Wishing you a Happy New Year!! Looking forward to good things in 2010.

Winter Snow 2009

Pictures I took this morning from the biggest snow we've seen in years!!

Christmas Candy Traditions

Making Christmas Candy has been a tradition in our family for many years. My grandmother was a wonderful cook and loved to bake so Christmas was a very special time for making candy and special foods like her Holiday Fruit Cake, which I don't have the recipe.She spent weeks gathering the ingredients for this cake and when it was made it was placed in Cheese Cloth and hidden! Yes, she made several and hid them till Christmas! LOL!
One of the things I remember very well was making chocolate peanut butter balls with my grandma, mom, aunt, and anyone else who wanted to join in. We have continued the tradition each year with my own girls and they look forward to making candy and spending time in the kitchen, especially those famous peanut butter balls.
Let me encourage you to take time to make something special with your children during the busy holidays. The memories we have are precious and dear to our hearts, these times are so special to all of us.
My mother-n-law has her own traditions with my girls. When they were younger they made sugar cookies every year and decorated them, cookie cutter ornaments for the tree, decorating the tree, and now for the past few years they have made a candy called White Trash. We call it Mamaw's White Trash Candy. I would like to share the recipe with you. It taste's much better than it sounds!!

White Trash Candy

1 stick margarine
1- 12 oz. pkg. milk chocolate semi-sweets
2 cups peanut butter
Melt together and add:
13 oz. pkg. Golden Graham cereal
1 box raisins (we use less)
3 cups mixed nuts

Take 2 brown grocery bags (or a LARGE container with tight fitting lid) and put 1 box powdered sugar into the bags. Then put mixture into bags. Fold twice at top and shake until the mixture is well covered. Put in bowl and refrigerate.
DELICIOUS!!!!

*This makes a large batch, you may want to half it.

The weekend was full of activities as usual during the Christmas season. We spent time with family decorating the tree, ice skating with our youth group at church and shopping all day Saturday. My husband is an early morning person and would much rather go early to avoid the crowd so we left the house at 6:30 a.m. and shopped till we dropped!! I'm very happy to say we are almost finished shopping and now I can concentrate on making candy and a few homemade items I've planned to make.
Sunday was celebrated with our church choir singing our Christmas Cantata. We love to get dressed up in our red and sing the beautiful Christmas carols and songs that Celebrate the birth of our Savior!!My favorite was a solo, "Mary did you Know?".
Next Sunday the little children will present the Christmas Play, we are looking forward to that too!
Much to do today......school, sewing, quilting, and laundry, just a few on my long Monday list!! Have a good day!

Twiddletails Giveaway

Christmas is right around the corner friends!!! We have been busy shopping, making candy, ice skating and sending out Christmas cards, all those wonderful and special memories being made.
My husband and I are so very blessed to still have our two girls at home with us and also to have our parents well and able to celebrate this joyful Christmas! Praise God for his loving kindness and protection!!

As I was checking in with some of my favorite blogs I did find a wonderful giveaway over at The Twiddletails Blog!! Take a look at this gorgeous fabric line, I'm looking forward to picking out a little something for myself!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!!
I am very thankful for my precious family!!
I spent the early part of the day with my mom, sister, and aunt celebrating my mom's birthday today!! Happy Birthday Mom!!
We shopped at the mall and had lunch at her favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden....yahoo!!! She and my aunt ate Chicken Fettuchine and my sister and I ate spaghetti and meatballs. Amazingly good!! What a great time we had.
Looking forward to spending the day with my family tomorrow for Thanksgiving Dinner!! Today I made our amazing Cranberry Salad and my husband's favorite banana pudding.
God Bless you all!

Cranberry Salad

1 can Jellied cranberry sauce
2 boxes raspberry jello
3/4 cup crushed pineapple
1/2 cup chopped pecans

*Mix the can of cranberry sauce and jello together, add 1 cup boiling water and then 1 cup cold water, stirring with whisk.
Add nuts and pineapple,(reserve the juice from pineapples)
stir and pour into a 13 X 9 inch pan or two small pans
Place in the refrigerator to gel.

Cream Cheese Topping
When the salad has jelled add topping
Mix together the
8 oz. cream cheese
&
1 carton cool whip with 1/4 cup sugar
If too thick add a little of the pineapple juice to thin
so you can spread without tearing the jello.

Without Him

1.Without Him I could do nothing; Without Him I'd surely fail.
Without Him I would be drifting
Like a ship without a sail.

