Florida and Pina Coladas!

Here is a picture of my friends in Pensacola, Florida. Winnie and Richard, We were at a cute place on Pensacola beach called the Dock.It is right on the beach. I am standing in the sand taking the picture. We ordered Pina Coladas and they put an extra shot of 151 rum in a test tube and floated it in the drink. HELLO! We felt no pain after that and I was glad not to be driving! Had a blast and can't wait to go back!

One more from the heart!

Ooey-goey Butter Cake

From Family Circle, May 2008

Crust:
1 box 18 oz yellow cake mix
1 large egg
1/2 (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 package 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 box (16 oz) confections sugar (sometimes called powdered sugar)

Heat oven 350 degrees, lightly spray a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with Pam or non-stick spray.

Crust: in a large bowl, combine cake mix, egg and melted butter.
Mix well until dry indgredients are moistened.
Pat Lightly into prepared baking pan, covering bottom and sides.
Set aside.

Filling: In another large bowl, beat cream cheese till smooth.
Add eggs and vamilla extract and beat until well combines.
Beat in melted butter until evenly blended.
On low speed, gradually beat in a box of confectioners sugar.
Beat until smoth.

Spread cream cheese mixture over the crust in the pan.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, until sides are set and center is still a little wiggly.
Remove from oven and cool completely.
Dust with confectioners sugar and cut into 20 squares.

Personal notes: I made this for a neighborhood pot luck and EVERYONE wanted the recipe. It was gone first before any other dessert! It is really good, warm, cool, and the next day!

Recipes from the heart

For all my friends who live far away and don't get to enjoy my cooking! Love you all!

Taco Soup

1 pound of ground beef
1 large onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 package of dry ranch dressing, like Hidden Valley
2 small cans of chopped green chilis
2 -15 oz. cans of ranch style beans with jalapenos
2-10 oz cans of mild diced tomatoes with green chilis, like Rotel
2 -29 0z cans of hominy (I used green beans and it rocked! Less starch, more vegetables!)

In large pot/pan over medium heat, suate ground beef, onions and crushed garlic till browned. Add dry ranch dressing mix, chopped green chilis, bean with jalapenos and the diced tomatoes. Stir in 3 cups of water.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and let simmer for 40 - 45 minutes.
Add rinsed hominy (or green beans)
Cook 5 more minutes.

Serve with typical mexican toppings: Sour cream, Shredded cheddar cheese.

Notes: I made this for my boyfriend and he is a picky eater! He loved it with the green beans and it is spicy! I like that it is dump and heat and Yummy!

Let me know how you like it! I hope to post more recipes soon!

Grandma's Clothes

I had a conversation with my mom today and she said she had found some her mother's dresses and she wondered if I would like to make a quilt out of them.

Hmmm, need some ideas. Any ideas?

Parts Runner Truck

So, if you read my profile, you know I love hot rods! Well, my sweetie loves hot rods too! So at his last job in Illinois, he found a SWEET Chevy S-10. He told me it is a parts runner truck. That is ME! So here is a picture of the truck on the trailer. I actually got to drive it at a car show and it rocks! Oh yeah, it has big freaking tires and wheels on the rear! We polished and cleaned it for the car show and she was the hit of the show!

Holidays, Sunshine and Family

Boy, this weekend has flown by! My dd, Amber and her sweet boyfriend, Brian, drove down from Arlington for the weekend. But Amber had to work Saturday so they did not hit they road till that time, so that meant they didn't get here till after midnight. I let them sleep till 9 and woke them up so we could hit the beach.This is a pic of Brian and Amber on the beach! The water was so warm! I knew it would be extremely crowded being a holiday weekend. We went across the ferry to Port Aransas and drove out on the beach of Mustang Island. I love that! Drive on the beach, put it park and get out the beach chairs! so fun! Anyway, we only took cold drinks and no food. So the kids walked down the beach for two hours, I slept, read, slept, enjoyed the quiet, the sound of waves. When the kids got back, I was starving,so we headed back into town and saw the massive long line of cars trying to get to the beach. You would not believe! I was astounded! We stopped at a Mexican joint so Brian could try a fried avocado. They are so yummy! When we got home, we all got cleaned up, and went to our local hangout to play pool and drink a few. It was just an all over great day!

