Thanksgiving Eve. . . .

I bet you all are planning to bake your pies and make your jello molds today!!  I can smell lots of pastry cooking going on today - too bad I'll be at work :)

Today recipes has been abruptly changed thanks to Gina.  She was sharing how she makes her Green Bean Casserole, verses the one I make - - which is honestly the "traditional" one everybody makes off the back of the can of Durkee Fried Onions- - -well, I'm always open for change even with traditional things.  So, this is the recipe I'm going to try out for tomorrow's family feast:

Green Bean & Corn Casserole

2 - 15 oz cans French Style Green Beans, drained
2 small cans for Shoepeg Corn (aka white corn), drained
1 8 oz lowfat sour cream
1 can cream of celery soup
1 small onion, minced
1 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 cup Ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 stick melted butter

In 2 qt baking dish place green bean and white corn .  Add in sour cream, soup, onions, celery and cheese.  Add melted butter to the Ritz crushed crackers and place this mix over casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes til brown and bubbly.

I will remove the onions so my extended family will enjoy it and put in onion power instead.

Grateful Thought: Having a several jobs currently; working and interacting with wonderful people on a daily basis that help support my family's move, my hobby and my creativity is a great blessing.

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Have I mentioned I've been sewing???  I mean really sewing, not just for Theresa (see TLC's Quilt Studio blog), but for myself?

I whipped up a quickie apron because we had 2 full bolts of the fabric at the shop.  I plan to make another apron for next month's guild holiday swap.  Unsure of the fabric I'll use, but I LOVE how this turned out....

The pattern is called "Not Just for Christmas"  by Vanilla House designs.  It also includes a Food Gift Bag and Oven Mitt pattern.  It really is easy and 90 minutes - PROOF you have a apron :)  This is the same pattern I use for my Halloweenie apron.

I need to "whip" up another for Turkey Day!

Turkey Week, Day 2

Have you done your shopping for the big day?  I dread the shopping part, though I do try to accomplish all that the weekend before.  What are you plans?  Are you cooking or visiting family/friends?

This is our first year living in Tennessee and we are visiting family for the feast, though I am bringing 3 of our family's favorite traditions.  Here is the second recipe that we do yearly at this time and for Christmas as well.

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Passed from Kevin's grandma, mom, to me.  I have made slight adjusts and this is always a hit. 

• 2 - 10 oz. packages of chopped broccoli
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1 small can of drained mushrooms (I love mushrooms)
• 1 cup of mayonnaise
• 1  1/2 cup of grated sharp cheese (I use extra sharp)
• 2 tablespoons of dehydrated dry onions or one small chopped onion
• 2 two beaten eggs
• 2 - 3 cups Cheez-its.
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook broccoli 10 minutes and drain well.  While the broccoli is cooking take 1  1/2 cups of Cheez-its and put into a ziploc bag and crush.   Mix 1/2 cup of the crushed Cheez-it's and 1/4 cup of cheese and put to the side (this I use for the topping).  Mix remaining in ingredients, except the un-crushed Cheez-its.  If it seems a little be dry or stiff I'll add a little bit more mayonnaise.  Pour into casserole dish, I use a 9 x 13 pan.  Sprinkle crushed Cheez-its/Cheese mixture on top, then using non-crushed Cheez-its, decorate top and sides of casserole.  Cover casserole with aluminum foil.  Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.  Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. 


Again, I can't find an image with the Cheez-its looking pretty on top - and I get more comments on how it looks this way :)  I'll take a picture of mine this year to share.

Grateful Thought:  Spending the holidays with family has new meaning now.  Again with this year of changes and growth finding a place among family is very important and I'm grateful my kids and I can enjoy these new and improved relationships.
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Block of the Months, nothing like waiting til the end of the month to complete.  I have done 2 of the 4 I have been religiously keeping up with.  Need to readjust my BOM list again, realize there just isn't enough time yet for that kind of dedication.

This is for my Back To Nature Block 5, November.

And here's Section 11 of my Christmas Sampler Quilt:

I love how this is turning out, wish it would be ready by next week, but there's always next year!

Monday, Monday....

It's Turkey Week!!  I've decided to share one of my traditional recipes each day and something specific I'm grateful this past year.  I would love to see everyone's favorite recipes and thankful lists as well!

Lime Jello & Pear Mold

My mom made this every holiday dinner, there is always room for J-E-L-L-O!  I always make this on Wednesday.

1 - 8 oz package of Cream Cheese (I use the less fat kind)
1 - 15 oz (large) can of pear (I use the light kind)
1 - 8 oz (large) box of Lime Jello


Drain and save pear juice.  Chop up pears into cubes, put aside.  Prepare the Jello as stated on the package, using the pear juice as the cooler liquid in the process.  Divide the jello into 2 bowls.  Melt the cream cheese in the microwave (maybe for about 45 seconds).  Using a hand mixer, take one jello bowl and add cream cheese slowly mixing it well to remove the lumps.  Continue until all cream cheese is blended well.  Fold in 1/2 of the chopped pears into cream cheese mixture.  Prepare your mold.  Pour cream cheese mixture into mold and place in your freezer for about 20-30 minutes.  The idea is you want it to have a little bit of firmness before pouring the remaining mixture on top.  Mix chopped pear pieces with remaining jello, sit aside on the counter.  When your cream cheese part has some stiffness to it, doesn't need to be completely form, slowly and gently pour/spoon the pear mixture on top and place back in refrigerator until ready to serve. 

As I was researching images for this recipe, I'm actually surprised by the results. . . in my process, the jello is reversed, meaning the cream cheese part is the top and the clear jello part is the bottom. I guess you do want ever way you prefer, my does take time and more of a steady hand to recreate the effect. I'll be sure to take a picture of my version to show you all.

Grateful Thought:  This year has been a challenging year indeed for me.  Though as I look through life, every year has it's own set of challenges and growth.  So, this year I'm grateful for the growth I endured, even though as I cried many nights and I didn't think I was strong enough to make it through, I'm grateful for the pain and comfort of those tears to make me a stronger person.

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Now I have done A LOT of sewing this past few days and am very frustarted with 2 projects I'm working on for my local shop and feel like a failure - but I'll figure them out and try to finish them up tonight.

I DID complete a top - FOR ME!! The MAQ Mystery Quilt.  It was suppose to be done by July 10th, but it will be completed by next retreat for sure.  Hoping to ask my longarmer in WV to do it for me :)  I don't like Mystery quilts and this one is no execption - it turned out fine, but the half square triangles were murder!  I didn't even use them all in the borders like the pattern called for.  Use some 4 patches I screwed up and made wrong :)  I do like it and it's a perfect beach quilt!

I have a lot more sewing to share this week, because I did get quite a bit done just for me.  It was a great weekend mentally for sewing!