Thoughts of a Grasshopper

We went right from piano to pick up a cake and then on to church to set up for the Blue & Gold.  I finished setting up the games right just before people started arriving and didn't have the opportunity to take pictures.  I have to use what my son took to share this event. I started off my morning making several batches of popcorn.  You can see in this first picture a quart jar of popcorn below the balloons.  I don't recall the flavor of Jell-O I used just that it was berry and it would have been blue jello.  I used a recipe from Our Best Bites for the berry popcorn.  I didn't have time to dig through my book for my friend Sharon's recipe.  I had to make extra caramel popcorn because that is a favorite for one of my girls and she wanted to be sure there would be some for her.   Two jars went on each table. The jail and trading post on the wall took an insane amount of time to make between sketching the buildings, drawing the letters a...

This year I made a special little treat for Valentine's Day.  The recipe came from the Cooking with Paula Deen  magazine and is very similar to the fudge cake that has been popular for 20+ years with sour cream and a box of pudding.  The difference is flavors of the cake and pudding and no chocolate chips added to the mix. The recipe calls for 24 cupcakes from each mix.  I just did 12 and then put the rest of the batter in an 8" round cake pan and baked it.  I used the left-over filling between the 2 layers. Velvet Cake Stacks Filling: 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened 1 (7 oz.) jar fluff 1 (8 oz.) container Cool Whip, thawed Pink Velvet Batter: 1 box white cake mix 1 (3.3 oz.) pkg white chocolate instant pudding 4 large eggs 1C sour cream 1/2C oil 1/2C water 6 drops red food coloring Red Velvet Batter: 1 box red velvet cake mix 1 (3.4 oz.) pkg. cheesecake instant pudding 4 large eggs 1C sour cream 1/2C oi...

I learned a few things making this bouquet, which is lovely.  I have the stamp set that goes along with this and only used the dotted stamp for the pansy and the lined/woodgrain looking one for poppy.  I still need to attach leaves but I wanted them in the jar I was using before doing that so I would have a better idea of where to place the leaves. Let me tell you about the stamping first.  I made the poppy flower first because I put the black centers together first thing.  The precut petals have a smooth side and a rough side, ever so slightly matte looking side.  I stamped on the shiny smooth side.  The petals needed a lot of drying time.  After the first flower, I stamped off on paper and then onto the petal to make the drying time quicker if needed at all.  I didn't realize at this point that the drying time would be quicker if I had stamped the other side. Daisy - The directions are good enough that come with the bouquet, the pict...

This is my favorite blueberry muffin recipe.  I like it because the batter is thick enough that the blueberries don't sink to the bottom before they are baked.  The other thing I like is that it isn't too sweet.  So many blueberry muffin recipes I've tried taste more like a dessert than something you would have at breakfast. Check out the berries in this muffin . . . Blueberry Streusel Muffins 1/4C butter, softened 1/3C sugar 1 egg 1t vanilla 2-1/3C flour 4t baking powder 1/2t salt 1C milk 1-1/2C blueberries Streusel 1/2C sugar 1/3C flour 1/2t cinnamon 1/4C butter In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Beat in egg and vanilla; mix well.   Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.  Fold in blueberries. Fill 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 full.  In a small bowl, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon; cut in butter until crumbly.  Sprinkle o...

Now that we are in place that actually experiences cold weather, I am happy to make soups, stews and chili.  We actually had a couple of pipes freeze one night a week or so ago.  I had been running the taps at night but I fell asleep in the family room and never made it to bed.  My husband didn't think about it when he went.  Oddly, I expected it that the frozen pipes would have been in the storage room but it was the pipes running above the ceiling in the downstairs kitchen.  Our house has 2 kitchens, but only 1 stove.  I use that kitchen as my stamping/sewing room. I digress . . . I haven't made this chili in at least 5 years.  The last time I made it we lived in New Mexico and I came across the recipe in a Southern Living magazine.  I called my husband at work around lunch time and told him we were having this chili, salad and bread for dinner.  It worked, he made the effort to get home at a reasonable time. :) Smoky Chicken Chi...

Last spring I somehow came across Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, Celtic Solstice.  I saw that the instructions would soon come down and I downloaded them.  I ended up buying one of her books for the previous mystery quilt, which I also liked.  I made a mental note to do the mystery quilt this year. In October she posted the paint chips to use a guide for the colors of the material.  I was at Lowe's that day getting the colors.  I started buying material that weekend.  It was really hard to find the blue/aqua color and I didn't buy all that I needed.  It wasn't until I was doing the first clue that I realized I still needed 1/2 a yd.  I wrote on the paint chips how much material I bought of each color at what store.  I took pictures with the fabric and the receipt (or something that tied it to that store) so I could easily know where to go to if I wanted more of a material. Here's the thing, the first clue is posted the day after T...

Along with the other two cards I posted, I sent these out.  I think I mailed off 87 cards this year.  These can be found on Pinterest. Cheerful Christmas  Endless Wishes  Festival of Trees  Festival of Trees/Frosty  Festival of Trees  More Merry Messages  Ornamental Pine  Paper Pumpkin  White Christmas  White Christmas  Wondrous Wreath