place Like Home and with Bernideen’s Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party, along with Stephanie's Roses of Inspiration and A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson's Share Your Cup Thursday.  Also linking today with Vintage Charm.
Be sure and visit these lovely blogs and then visit some of the posts that have been linked up there.  You'll find much to inspire you!

Overflowing

Photo from Pixabay

Over the years, I've thought back many times to my Ancient History class from 9th grade.  And now, it really is ancient history!  The old building where I attended high school was woefully inadequate in many ways,  but it definitely had character.   Every classroom, as far as I know, had what was called a teachers' closet, where reference books, folders of worksheets, and much, much more resided.  Mrs. Potter's closet was literally overflowing.  When she opened the door to retrieve something needed during a lesson, items threatened to topple off the shelves and out the closet door.  Her desk top and desk drawers seemed much the same, but it was the closet that really stayed in my memory.

I was fourteen and not given to deep thinking.  But as the school year went by, I came to see Mrs. Potter's overflowing closet as analogous to her overflowing brain and cluttered memory.  Most of the time in that class it was just facts, facts, facts.  But at least once or twice a lesson, some fascinating historical tidbit would slip out and overflow into what she was teaching.  She had a soft, light voice and taught in a lecture format, with very little class discussion.  So it was easy to be lulled into sleepiness or daydreaming.  But then one would miss the good stuff!

I thought about that class again this morning.  In front of the chair where I most often have my quiet time, a footstool resides.  I don't think I have ever put my feet on it, but it tends to become a repository for my lap desk and current projects.  Last night I was tired and didn't take the time to put everything away that I might have.  So when I came to my chair in the early morning, this is what I saw:

Sorry for the photo quality.  Still dark outside and I took the photo with my Kindle.  But you get the picture!

Yes.  An overflowing footstool.  And as I looked at this pile of stuff, it occurred to me this is a good picture of my life right now.

Needlework project thumped on top right where I left it last night.  (This is destined to be a hot mat for my gift stash.)  You can tell I didn't work on this until the end of the day.

At the right, my grocery list waits to be filled in.

In the middle, the paper with the colorful striped edge is ten resolutions for caregivers.  Need to review that one often.

Under that, toward the bottom of the picture, with a small checkerboard edge showing,  is my weekly schedule.  Couldn't function without this comprehensive picture of my week.

To the left, my as-yet empty to-do list for the day.  This would be filled in as soon as I finish my Bible reading, study, and prayer time.

Under that, you can just see a list with a bit of blue showing at the top center of the photo.  That's my ongoing to-do list of tasks that need to be completed.

My Bible, notebook and prayer journal were waiting on a shelf to the side and of course I turned to them first.  Then I put away the needlework as I should have done last night.

So yes, a full-to-overflowing footstool.  And a full-to-overflowing plate.  But, just like staying awake in Mrs. Potter's history class was rewarded with an interesting historical nugget from time to time,  I know if I keep my priorities right and my eyes open, there will be blessings that overflow in the extreme busyness of life.  So I'm planning to pay attention.