Welcome Welcome. I am honored to be one of the stops on the tour along with such talented people. Sweet Celebrations features projects from 21 designers or as we call them chefs. Chef is code word so that our families think we are spending more time in the kitchen than in the sewing room.
Why I am on the hop? Because I had the honor of compiling this project. However I did not do it alone. I had lots of help from Angela Yosten and Jenny Garland who helped hatch the entire project.
I also wanted to give a shout out to Chelair Etter who took care of making sure each chef had the ingredients necessary to complete their project. Thanks also to the great crew at Stash Books for putting together such a great book that can be used throughout the year.
The book was started a year and a half ago so to see the actual book and the great projects inside is such a great surprise to see how it all came together.
Throughout the hop you will see a few of the projects in the book so I am not going to duplicate those images. However I am going to show you the pages titled, Celebrate the Designers. That is really what this blog hop is all about, celebrating the designers and all the work they put into this project. I am lucky enough to have my hands on an early copy of the book. I also have many pages flagged for the projects that I want to make!
If you are a storeowner, you can meet some of the chefs at market. They will be there doing a book signing in the United Notions booth.
If you are coming to Quilt Festival in Houston, there will be a Moda Bake Shop booth, showcasing some of the projects from the book as well as all the projects online at the bakeshop.
Leave a comment telling me what your favorite part of quilting is and I will draw a winner for this little bag of treats that includes 8 different 2 1/2″ charm packs called Moda Candy.
My recipe is from a friend of mine, Debbie Outlaw. The recipe has been around for so long no one knew what it’s original name was…………so I took the liberty to rename it, Outlaw’s Pumpkin Muffins.
My oldest son and his wife are living with us until their house is finished. We have had such great fun
and fabulous food. Grant loves to cook and he is an organic nut.
I found something to make that he actually ranted about.
photo courtesy of whole foods
Grant even does the grocery shopping, so when I “text” him the list of ingredients, my
version of this recipe did change a bit. See below for the changes.
Cooking dried beans is low maintenance and a great value. Make sure to plan ahead and allow time for soaking the beans. Serve with hot sauce or salsa, if you like.
Ingredients
1 pound dried black beans (about 2 1/2 cups), rinsed
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 ripe avocado, chopped
Method
Soak the beans overnight or 6 to 8 hours prior to cooking. Drain and rinse.
In a large pot, bring 1/2 cup water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add onions, bell pepper and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in cumin and chipotle and cook 1 minute, stirring. Add drained beans and 10 cups water. Bring soup to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until beans are tender. Remove 4 cups soup and carefully purée in a blender. Return purée to pot and stir in cilantro, nutritional yeast and lime juice. Spoon into bowls for serving and garnish with avocado.
MY VARIATION:
I asked for black beans not even thinking about the dried version or the canned version. I got canned black beans (organic) so I skipped the soaking. Followed the recipe, omitting the yeast and threw it all in the crock pot to warm. I tried the puree step also but it didnt work for me, so this was a cross between a soup and an a salsa. Delicious and good for you. The leftovers were great with my eggs this morning also. (Yes the egss that Grant cooked for me.)
Man, I am going to miss them when they move.
Thank goodness their home will be close to my work.
Maybe I can swing by on my way home and they can leave a doggy bag on the front porch.
Instead of a Friday Funny, I am posting a recipe. The only thing
funny
about this is to think I could fit in any of my clothes
after eating these.
Bo, the taste tester
Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 24 gigantic cookies
Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 13 minutes
Throw a couple of glasses in the freezer to chill. You are going to need an
ice cold drink of milk with these.
Ingredients
• 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 package Double Stuff Oreo cookies
instead of Double Stuff, I used the Heads & Tails version of Oreo. Just perfect for someone like me that has a hard time making up their mind. Plus I thought it would make the cookies not quite so rich and chocolaty. No problem there.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together with a mixer until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
In medium bowl mix the flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.
With a cookie scoop, form balls with the dough.
Place one ball on top of an Oreo cookie, and another ball on the bottom. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is fully enclosed with dough.
