Super Easy Brown Sugar Brownies

         For many years, I was allergic to chocolate. Then mysteriously, the problem left as subtly as it began. Hooray! Because I found an easy and delicious recipe for brownies on the back of a C & H Dark Brown Sugar box. There are only six ingredients! I have changed things up a little, and have made notations below.

1 cup of packed C & H Dark Brown Sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

2 ounces (2 squares) unsweetened chocolate, melted

1 cup of all-purpose flour (The original recipe only called for 1/2 cup. It seemed too little to me.)

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I used chocolate chips instead.)




Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease an 8 X 8 X 2" baking dish. (I used  a Pyrex dish with butter-flavored cooking spray.)

Cream butter and sugar until well mixed.

Beat in eggs.

Melt the chocolate squares in a microwavable bowl then drizzle into the sugar/butter/egg mixture while you stir. (This avoids the problem of making the equivalent of chocolate scrambled eggs by dropping a lot of the hot melted chocolate onto the raw eggs.)

Stir in the flour, then the walnuts/chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the pan, level, then bake for 25-35 minutes.

Cool, dust with powdered sugar if desired, then cut into bars.

The box states that this will make 2 dozen bars, but in my estimation, there were only about 1 dozen.

Absolutely rich, moist, and chewy!

Spiraling in Free Motion

          The last couple days have literally been consumed with free motion quilting the background of my current wall hanging in progress. I really didn't think that there was much area to cover, but I am almost finished with the two spools of thread that I purchased for the task. No surprises there. I am a terrible estimator when it comes to how much thread I will need for a project or how long a project will take to finish.

           I do know that I am thrilled with this thread. It is Mettler Poly Sheen in a medium shade of lavender. The color seems to change, depending on the mottled colors in the batik, but it really is just one solid color. I know that is unbelievable for those of you who know of my affinity for variegated colors. The finish is somewhat shiny, and best of all, the thread is very reliable and doesn't break all of time like another popular brand of polyester thread. The Poly Sheen is primarily advertised as an embroidery thread, but works like a charm for quilting.

          Well, tomorrow is coupon day at Hancock Fabrics, so I will go then and get more thread. I need to start ordering cones of it online. I think I might be irritating the ladies at Hancock's because I am always in there pulling out the storage drawers beneath their thread displays, looking for more of whatever color I want to purchase.

 

          While I have been quilting in circles, my little old lady cat, Courtney, has curled up into her own spiral on this soft pink Sherpa throw. I bought it at Hancock's Fabrics last time I was there. Between the store's half-off sale price and my 10% guild member discount, the blanket only cost me a little over $11. I got two of them. Maybe that sort of makes up for all that thread I bought at very close to full price.

Too Sore To Blog?

          With the remainder of my winter holiday looming lusciously before me, I have switched gears and have been quilting at a frenetic pace. Over the last two days, I have put in 18 hours at the sewing machine. All is going well and some terrific progress is being made. Needless to say, I am a little sore and haven't been a good blogger as of late. This morning as I eat my breakfast, I am trying to do a little catching up with my online quilting friends. Then back to the sewing machine, and later this afternoon, a trip out to the country to put some fresh bedding in my horse's stall.

          Tomorrow awaits me like a big piece of cake. I am getting a massage.

Christmas for Cowgirls

          As an adult with a full time job and all kinds of other responsibilities, there never seems to be enough time to drive out to the country where I board my horse. Life definitely goes on, however, whether I am there or not.

          Someone has added a festive wreath to the paddock gate.

          There aren't any evergreen trees at the stable, so a large artificial tree has been set up outside, complete with ornaments and lights.

 

          Many of the youngsters have decorated their horses' stall doors. This is Sarah's horse, Maggie. Sarah helps me with my horse, Sky. She turns him out to exercise himself since I can't always be there. She also brushes him and gives him lots of love. Sky really likes Sarah.

 

 

          This is Sky in his stall. It's sprinkling outside, so all the cowgirls were out at the stable putting fresh, dry pine shavings in their horses' stalls to keep them warm and cozy. Everyone was getting a generous helping of grain as well.

 

 

Christmas For Cowboys

 

John Denver

 

Tall in the saddle, we spend Christmas Day, driving the cattle over snow covered-plains. All of the good gifts given today, ours is the sky and the wide open range. Back in the cities they have different ways, football and eggnog and Christmas parades. I'll take my saddle, I'll take the reins, It's Christmas for cowboys wide-open plains. A campfire for warmth as we stop for the night, the stars overhead are Christmas tree lights. The wind sings a hymn as we bow down to pray, It's Christmas for cowboys, wide-open plains. Tall in the saddle we spend Christmas Day, driving the cattle over snow-covered plains. All of the good gifts given today, ours is the sky and the wide open range. It's Christmas for cowboys, wide open plains.

Christmas Comes to the Cotton Patch Quilters

Thursday was the night of the annual Christmas party for the Cotton Patch Quilters of Kern County. Our emcee for the evening was Santa. Some of us know him as "Bob". 

 

 

The hall was full with our guild members and their guests.

 

 

This is the table where the Sewful Sisters and their guests sat.

