birthday girl!

The main reason we left town when we did was that my Grandmother turned 100 this month.  It was time for celebration.  I really did not get much time with my grandmother but I was able to give her a hug.  It really became a family reunion though.

These are the current youngest members of my family.  I have to admit that most everyone else did not sit still long enough for pictures to be taken.

Except the birthday girl.  Here she is with the Tall Short Person.

And with me.

The event was very DIY but did not feel DIY.  And my grandmother was just a social butterfly.  The event was held at her country club and there were so many people for her there.  The food was good. The slide show was lovely.

My Dad made cream cheese mints.  They come out for every special occasion because we do not buy mints.  He also made sour cream candies as the give away.  I feel the need to make them currently but I may need to wait for the humidity and heat to go down!

Cream Cheese Mints

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2 pounds powdered sugar

flavoring of your choice to your choice

food coloring of your choice

Put the cream cheese in a large bowl.  Add 1 pound of powdered sugar (no more!!!!!).  Mix the sugar in with a fork or pastry cutter.  Add flavor and coloring.  Add the last of the powdered sugar and mix in.  Take a small teaspoon of the mixture and roll into a ball.  Flatten.  You can add fork marks straight across or like for peanut butter cookies.

I was going to get pictures of these but the ended up into tummies too fast!  My Dad could have made another batch.  He add about a tablespoon of peppermint and we all liked how light the mint was.  He thought it could be stronger.  He also says you can make chocolate ones by adding enough cocoa and chocolate flavoring to taste.

sugared pecans

I like salads but usually very simple.  Some lettuce.  A bit of fruit.  A nut.  Maybe some cheese.  Steak.  Yes, I said that right.  My favorite way to eat steak is to put it on a salad.  I was craving a steak salad with mandarin oranges, blue cheese, and sugared pecans but I never made sugared pecans before.  So I tried it!

Sugared Pecans

1/4 cup pecans

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons water

In a small sauce pan, put the pecans, sugar, and water (I use my Scanpan for this).  Stir to dissolve the sugar and bring to a simmer. Simmer 5-7 minutes, stirring all the while.

You want them to be golden and coated. It is very easy to forget about them and have them burn.  That is why I suggest to stir them all the while.

Pour out on to parchment paper to cool (if you can wait that long).

This are pretty fabulous to eat by themselves.

Put them on a salad.

And if you are me, add meats!  Preferably, from the farmer's market or your own animal.  We are picky omnivores around here!

Very yummy!  

I forgot Valentina!

Before we left town, I forgot to post about the creature I made that went into the bag with capes.  I figured Miss S needed someone who could scare the Dread Pirate Diabetes or make the doctors and nurses fall in line. 

Again, there was a theme of purple going on.  Part of it is the eyes, part is the body, part is the hair.

I call her Valentina.  Miss S thought she was a squid.  It does not matter as long has Valentina helps with the needle sticks!  

Just a different angle.  I was tired by the end of this day and did not even see the needles and such cluttering up the picture.  I may laugh at myself, yes?

back!

Yes, I have been gone for a week and a half.  The 100th birthday party and the beach were lovely.  I will actually post pictures here as the week goes by.  I am going to "steal" some from the Tall Short Person because she was continually taking pictures with her phone!

We left at midnight.  Did I spend all the time sleeping or packing?  Of course not!  I made a dress.  I had seen a dress on a French website that was so similar to my everyday dresses that I could not believe it.  They were charging 200 Euros which is almost $300.  My frontier dress for $300?????  I took my trusty pattern and measuring tape.  Took out fabric that I purchased for between $1 and $2 a yard, and got to stitching.

Less then two hours later, I had a new dress.  The fabric is very soft and I used a muslin for the petticoat.  One of the things I really liked about it was that it does not have buttons down the front so it is even easier then my normal frontier dress pattern.  And then there is that other thing.

The muslin petticoat that shows!  Scandalous!

This is a fabulous dress.  I need to make some more and have ideas straight from my fabric pile.

Life is going to be interesting around here.  My Beloved quit is job while we were on vacation and has two businesses he is trying to grow.  The Tall Short Person is going to make us grandparents in November.  I will truly have much to do because I am still working, and stitching, and crocheting, and weaving, and spinning.  I hope to actually get the surfboard out sometime soon.

Remind me next time, it does help to blog on vacation if you remember all the needed gadgets!  Smile.

to hold

While at the fabric store, I decided Team Pinky Pie needed a holder (bag) for all the capes.  As a momma, I knew that when you need to take something like this to the doctor's office, it really helps to have one bag to put them in. The theme continued with pink, purple, and butterflies.

And a lovely bag was created.  It holds all three capes easily on one more special surprise.

I have a 100th birthday party to go to.  I hope to post in the next two weeks but it might just not happen.  Thanks for your patience.