Place onto parchment or silpat lined baking sheets and bake cookies for approximately 13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
Nutella Paninis. For those of you that are not familiar with Nutella it is a yummy hazelnut spread that looks like chocolate peanut butter. I forgot how yummy and creamy this hazelnut spread was SO WARNING, don’t buy the big container like I did. Just saying.
Almonds, cooked oatmeal, bananas and yogurt meet up in your blender for a power breakfast. Drink this Banana Oatmeal Smoothie before your morning exercise routine and you’ll have the energy you need to get through your workout.
Ingredients:
■2 whole Chiquita Bananas (best with brown flecks on peel)
■2 cups Ice
■1/3 cup Yogurt – preferably Greek yogurt flavored with honey
■1/2 cup Cooked oatmeal
■1/3 cup Almonds
Recipe
Pour all ingredients in blender pouring ice in last. Blend on high for
30 seconds or until smoothie thickens.
Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories 380; Total Fat 15 g (Sat 2 g, Trans 0 g, Poly 4 g, Mono 8 g); Cholesterol 5 mg; Sodium 35 mg; Potassium 690 mg; Total Carbohydrates 53 g; Dietary Fiber 9 g; Total Sugars 19 g; Protein 12 g. Percent Daily Value: Vitamin A 2%; Vitamin B6 25%; Vitamin C 20%; Vitamin D 0%; Calcium 15%, Iron 15%.
Next up, looked quite yummy. I would call these adult popsicles for sure. How does
Welcome to my new guests. I am supposed to tell you a little bit about myself but I can’t do that without first telling you about the company I work for, Moda fabrics. Moda fabrics is a family owned company that sells only to independent retailers, or what is called “mom and pops.” You will never find our products in places like Walmart, Joann’s etc. The owner’s passion of supporting the independents carries through to what we do on a day to day basis. When I first went to him with the Moda bake shop concept, he said, “Sure, let’s give it a try.” now 2 years later we are celebrating Fresh Fabric Treats. (pretty creative- that I did not have to talk about myself!)
Jan 2009 the first post was by Angela Yosten featuring a travel mug. Now 2 years later we are traveling (digitally) to some of the Moda bake shop chefs homes. Today’s post I share with Rachel Griffith. She was one of the first chefs to share her talent and enthuasium so I am honored to share the day with her.
Welcome,Welcome, Welcome.
In true bake shop form my recipe is for something non edible,
cupcake tea towels and apron.
Most likely if you were coming to my home, we would all gather around the sewing machine and create some yummy projects while the men whipped up something on the grill. My parents taught all us kids to be comfortable in the kitchen or with a set of power tools, so there are no stereotypical roles in my household either. My son is cooking wings as I type this post.
SUPPLIES:
Toweling, charm squares, soft and stable fuse, buttons, and trims.
Moda’s toweling is available on a roll, hemmed along the sides. For each towel, cut toweling 28″. Apron- 1 1/4 yd. (26 for apron, 19″ for ties and pocket)
Choosing what to use is just like choosing what to add to cupcakes. There are so many choices.
TOWELS:
Trace the template pieces on the fusible interfacing. Iron them to the wrong side of the fabrics. Cut the shapes out. Please them on tea towel and iron in place. Click here for cupcake templates.
Hem top and bottom of toweling 1″. Press edge .5″, fold up again, press and stitch to create the 1″ hem. Additional options:
(many of you know I am a middle child. I don’t know if I can’t make up my mind or I like to make
everyone happy. Here are additional options to create your own cupcake.)
BUTTONS:
Use a red button for the cherry on top.
-OR-
Make covered buttons using the I-top button making tool.
(my favorite crafty tool as of late. If you did not get one for Christmas, ask for one for valentines. It is so much fun.)
If you do not have a button that is the color you are looking for, combine a fabric yo yo and a button to make a covered button that can be sewn through the button holes. (thank you Susan Fuquay for this idea)
TRIMS:
There are so many fun trims available in quilt and
specially stores that I had to add a few of them to
my tea towels. Ric rac, pom poms, crocheted trim,
and ribbons add that hand made touch. On my tea
towels I used the French general ribbons as a loop
to hang the towels. (see below) Determine how big of loop you want and add it as you hem to top section of your towel.
