Mouse

EEEEKKKK!!!!

I found a mouse in my house. I think he may be harmless.

This little mouse showed up in my house today. He is really cute and fun for my cat to play with. Our local welder really has an artistic hand. When the weather get better I will take a few pictures of his garden and show all the neat things he has made.

I am off to a class this weekend taught my Cindy Valentine. http://www.cindyvalentine.com/

She is a wonderful designer I am looking forward to a fun weekend spent with my stitching friends.

Have a good weekend!

Jaci

Mmmmmmm BREAD

I was shopping at Sam’s Club before Christmas and was browsing the book section. A book on bread called Beautiful Breads by Margaux Sky http://margauxskyfood.blogspot.com/ caught my eye. I am always on the lookout for a new bread idea this book had several intriguing looking breads, so in the cart it went (it was even on sale). When I got home I had a look through it and put it away so I could concentrate on Christmas baking. Christmas came and went we returned our Son to Chicago and things got back to normal.
The book was sitting there calling me. So I went to see if I had all the ingredients for the bread and I did. Out came the mixer and the bread was soon under way. Not only did I make the Peanut Butter-Chocolate Fudge Bread

but also the Horseradish Parmesan Bread, I substituted Assiago cheese for the parmesan because that is what I had on hand.

The smell of these breads baking was just wonderful and it was well worth all the trouble of making these breads.
We had one loaf of the horseradish-assiago for an appetizer and part of the second loaf with supper. We had the Chocolate Peanut butter for desert. The next day I used what was left of the Horseradish-Assiago for prime rib sandwiches with sautéed onions and peppers. We did not eat all of the peanut butter bread what was left was made into bread pudding which was to die for. There is one more recipe that I really want to try it is grape jelly bread so stay tuned it is not too far off in the future.

Well there is only a few minutes left of my birthday. I was a good day, a very busy day. I made lunch for a group that was meeting at the church, chicken noodle soup ( home made noodles), home made bread and assorted cookies, I also worked my kitchen job at school. My husband took me out for supper with some good friends at a local bar that makes the best pizza around.

So it was a fulfilling day.

This is what I got from my husband

Isn't he cute, he was made by a good friend and local welder and he doesn't get fur on anything but he is a little bit heavy and cold.

My daughter got me a ice cream cookbook and a sushi cookbook they should keep my busy checking out new recipes.

You all have a good evening and keep warm

Jaci

Romantic Valentine Dinner ?

Valentine’s night we decided not to go out this year, thought about getting a couple of good steaks but decided against that. There was a small pan of unbaked lasagna in the freezer that was made at Christmas time so out it came. There was also a bit of roman lettuce left in the fridge, I made a garlic dressing, (if you both eat it, it is ok) and a bit of assiago cheese for the top. And a good bottle of wine from a local winery Eagle City Winery http://eaglecitywinery.com/pages/ The lasagna came out of the freezer and we went to sit in the hot tub and enjoy the last of the afternoon sun. When we came in the lasagna went into the oven and I sat and helped Todd set up his Facebook account. The salad was made just as the Lasagna was finishing baking. We got our salads, OH we need something a bit romantic is there a candle to light? Luckily there is on in the candle holder Todd made me for Mother’s Day, matches? I remembered there is a lighter in the kitchen that is used to light the stove when it is being temperamental.

So the scene was set candle, wine, and good food. We then sat down with our meal Cops. That is what old married folk do sometimes for a Romantic evening.

We both enjoyed this evening because of the bad night we had for our anniversary. We went out to a restaurant and had poor service, mediocre food, just a bad night.
We ended the evening with Todd’s valentines present Coffee Ice Cream. I had made it Friday before he got home so he had no idea. I had put it in the freezer with his card thinking he would get some ice to put in a drink but he had a beer instead. He was surprised when I got it out and set it by him. We both had a bowl. I stopped at one serving but that was hard to do as it was really good. Todd did have a bit more, it was sure worth the effort to make it and the recipe will be one I make again. The recipe for this ice cream came from Simply Recipes http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/004377coffee_ice_cream.php

This does show that

Love does come from the Heart.

