What Pinterests you?

Do you use Pinterest?  I have really enjoyed creating my online pin boards and keeping track of all the great ideas I find on the Internet.  Here are a few of my recent favorites.....

Here is a great free knitting pattern for a felted heart, perfect for a quick Valentine...

 

I really should make some of these reusable dusters.  But that may mean I will have to start using them.  I am not a fastidious duster at all.

 

Love the Cosmopolitan cowl and matching hat, patterns available via Knit Picks.

Leftovers

We hosted a small gathering of family at our house for Christmas.  An inordinate amount of food was prepared,  large amounts consumed and leftovers scrapped in to any available  container and stacked in the fridge.   From many years of cooking for the family,  I knew I would have left over sweet potatoes.  I like them,  my MIL likes them but that is about as far as they go.  I was pleasantly surprised when shopping that they had 3 varieties of sweet potatoes,  purple,  white and the old standard orange.   I bought one of each and decided not to do anything fancy with them and just roast them up with a little onion and olive oil.


It must have been right around the same time,  trolling Pinterest I ran across a recipe for Roasted Veggie and Black Bean Burritos.

So over the long New Year's Weekend I decided to try the recipe out.  I modified the recipe a bit.....
I tossed my left over potatoes into a skillet to heat them up and then added a bit of water some black beans and the seasoning (did not have any cilantro on hand so skipped that).  Since my potatoes chunks were a bit large to fit in the fajita size tortillas I used a fork to smash everything up a bit. 

Then I rolled them up in fajita size tortillas with a bit of grated cheddar cheese and toasted them in the oven.  Served them with some homemade guacamole, sliced sweet peppers and tomatoes. 

 


Excellent use of leftover sweet potatoes!  I will be making this one again. 

Things are cooking...

We are moving along with the update of our kitchen, new counter tops, new tile back splash, new wood floor and new sink are planned. The new counter tops went in this week (except for the island) and the new sink.

I don't know if it because I did not have a kitchen sink for the last week (have you ever tried to wash dishes in a bathroom sink?) or that this under mount sink ROCKS...but I am in love....

The counter tops are quartz by LG in Volcanic Rock.
Ordered the tile for the back splash and the legs and apron for the new island/table I have planned. Floors are scheduled for the first week in November.

New Front Door

We recently replaced our front door. The old one was nice, but had issues in the winter of letting too much cold air through. Still adjusting to the change but I do like how much more light the added glass in the door adds to the entry way of our house. .

Bourbon Pecan Pumpkin Pie

I baked a tasty Bourbon Pecan Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving. And I am really pleased with how the pie crust cookie cutters I ordered from Williams-Sonoma work. Looks so professional.

Biscotti Recipies

A few asked for the Cherry Chocolate Biscotti recipe from a few posts back and thought I would share my favorites that I make all of the time. I have my own little changes I make to each recipe for the Cherry Chocolate Biscotti, I use regular size chocolate chips rather than the mini chips.

And a tip I picked up at a Pampered Chef Party on how to get a good drizzle. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave in a microwave safe container. (I use my measuring cup) Be sure to stir every so often so the chips melt and are creamy. Next put the melted chocolate in to a sandwich baggie and push to the corner. Twist the top and clip the corner and the chocolate will drizzle out beautifully. Best part is the clean up, just toss the baggie.

This is another one of my FAVORITE biscotti recipes I make all the time. I have used Kahlua in lieu of the creme de cacao, works great. Again, I replace the mini chips with regular size chocolate chips and I usually don't have macadamia nuts or the coarse sugar in the house, so I use slivered almonds and just mix them in the dough and nix the coarse sugar topping.

This is one of my favs as well. I usually don't do the topping (I don't really care for the chocolate and spice flavor combo) and I use slivered Almonds or pecans for the chopped nuts. I use all dry spices as that is what I usually have on hand.

With the holidays upon us, what is your favorite cookie recipe?

My Studio

What have I been up to the past few weeks? Not much sewing but a bit of rearranging. I spent my day off for Veteran's Day getting a living/playroom organized in our basement.
The basement has been unfinished and mostly unused space in our home since we moved in. That all changed when I moved my studio out of an upstairs bedroom. Why I spent 2 years crammed in the smallest room of the house I will never know, but now I have all the space I need to work on several projects at once.

It is a bit of a mess but I suppose a few pictures are necessary.

This is the "new" living/playroom. The room was in the process of being finished when we bought the house. The room has two large "doorways" that are now covered with drapes from my sister. Don't you just love the bark cloth curtains? I love the print and the colors are just fabulous, lime green and fuchsia on black. She has a great eye for funky vintage stuff.

And behind the bark cloth curtains, is my studio. It is a bit of a mess. I moved the computer desk in from the living room and had to do some rearranging. When I first moved my studio to the basement, it was too dark so I bought a couple plug in fluorescent lights to hang and wow what an improvement.

On one side of the room I have my computer, a design wall that mostly holds UFOs and various shelves and storage for beads, fat quarters, paint etc. My sewing machine is usually on the blue table in the front of the photo, but I have been lazy and left it upstairs in a corner since the quilt show a few weeks ago. Such a procrastinator.

Here is a different view of the same wall. I created the desk my self from shelving and small bookcases. On the opposite wall I have my cutting table, made from a utility shelf that is half put together. Turned out to be a great height. I keep most of my fabric that I have in yardage in this area. I am going to buy a few of those pink insulation foam boards and make a design wall on the white doors.

Here is the same area from the other end of the room. My main design wall at the far end of the room and I just love having my ironing board out and set up all of the time. I am a bit of a freak when it comes to ironing my clothes, I nearly iron everything.

That is my studio, are there things I would like to improve and change, you bet, but it is the best studio space I have ever had and I love it.

How I support my quilting habit.....

Lets be serious, if I could, I would stay home all day working on art and keep busy all day. But since that may not pay all that great, I do have a job to support my quilting habit. My cube at work has become gallery of fiber art. I work at the State Historical Society and have a great view of the Capitol from my desk...

All the cabinets are made of metal, so I use magnetic strip to attach most of the art to the surface.
I have an ATC and a post card from my mom as well as my fiber collage post cards on an upper set of cabinets.




I also have these two small works made with some fabric beads that were inspired by a Quilting Arts article a few years ago.

A little closer look

I participated in a art2mail postcard exchange and have all my traded cards on display. Such a vast improvement over the drab office file cabinet.

This guy sits on the window sill smiling at me all day long. I was in Lincoln Nebraska visiting my sister along with my mom. Mom wanted to check out a ceramic shop and I just fell in love with the plant man. So much so, mom purchased a mold, poured and fired over 30 pots.



This is my Caveman Quilt made from Ricky Tims technique. I had one gal tell me wow that is big and I guess in the photo you cant tell how big it is but it measures approximately 36" x 18". It still needs to be quilted, but until I get to that, I am enjoying it in my office. Maybe I will like it better when it is quilted, it was a great exercise in just go with the flow and sew.