Last Christmas of the Decade

WOW!!!  It is so hard to believe 10 years ago we hit 2000, and now ten more years down!!!  I never really thought about getting out the the 90's, amazing how time flies so fast!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas, we spent Christmas Eve at home with no fanfare, usually our older son arrives and a load of friends, kids and dogs, this year it was just the 3 of us.  I have to admit I miss all the activity but it was still lots of fun and great gifts and good food!!!

On Christmas Day we were invited to my cousin John and Kim's for dinner.  They have their family over so it was very nice to include us.  They prepared a fabulous pork loin, mashed potatoes, green beans and a great cherry jello salad, very festive.  Kim made homemade rolls that melted in your mouth. The crowning glory was the Yuletide Log.  We had a wonderful time seeing everyone and meeting new folks, a very enjoyable afternoon.



Now to get back to Stabbin Rags, had a few days off so really need to get back to work.  Enough of this fooling around cooking, reading and lounging.  Oh I did get a new book for Christmas, it's called Skinny Bitch, and what a book.  It's a no frills book on you are what you eat.  It covers the whole farming, food industry and what we have done and not done to make it a huge mess.  Basically eat only organic fruits and veggies, get rid of all dairy and meat, chicken and fish, eat more beans and nuts too!!!  Not sure I can go the whole way I do like my steak etc. but after reading on how these animals are slaughtered it gives one pause!!!!  Not to mention what they feed them and the drugs and hormones.  It's a rather interesting read if you have never thought about all the government involvement and beef and pork producers it's very scarey!!  So I'll make a ham today!!!!

CHRISTMAS DINNER PARTY!!!!

Saturday night we had a Christmas Dinner Party and it was such fun!!!  I love all the cooking and cleaning and prepping, tons of fun.  This dinner we started off with marinated shrimp with lots of lemon served in martini glasses, love that!!!  Dates stuffed with cream cheese, roasted pecans and wrapped in bacon and fried, can't eat too many soooo rich, yum!!!  Then I fixed radishes with a sliver cut out stuffed with butter and dipped in sea salt, very fun and festive,savory basil/pesto crackers topped it off.  And last but not least were mushroom tarts. these are the ones where you cut the cheap white bread into 4 pieces dip in butter and put in a mini muffin tin, then you make a mushroom, onion, garlic and cheese mixture and bake they were the keepers of the appetizer portion!!!!

Then we headed into a creamy turnip and leek soup, topped with turnip greens and a gremolta, (a mixture of orange rind, fresh garlic and flat leaf parsley all chopped up together and sprinkled on the soup,) very good, a keeper!!! 
Salad was organic greens with pear, toasted pecans, onion, black olives and a balsamic vinegar with honey and olive oil, not bad!!!

For the entree I tried something new called a panade, it was rather blah, needs a revamp, it was made with roasted garlic bread, torn in pieces and toasted, layers in a pan with a mixture of onion, garlic, mushroom and spinach, cheese and covered with broth and baked.  It sounded so good, I served it with baked salmon, but it was missing alot, needs much more spice and something???

Dessert was a chocolate truffle cake with candy cane whipped cream, very rich and delish but alot after that heavy meal!!!  All in all it was a successful dinner, that's the fun trying new recipes and figuring out what went well or not.

My youngest son Brandon is flying in tonight from Missouri and we're off to pick him up soon.  We are excited for him to be home for the holidays, our just married son and wife are staying home for Xmas, we hope they change their mind , we'll see!!!???

Only a few more days before Christmas and I have some serious sewing to do, an apron for a 4 year old and a walker bag and cell phone necklace.  My Dad was telling me about the radiation that comes off the cell phone, not sure how much but he thinks I should find some fabric that blocks it, I haven't googled this idea but if anyone has any thoughts please let me know what you know or think!!!

Have a fun week, such a fun time of year enjoy it!~!!!

Happy Holidays!!!!

