Recently, while reading a new to me blog, I learned about "stretch" needles.They are amazing! And best of all, no skipped stitches or fabric catching in the feed dogs.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Bagels
Monday, March 19, 2012
Quilt Club Block 3 of 12
Each month on quilt day we are suppose to show our finished block right before class starts. Up until now I have been carrying my blocks in a zip lock bag but decided to make a tote specifically for class; complete with a clear window on the front.I love my new tote and I love how my blocks stay flat and smooth and organized.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Cooking Class
Yesterday Jonathan and I took a cooking class that was everything I hoped for and more.We learned to make an apple tart and Profiterolles.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Roasted Peanuts
I have become addicted to roasted peanuts. The flavor is wonderful and nothing like the peanuts you buy in the store. Begin with a cup or two of raw peanuts.Pour into a baking pan with sides. Be sure all the peanuts are sitting on the bottom of the pan. If you roast 2 cups at a time use a large baking pan so there's room enough for the peanuts to be in a single layer.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Caramel Corn with Peanuts
Pat is always asking me to add peanuts to the caramel corn when I make it. But, I don't like peanuts in my caramel corn; well, until now I didn't.
You see, I have been roasting my own peanuts lately and used some of these in a recent batch of caramel corn.Oh my, the home roasted peanuts added a wonderful flavor to my already wonderful tasting caramel corn.
I'm sold, from now on home roasted peanuts will be added to our caramel corn. The recipe can be found here; I added about 2 cups peanuts to the recipe.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The Baby Chicks
Our 4 baby chicks are doing very well; even the little one that almost died.
I've been putting them outdoors so they can enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures; our box trap works well for keeping the chicks safe.Friday, March 2, 2012
Cheese Crackers
After the success of the homemade wheat thins I decided to try a recipe for homemade cheese crackers. I was a bit concerned about how well the cheese would blend into the dough but it mixed up just fine. The original recipe called for a sharp cheddar but I only had mild in the fridge; it worked very well.
This recipe made about the same size dough ball as the whole wheat cracker.
Because it wasn't necessary to roll out the cheese crackers as thin as the wheat crackers I decided to work with larger pieces of dough.
Rolling out was very easy. I took time to cut away the rugged edges before cutting the dough into squares but this turned out to be unnecessary because these crackers cook at a lower temperature and the edges do not over cook.
The original recipe suggest poking holes in the center; I used a chop stick for this;
However, when the crackers baked the holes disappeared. Next time I'll not bother poking any holes.
I was very surprised how nice the crackers puffed up since the recipe does not call for any baking soda or baking powder.
They tasted very much like a Cheeze-it but the texture was nothing like it. We will be making these again.
The original recipe came from 365 Days of Baking. I only used 1/2 teaspoon of Lawry's Season Salt instead of 1 teaspoon and omitted the 1/4 teaspoon of regular salt.