Weekend Fun

It was a fun sewing weekend. I made three wagon wheel blocks to go with the ones I won at the guild lotto. That's seven blocks toward a quilt. These blocks go together easily with chain piecing. Two more and I should be bored with them. Story of my quilt life.

I found gorgeous jalapeno peppers at the market. They were so pretty they looked fake. My grapefruit spoon works like a charm to remove the seeds and ribs, which is where most of the heat is. I've done this by hand and cannot recommend. Spent one evening too many gripping ice cubes. Get a grapefruit spoon. And wear gloves if you don't work with peppers a lot.

Inspector Gadget and I had fun emptying my cheese drawer for the peppers and shrimp and then wrapping everything in bacon. I wanted to grill these, but the cheese would not have cooperated. I made a butter, wine and spice sauce to drizzle on before baking. Because cheese needs butter and wine.

Here you go. Out of the oven. They were yum. The jalapeno peppers get milder when cooked. Our local hangout serves the shrimp with jalapeno, cheese and bacon. I can't get enough of them, but I think our version was better.

More spider webs blocks using my scraps. I always think fabric scraps multiply during the night, but I can actually see a bit of a dent in mine. What?

Have a great week!

Let's eat, grandpa

So many recipes to try. My Pinterest boards are crying uncle. Catching up on magazine reading by the pool last weekend, I tore out five new recipes to try. These refried beans are vegetarian and couldn't be easier. I threw some chili powder in them for zing. They cook all day in the crock pot and then you mush them.

I was trying to make refried beans without the lard and preservatives I see in the canned versions, but look at these refrieds from Trader Joe's. Doh! I should have just opened a can and saved myself the trouble.

Bones was helping Inspector Gadget feed the carp grass clippings. Our new neighbors think the carp are gators. Bones hopes they are not.

I fit in a few more spider web blocks last weekend. Hoping to get a few more sewn this weekend. I love playing in the scraps.

Even the trash is colorful.

I won the block lotto at our monthly guild meeting! Woo hoo! Only four blocks this month, but I will have fun making more. I think these Wagon Wheel blocks are so cute. A big thanks to Rene' for bringing my block to the meeting and sending me my winning loot. I love them!

Happy weekend! I'm rushing through my chores and office work and plan to play my weekend away. There will be cooking involved!

I've Missed You!

A gal at work ordered some of these Nature Box snacks and they were so good, I ordered some too. They have sweet healthy stuff, but I'm hooked on their savory snacks. So good. I highly recommend the Toasted Cheddar Stix. Not shown because we gobbled them down. If you want to try them, send me your e-mail address and they'll give you $10 off your first box.

Looking through my templates for a spider web template. Kind of fun to see what I've made over the years. I probably should toss them, but I've used a few more than once.

My only fabric acquisition over the weeks. It's been busy with summer fun and oh yeah, work. I do love Denise Schmidt's fabrics. Found this one on clearance at Jo-Ann.

Found my spider web template. These blocks are so fun to make. I'm using scrap paper as the foundations. I hope to make a few more after my weekend chores. I'm using this tutorial, but you can find many others out there.

I found a rack of lamb that didn't cost as much as my car. I brushed them with Dijon mustard, rolled them in an herb mixture and threw them on the grill.

Much to College Boy's dismay, I switched out the silverware. He has a certain connection with our old set, as in odd cutlery freaked him out. If a spoon didn't match our set, he refused to use it. I offered to put the old set with his "hope chest" items, but he declined.

I organized my gargantuan gadget drawer too. These oldies are my favorites. I stole the can opener from my mom's house when I moved out. Bad girl. And three biscuit cutters are normal for a Southern girl.

Bring on the fruits and vegetables. Summertime is my favorite. I hope you're eating well too! Happy Saturday!