The drawing for the raffle quilt benefiting Steps to Hope was held this week. I am happy to report that the charity made almost $800 from its efforts. Thanks to Pam B in Delaware who graciously allowed her stunning quilt to be the raffle prize. The money raised will help residents of the shelter take …
Category: Cooking
More Fun at the Mountain State Fair
It has been a crazy week, with multiple cooking contests and lots of entries to find in the Expo building. Today, if you can tolerate the tooting of my own horn, I'll show you a few more ribbons in other divisions. In Senior Crafts, this holiday theme table topper won second place in Holiday Decorations. …
NC Mountain State Fair 2025
The NC Mountain State Fair this year has been as much fun as ever. I worked the quilt take-in table for a shift on Labor Day, then back to the Expo building on Wednesday to work as a judge for the Professional Crafts Division. Both days were fun, and so inspirational to see the wonderful …
Welcome Autumn with Apples
As August draws to a close, the harvest begins. It isn't quite fall yet, but I am ready for cooler days, and the flavors of fall. Apples are my transition theme for cooking and decorating this time of year. Labor Day weekend is our local Apple Festival, and it was gorgeous weather for it with …
Sunday Chat – Quilting, Birding, Cooking
I am happy to report that Lemon Twist is almost finished! When I finished ripping out all the bad stitching (see my post Quilting Lemon Twist), I did some trouble shooting and discovered the top thread was not seated into the tension discs. How it jumped out is beyond comprehension, but there it was. I …
Sunday Chat
Time for a Sunday chat, so get yourself a cuppa and settle in for a long and picture heavy post. There has been a lot of activity in the garden lately, as it is in lovely bloom now. The day lilies have been giving us two or three blooms each day. The orange ones I …
Working on Projects and Having Fun
Last week I got farther along on Koi Pond, and then was stymied once again. I finished beading all the fish, and they look great, but the purple beads do not shine as much as I had hoped. You have to be fairly close to the piece for you to notice them. The last element …
National Fried Chicken Day!
It is National Fried Chicken Day, and I want to reprise some stories I've told before as I pay homage to my favorite food. I am completely addicted to fried chicken, as my fellow guild members can attest to (when I am not eating sushi). The combination of delicate crunchy breading and tender juicy chicken …
Vegetables For Dinner
With the prices in the grocery store rising on a daily basis, it is getting more difficult to create tasty meals. I have begun to avoid many cuts of meat due to their expense. This creates a challenge to find new dishes to make to keep us from getting bored with the same few dishes …
Baked Fire Roasted Tomato Pasta
Making meals from a new cookbook is always fun, but one problem is making them an appropriate size for just two people. Sometimes the leftovers can be frozen for a meal another time, but most of the time we just eat it until it is gone over the next few days. No matter how good …