From left to right is Lois and her husband, Richard. The gentleman to his right is also named Richard, and is sitting next to wife, Donna.

 

 

June is in the black top, and Celia is wearing dark red.

 

 

Our own Jennifer is sitting to the far right. The empty chair next to her is mine.

 

 

The first order of business was to play a dice game. The goal was to win all of the fat quarters that had previously been distributed to everyone at each table. There were ten tables in all. Interestingly enough, men who were guests won the pot at six out of the ten tables. Sort of ironic since most of them admitted that they didn't understand what a fat quarter might be.

 

Our table was no exception. Donna's husband, Richard, claimed the prize. We are eagerly looking forward to his first quilt.

 

 

Next we had a delicious meal of shredded beef, pan potatoes, chili beans, cole slaw, bread rolls, and a choice of pumpkin pie, pecan pie, or cookies.

 

Following dinner, we were treated to music by the

Montage Women's Acapella Group

 

 

Their Musical Director is Erin Lunn.

 

 

Not to be outdone, the Golden Empire Men's Barber Shop Group shared their impeccable renditions of both traditional and innovative Christmas carols. Their Musical Director is Bob Cathaway.

 

 

Finally, it was time for Santa to say "Merry Christmas and Good Night".

 

 

 

 

 

Party On!

          What a day tomorrow will be! A breakfast party before work, six small parties throughout the day in my classroom for various groups of students I teach, and after all of that, a big dinner party. The cupcakes are baked and frosted. A joyous day awaits us.
               

Sewful Sisters Cookie Exchange

          Tonight was the Sewful Sisters cookie and gift exchange. I must say that quilters are excellent cooks. Feast your eyes on these tasty morsels:

          There were all sorts of cookies: Beautiful sugar frosted, thumbprints with chocolate, spritz, shortbread, chocolate with nuts, chocolate chip, two kinds of persimmon, and sugar cookies with jam. Lois's neighbor also made us a delicious, nut-covered cheese ball. That's where I spent most of my time.

 

          We also drew numbers and exchanged gifts. Some people wanted to steal, so we let them. I ended up with some fat quarters, a packet of my favorite microtex machine needles, and a disappearing ink pen. Fortunately, I was one of the last ones to choose a gift, so I got to keep mine.

 

          The final thing we did was to prepare our raffle basket for our upcoming guild Christmas Dinner. It's a beauty and stuffed with all kinds of wonderful treasures, so make sure and buy some tickets.

Holiday Version: Salty Sweet Peanut Butter Caramel Fritos

          This evening finds me making a double batch of the previously posted recipe for Salty Sweet Peanut Butter Caramel Fritos. My Sewful Sisters Cookie Exchange tomorrow. I dressed the recipe up a bit this time with some multicolor sprinkles. Yum!

 

And as in quilting, sometimes when you run out of a certain fabric and have to substitute, wonderful things happen. I didn't have enough white sugar tonight, and made up the difference with brown sugar. The caramel was so much more flavorful and soft.

 

 I have added that option to the original recipe.

 

After a couple hours in the refrigerator, these will easily break into chunks.

 

For the basic recipe, see : http://quiltedtimeposts.blogspot.com/2012/12/fritos-peanut-butter-chocolate-recipe.html

And This Little Bed is Way Too Small!

          Since we donated all sorts of blankets to the animal shelter recently, I grabbed a couple new cat beds while I was at Petsmart the other day. They were small, soft beds and meant for my little old lady cat, Courtney, and my calico, Friendly. The larger cat beds were still in good shape and didn't need to be replaced.

             That's not how Zee saw it.
        

 

          The minute I arrived home from the store and dropped the beds on my ottoman for a bit, Zee went about wedging her 18-pound, 41 inch long Maine Coon body into one of the tiny pink cups. She didn't even wait for the tag to be taken off.

 

          To the right, you can see little 6-pound Courtney, waiting patiently.

 

 

          Zee laughed a little bit more while she tried out the new bed. Eventually, she pried herself out of there and hasn't been back since. Courtney is glad about that.

 

Portraits of Roses III

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lord, Hear Our Prayers

My thoughts and prayers go to the fallen angels at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, CT on this sad day. May the Lord bless them and keep them.

A Little Mug Rug

          It is such a rare and precious treat to be able to work on a small, simple project. Before I actually got started on this one, I had plans to do some piecing that a little more complex. The lines of trees put an end to those plans. I thought they looked better left intact.

 

          This is a gift for a favorite cousin and is already in the mail, heading his way along with the microwave rice heat pack. I don't think he reads my "girlie" blog, so I am fairly sure he won't see his gifts before they arrive. :-)

Fritos, Peanut Butter, & Chocolate? A Recipe Divine!

          A few years ago, a friend of mine brought a dessert to work that was quirky, surprising, and the next thing to addictive. It was a whole Pyrex baking dish of chewy, gooey peanut caramel layered over a bed of Fritos corn chips and drizzled with melted chocolate. It did take some effort to cut off a square and pry it out of the glass dish, but it was certainly worth it. Particularly for someone such as myself who doesn't really care for Fritos.