Then Monday, being the mom that I am, I woke the kids up at 9 again. They were both a little hung over. They came home the night before and walked up to the pool and had a nice time before walking home to hit the hay. Anyway, I didn't want to waste anytime, day light was burning. I took the kids out to breakfast. My sweetie's favorite joint in town, JJ's. Just yummy, but crowded at 9:30. forgot about it being a holiday and everyone and their kids were there. Then we headed out for the town tour. We had to stop at the hardware store to pick up a few things. When we got home, Brian was feeling feisty and wanted a project. SO, mom said okay, you can re stack these un-level pavers. So he got that done in record time, while Amber and I enjoyed the air conditioned comfort cruising the internet and looking at pics. We decided to level the sand out with a long board and try to lay the pavers. Between Amber and me passing the pavers to Brian, we got the patio re-laid in another record time. I LOVE IT. I will always be grateful to them for going the extra mile to help me. I now have to sweep the patio stuff in between the cracks so the pavers will set and it will also keep the weeds from growing in the cracks! Kisses and major hugs to my patio crew!

back to work for another week! Then summer vacation! YIPPEE!

New Quilting Books

I promised I would post the books that I recently got. I was in Victoria a couple of weeks ago and visited my favorite quilt shop Quilters Patch. I can always find at least one thing I can't live without in that shop. Scroll down on the web page to look at the shop! Just charming! I got The Sweet Life by Anka's Treasures. the cover quilt sold me. They had a shop sample done in Aunt Grace fabrics and that did it for me and I love the scalloped border. That will be a challenge for me. There are 8 patterns for quilts in this book and everyone of them are very interesting and I think I will use this book for more than one quilt. (That is my new criteria for purchasing any quilt book or magazine!)

When I was in Ada, OK last Saturday at the Quilt show, I purchased two pieces of fabric. One is a black and white Aunt Grace Scottie print! and the other is surprise for my quilter friend! I saw it and thought, That looks like something ???? would like! I also picked up a book called Scrap Basket Surprises- 18 quilts from 2 1/2" strips by Kim Brackett. I had looked at this book at Joann's and had wanted to get it but didn't have any coupons that day. I justified it as a souvenir from Oklahoma. haha.

On a sewing note, I did cut out the pieces for the second row in the row quilt.It was supposed to be cut, sewed and complete in April. A little late, so I will do two rows in May!This row sure was a bugger as each piece was cut from a template and then reserved and cut again. Not my favorite style, but I suffered though it. Plan on sewing tomorrow! Will post pictures when the row is complete!

Happy Sewing!

Weekend Trip

Well I took a day off last Friday and decided to drive to Oklahoma to visit my sweet boyfriend. He is working with a refinery in Pauls Valley, OK. Well, he had to work each day I was there, so on Saturday I drove over to Ada and attended the Quilt Show. I really enjoyed that and bought some fabric and a book. Will post more on the book later. Then I drove up to Oklahoma City to visit with my best girlfriend. The directions she gave me was take the downtown exit and follow the signs to Bricktown. I thought these are pretty sketchy directions, but oh, well, i will go with the flow. Well, I parked the car, walked across the street and then called her. Guess what? If I hadn't crossed the street, I was right in front of where she was! Amazing! We had the best time at the Oklahoma City Arts Festival. We walked around looking at all the art and listened to a few bands and drank beer while we walked around. This picture is of a very unique sculpture of the three little pigs and us. I thought is was so funny that they were dancing......

We left the Arts Festival and went to eat a Mexican place. Of course, me being the Texas gal and a Mexican food lover, I was cautious. Anyway, it was very good and located on the canal right down town! Don't you love that wind blown look! I am in the dark pink!
It was the best weekend I have had in years! Got to see my sweetie and hug my one of my best friends! What a deal! I am still smiling!

Summer Plans

Hi All, didn't realize it had been forever since I posted here. Anyway, I wanted to update you all on my summer plans. I will be laid off this summer on a scheduled leave of absence with a scheduled return date. The nice thing about this is I will be able to draw unemployment. I have been talking with one of my quilting buddies and we are planning a summer road trip. We decided to go to Vermont Quilt Festival in Essex, Vermont. It is June 19 to the 21st. But the neat thing about being off and not a pet owner )at this time) is that I can fly early to her house and hang out with her! I am so excited. I don't remember the last time I was in Vermont. There is loads to do up there. Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory tour, Cheese factory tours, Chocolate factory tours, How fun does that sound?

