Sweet Rolls!

I love it when a craving for something sweet can be baking in a matter of minutes.  This recipe is easily adapted to include your favorite things while still prepared quickly. 

What you will need:

* Pillsbury Crescent Seemless Dough Sheet
* Butter
* Brown Sugar
* Pecans (or your nut of choice)

Icing:
* Powdered Sugar
* Milk
* Vanilla

This is so easy.  Un-pop the dough and roll it flat.  Melt a half stick of butter and brush it on the dough.  Sprinkle as much brown sugar on top the buttered sheet as you like.  Drizzle with another half stick of nearly melted butter.  Add the pecans.

Roll up tightly.  Cut into 8 slices and place them in a sprayed baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Whisk the icing ingredients together and spoon over warm rolls!  Oh, yum!

What you can do differently - add some cinnamon to the brown sugar, change the type of nut you use (or don't use any), add raisins or cranberry or a favored dried fruit, add orange zest (then use orange extract instead of vanilla in the icing), make them lemon or any other citrus flavor, add chocolate chips...  For even more decadence you may want to cut the rolls into 4 extra thick slices (remember to adjust your baking time if you choose this). Your imagination and tastebuds create the limits.

Southern Comfort

 

I'm so excited about this coming weekend.  I'm heading south to the Hill Country.  Everyone who knows me, knows that the Hill Country of Texas holds a place of great love in my
heart.  Why?  Because family lives there.  Especially my favorite little 5 year old red-headed date!  We are both looking forward to our night on the town together.  I'll also enjoy time sitting on the front porch of my brother and sister-in-law's home.  Playing games with Dakota and feeding the deer who live in the neighborhood. What a great place to sit, visit, knit and enjoy the surrounding nature. 

Another reason for my delight in this region are the various retreat
facility offerings.  One of my favorites is Comfort's Haven River Inn.  Lamb's Tale Ministries has been generous and gracious in hosting us for a few days each year for the past 7 years.  This will be a special visit as I've been invited by my sister-in-law, Sharon, to join her and the ladies of her church for their annual women's retreat!  What wonderful anticipation - time spent on their amazing wrap-around porch.  I have plans to visit, study, pray, knit and spin on my spinning wheel.  I'll also have my eyes open for the rapid darting of the hummingbirds who also enjoy a bit of porch time.

Comfort is home to still more delights for the fiber enthusiast. They have a great yarn store - The Tinsmith's Wife!  Noro and Laurel, their welcoming cats, are always anxious to help you select the perfect fiber and just walking in the store starts the creative juices flowing. It is great fun to stop along the road and watch the lambs frolic in the fields, as many ranches have flocks.

The entire region is filled with color each spring as the bluebonnets, paintbrushes and a wide array of beautiful wildflowers spread across the pastures, highway medians and back country roads.

My husband and I have hopes of one day owning property in this area of the Hill Country and always look forward to our time in this part of Texas.

Bland Isn't Boring

My husband is currently experiencing a Crohn's Disease flare-up.  When this happens, the doctor requests that we switch from our favorite spicy foods to a blander diet for a while.  This is something we are able to do, but do so with hesitation - we really do like the heat and taste of flavorful foods!  I thought this might be the perfect time to share with you a recipe that meets doctor's orders. 

Baked Pork Chops with Apple Rice

What you will need:
* your favorite cut of pork chops
* instant rice (1 1/2 cups dry)
* apple juice (10 ounces)
* apples (I like Fugi; 1-2 needed)
* onion
* salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Slice the apples and onion.  Mix the juice into the rice.  Place the rice mix into a sprayed baking dish. Put half the apple and onion slices on the rice.  Layer the salted/peppered chops on top and cover them with the remaining apple and onion slices.  Bake covered until done (1.5 hours, or until chops internal temp is 170 degrees).  Uncover and brown for the last 15 minutes or so. 

If you are on a strict restriction diet, slice the onion thick so that it can be removed before serving.  Consider using fruits and nuts to add the flavor your cooking and tastebuds crave.  Citrus or pecans, sprinkled on chicken, can make the meal. With our meal, we enjoyed steamed, fresh, green beans with candied ginger.

You know, a bland diet can reflect our lives at times.  We all get settled into a routine which feels like a rut we will never surmount.  Life lacks flavor, heat and nothing sounds good anymore.  When this describes your life, remember that the key to spicing up your life is found in friends who are sweet and tart.  They may not be what you think you need at the time, but they do challenge you and add flavor to life.  The nuts (and yes, we all have a few nuts in our lives) we love enhance and bring smiles despite ourselves.

May God bless you with a life filled with sweet fruit and nutty goodness.

Selfish Knitting

January is a time when knitter's thoughts turn a bit selfish.  It's unofficially "international knit for yourself month" deemed so after most of us have spent the past several months knitting for others to have as Christmas gifts.  This year, I'm embracing this celebration whole-heartedly!  I've already finished one project for myself, started a second and have a few more planned.

