I'm back...

I'm back from a wonderful trip to lovely Layton, Utah! Quilt Festival 2009 was fabulous! I went to fun classes, laughed with fun friends and just generally had a great time. I learned more quilty stuff and got to hear from great speakers and spent all of the rest of my birthday money at the vendor's mall too! I was gone for 5 days and it went really fast, but I am super glad to be home too, especially since the KNOTT's retreat is at my house in a week or so!!! I now have lots of new projects to work on (not that I needed any more!).

The hotel room was a little wild with 4 quilters and all of our stuff in there:

It wasn't too bad, sharing a bathroom, some of us didn't need too much time to get ready in the morning - especially since Kathie is a "flush and run" kind of girl!

I learned how to make a "New York Beauty" block, it takes LOTS of pins:This is the result of all of those pins - mine is the lower right corner, (mind you, this took several hours!) I think instead of making a big quilt, I will make 3 more blocks and this will end up being a "table topper".

Here are my lovely purchases. (The block on the bottom is a sneak peek of Doug Bug's Christmas present)
I went out to see Amanda in Syracuse while I was there and it was so nice to see her in her cute home - she has a LAKE in her backyard! All in all a super great week! It's my third year and I am planning on going every year forever!

Tandem Adventures...

We've been on a few tandem bike rides - sorry, no pictures - it's hard to take a picture when you're both on the bike. We had a fun date night last week, riding up to the Riverwoods Mall near the mouth of Provo Canyon. We rode up and went to Border's Bookstore and got a couple of books, then browsed Williams-Sonoma - a totally fab store!
Tonight, we rode for Family Home Evening, (Shane was working, so there were only two of us) first, we went to mom's house, to see how she is recovering from her gall bladder surgery earlier this week. She had a houseful of family who were all checking on her too. Then, it was off to Brooke and Ben's house to see her darling children and way cool bedroom re-do! We then took off for Ice-Berg for dinner - hamburgers, fries and a hot fudge milkshake. We couldn't finish the shake, so I held on to it and we went to Albertson's, to give it to Shane or Doug.
Doug wasn't working, but Shane had a few bites, then we tossed it. It was a seriously huge shake and they called it their "mini" shake - HA! We rode over to Target, to replace our blinking red tail-light that had disappeared on a previous ride. Stacy thought he had his wallet, but we only had the change from our dinner and it wasn't quite enough to pay the tax on the light! We tried Shane, no answer. We called Brooke and asked her if we could borrow 50 cents, and could she bring it to Target. After she burst out laughing, she agreed. It was good she brought her wallet, since we ended up needing batteries too. We got the bike all fixed up and made it home in about 17 minutes - safely. It was a little chilly tonight (Yippee!), but with Stacy in the front as a wind break, I was only a little cold. It was a really great family night and one we will repeat again - only this time with a wallet and probably a jacket!

What Else I've Been Up to this Week...

This is a fun, hand-pieced mini log cabin. I took this class at the Aspen Grove Retreat last year, so I thought I'd better finish it before the next retreat. I finished the log cabins while watching some football this week. I went to Walmart yesterday morning and got the foam board, etc. to finish framing it. By the way - the ONLY time to go to Walmart is early in the morning (We went at 8 a.m.), there were no crowds, no lines and the produce even looked good. I was amazed!

What I've been up to this week...

Saturday I have a Scrapbooking Workshop, or Crop at my house. I've been "power-laying out" all of my pics from last Christmas to last month. I love, love, love my big counter, I can fit many pages of pictures on it. First, I do a 'rough sort' of pictures by month, Then; I lay out page sized 'boards' and I put all my pictures on them, in order. I can tell how many pictures (exactly) will fit on them and arrange all the fun pics accordingly. Next, I stack them all up, and put them in the box until this weekend.I will add cute paper and writing on Saturday (simple, easy stuff)

I am thinking I have too many pages to complete on Saturday night, but, General Conference is coming right up, and scrapbooking is a marvelous activity to do while watching. You NEVER fall asleep and it keeps your hands busy.

Papa's Packin'

So, Stacy got this funky jacket he's been eyeing at the gun store (Gunnie's - what else would it be named!). It's this heavy jacket with a secret pocket for his GUN! A few months ago he took a class and got a concealed weapons permit (why???? I don't know). He loves his guns and his new jacket. I told him he was not allowed to "pack" when he was with me, it just makes me nervous. He is super good about keeping everything locked up, which makes me breathe a little easier - (plus I told him the first time he left a gun lying around, I was taking it to D.I.). So, if you see him wearing a heavy-duty, duffel-bag like jacket, don't mess with him.

Another Delicious Biscuit Recipe...