Chorus:
Jesus, O Jesus,
Do you know Him today? Do not turn Him away.
O Jesus, O Jesus! Without Him, how lost I would be.

2. Without Him I would be dying; Without Him I'd be enslaved.
Without Him life would be hopeless; But with Jesus, thank God, I'm saved!

Chorus:
Jesus, O Jesus!
Do you know Him today? Do not turn Him away.
O Jesus, O Jesus! Without Him, how lost I would be.

"I am the vine, you are the branches, He who abides in me,
and I in him, bears much fruit;
for without me you can do nothing."
John 15:5

Walking Tour

We are blessed to live in a gorgeous area with lots of
wonderful history.

This is a picture of the

Historic Covered Bridge Downtown
Elizabethton, TN



We took a Historic Walking Tour
of our local downtown area a couple weeks ago.
It was fun and very interesting to read the
history behind the houses, landmarks, and some of the
businesses. There are around 30 homes and it
took us about 2 hours.

This is one of the houses, named the
Doctor Bowers House, built around
1906 by Dr. E.E. Hunter and his wife.
Dr. Hunter also operated the drug store in the city,
served for a short time as Postmaster, and oversaw the
construction of the Covered Bridge.

Not sure why....but the current owners of this home
painted it purple???
This house is believed to be the first house in the city in 1892

Sycamore Tree
Cut down in 1987 after many efforts to save it, the story behind
the tree is that the first republic established west of the
Appalachians was the Watauga Association, which was formed in May 1772 under the
shade of an old Sycamore Tree, located on the banks of the Doe River.



This is the Hunter Cottage, built by Dr. E.E. Hunter
for his children. Originally it didn't include
a kitchen since his daughter and her family were
expected to take their meals at the "big house."

OOOOHHHHH.......
is that my quilt????
How did that get in here??

This is my sister's 40th Birthday Gift!!

Fall Colors

Beautiful Fall colors.......
and quilt colors too!!
We are playing catch up here at home. So much has been going on with my dad having surgery and my dd1 sick last week with that nasty flu bug!!
We are looking forward to this week!

Fall Break and a Layer Cake

Our family took a little Fall Break Get-Away this past weekend!!
We had a great time and enjoyed a little shopping and a little relaxation.
We found two wonderful quilt stores.

As you can see below on the cute little bag, the first one is called
The Cherry Pit.

It's located downtown Sevierville, TN.

If you're ever in Sevierville or Pigeon Forge you have to check out this awesome store.
I bought a new pattern for a table runner and some cute fat quarters in fall colors. Also, two tea towels that I hope to get appliqued with pumpkins and turkeys.

The next store doesn't have a website but it's equally wonderful!!
Machine Quilting by Iva!

I was so excited to get home with this "Layer Cake" that I forgot to take
a picture before ripping the ribbon off. It's called Gobble Gobble by Moda.
The colors are gorgeous!! Rich golds, browns, burgandy, and oranges!
I've already started piecing these for a surprise gift quilt.
Can't tell you who just yet.

Oh, and we did enjoy some R&R time!!!

Granny Fan

I would like to share something special with you today!

I've become a "Granny Fan"!!

Valarie, at Life's Little Garden has been so sweet to share her grandmother's quilting adventure on her blog. Granny will be 96 years old on October 23rd!! AMAZINGLY this sweet little granny makes one quilt a week. Can you believe that??? Oh, and she's having a Birthday Giveaway for her granny too! Go over and say hello to Valarie and see this precious little granny and those beautiful quilts she's making!

Oh, and I've added the FOLLOWER button to my sidebar, I would love to add you to the list!!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Blogger's Quilt Festival
Autumn - 2009

Amy at Park City Girl is hosting this wonderful Quilt Festival !!!!!
Awesome - 400 + entries

I love to quilt but I also love to see what other quilters are doing! What a fantastic way to see all the gorgeous quilts these talented ladies are making!

Thank you so much Amy for making this happen!

If you like to quilt or just enjoy looking at them, grab a cup of coffee and spend a while visiting these awesome quilt blogs!

LOG CABIN QUILT

This Log Cabin Quilt is an Eleanor Burns "Quilt in a Day" quilt.
This is my one and only queen size quilt and it's made with lots of love and mistakes. (:
It's machine pieced and taken to a long arm quilter for the quilting.
Everyone in our house loves to snuggle under her!

Gum Tree Giveaway

FREE GIVEAWAY!!!!

