i have to say...

i bake them, but i don't eat them...

...unfortunately!

I used to bake muffins and cookies all the time! But then I found that my weight was being affected (it's a bummer when you get old enough for that to start happening!). So I quit. For a long time. And I missed the baking. And the fact that my kids love to eat the goodies!

Lately, Aubry has become the little baker and I guess I am following in her footsteps. I find that I don't really want to eat them anymore (well, chocolate chip cookies really call my name!) and I can bake and let the kids enjoy.

Good stuff!

I made these French Breakfast Puffs a couple of days ago and was a little disappointed at their size.  The kids, however, noted that the small size made a better "muffin to butter/sugar ratio".

Works for me!

pinteresting stuff!

*I am loving the look of these quilts with color as the solid--rather than white!

*My kids love waffles.  Need this mix!

*No I don't!

*Loving these colors.

*I do love this picture.  Nice hexies and colors!

*I want to paint my living room!  And buy  new furniture.  And accessories...:)

Have a great day!

what i have been up to...

...baking bread.  it's been a while and my kids are happy about it!

...organizing. is anyone else in the mood to get rid of stuff and get things in order?

...planning my sewing classes.  my first one is on monday.  

...working towards my black belt in karate.  exercise and eating right are on the agenda again!

...sewing with friends.  i have lucked out lately and have had lots time to sew and solve the world's problems together.  that's how it works, you know!

...thinking about whether or not i want to plant a garden this year. is it really time to think about this?  seed catalogs are coming soon!

what about you?  what have you been up to?

christmasing

I made these cookies for a Cookie Exchange tonight.  My kids thought the tasted quite good--White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread (how could that not taste good?).

The creaters of the recipe obviously have food stylists who worked hours to make the edges of their cookies perfectly round, and I don't.  But I am going for a "handmade with love" look for these treats!

I hope your Christmasing is going well!

playing with marmalade

Oh goodness, I just love Marmalade!  The fabric line, that is!

These prints are just so sweet and fun to play with.

Some friends and I got together to make spaghetti sauce on Friday and while each batch simmered for 2 hours, we sewed.

So we came away with 32 quarts of sauce and a little pile of hourglasses.

Honestly, I don't know what these will become (a wallhanging or table runner, maybe), but I hope to sew some progress soon.  Also, I will be back with a finish on Wednesday.

A finish.  Can you believe it?

What about you?

Are you working on anything these days?

PS---The complete Marmalade Collection is listed in my shop.  Bundles coming soon!

who doesn't love muffins?

My boys love muffins!

Of course they do, since teenagers pretty much live on carbs, isn't that right?  Carbs and peanut butter.  And a little bit of candy thrown in for good measure.

When I make a batch of muffins, I have to hide them.  Or they get eaten too quickly.

Here is one of our favorites:

Raspberry Muffins:

Mix together in a bowl: 1 egg, 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup oil, 2/3 cup sugar

Mix together in another bowl: 2 cups flour, 3 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt

Mix together the contents of both bowls until well blended.

Add: one cup of frozen or fresh raspberries.  Stir until combined.

Pour batter into a greased muffin pan and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Serve and enjoy! 

so many pinteresting things to see!

***Too true!

***On the menu this week.

***Rainbow cuteness.

***Quilt-as-you-go tutorial.

***Simple Life pillow.

***Free crochet pattern.

***Pretty pillow!

***Soap making 101.

Have a lovely Friday!

a pinteresting friday

*This and this make me want to learn to crochet.  I have a bunch of lovely yarn that I could use from my "I am going to learn to knit" phase.

*Pull-Apart Lemon Bread?  Yessiree!

*I love Patchwork Pottery's lovely quilt!

*Monster bibs are too cute!

*I love the look of this Gumdrop Fudge.  Is Christmas really coming so soon???

*Quilter's wisdom!  :)

*It might be fun to spice up a hoodie like this!

Have a great day!

12 buckets o' tomatoes

A friend and I went crazy in a tomato field on Saturday.

Not really, but you would have though that's what we were doing.  

We picked 264 pounds of these lovelies and brought them home to be processed.  Along with 50 pounds of onions.

Throughout the picking process we pondered whether or not the spaghetti sauce was really necessary, or whether a winter without tomato soup would be that bad.

But we persevered.  And stuck with it.  And picked 'em all!

All 12 buckets.

Now all we need to do is process them.

No big task, right?

Hmmm...wrong.

But still fun.

Progress pictures coming soon!

Have a great Monday!

more for the pantry

A few jars of Pickled Green Beans now reside in the pantry.  Not sure how these taste yet since they need some curing time for the flavors to come together, but I have high hopes.

I used a recipe very similar to this one.

Are you canning anything this year?