A recent trip to Las Vegas afforded us the privilege of visiting the Red Rock Canyon.
What a beautiful park this is! We went in late morning/early afternoon and the beauty here is spectacular.
Have you visited here at a different time of the year? Our visit was in November.
Our trip back to town also had a beautiful view. Wow! Isn’t it beautiful?
My sister-in-law had requested a queen size quilt about 3 years ago and I finally was able to complete one for her.
Part of the “problem” is that when I first started learning how to sew and quilt, I asked people if I could make quilts for them so I would be able to practice. My sister-in-law was way down on the list of people who requested a quilt as I did them on a first-come first-serve basis.
The Split Decision pattern I used is by Weeks and Ringle from Modern Quilt Studios.
The pattern is very easy as it’s mainly long different sized strips of fabric. My sister-in-law chose her colors and I shopped for fabric. I used a tan color in the back.
On this quilt, I asked the long-armer to quilt it with long curves.
I think it came out quite nicely, no?
It’s been a little while since I made this modern Cascade Quilt which turned out beautifully.
I purchased the kit that included all of the fabric except for the backing from the Craftsy website. It was easy to put together and I’ve received many compliments on it.
I love the bold colors of the varied fabrics.
For the backing, I chose a variegated green fabric. I sent the quilt to a long-armer and asked her to do swirls for the quilting.
What do you think of this quilt? Do you like modern or more classic style quilts?
Somewhere in my early teen years I came across a book called The
Boxcar Children.
This book, written by a first grade school teacher by the name of
Gertrude Chandler Warner, was aimed at children in grades 2-6
yet I can’t remember reading it as a younger child.
I must have stumbled across it at the local library near my home.
We never had books in our house growing up. My mother, who
didn’t make it too far in grade school, never read us story books.
I fell in love with the book and the story it told of 4 orphaned children who fled what they thought was a cruel grandfather although they had never met him. They found and made a home in an abandoned boxcar and thought they were being self sufficient when it was a doctor who the oldest boy was working for who was helping to supply odds and ends for them in addition to what the older boy was able to get on his own.
The grandfather had put an ad in the paper looking for his grandchildren but the doctor remained silent until one of the young girls got sick. The doctor then notifies the grandfather of the situation and when they meet this kind man they move in with him and he, being wealthy, moves the boxcar to his backyard for them.
There are so many ways I enjoyed this book. Although not a negative word is said about the children’s decision to run away from their circumstances, I sense the stubbornness in them ~ one that I also was familiar with growing up. Yet, the way the book tells the story, it was more about the children learning and being given opportunity to work things out for themselves.
I read the series of these books to my boys while they were growing up.
Sometimes, as an “older” adult in need of sanity in this world, I’ll go back and get the 1st book and re-read it a few times.
Do you have a favorite children’s book?
Babies, babies ~ lots of babies being born. So I decided to gift a baby quilt and purchased a baby girl quilt kit called Lily & Loom Candy Splash from the Craftsy website.
The quilt was quite easy to make and came out very pretty.
Since the mother’s favorite colors are pink and purple I decided to make the back of the quilt pink and have it quilted with hearts ~ because it I made with love. Awwww … special.
It came out quite cute, wouldn’t you say?
After a record breaking cold polar vortex week in Minnesota, we finally broke through to a beautiful day of fog.
I love how the oak leaves contrast beautifully against the trees.
The first meal we tried was the One Pot Creamy Chicken Chowder which was delicious!
Our second Home Chef meal was the Penne Pasta with Sun Dried Tomato Cream. This meal is also shown as “mild” for spiciness but I have found that if I use all the red pepper flakes in the recipe I will suffer since I don’t enjoy spicy food.
So with this particular recipe I reduced the red pepper flakes to 1/4 of the packet. That gave the meal a “friendly” hint of spice without being overpowering.
I have to say ~ the Home Chef meals, although “appearing” to be small in portion size, are quite hearty and very delicious. This meal was no exception. Even the mushrooms (and I’m not a mushroom fan) tasted great!
Penne Pasta with Sun Dried Tomato Cream
To view the recipe click here.
Home Chef – One Pot Creamy Chicken Chowder
Our niece recently started getting Home Chef meals and gave us a code so we could get $30 off our first order.
So ~ we decided to try it.
Our first meal was a One Pot Creamy Chicken Chowder with poblano and crispy tortillas.
The meal itself looks small, i.e. not enough to fill us ~ perhaps because we usually have an entree, a salad and a vegetable with almost all of our evening meals.
That being said, this meal was quite hearty and very very good. It is not dairy free as it uses a light cream and chihuahua cheese.
The recipe states this meal is mild although it uses 1 poblano pepper.
Since I do not like spicy food at all, I used 1/4 of the poblano pepper and half of the chile and cumin rub. It turned out perfect. Just a small hint of the poblano pepper flavor.
Home Chef – One Pot Creamy Chicken Chowder
So ~ I recommend this meal. It was quite tasteful and filling for us.
To see and try the recipe, click here.
If you’re interested in getting the code for $30 off, just contact me and I’d be happy to provide it for you.
Mostly ~ enjoy this recipe. It’s delicious!
It’s November in Minnesota and autumn is just about over. But we had a pretty one this year ~
Autumn in Minnesota
The leaf colors are really pretty this year.
Maple Leaf
Ahhh ~ the beauty of autumn.
Autumn in Minnesota
Grain Free Paleo Puffs
I’ve been searching for snack-y foods for a friend to munch on that was paleo friendly and came across the Grain Free Paleo Puffs at Whole Foods. Why not try it? I said to myself.
Although they don’t look very appetizing (beige food never does), they actually tasted quite good to me. There’s a small hint of cheese although there is no cheese in them.
Reviews varied though ~ out of four people who tried them at our house, 1 said “quite good,” another “alright,” the third said they weren’t good and the fourth said “okay.”
Grain Free Paleo Puffs
So ~ it will be up to your taste buds as to whether you like them or not.