This is the Wool Tree Cowl.  It is a kit I picked up on my first visit to The Lucky Ewe Yarn Store in the Texas Hill Country.  The kit contained the yarn, buttons, pattern and a fun canvas bag. The pattern makes up this duel-sided, soft cowl with a luxurious touch. The merino wool and cashmere blend yarn is unique and exclusive to the store.  It is dyed using natural items found from local nature walks.  The label indicates, "The yarn is made for The Lucky Ewe Yarns and is 'dyed by nature'. Wool Tree Yarns are an amalgamation of true love for high quality natural fibers and the beauty of natural dyes. Our colors are seasonal according to what dye plants are available for harvest. Local fiber artists Cris Parker and Casey Galloway use ancient knowledge to kettle dye each skein over an open fire. Due to the nature of natural dyeing, it is very difficult to obtain perfect consistency between dye baths making each color way a one-of-a-kind.”  The store was very generous, allowing me to personally select my cowl colors. 

I've also started on my Ten Stitch Twist wrap/blanket.  It's an extremely versatile project because it works with whatever size and type yarn you want and is as large as you have the time, yarn and desire to make it.  I'm planning on making mine LARGE!  It starts with making the round center which leads out to the spirals circling around and around.  This is the end of my first ball of yarn. I have 14 to use. 

Simple Spud Soup

With all of the welcome rain we have received here in Texas the past few days, I thought that you might enjoy another quick and simple "what's for supper?" recipe.  This one is for a very easy potato soup!  It makes quick use of powdered potatos and the milk in your fridge.

What you will need:
* 5 cups of milk
* 1 (4 ounce) package of your favorite dried   potato (mine has 4 - 1/2 cup prepared - servings)
* 1 (4.2 ounce) carton of dried hash browns (6 - 1/2 cup prepared - servings)
* Salt and Pepper to taste
* Whatever you have around that house that your family likes on a baked potato

In a pan, whisk together the above ingredients.  You will want to stir this constantly to keep it from burning.  If it is too thick for your tastes, thin it out with a bit more milk or even a bit of water.  Heat thoroughly over a medium low heat. 
Top with a few of your favorite things!  I like mine with bacon pieces (I like a lot of them, since bacon makes everything even better!), croutons, and cheese! 

You can adapt this recipe by adding more milk or using water, using frozen hash browns or a potato (small cubes) for texture, or leaving these out for a smoother soup.  Add ham or bacon bits for smoky, salty goodness.  Try a flavored potato mix for an easy, cheesy soup or a wonderful herb flavor.

This One's For the Girls

I challenged myself to knit shawls for each of the ladies in my family to give for their Christmas gift.  Well, I nearly succeeded.  The only shawl I failed to finish in time was the special request of our daughter, Melissa. 

She had seen this shawl at the Texas State Fair that really called her name (more like yelled).  She immediately dragged me over to the display case to see it and ask me to knit it for her. 

I was blessed to come across a webpage of the fair-ribbon-winner who graciously shared the pattern name.  It is the Sagrantino Shawl and the designer is Loredana Gianferri. It is finally finished.  I decided to add the i-cord border, which wasn't part of the pattern, so it took a bit longer. I selected three yarns with increasing amounts of Melissa's favorite color - purple for the project.  Blocking this shawl also took a bit more time as Texas has been cold lately and my craft area is a section of our garage. 

This is also the introduction of 'Manny'.  Manny was my Christmas gift from my sweet husband.  She is an adjustable dress form and I hope she will be my permanent model for knitting photographs in the future. 

While the Sagrantino Shawl was blocking, I knit this little baby sweater designed by Carole Barenys for my husband's step-nephew and wife's first baby. She was due after the New Year but arrived just before! 




Don't you just love these adorable ladybug buttons?! 

I do love knitting in fun 'girl' colors! They are so bright and full of energy.  I pray both these girls' experience lives filled with brightness, energy, joy and love -  as I've knit for them with love.

A Quick Fix Supper

I pray that your New Year is filled with health, happiness, and abundant blessings.  Do you make resolutions? We all come to a time when we have to face reality and decide whether we are going to cross the bridge or stand still. That's what resolutions are about, honesty with self.

I do have a few resolutions, usually involving exercise, better self-dicipline, some personal goals I dream of accomplishing.  I don't write anything down though - I wouldn't want to be
forced to actually do them - but I do have a mental wish list for myself and my family.  The good news is that our Lord offers each of us a new start (a New Year) with each sunrise.  His mercy allows for our human nature of feet-draging and avoidance as we move forward, daily, in His grace.

If your family is like ours, your New Year Resolutions include one or two related to improving your fiscal status - things like saving more, eating out less, only buying what is needed and then on sale.  Well, I can't help you too much with a couple of those, especially when Dillard's challenges me right off the bat with their "extra 50% off sale" each New Year's Day!

But I might be able to help you with eating at home and a recipe for supper using items probably in your pantry already.  Many times we find ourselves eating late or trying to figure out the age old answer to the question "what's for dinner" once everyone is already starving. 

This recipe is for Green Chilies Corn Chowder (my version) and takes a bit longer than it takes you to open the cans!

Start with finding 2 cans of cream corn, a large can of chicken, and a couple cans of Hatch green chilies (if you didn't buy a case and prepare them last year) in your pantry.  Then go to the fridge and get out the carton of heavy whipping cream (1/2 pint).

Open the cans and pour the contents of all into a soup pot, along with the cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Heat on medium low, stirring occasionally.  Serve with fresh fruit or a salad.  Enjoy!

You can alter the chowder to your family's taste by:  adding additional chicken, using leftover chicken or turkey (you may want to add a bit of stock, too), altering the amount of cream or using milk instead.  If you prefer more texture to your soup, add a can of corn kernals with broth instead of one can cream corn.  Use prepared, frozen chilies instead of canned or a can of Ro'tel if you like.