To add an edging to the bottom you your towel, sew it right sides facing to the top of the towel. turn the edging down as you hem the bottom of the towel. This works on the crochet trim and ric rac. Some of the trims can be sewn directly to the top of the towel.
APRON:
The toweling can also be used to make a cute half apron. Determine how wide you want the apron to be. Add apron ties as listed below. Trims can also be added to the hem on the aprons. I added ric rac as I sewed the pocket onto the apron.
Determine how wide you want your apron to be (approx 26″ is a nice size) Ties were cut approx 4 1/2″ wide by 19″ long)
You will need to buy double this amount. The additional yardage will be used to make apron ties. Cut the stripe from the toweling for apron ties. Hem and add to the sides of the toweling. Using the additional fabric, cut pocket square. Add a cupcke to the pcoket placing it along the top of the pocket. Add a ribbon loop when sewing the pocket in place. Sew a button on the apron and use the ribbon loop as a button closure.
Now that I have a cute apron to wear I had to put it to use in the kitchen.
CHOCOLATE CHIP CUPCAKES
1 box yellow cake mix, 1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup sour cream, 3 eggs
1 cup oil, 1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans, 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup mini choc chips
Preheat oven 350 degrees.
Combine all above ingredients. Mix together approx 2 minutes. Fill cupcake holders 3/4 full. Bake approx 10 minutes. Cool and frost. I made mini cupcakes because these are sinfully rich and delicious.
If making as a cake, grease 9 x 13 pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
1 8 oz. Cream cheese, 1/2 cup margarine
1 tsp. Vanilla, 4 cups powered sugar
Soften cream cheese and margarine. Blend until creamy. Add vanilla and powered sugar. Use food coloring paste (not liquid) to add color to frosting. Decorate as desired.
Enjoy!!
Tomorrow visit Julie Herman and Sweet Water, then ….
The last stop on the progressive dinner is Jenny Garland and Angela Yosten. These are the two talented ladies that keep the Moda bake shop’s pantry full of projects for you to enjoy.
I am sure you have read about the giveaway on each of the other chefs posts. By now you should know that by memory. My favorite precuts IS ALL of them (another middle child trait) but I will choose jelly rolls. I like combining a print jelly roll and a Bella solid jelly roll for a bigger project and a different combination.
So you know the drill, leave a comment on my blog to win precuts of my choice and a Fresh Fabric Treats book. In the past moda bake shop has featured stores, projects and even recipes. If there is anything you want more of on the bake shop, please leave it as a comment. Follow me on twitter or stay tuned to my blog for insider Moda information as well as random ramblings from a middle child.
Leave a comment on all posts to be entered in the grand prize drawing.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you have an e-mail address, so we can contact you if you are the lucky winner.
Welcome to the last day of the Mistletoe Make and Bake event.
Quite possibly you could have 65 new recipes to add to your rotation. I have some new ones I am excited to try out. I find the more I bake the less I want to eat it. Crazy, I know!
Today’s topic is……. A Cookie Exchange Tip
Having a large family was not very conducive for many cookie exchanges. We always seemed to eat the cookies before we could get them traded. I also have a few people in my family that will not eat anything from “strangers.” So I started doing some research on this topic. I found there are many websites for the professional cookie exchange enthusiast. Cookieexchange.com is one of these sites. Robin started her exchanges in 1989. I thought I would pass on some of her suggestions. Make your cookie exchange a women’s only event. Do not eat the cookies during the exchange. Serve
hors d’oeuvres and adult beverages. That seems pretty simple.
I hope you enjoy exchanging cookies as much as I have enjoyed exchanging recipes.
Thank you to Sherri Falls and the other designers for inviting me along.
Have a wonderful holiday and as the song goes, “Don’t get caught under the mistletoe
with anyone else but _____ (you can fill in the blank here).”
This recipe makes a ton of cookies, perfect to share.
The winner of my drawing on Thursday is
Karen said…
We have still have ornaments the kids (now 26 & 29) made in Kindergarten and first grade on the tree. Some have school pictures on them – these are priceless to us! Thank you for the recipe and for sharing about your ornaments and tree.
Karen, send me an e-mail with your mailing address.
Today’s topic is…..