Good morning, it's a beautiful but rainy Monday here in East Tennessee. We are enjoying the Fall weather with cool mornings and mostly beautiful sunny days, a little rain mixed in.
I'm so happy to share some exciting news with those who enjoy Free Giveaways! I love to win fabric and patterns don't you!!! Well, today you can visit the blog Gum Tree Designs and have a chance to win many fabulous giveaway!! Take a look, you'll be glad you did!

HAVE A GREAT MONDAY MY FRIENDS!!!

Stayin Home Saturday

A little sewing today on my applique

Weeding my flower garden
Placing mums around the outside edge this week

The morning glories have wrapped around my bird house.

Women of the Word

Today I'm praising God for the precious women He has placed in my life. It is during the many seasons of my walk with the Lord that they have given me such Godly wisdom. Reading God's word is very important but he also uses those people He has placed in our lives to lead, teach, and guide us in the smallest of life's situations.
So many times when I've been discouraged, tempted, and headed- in -the- wrong-direction, the door of FRIENDSHIP has opened with one of these precious women standing there to guide me through.
I only hope and pray that the Lord will often look down and see that He can use me to help others in a special way that only He can see. Many times we can't see how we have been any help to others but God knows our strengths better than we do. Now that my children are not so "little" any more I have more of an opportunity to reach out to others help.
My desire is to use God's precious Word as a guide for each and every day in all that I do. In order to put this into practice I must pray and ask my heavenly father for that strength and help each day.
Thank you Lord for all the special "Women of the Word" you have placed in my life!!
God is so Good!!

1 Peter 2:1-3

"Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious."

Saturday show and tell

Today's cake decorating class was fun and not quite so difficult as last week. With a little work, I think I will be making roses soon enough. Last week we all laughed because they kept falling off our little holder before we could get them made.

Today we made clowns and they are so cute.

The last picture is a new pocketbook I made. McCall's Pattern, quilted. Really quick and easy.

Chicken Casserole

Grandma's Chicken Casserole

I'm sure everyone has their own recipe for making chicken casserole but I think my mom's is the best. I thought I'd give it a try so I made a huge dish for our youth at church tonight.

6-8 pieces boiled chicken tenders, torn in small pieces
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 - 1 1/2 cans broth from chicken
Peppridge farm cornbread dressing mix
Cornbread - Optional

1. Mix the two cans of cream of chicken soup with 1 can of water, thin if needed. Add enough to a casserole dish to cover the bottom.
2. If you would like to add cornbread to the stuffing you can do so now. I usually don't prepare my cornbread ahead and don't take the time but it's delicious if you do add the cornbread.
3. Add a layer of dressing mix on top of this and then the chicken pieces.
4. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used.
Bake at 350 degrees about 30 - 40 minutes.

Wonky Log Cabin

OK, so I am rested up and ready to begin a new week. The long weekend was truly needed! Yesterday I washed clothes, sewed between loads and just had a very relaxing day!
I'm so glad I was able to enjoy a day at home because this week looks pretty busy already as I look over my calendar.

My oldest daughter and I are taking a cake decorating class together. What fun we are having! So much laughing I think the teacher thinks we are a bit crazy! Last week she was so busy that I ended up making both cakes and 3 batches of icing for our class on Saturday! WHew, I was tired before we got there. We've both learned so much from the class and look forward to each Saturday.
I hope to post some pictures of our cakes soon. We had such a mess and were in such a hurry I forgot to take pictures during class.

Now, I want to share a wonderful tutorial with you! I came across the neatest blog, Quilt Dad, and love his tutorial on Wonky Log Cabin Blocks! I actually learned how to make these blocks a few months ago and have some blocks that are just waiting to be made into something useful. I think I love these blocks so much because they are so improvisational! OOOOHHHH, what a big word! Yeah, they are easy as pie! I really like working outside the lines, go against the grain, etc. That would be what makes these little cuties so fun! Take a look at his very visual step-by-step tutorial.

Enjoy Your Day!

Looking for fall

Oh my goodness, I can't believe the month of August is almost gone!!
We are back to doing school here and staying extremely busy.
Lots of planning for lessons, field trips, support group meetings, and more.
We hate to see summer end but are looking forward to the beautiful fall weather and gorgeous scenery around these mountains. I love FALL!! I love the turning of the leaves, drinking my coffee on the back porch on cool mornings, camping, and taking pictures of God's amazing creation right here in my back yard.
Now that we are staying in a bit more with school started I hope to post more pictures soon!!
I have been trying to finish some of my many sewing projects I have started.
The garden is gone and so we will be looking for a few pumpkins or cantalope soon.
Wishing you a great weekend!