The paver pile is still there. I ran out of steam and it got hot! I tried to hire a friend and he no showed, no called. So, I may just throw them out there with no leveling and just live with it.

Talk to you soon!

Weddings and Redbox

I went to a wedding this weekend. It was the son of the fellow I have been dating and his girlfriend. They have two beautiful children together and Lexi, they are my favorite girlfriends! Here is Carli, she was supposed to be posing and she saw me in the crowd and started waving at me and blowing kisses, something i taught her! What a sweet girl! And look how big that baby boy is! He is a chunky monkey!

The next picture is Lexi and Carli and me. Aren't they sweet and beautiful girls!

Oh hey! I am enjoying my free movies from Redbox. If you register at the website, they text you a code for a free movie on Monday's. LOVE IT! I have seen more movies in the last month than I have in two years!

That is all for now! Talk to you soon!

Sunday and Monday updates

I have moved almost 100 concrete pavers from around my house to one spot. I plan on making a patio off my back deck. I knew I had enough, it was just getting them to one place so I knew for sure. Anyway, it was back breaking work, but someone had to do it. Mike, my neighbor from down the road, is going to rototill the area for me. Should not be a problem leveling it, since it is very sandy here. Ray suggested that I put heavy black plastic down before I put the pavers down. Good Idea! Anyway, my long awaited patio is still in the works, but the end is close! Can't wait till I can add some plants and new patio furniture!

Here is a picture of the pile o'pavers that I moved close to the patio area. 97 to be exact. To tell you the truth, I really thought there were alot less than that. And there are more on the path to the other shed, if I need them.

I also wanted to post a picture of the most beautiful tree that is blooming now in my back yard and in our area. Locals call it the orchid tree. The blooms look exactly like an orchid. Just gorgeous! Neighbor Diane gets to see this beautiful tree out of her kitchen window. Here is a link to info on the orchid tree.

On the quilting side, not much new to post. Got the fabric out to cut the second row for the row quilt. Need to stitch final borders on the Hot for Chocalote quilt I got from Lone Star Quilts in Arlington, Texas. It is so cute, done with browns and pinks. I got a perfect border fabric in Hershey, PA. last July when I went to Quilt Odyssey.

Accomplistments and Friends

Today I finally finished row one of a cute row quilt called Thoughts of Christmas by Colorado Quilt Designs.I did not purchase the kit, so I decided to make my background darker, like a snowy night. What really makes this a fun project is my quilting best buddy and I are SUPPOSED to be doing a row once a month. I went to visit Winnie in Navarre, Florida and we had the best time picking out fabrics at the local Drug Store (of all places, but what a selection they had on sale!) Anyway here is my first row with the fabrics we choose and my background. I am not pleased with the points but you know, I will live with them! The background looks more blue in this photo, it really is darker and has little flecks of lite blue and white, like a snowy night!

Thought I would introduce you to my great neighbors. Ray and Diane are the best! If I have a project I am working on, I can always depend on Ray for advice or additional tools. And Diane, well, she is the gardening queen! They have the most beautiful yard and it has extended into to my yard and that is okay by me! Ray made this cute window house from scrap windows I picked up in Victoria. I love it. It has a plant in the base part and a hanging plant in the peak part. Ray and Diane are also momma and daddy to Daisy, sweet little schnauzer angel. Daisy has a cookie route everyday. She goes next door and gets a cookie from Georgia and Ed, then over to Bill's and get one from him and if she sees me drive in, she is barking and telling me she wants her cookie from the back porch! If i leave my back door open, she comes on in and we talk a bit! Here is picture of crazy Diane and Ray on St Patrick's day! They went all out and decorated the golf cart! We re-purposed the green Madi Gras beads that I hauled back (that's another story!) from Florida and hung them off the sides and you can see some on the front! Diane's hat made me laugh! Hey, it is all about having fun

Must close for now. Have a couple more things on my to-do list today!

Back in Blog Land

Hi Friends,
I am back in blog land. Seems I spend alot of time on the computer, might as well be blogging too.

Just setting up tonight. Will post more in the next couple of days.

Glad to see you!
make sure you come back for more later!