I HEART QUILTS!

Did I ever make mention of my passion for quilts? Which is quite odd for me to collect SO MANY quilts, being that I live in Florida. LOL. I used to joke that I'm ready for a nuclear winter, but with the winter we've had this year, I'm just happy to be ready now!

These are not "my" quilts. I shot these on a quilt show trip with may aunt and cousin.

And if I had a front porch like this house, this is what I'd do! (Hang quilts!) Of course, I'd have to make some "outside" quilts - LOL

These are some of my quilts. And I say "some" because, you should see the stack of quilts on the chest at the foot of my bed! LOL (maybe another picture - the bed isn't made right now! LOL)

And, if I can't hang them out on the front porch, this is where I keep these...

I wish I could find a story I read in Country Woman magazine a long time ago.... it was about an avid quilt collector's recollection of responding to an ad an elderly lady had put in the paper She was selling her award winning quilt collections. The quilts were all plain, no fancy stitchery, or special appliques. The story went on to explain the reason for the awards and blue ribbons, and grand champion ribbons were that each quilt had a special story...a history behind them. They were special because of the love that prompted each block.

I probably butchered the story, but that's what I got from it. It was a beautiful story and if I ever find it, I'll share it. Or if you have it, know where to find it again, please let me know!

Have a great Sunday...and be sweet!

Freezer Foods Friday

It's Freezer Foods Friday again! Today, I'm not sharing a recipe but some helpful hints. When I taught this as a class these were some of the things I talked about. It might be "old news" to you, a refresher, or a new slant. However you receive it, I hope there is something you can use and add to.

There are many types of "freezer cooking" methods. There's the OAMC (Once a Month Cooking); TAMC (Twice a Month Cooking); Mini Sessions, preparing meals by categories, the methods and lists are as vast and varied as individual's tastes.

Whatever "style" you adopt, the most important rule is organize your recipes!

You can have a card-file system or notebook file system. I use the notebook pages because I can have each recipe printed on an individual page, put in a page protector and place in a three ring binder.

Before cooking day, study each recipe to decide on the order in which you'll prepare them. It may sound like overkill, but it really helps the process run more smoothly. Once you've decided, put the pages in order in which you will prepare them. The page protectors are great because I almost always spash! All I have to do is wipe these clean.

Menu - You might like to fly by the seat of your pants, but you really need to do a menu. You don't really want a month of all Mexican, or Italian food do you? There are all sorts of sites with good forms to print out for menus and I've used a lot, but in a pinch, I like the old, take a sheet of notebook paper, fold it in half, fold it again, and again. Unfold and you've got 8 blocks. Yeah, I know there aren't "usually" 8 days in the week, contrary to what the Beetles said! (I'm showing my age aren't I). Just fill in the 7 blocks with a day's menu. Tah-Dah! giggle

Try only a few new recipes each month. (That way if it flops, it was only one meal!) Your menu should be mostly ones your family already likes.

If you're not sure a family favorite will freeze well, when you prepare the dish, take out a portion and freeze it. "Test" it in a week or two to see if it passes the test. If so, great! You've got another freezer-food to add to your list. And, well, if it doesn't, you haven't wasted time and money.

ok, this is getting kind of long, and I don't want to bore you this week. Next week, I promise a recipe. Actually it's going to be good. A bunch of marinades and ideas for those. I love doing these, just buy the meat, dump it in the ziplock bag with the marinades... that's it. And when it's thawing - it's marinating!

Now, it's your turn. Got a tip, idea or recipe for making ahead? Come join the party!
Please link to this site so everyone can enjoy!

A great mail day!

Remember the One World One Heart giveaway I did before Valentine's Day? You know, the one where my giveaway was the quilted wall hanging. Well I also entered some, (no, make that a ton!) of giveaways too. There were way over 1,000 participating!

Anyway, I won two separate giveaways! One was from the US, the other... Luxembourg! Wow, this certainly was world wide!

The first to arrive was Grandma Betty's body butter bar. I've never seen this in any store. Maybe I've been living under a rock, but... It's solid, and you just rub between your hands to get the oils to the surface. I immediately tested it. With the cold Florida weather we've been having, my hands were u-g-l-y! It was a nice subtle gardenia scent and I could smell it all day.