          I had forgotten all about that scrumptious treat until the other day when I was informed that I needed to show up at my Sewful Sisters group with cookies, bars, or some sort of sweets. We are going to do the big cookie exchange.

          There were oodles of variations of the coveted recipe online. I read through them, but decided that I wanted to do things a little differently. The first issue that definitely needed to be tackled was getting those puppies to come out of the pan a little easier. Some of the recipes suggested lining the pan with wax paper. I decided to give some butter-flavored cooking spray a try. I also thought a thinner, looser layer of Fritos on the bottom of the pan and less caramel might allow the pieces to break apart easily into clusters. That would eliminate the problem of having to almost saw them into bars.

         Off to the kitchen I went yesterday evening to make up a trial mini-batch. Good news! The little changes I made in the recipe yielded good results.

          The non-stick spray worked like a charm. Mostly, it helped to scatter the Fritos loosely and just moderately coat them with the caramel spread instead of trying to make a big solid bar in the pan. The most helpful thing was to refrigerate the pan after putting the caramel and chocolate on the corn chips. After a couple hours in the fridge, the contents of the pan will very easily break apart sort of like peanut brittle. Yum!


Salty Sweet Peanut Butter Caramel Fritos

1 cup white corn syrup

1 cup white sugar (for softer caramel, use 2/3 cup of white sugar and 1/3 cup brown sugar)

1 cup peanut butter

1 10.5 ounce bag Fritos 

non-stick cooking spray

chocolate chips, M & M's, or colorful seasonal candies (optional)


1. Pour out the Fritos on a large shallow glass pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. The trick here is to not get your Frito layer too thick. Use two glass pans if needed to accomplish this.

2. Combine the corn syrup and sugar and bring to a boil. (I simply stirred these two ingredients in a glass bowl, then put it in the microwave for 3 minutes. The sugar dissolved perfectly.)

3. Stir in the PB til smooth. Pour the mixture over the corn chips, sprinkle with the candies, and chill for about 60-120 minutes. Break apart and enjoy!

For a holiday version, see: http://quiltedtimeposts.blogspot.com/2012/12/holiday-version-salty-sweet-peanut.html

For another holiday variation, see: http://quiltedtimeposts.blogspot.com/2013/12/that-time-of-year-again.html

Quick Microwave Rice Heat Pack

          It's the time of year when I start poking around in closets, wondering where I stored my microwave heat pack. I finally did find last year's pack in the linen closet, but I remembered that I was not completely satisfied with its construction. I had made it by folding a flannel fat quarter lengthwise, stitching around the outside edges save a few inches, filling it with dry rice, then finally sewing it shut. The rice inside always seemed to be either too bulky or too sparse, depending on which way it shifted.

          This year I decided to change my design up a bit and portion the heat pack off into cells. I used striped fabric to that I wouldn't have to draw any stitching lines.

          This size of pack is going to be for use on the lower back or simply to warm my quilting chair before sitting in it. (I really don't like cold chairs in the winter.) With the fabric folded double, I cut a rectangle 16" wide and 12" high. Unfolded, it is 32" X 12". In this picture, the fold is along the right side.

 

          I then opened up the folded fabric and pressed down one inch of fabric along the top. Then I folded the fabric wrong side out and pinned the two remaining sides. Matching the stripes is not absolutely necessary, but the end result will be straighter and look more tailored. Once this was done, I stitched a 3/8" seam along the two pinned edges, making sure to backtrack a couple stitches at both ends.

 

 

          The best way to have workable seams when the sheath is turned right side out is to press the seams open while it is still inside out. I also clipped the corners to eliminate bulk in the seams.

 

 

          Next I turned the sheath right side out and pressed the outside seams flat, being careful that the seam lines were truly at each edge. If the seams tried to roll, I worked them between my thumb and index finger until they laid flat. Then I pressed with the iron again. Once the sheath was perfectly flat, I marked off my planned stitching lines with straight pins. This heat pad will have six cells for rice, so I made five lines of stitching that were basically equal distances apart, but they were not perfectly identical. The number of stripes in the fabric did not divide equally into six, so I didn't force myself to be exact--just in the ball park.

 

          The heavy rice will stress the seams, so I backtracked a few stitches at the beginning and end of each row of stitching.

 

 

          When I finished, the sheath looked like this. You can see the cells where the rice will go.

 

 

          To reinforce the outside seams, I top-stitched with a quarter-inch seam around three of the edges, leaving the side with the open cells unsewn.

 

 

          Since I didn't want rice all over my floor, I decided to try and keep my project contained to a bowl. I poured 3 pounds of dry white rice into the bottom of a tall bowl. I figured that its rather steep sides would also provide some support as I filled the cells with a small measuring cup. That part worked like a charm.

 

          Once the cells were full, I pinned them shut.

  

 

          My only word of caution here is to leave about 2 to 2 1/2 inches of each cell empty, or it will be near impossible to sew the top shut. Don't worry if it looks like the cells will be a little empty. They will fill out just fine once they are sewn shut and the pad is laid flat.

 

 

      Heat 2-3 minutes in the microwave and enjoy!

 

Spot clean the fabric only as needed.