TUSAL AND SPOOKY SAL

This is this month's collection of orts. It looks like a lot. Maybe it is!! The new jar is a little smaller than the old. I had a couple of finishes and a lot of frogging! And here's my growing collection of scissors. I found the cute vase at the Goodwill shop and thought it would be great for keeping my scissors neat.

I've finished my Spooky SAL piece. I chose this particular one because she designed it after a trip to New Orleans. Haven't decided what to do with it yet.

I had another finish, but thank goodness for cameras. It's a pillow for a new baby. I took the photo, downloaded it and found a major mistake in spelling. I'll do a little more frogging and post the snappy.

We're waiting for some bad weather to hit here. According to AccuWeather it will hit in a couple of hours. Linzie senses it, I think. She's sticking to me like brown on rice!!! I have a crockpot full of a new recipe. Hope we don't have a power failure. It's Corn Chowder and absolutely delicious. And very rich. I'll post the photo and recipe shortly.

Until then, stay safe and happy stitching!

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!

I'm in the middle of one of those series of sleepless nights that I go through every now and then. So here it is, 10:30 at night and and EARLY service lookin' at me in the face in the morning. So, what does an intelligent person do? Instead of counting sheep, reading her Bible, doing her cross stitch? She plays on the computer!

If I don't turn it in soon I will be the Ghost of Christmas Past in the morning. And I'm not a morning person anyway.

It was a nice evening. Michael came over He's got a promotion (he thinks!) at work. Certainly a raise in pay. He brought his new rod and reel-the first he's ever bought for himself-and says we don't want to know what he paid for it!!! He'.s taken up kayaking. You should see it. And he's been doing a little tournament fishing. That would figure: he's a marine biologist. I can't believe that little strawberry blond that nearly drove me crazy so many years ago now has graying hair and beard. I'm so glad he's ours.

I worked some on the ornament's for Donna's Stitching For A Cure. I'm not really sure when the deadline is, but I'm enjoying doing the ornies. And I hope she raises a bundle for breast cancer.

Might as well through in a recipe. This is one my mother used to make. Along with the Rum Cake, she would bake this one with the boys in tow. It used to make me nuts seeing one or both of them sitting on the kitchen cabinet, pouring ingredients into the mixer bowl. I was just waiting for an accident to happen. If it ever did, no one told me. Good idea!!! Here goes-and it's actually pretty good.

DUMP CAKE

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 small pkg. lemon jello
2/3 C. Wesson oil
2/3 C. warm water
4 eggs
1 tsp. lemon flavoring

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare pan. Dump mix into bowl. Mix jello in warm water.
Add to cake mix. Add rest if ingredients and bake for 45 minutes or until done.

Well, that's about it. I'm going to try reading now.

A LONG WEEKEND AND A RECIPE

I didn't get back as soon as I planned. What a weekend!

On Saturday, we went to Plaquemine, a sleepy little town across the Mississippi River. Go across that dreadful bridge, carefully driving through Bruly and Addis, because they are speed traps, and then happily into Plaquemine. Right? Wrong. There had been a chemical spill earlier that morning and traffic was being re-routed. We rode by many, many sugar cane fields, past many, many police and National Guard guys, and getting more stressed by the minute. We had to go to a funeral-yes, another one. One of DH's clients died and we were going to pay our respects. We finally rolled into the funeral home just a few minutes before the procession to the church was to start. Well, because of the spill, the service was at the funeral home. No Mass. Just a short service. But the best part came afterwards.

We went to his house for the repast. WOW. He was a big game hunter--literally--so the living room was filled with LOTS of stuffed animals: giraffe, grizzly bear, gazelle. You name it, it was there. Whatever floats your boat! Their daughter had been in 3 Mardi Gras krewes, so her costumes were on display in a large case. Absolutely beautiful. I still don't understand how the ladies wear those LARGE headpieces.

The best part was the food. No one can cook like South Louisiana Cajuns. There was everything you could want, even meat pies. And some real home-baked ham. Anything you wanted to drink. And the desserts! I always thought an Irish wake would be the way I wanted to go. Now I've changed my mind.

Sunday was slow. I'm not an early morning person, so the time change nearly did me in. I woke up every hour during the night, so afraid I would be late for the Early Service. I wasn't, but yawned through the first service, poured in the coffee between services, and made it through the last service. Came home and took a long nap.

On the sewing front, I actually picked up the petit etui and did some stitching. Same for the Bea Potter SAL. I got an email from Robin, saying that some charts I ordered came in. I know one of them I want to start right away, so I'll get a little fabby, too. That's on tap for tomorrow.

Well, now for a recipe. I think my favorite holiday to cook for is St. Patrick's Day. Maybe it's the little bit of the Irish mixed in with the Scot. My favorite is Leek Soup. Sometimes I even make it during the year. Here goes:

CREAM OF LEEK SOUP

4 medium leeks (white and pale green portions only), cleaned and trimmed NO SAND!

1 Tbs. butter

2 tsp. olive oil

1 large clove garlic, finely minced

3 Tbs. AP flour

2 2/3 C. Chicken stock (or Swanson's broth)

1/2 C. milk

nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste

1/2 C half and half (or heavy cream)

1. Quarter leeks lengthwise and cut into 1/2" long pieces. Makes about 2 1/2 C.

2. Melt butter with olive oil over medium heat in large saucepot. Add leeks and garlic. Cook about 2 min., stirring often. Don't let garlic burn.

3. Mix flour with milk. Add to leeks with stock and seasonings. Stir and bring to simmer. Cook 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.

4. Spoon into blender and puree well. Put into saucepot. Add half and half and heat slowly. Garnish with chopped chives to serve, if desired.

I have another recipe around here that is Leek and Potato Soup. It's good too. Just what we need in this 80 degree weather.

TOTALLY USELESS SAL

Well, finally something to do with those millions of orts, broken needles and floss labels. This is a super cool SAL and we can all do it. I just started a couple of days ago and my little old jar is just filling up.

All you stitchers, check it out. Yoyo at Dragon My Needle started it and all stitchers are invited.

http://dragonmyneedle.blogspot.com/2009/01/totally-useless-sal.html

It's also time for a recipe! I'll get one online later today or tomorrow. Maybe it will be one of my St. Patty's recipes.

If I could remember where the snap came from I'd gladly give credit. I just have no idea where I got it!