Betty also included some homespun ribbons. She said she was thinking of offering these in her artfire shop and wanted some honest feedback. Y-E-S! I don't know why I never thought of it. I think it would be especially neat in muted tans, ecrus, etc. to blend in with other ribbons and baubles. So I say "go for it!"

And arriving today was from Luxembourg was my package from Natacha from A storm inside my head. These are so precious! They're in French, and from what very-limited understanding I have of the language, Ange is French for angel. She sent two different soldered glass framed pieces. I really like these, and think I might dress 'em with with some ribbons and strings. Not sure, just thinking out loud. LOL

I just love getting packages in the mail, don't you? These were fun and I thank you two ladies for the great giveaways! I am going to enjoy them!!!

You Just Can't Make These Up!

Remember when Leno used to read strange, downright dumb ads and signs? My hubby sent these to me and I just had to share!

good advice!

Cook-N-Critique

Do you know about my "other" blog? It's called Real Women Eat and I share it with some of my best friends; my sister, an aunt, some cousins... It's where we eat...(and pay for our own food!) at local restraunts and give the details. Our unbiased, un-bought, opinions. Good bad and ugly. Not only do we do that, but we have a monthly "Cook-n-Critique" where we pick a cookbook, and make a dish from it, get together and eat what we've made and critique it. Not us, but the cookbook. (I explain more about that on the blog) Since we're only discussing the recipes in the cookbook, we can be brutally honest. LOL. Head on over there and check out our most recent "Cook-N-Critique" session and check out the rest of the blog. Especially read our account of the crockpot cookbook we all tried and did not like. The blog is fairly new so it won't take you long to read the whole blog!

Leave us a comment and let us know what you think. Oh, and so I won't feel left out on Sweet Jeanette, tell me what ya think here too!

New Give-Away at Cheri's blog!

I am having another giveaway, but you don't enter here at Sweet Jeanette.... No, you enter at my friend Cheri's blog! In case you didn't know, Cheri, at It's So Very Cheri has been having a month long giveaway extravaganza! I'm among some other bloggers offering you some swifty-neat-o stuff in celebration of Cheri's giveaway. She loves her followers, and is showing her appreciation by giving away lots of things all month. So, if you've been missing out so far this month, don't wait, get over there NOW and pick out something, or something(s) ya like and enter! (you can click on the picture above to be taken there!)

Note: I made it all... all except the pillow cover that is!

Yesterday I went to my favorite local "kitchen store", the Rolling Pin for some specific sugars to complete a special cupcake I'm trying to perfect, which in the coming weeks will post about on my sister blog Real Women Eat. They had some samples out. Now I love a good dip/spread (mostly because they're great party foods - and I love a party!) and this is what I saw!

I love sun dried/roasted tomatoes and if you add Goat Cheese to anything I'm in! I tasted, and I had to own it!

They served theirs with bread. And while there's a lot to be said about bread, namely "YUM", in order to ease my conscience, I ate mine with whole grain crackers.

While they aren't bread, they were good anyway. And it helped ease my conscience! LOL

Now for a few of the goodies I actually went in the store for! See the Cup-a-Cake on the left? I had been eyeing these on the internet. These at the Rolling Pin were the same price...AND I didn't have to pay shipping. WooHoo! It holds an individual cupcake, and I mean holds. It kinda locks in place and doesn't shift around. But don't try to put a jumbo cupcake in it with gobs of icing. I'm still glad I bought one. Now to play with it!

Well, that's it for my Rolling Pin adventure, now to actually do something with the stuff I bought.
(oh, and from the colors of the sugar you can see, any guess as to what kind of cupcake I'm trying to perfect???)




Until next time.... Be Sweet!

The Winners have been notified

The giveaway is officially closed - I have gone to your blogs and left comments if you were a winner. Please check your blogs and if you received a notification from me, I'll need your mailing address pu-leeeze. Congrats and thank you all for playing along! Keep checking back.... you know me, I love to give gifts! LOL