Monthly Archives: April 2008

Yes, it’s THAT Good!

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

I’d seen this recipe while surfing the wonderful site of The Pioneer Woman, and showed it to my husband.  You see, he loves apple desserts …. and I love Mt. Dew.  This recipe called for BOTH – surely, it should be re-named to honor our marriage!

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My MIL has a friend spending a week, so I said I’d cook my famous (HA) lasagna.  While I was whipping up the not-really-secret sauce, I saw the tubes of crescent rolls in the fridge and decided that the recipe I’d printed should be simple enough for me to make while my sauce was simmering.

Now, I do have to be careful with sugar.  Many years ago, my husband had ulcers in his small intestine, and he had major surgery to remove everything.  Unfortunately, they took his pyloric valve, too.  So, when he eats sugar, it’s not processed as sugar normally is … it’s automatically dumped and he will literally pass out from sugar overload.  It’s been a while since his surgery, so his system has gotten more comfy with the sugar dumps … these days, we have a little more time before he has to lay down … but, nonetheless, he can’t have a lot of sugar at one time.

Therefore, as I looked at the recipe for The Pioneer Woman’s Apple Dumplings, I decided to cut the recipe in half – except I still used 2 apples.  To the dear man I’m married to, the apples are the “meat” of the dessert, and I knew he’d prefer for meat than taters, if ya know what I mean!

This meant that I put two pieces (a quarter of the fruit) in each crescent roll, but I still halved everything else — using only 1 tube of rolls, too.

And like the multi-tasking blonde goofball that I have occasionally shown myself to be, I completely forgot about the vanilla.

But really?  NOT necessary, in the least.  I warmed the finished dumplings in the microwave for 15 seconds each before serving with a scoop of Butter Pecan ice cream.

Divine dessert doesn’t begin to describe how yummy these are.  SO VERY GOOD! 

And hey – I’d say it was a well balanced meal, if necessary!  You have some bread, some fruit, some dairy (with the ice cream), some protein by way of nuts (with the ice cream) and some fiber (hey hey, think about it – cinnamon is from the BARK of a tree!  You can’t get much more fiber than that!).

Go forth and multiply … apple dumplings that is!

Quilt Backs

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

It’s rare that I jump out on a limb and make a scrappy back for my quilts.  I dunno, just seems that I’ve spent a lot of time making a pretty quilt top … I don’t want to take the focus off of the quilted love that I’ve put together.

I’m a muslin kinda gal … most of the quilts that I make have muslin on the back – either bleached or unbleached, depending on the colors on the front of my quilts.

I also think about the fact that the back of a quilt is what touches your body, if you’re laying under it.  I personally don’t want a bunch of seams against me … that’d irritate me, somewhat. 

Occasionally, though, I do take the high road!

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This is the quilt back for my new “Strawberry Lemonade Candy” quilt, made with Moda’s Strawberry Lemonade fabrics.  Ain’t it cute?!  Since this is a baby quilt, I decided that babies like color. 

As a mom of four, I’ve been-there, done-that when it comes to making baby happy.  As I put the back of this quilt together, my first thought was that with a great front and back … this quilt could be used twice before it has to be laundered!  I know, I know … always thinking, ain’t I?!

The “Strawberry Lemonade Candy” quilt pattern is written and waiting for me to print it.  Stay tuned for it’s announcement!

HBWM.com’s Blogging for Prayers

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

I have a little story to tell you.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting here after midnight, winding down for the night.  I was surfing….and, one of the things I do to entertain myself is to read some of the obituaries in the towns where we’ve lived over the years.  The town I was born in, and lived for about 14 years, is in Iowa.  It’s a big city, now, compared to what it was then – but, it was pretty good sized when I was growing up.  But, I do like to know if anyone I knew had died.  Morbid as that might sound, it soothes me … gives me a chance to add some prayers to my daily prayer list, and surprisingly, it also calms me.  Not to mention that I’m not in touch with many of my family members, and I like to see if we’ve lost another branch (or two) from the family tree.

When I was in the fourth grade, my dad purchased a farm north of town, and we lived there for a couple of years.  And although we lived in many places when I was a kid, “the farm” is where we established the closest relationships with neighbors.  I find that interesting, that I don’t recall friends or neighbors from any other places we lived when I was growing up!  I’m still in contact with my best friend from the fourth grade, who’s still up there, as they were neighbors of ours on the farm.  And her parents took in my brother, Tom, after our mom abandoned us….until our uncle was ready for my brothers.

Anyways, last week, I saw that another neighbor, Mr. H, had died at the age of 84.  Boy-oh-boy, did the mention of him and his family bring some memories flooding back!  Their farm was a mile or so from ours, but since my dad owned a livestock auction, our families became friends because Mr. H already knew Dad…and two of their children had the same first names as my two older siblings.  And Mrs. H remembers how much coffee she and my mom used to drink!

Then I realized that Mr. H’s funeral services were going to be at the church that I was baptized, and I also attended their school in the seventh and eighth grades.  So, without another thought, I emailed the Pastor and asked him to print out my email and give it to Mr. H’s family.

This morning, I had an email from Mr. H’s daughter, telling me how much the sympathy email had meant to her mom.

Small world, eh?!!

So, today – I want to add Mr. H’s family to my prayer list.  Mrs. H is getting up there in years, too – but, she still lives on the family farm.  They have a mentally handicapped daughter (that my dad used to tease and tease), as well as the two other children, that I remember from my youth.

And I want to shout out to you – relationships matter.  I don’t allow ugly relationships into my life, but it’s wonderful to build (and re-build) good ones, to share the love of life, to reminisce about old times, and to just grow old together.  It may be a cliche, but love is what makes the world go ’round!

If you’d like to join HBWM.com’s Blogging for Prayers, click here.