Join the Fun!

For all of those that sew there is an awesome sewalong going on at Sew She Can using bijou lovely’s herringbone block tutorial. This is my submission for this round.

I love it. I used various red and black fabric. The red in the middle is my favorite. Its red with little white hearts. 🙂

This is going to be on my chair for the month of February but I love it so much it might stay longer. Hurry the deadline for submissions is January 29th. The winner gets a $50 gift card to spend at the Fat Quarter Shop. Who doesn’t need more fabric ;). Have fun and post a comment here so that I can see your entries.

In other sewing news I finally started and finished part of my son Kizaiah’s Christmas present. Man I am such a slacker, well that and my sewing machine was acting crazy. Probably was in shock with how much I used it during the holidays. I have a new one on the way. So excited.  :)Anyway, he requested a “satchel” backpack. He picked out the fabrics months ago. He was super excited yesterday after school and couldn’t wait to use it today.

He wants me to make him a key chain. For what keys I don’t know but I will oblige. Here is a shot of the inside.

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Irish Beef Stew

I know I’m a little behind on the updating for St. Patrick’s day. I didn’t seem to get around to spending any time on the computer this last week. My in-laws were here spending the week with us. Good times were had by all and lots of cooking that I will update you on soon.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons flour 1lb beef stew meat or diced beef

1 small onion (chopped)

2 large potatoes (peeled and diced)

4 carrots (peeled and sliced)

2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms

6 garlic cloves (minced)

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

2 cups beef broth

1 (12 ounce) bottle Irish stout beer

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

¼ cup fresh parsley (minced)

Directions:

In a large pot heat oil. Coat beef cubes with flour and fry in oil until browned on all sides. Remove meat from the pot and set aside. Add mushrooms and onions to the pan. Cook onions until tender.  Add the beef back to the pot. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, beef broth and beer. Add potatoes and carrots. Cover and simmer on low for 1 hour. In a measuring cup mix together 1 table spoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water. Pour into the stew and stir. Simmer until the sauce has thickened. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.

Source: blogchef.net

 

Lucky Leprechauns

Happy St. Patty’s day to everyone. Not like I need a reason to make baked goodies for my family but it doesn’t hurt when you are inspired by the very talented bakers in the blog kingdom.  I originally saw these cute little leprechaun hats posted on The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle if you’ve never checked out her blog you should. Her cookies look so awesome. She is a very talented cookie decorator. The post about the leprechaun hats was originally posted by Lila Loa. She has inspired me too. I will be making Irish Beef Stew tomorrow for dinner and eating a few of these chocolate sugar cookies, which by the way I won’t be making plain sugar cookies for a long time. These are by far the best sugar cookies I have made. I do have a plain sugar cookie that I like but these are almost like small yummy brownie tasting cookies. A must try.  I will make sure I post all the details here after we enjoy our stew. Don’t forget to wear your green.

The End-All for Chocolate Cookies Recipe
1 cup butter

1/4 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup cocoa

3 or 3 1/2 cups flour

Cream butter, shortening and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add baking powder and salt and mix again. Stir in the cocoa until well blended. Add flour 1 cup at a time. IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE COOKIES RIGHT AWAY, ADD 3 1/2 cups flour. If you are going to “chill” the dough, or just wait for another day to make your cookies, STOP AT 3 cups. It will be totally soft and look all wrong, and you will want to ignore me completely and add more flour, but I’m telling you — DON’T DO IT. Practice self-restraint. You will be glad you did, and I will be proud of you. Roll out on lightly floured surface. Bake at 375 F for 6 1/2 minutes. (I roll my cookies 3/8″ thick.)

These are the perfect chocolate taste plus you don’t have to refrigerate before you cut, a definite plus if you want yummy cookies the same day 🙂

Source: Cookie recipe Lila Loa

Valentine Cookie Pops

Happy Valentine’s Day all! I made some cookie pops last week for one of my sons classes. Here are a few pictures of the finished cookies. Hope that you all enjoy today and got spoiled by your loved ones. Of course we should act like it’s valentine’s day everyday…just saying 🙂 I also made some Red velvet whoopie pies and chocolate covered strawberries for my husband and kids. More about that tomorrow.

Basic Sugar Cookies

Preparation: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line bake sheet with parchment paper.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 eggs, plus1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, whisk  flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Cream butter, cream cheese, sugar and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl lightly mix eggs and vanilla together.  With the mixer running on medium low, slowly add egg mixture to creamed butter mixture, continue mixing until combined.  Turn off mixer, using a wooden spoon or a sturdy spatula gradually fold dry mixture into wet mixture and continue to fold until combined.

2. Divide the dough into four flat disc and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Remove chilled dough one disc at a time and roll on a lightly floured surface into 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes. Bake cookies for about 8-10 minutes.

Source: Bakers Royale