Just got the cards started and a few mailed, even wrote a letter telling all the wonderful things of 2009.  Generally those letters give me  much to chuckle about year round, almost can't wait for the next one to come!!!  The longer the better, it's like once they get going they can't possibly fit in all the good crap their kids did that year, amazing how wonderful, smart, talented, beautiful and on and on they can be!!!  So I kept mine to one page!!!!???!!!

Now I am just starting on these little pouches, purses, what ever they might become..  I had a request from an elderly customer who wanted a little bag to wear around her neck to house her cell phone, paper, pencil, glasses etc.  It had to be flat enough to go inside her blouse and close.  So two samples evolved. 

The blue/green one is a double pouch with flaps and velcro on each side, the pouch is bound in bias and makes a nice glass holder in between the pouches.  The red and black is one sided with a pocket on the front, thus being able to house a cell phone and have velcro hold it all together, button for decoration.  I'm not sure where these are going but I think they could be useful, any ideas out there???!!!!

I like the idea of having the cell phone around my neck as I can never find it otherwise and it can fall off the clip.  This is working well for dog walking too I can put my phone, drivers license, money etc in this pouch and have it right on me, then stuff it all in my purse if need be after the walk.   Also when traveling it can be worn under your top and not be noticable.  And it could be embellished and worn out all the time.  Let me know what YOU think!!????

Well our snow is not gone, we had a nice weekend with warmer temps, which was nice but made the roads slushy.  As we all know there is no money in the budget to do lots of snowplowing so we're on our own!!!!  Now we are heading for a deep freeze for a few days then back to the 20's.  My poor dogs, they love to be out and I just can't risk slipping and breaking a wrist!!!

This last weekned my friend and I went back to the Legacy Tea Room, on Madisons east side, we had a delightful lunch and tea then went to Willy Street to shop around.  Our favorite shop the had changed hands and not what we had hoped for, the kitchen shop is always great and of course St. Vinnies!!!  I hit the big time, brand new looking pair of black cords by Not Your Daughters Jeans regular price $6.70 on sale for half price, $3.35, WOW!!! these pants sell in the $90.+ range.  So I felt good about that bargain!!!

Hope you are all getting ready for the Holiday Season, our youngest son is coming home Sunday and we have Dinner Party on Saturday so lots to do!!!  Got some cookies under way and hope to get some more shopping in this week, packages to send and decor to put up!!!  Have fun!!!!!

LET THERE BE SNOW!!!!

WOW Madison made national headlines with our snow dump of 18".  Everything closed from the State offices to the University and the MALLS!!!  Now that takes the cake, they never close???  My poor husband had a horrid ride to Sun Praire to find few emplyees showed up or called ion plus the snow plow company didn't show up, so that was quite the deal,no place for shoppers to parks nor trucks to deliever.  He made it both ways with no trama so all is good here!!!

I had a slow day but got lots of sewing done.  Love these days they go fast and so much accomplished plus yakking on the phone!!!  Talked to Florida they had much better weather, ha ha!!!  Arkansas had sun cooler but nice.  Missouri still was cold and too cold to roof.  And my daughter in law Melissa had her surgery and it is successful to this point, she should be home in a day or two.  And my cousin John had a successful kidney transplant a week ago will find out more this weekend.  Whew, lots going on!!!!  Minnesota doesn't have as much snow as us but windy and cold.  And Northern Wisconsin had a foot of snow, my father in law had to make a path for Bert (the dog) so he couild go potty.  Actually we have to do this for our big dogs, they are wussies!!!!  Love that free long distance!!!!!

Well another work day, sun is out colder than you know what and lots to do.  Thinking about some last minute Xmas pressies, maybe a few aprons, maybe a pincushion or two and my new necklace to hold a cell phone etc.  Off to stabbin' rags!!!!

The Pincushion Exchange!!!!

Our sewing guild has it's annual Christmas Party this next Tuesday and our gift exchange is PINCUSHIONS.  Last year it was aprons, toe bags , scarves etc.  So it's a ton of fun to see what everyone comes up with.  Mine is not original, it's a commercial pattern but I think its cute  a cupcake pincushion.  I am making 2 because my friend Carrie is conimg and she doesn't sew.  Everyone needs a pincushion for your dressing table to hold straight pins, safety pins etc.  and for us sewers we need them all the time!!!