Holiday Tradition that has to be done no matter what!
When I was married and celebrated my first Christmas as a “grown-up!”, my tree was very bare. I grew up with a mother that loves to decorate. If you stood still very long, she would wrap garland around you and add bows. So I had a hard time with my version of Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. My mom shared with me many of her ornaments as I made our holiday traditions our own.
I have always remembered stripping my mom’s tree of the decades of ornaments. She would have it no other way. I am a bit more selfish than my mother was. I want to keep my ornaments, so a new tradtion begins…….
Everything Thanksgiving each of the kids recieve a new Christmas ornament with their initials and date on it. Once the tree is set up, they add their ornament to the tree.
As the kids grow up and set up their own homes, they will have their own ornaments to display on their tree. These items are much more than a trinket to hang on a tree limb. The ornaments are full of memories that reflect what each of the kids were “into” that year.
Possibly a Texas Ranger World Series ornament for Grant and Bo this year?
I am known to keep alot of “stuff.” You know those things you accumilate in everyday life, such as
KEYCHAINS
ID cards
(travis is 21 now. I don’t think I could use this Id card to identify him now)
PICTURES
playing ball on the field of dreams!
GOLF BAG TAGS
SPORT PINS and more..
Some years I even get ornaments.
the year we were married
an ornament to celebrate the birth of each of the kids
Gary and I trade ornaments. I get whatever comes with a “meal”,
but I love them just the same.
When the boys collected baseball cards, they gave me a “Head Coach” baseball card.
What do you do with all your treasures? If I can put a hook on it, it becomes an ornament.
I get to enjoy these and many more memories just like me mom did with me.
EACH year we all watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas together. I no longer worry that my
tree looks like poor ol’ Charlie Brown’s.
RECIPE
Each market we have these delicious ginger cookies from World Market.
My recipe for today is for a yummy dip to go along with these cookies.
oh I am at a total loss on this one….I am not a party person.
I asked my best friend for suggestions. She reminded me that I would go directly to any of the kids at the party. I guess I relate best to the young ‘ens. This does not help me at a “cocktail party.”
So I had to consult the expert, Gammy. (that’s my mom) Artist and Salesperson who has never met a stranger should be able to give me lots of pointers. My family also threw in their suggestions. Keep in mind they majority of them are males and in their 20’s.
Depending on what type of cocktail party, Muy Guapo! is usually what Gammy says to all the males.
(Spanish for Very Handsome.) Cocktail party or waiter bringing a frozen margarita, doesn’t really matter. Works on both. She would be dangerous if she knew any more Spanish.
Other tips from the family:
Don’t wait for them to come to you.
Smile…
I thought you were a movie star…
Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? (this son was confused between pick up lines and opening lines)
Are you with the bride or the groom?
Are you on FACEBOOK?
I just learned that…FILL IN THE BLANK EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT UP.
Are you from around here?
Didn’t you hear me?
Remember their name and use it in conversation. The rest were not suitable for print.
Never ask a yes or no question. Ask about their family, hobbies, etc. What my dad always taught me comes into play here. God gave you 2 ears and 1 mouth. Use them accordingly. You will be surprised at how much you learn.
What I am lacking on Cocktail Party Chit Chat,
I have made up with my sister in laws, Oreo Cream Cheese Balls recipe.
There is no such thing as……Holiday Sanity Savers, but I will give it a try.
Get up an hour earlier or stay up an hour later every day… that will add one work day to your week.
Make lists for EVERYTHING. You may not be able to get it all done but at least you will be able to sleep. “They” say if you write things done it frees your brain from trying to remember it for you. (Your brain usually does this about 3:00 a.m.)
Don’t worry about finding all the presents you have hidden. Your kids will love the surprises when you come across the gifts in February.
Do not allow Santa to bring any gifts that say, “Some Assembly Required.”
Buy your own gift, wrap it very poorly, put a gift tag from your husband. Open it, act very surprised and gush greatly. I am sure “he” thinks one of the kids did that for him. Works every time!
Don’t over scheldule! I finally learned not to set myself up for unrealistic expectations. The best things happen when unexpected.
Sanity Saver tied in with the recipe listed below.
