Happy Birthday My Love!

How is it that men just keep getting better looking the older they get? This man still makes my tiddly wink after 34 years......I think I'll keep him :)

I love to watch him playing with our grandsons

and he's always doing something to make me

laugh (even when it's not on purpose :)

Coffee & Dark Chocolate Brownies

So maybe you can see a pattern forming here. If a recipe calls for coffee and dark chocolate it's pretty much a given that my hubby will love it! That's not to say that bacon doesn't hold a special place in his heart as well..... so here it is:

Coffee & Dark Chocolate Brownies

1 16.5 to 18 oz pkg refridgerated sugar cookie dough

2 eggs

1 19.5 pkg dark chocolate brownie mix

1/2 cup cooking oil

1/3 cup coffee liqueur or cooled strong coffee

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Press sugar cookie dough into bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl combine the eggs, brownie mix, cooking oil, and coffee liqueur until just combined. Spread batter over sugar cookie dough. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

3. Bake for 40 minutes. Enjoy the smell of chocolately goodness while it is baking! Cool, cut and scarf them down!

Christmas in July!!!

Because I've been sewing forever... I have aquired quite a bit of fabric and supplies over the years. But when I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia about 13 years ago, I was in too much pain on a daily basis to mess with my sewing machine.













All of my "stuff" went into boxes that were stored in the garage. Recently I've rekindled my romance with sewing and have been asking my dear hubby to get my boxes down so I could go through them. Last Saturday, during our yard-sale, I was finally able to browse through my boxes in between yard sale customers! I was so excited to see what had been locked away in the garage all these years! These photos are just a glimpse of what I found! Fabric, thread, seam binding, ribbon, patterns, buttons, zippers.....OH MY! Better than Christmas!
I gave away over 100 patterns and have probably 200 still in my collection.





Some patterns are just classic and stand the test of time, while others......let's just say that even if MC Hammer pants come back in style, I don't know anyone in my family that would want a pair :) I've spent the past 4 days sorting and organizing my treasures. Feels like Christmas and my birthday combined! I am a happy girl :)

Sew much to do!

I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the fabric I ordered for the apron swap I've signed up for. In the mean-time I've finished the romper that I started for my grandson Gabriel. It has two little monkeys on it. His mommy calls him "monkey" :) I also made an outfit with a cute little hat for an upcoming birthday party for a sweet little one year old girl that is coming up in August. It's the first time I tried my hand at the fabric roses. The rose came out pretty good I think and it was fairly simple to do. *Darn*...the mailman was just here and no fun packages with fabric for me today.........think I'll made some cards....

Beauty from Ashes

So here is a photo of the tomato plant I bought from the garden center. It's planted in organic soil and has been given special tomato fertilizer. I've had a few odd sized tomatoes (I have to say they have been very tasty) dispite my attempts to be a good farmer. I've even tried talking nicely to it as I water it. I've moved it to a new location hoping to maybe catch the perfect amount of sun....but alas.....

And here is the MASSIVE wild tomato plant that has taken up residence behind my garage. It is almost 6 feet tall and I've had to prune it back twice! No organic soil, no fertilizer, no nothing! It has taken root in the hardest, dryest, most unyeilding patch of dirt anywhere on our property. The fact that the only reason it's there is because a bird must have pooped the seeds there and the weather conditions were just right, makes me smile at just how amazing God is and what He can do. The bible says that He makes beauty from ashes. Obviously He also makes tomatoes from bird dookie :)

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

My handsome hubby had to work until 9:30pm last night, so this morning after he left for work I baked up a batch of these super yummy cookies. He ate 5 of them when he got home today and he said he's going to have some more after dinner. I think that's the true test of a good recipe :)

1/2 stick Crisco Butter flavored shortning

1 cup "Dark Chocolate Dreams" (dark chocolate peanut butter available at Target)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tblsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Combine shortning, chocolate peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Beat in egg.

3. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Mix into shortning mixture at low speed unitl just blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet approximately 2 inches apart. I line my cookie sheets with parchment paper so I don't have to wash the cookie sheets when I'm done baking.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Owl Rightie Then!

You may have noticed my fun little owl pin-cushion hanging out in the background of some of my photos. Well, my daughter-in-law mentioned that she loved my little owl. So I made her one of her own for her birthday. I forgot to take a picture of it before she went to live at her new home. But she is green with flowers embroidered on her back. I have to admit, I wanted to keep her for myself! Anyhoo....so after looking at my owl, I realized that her new owl was much cuter than mine, so I made myself a new one. My grandson David wanted an owl too, so he adopted my original (more masculine looking) owl. I feel good knowing he is in a good home too. So now I have this girlier owl. No embroidered flowers, but she is red and I love red :) I have really fallen in love with felt lately. I found this super fun website with free patterns (YES FREE). If you are interested in working with felt check them out: http://weefolkart.com/ There are some great tutorials and really great info on working with felt. Happy crafting!