So here's my pink cupcake, now it needs a little stand, maybe later!!!!

The recycling bug bit again!!!!!

When my friend Jo and I returned from our Missouri trip we stopped in Historic Hannibal, MO.  I believe I mentioned that earlier.  While we were shopping I spotted a really cute jacket in chenille with yo-yo's and ruffled trims.  so on the thrift store shopping weekend I found this green wool blend sweater, not chenille but close enough, dug thru my stash and found an old black rayon skirt and some hot pink fabric and here were are!!!   First I found the center or the sweater and cut it then bound in bias pink.  I cut strips of the black and pink and finished them with the serger rolled hem and sewed them together, gathered them up for the cuffs and hem.  Sewed then on, serged them off and topped stitched the sweater side to hold the seam upwards and not showing.  Then I made the yo-yos 8" for the big ones and 5" for the smaller, topped off with 3 vintage silver buttons.  I used 5 coat snaps to fasten the jacket but now that I've worn it I need to tack the whole thing shut as it pulls, hummmm wonder what that means.  I guess I'll just use it as a pull over the head jacket???!!!  Always a solution. 

This jacket can be made from a sweat shirt or sweater or whatever trips your trigger!!!!!.  For this project I washed the sweater first but will have to dry clean from now on as the pink is silk.  The jacket I got my idea from cost $125.00 I made this for $4.00 sweater, stash fabric maybe $3.00, snaps that I will take off so no cost and time around 2 hours.  So for $7.00 and a bit of time I have a very fun holioday jacket to wear!!!

For me this is so much fun and I get such a kick out coming up with different, just makes me smile!!!!

December and cold have come!!!!!!

To my friends Bob and Jo (the lucky dogs) you left for Florida just in time the cold has come!!!  We have had such a beautiful fall and early winter, gad it was 50' on Dec. 1st. hard to believe for Wisconsin!!!!

So with that I decided to make some quick breads over the weekend and a cut up turkey roasted in white wine.  I'm going to share the breads because they are so easy and tasty and I plan to make them for holiday gifts for the neighbors!!!

First is a family tradition Dutch Bran Bread, my Dad's family has been making this forever probably over 125 years.  It is firm, moist and heavy and especially delish with butter and cheddar cheese, or cheese spread or cream cheese, yes have to have health and lots of calories!!!

Dutch Bran Bread


pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 T. molasses
1 t. soda
2 1/2 cups bran  (not cereal)
1 cup white flour
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk

Mix all ingredients well.  Bake one hour at 350' in greased loaf pan.  Makes one large loaf.  Cool and wrap in plastic, I store in the refrigerator.  to heat in microwave only a few seconds.  Enjoy!!!!



My other favorite qquick bread dates back to the seventies when I was first married and learning to cook.  Someone came up with Beer Bread, now it is back and you can buy the mixes in stores and home parties for way too much money!!!  Like fashion cooking just keeps getting reinvented and rolls around again!!!

Beer Bread

1  12 oz. can of beer any kind will work, heavy dark beers give a more nutty flavor.
2 1/2 cups self rising flour  (this is important, regular flour will not work!!!)
2 T. sugar

Mix well and pour in greased loaf pan bake at 350 for 55 minutes.  Pour 1/4 cup melted butter over top and put back in oven for 10 minutes.  Reheat in toaster the next day if any is left!!!


Now you can add Italian herbs Tbls. or so or any other dried or fresh herbs to change the flavor.  My folks make this and dip in flavored olive oil for an appetizer.  You can do whatever you like but fun and easy to make and very good to chow on!!!  Happy Baking!!!


Am having another busy sewing week lots of alterations before the holiday season really gears up!!!  Tonight I'm working on a repurposed jacket for me.  It's a sweater that will have ruffles and yo yo buttons will show you the before and after soon.  Also finally found my lost patterns and make some cupcake pincushions, they are really cute!!!  More pics and info coming   Stay warm!!!