Hope you all had a very

“Happy Valentine’s Day”

Jaci

A bit about me

Let me tell you a bit about me, I was born in Iowa moved around a bit as a child went to 5 different schools. I married a man from a neighboring town. We have been married happily for 26 years. He was in the Air Force for a bit over twenty years. We lived in Colorado, Okinawa Japan, England and Idaho before we moved back to Iowa. It is good to be near family after be away from them for so many years. We have two children a boy and girl both were born in Okinawa, they also when to English schools when we lived there.
I think we are now through with moving, we are leaving that up to our children. Our daughter lived in Idaho for a few years after we left then she moved to Iowa. Our son is now in the Navy we are hoping he will be stationed at some places we still want to visit.
I work in a school kitchen, part time but would like to do something a bit more challenging will see what the future holds. I love to do all kinds of crafts especial needle work and bobbin lace. I also make cards as you see in the last posting.
Well, that is all for now
Jaci

Tea Bag Folding

I love to make handmade cards all thought I am terrible at sending them. I started to make card in England when I was invited by my best friend Jackie to a Woman’s Institute meeting and we were introduced to teabag folding and quilling. I also was introduced to Stitch-a-Line cards.

I already did some origami folding when we lived in Okinawa so moving to teabag folding was not a big stretch. Teabag folding was started in Holland by Tiny van der Plas

http://www.tinyvanderplas.com/startuk.htm she used the papers that tea bags came in to fold a medallion to add to a card. Now you are able to get the “tea bags” from many sited on the internet you can order pre printed sheet or print your own.

There are many ways to fold and combine papers so that one teabag will give you many interesting medallions.

Bye for now
Jaci

Thoughts of Summer

Boy is it cold here. Thought some pictures of summer flowers might warm me up. I was unable to do much with my flowers and garden this past summer due to some heath problems.







What I really missed was the fresh produce from the garden. Most of the flowers grew on their own this year with out tender love and care. I am hoping they survive this winter and give their best again this summer. I was able to have a few tomato plants it was nice to have fresh tomatos for BLT's. I am really hoping to have a nice veggie garden this summer. I found a really wonderful zucchini call Gadzukes it has a star like appearance when you cut them.

They don’t go mushy when fried as they are not a watery as other zucchini. I used them to make bread and butter pickles and a pickle relish. You can get the seeds from Cooks Garden http://www.cooksgarden.com/.

I hope you are keeping warm and have a nice day
Jaci

Ultimate Brownies

Ohh, I made the most awesome brownies today to take to a Super Bowl Party. They are from the “Hershey’s Best Loved Recipes” cookbook. I have made several recipes from this book it is a good book to have around when you get that chocolate craving. You will need a glass of milk to drink when you eat these brownies.

Here is the recipe:
Ultimate Chocolate Brownies
¾ c. cocoa
½ tsp. baking soda
2/3 c. butter, melted and divided
½ c. boiling water
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt
1 c. chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease 13x9x2 inch baking pan
Stir together cocoa and baking soda in large bowl, stir in 1/3 c. butter. Add boiling water; stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining 1/3 c. butter stir until smooth.

Add flour, vanilla and salt; blend completely.

Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake 35-40min. until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan.

Cool and frost with chocolate butter cream icing.

Cocoa Butter Cream Icing
6 Tbsp. softened butter
2 2/3 powdered sugar
½ c. cocoa
4 – 6 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat butter in bowl add powdered sugar, cocoa and vanilla alternately with milk, beat till you have a spreading consistency.

There is a bit of story about this batch of brownies. Sometimes my head isn’t attached. I add a cup of water to the cocoa and had to double the batch but my daughter will be here later to help eat the second pan.

Have a great day and I hope your team wins the game .

Jaci