Peach Tart Recipe

We love fresh peaches and since we've been out of town I haven't made any desserts , so today, this is what I'm making.

Peach Tart

Ingredients
Crust:
*1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
*1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
*2 tablespoons sour cream

Filling:
*about 6 medium peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
*3 large egg yolks
*3/4 cup sour cream
*3/4 cup sugar
*1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Glaze:
*1/2 cup peach preserves or jelly
*1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate
*mint for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

To make the crust:
Place the flour, butter, and sour cream in food processor and pulse to combine. When the dough has formed a ball, pat with lightly floured hands into the bottom and sides of an ungreased 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and 1/2-inch sides, or a round au gratin dish. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the crust is set but not browned. Let cool while preparing the filling.

To make the filling:
If using fresh peaches, peel and slice thickly. Arrange the fresh peach slices in overlapping circles on to of the crust, until it's completely covered. Overfill the crist, as peaches will shrink during cooking.
Combine the egg yolks, sour cream, sugar, and flour and beat until smooth. Pour the mixture over the peaches. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour, until the crust sets and is pale golden in color. Cover with an aluminum foil tent if the crust gets too dark. Transfer the tart pan to a wire rack to cool. When cool, remove the side wall of the pan.

To make the glaze:
Combine the preserves or jelly and orange juice. Spread with pastry brush over the top of the warm tart. Serve the tart warm, at room temperature, or chilled. Garnish with fresh mint.

Mission Trip Pictures

We are home from our youth mission trip and very happy to have shared this week with special friends! We worked with Team Effort in fixing up a home for an elderly man who has cancer.
This week we worked hard as we hung sheet rock, made a walkway with stepping stones, stained steps, built a shed, adding wood siding to this, and much more little jobs. We also prayed together, cried and laughed together, and made some special friends. Praise God for an awesome week!!

Sue Nickels Quilt Class

With so much going on around our house I hadn't posted about how excited I was to be taking a quilting class this weekend. Well, the class was so much fun and better than I had anticipated. We learned SO much about machine applique and quilting in general, that my brain hurts after such a long day! LOL!
I have some great pictures of our class and some of the quilts that our teacher, Sue Nickels made and displayed, but I waited too long to get pictures of all the other quilts displayed! There was just so much going on I didn't get around to it.
First, I just want to say that Sue Nickels is an awesome teacher and such a sweet person. If you ever get the chance to meet her or take one of her classes, please don't hesitate, she's fantastic!! Ok, now for some pictures to share with you.

This is the center block from the quilt, Morning Has Broken
The block we practiced our reverse applique

More gorgeous quilts

The detail quilting on this quilt doesn't show
up in my pictures, it is very small stippling stitches
done on her home sewing machine, just awesome!

Picture taken with Sue on the left, my friend Sarah
in the middle, and me.....with the quilt, Morning Has Broken,
in the background.


Here are a few projects I've been working on lately

Canning Queen

Fresh Peas from the garden. They are so sweet!

We have busy canning green beans this week. This is our first year to use
a pressure canner and it's been so much fun!
Just call me the "Canning Queen."
We canned twenty-one quarts just today!

We are looking forward to putting corn
in the freezer soon!

Congratulations to Jenna as she has just opened her
new Etsy shop! Take a look at her blog, Mustard Seeds.
Oh, her handmade items are so cute! Bags, dresses, and more.

Also, my friend Randi at i have to say...... has some gorgeous new fabric in her shop!
The bright colors are perfect for summer!
When things slow down a bit I would love to order
one of the beautiful quilt patterns!

Have a great weekend!

Cold-Brewed Ice Coffee

Yeah, I came across a great recipe for Iced Coffee, yummy!
Love this stuff in the summer!!

So easy......

Ingredients:
1/3 c. ground coffee (medium coarse grind)
Milk
Water

1. In a jar, stir together coffee and 1 1/2 cups water, cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.

2. Strain twice through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve, or a sieve lined with cheesecloth. In a tall glass fill with ice, mix equal parts coffee concentrate and water. Add milk.

Enjoy! Have a great July 4th!!

Beach Trip

Family Beach Trip

We had a great time together on our family beach trip. We shared a condo with my sister and her family in North Myrtle Beach, SC
Taking in the waves and sun, shopping, eating, and laughing till we cried over silly things. Yes, this is what VACATION means to us!!

Family Photo

Early morning walk on the beach

New stitchery I took with me

We had a quilt class here at my house before our trip ......
this is the picture of one of the quilts, I love the colors!!

More pictures of our trip to come!