My Sister in Law, Denise, gave me a fab subscription to the Food Network Magazine. They had a recipe for "imitation" Red Lobster Biscuits. They are waaaay better than the cheese biscuit recipe on the Bisquick box:

Biscuits:
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp of baking powder
2-1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp shortening - at room temperature
4 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced (I used regular butter - it was fine)
6 oz. grated cheddar cheese (about 1-1/4 cups)
3/4 cup whole milk
Garlic Butter:
3 Tbsp unsalted butter (again, I used regular - it was great)
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley (I used dried - totally fine)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
With the paddle attachment on your mixer (or you can use your food processor), combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the shortening and mix until combined. Add the butter and mix until it is in pea sized pieces. Add the cheese and mix just until combined into a dough - over mixing will cause tough biscuits.
Drop dough onto baking sheet in scant 1/4 cup portions, 2 inches apart and bake until golden, 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile - make the garlic butter: Melt the butter with the garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and add parsley. Brush the biscuits with garlic butter as soon as they come out of the oven - they are best served warm.
Enjoy!

Okay, some actual Quilting Stuff...

Here are two of the quilts I've finished this month:

The "Ugly Quilt" - this one was a challenge for the Utah Quilt Guild, I got a paper bag with the blue fabric and the Mother Goose fabric in it last year; and needed to make a small quilt for Quilt Festival this year. It is named "Ugly Quilts are Fun".

This is a cute quilt that I finished up today, just waiting for a close friend or relative to have a baby boy.....I finished another quilt, but it is a Christmas Gift, so I will not be posting it.
Now that all of my quilt tops are quilted, it's time to make some more! I will be attending UQG Festival later this month (5 days of classes and quilting!!!!), a Quilt Retreat for 3 days next month (at my house), the Utah Valley Quilt Guild's Retreat in November for 4 days - Did I mention that Fall is my favorite time of the year????

Pizza Dough Recipe

So here is the pizza dough recipe that I got off the Internet and tweaked a bit, we use it often and it is pretty yummy:

3 to 3-1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp yeast
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer, but use what you've got!

Put warm water in a bowl (about 100 to 110 degrees) - it should very warm, but not burning hot. Add the honey and mix for about 20 seconds. Add the yeast and mix for a few more seconds. Add 1 cup of the flour and the salt and mix for another 10 seconds, add the olive oil and mix until blended. Now I add 2 more cups of flour and mix with the dough hook on a fairly high speed for a minute or two. The dough should turn into a ball and roll around the hook. If it doesn't because it's too wet, add more flour, a little at a time. If it's too dry, add a little water at a time until it balls up good. Place the dough on a floured board or your counter and knead for about a minute to help the gluten make the dough rise, etc.
Place the dough in a (Pam sprayed) bowl and cover with a damp dishtowel. I usually put the bowl on top of my range and turn the oven on for a few minutes to make it nice and warm up there. After about 45 minutes, the dough should be doubled in size. Punch it down, right in the middle and then let it rise for another hour to hour and a half. It's now ready to use. (If you aren't ready, you can punch it down one more time and let it rise for another hour)
I separate the dough into 3 or so sections (these make good sized pizzas - about half a jelly roll pan) Pat or roll it out to desired thickness on your floured counter top. (If you're really good, like Rose, you can through it around and up in the air!) Don't forget to put corn meal on your pan, so the pie won't stick. Put it on the pan before you top it, or it will be too hard to move to the pan.
We cook ours at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes, depending on how thick it is and how many toppings you've got on there. It's helpful to slide a metal spatula under the pizza when you think it might be done to see if it's firm under the middle of the pizza - sometimes the rest looks done and it's still mushy down there.
Toppings: Spaghetti Sauce, Alfredo Sauce, Pesto Sauce, onions, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, pepperoni, Italian sausage, bell peppers, artichokes, tomatoes, fresh spinach, cooked chicken chunks, mushrooms, olives, use your imagination!

The Birthday Party...

Well, every so often, I still give myself a birthday party (no one else seems to want to do it!). I turned 46 yesterday and had a pizza/game party with my girlfriends...

Some people were very clever, like Rose, who used to work in a pizza place...We were all very proud of our delicious creations...We had rides on the new bike...We had Pina Coladas, made by Stacy, which were delicious, even if we did run out of mix! Laura offered to run to the store for rum, but we said no - ha ha. We played Taboo, and the Sommers' girls, which all ended up on one team were roundly trounced by the friends - oh well. We had the delicious giant chocolate cake from Costco, which we couldn't even eat half of and just generally had a good time. It was a great birthday, as birthdays go!

Delicious Biscuit Recipe

I have made these biscuits twice now and they are delectable. It is a "Barefoot Contessa" recipe - Ina Garten (see The Food Network).

Chive Biscuits

2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold butter, diced
3/4 cup half and half
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives (I use the pack from the produce dept - the whole pack)
1 egg mixed with 1 tsp water for egg wash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix at low speed until the butter is the size of peas. With the mixer on low, add the half and half and beat just until mixed. Add the chives and mix until just combined.
Dump dough onto well floured surface and knead lightly into a rectangle 3/4" thick. (I also use my rolling pin) Cut out rounds with a 2-1/2" round cutter (I use a glass, dipped in flour) and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with egg wash.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until tops are brown and insides are firm.
Serve warm.

Sorry no pics, I had one, but I can't find it and we ate them all up!

It must be my birthday month...

Wow, Stacy got me a fabulous birthday present!!!!
I am so excited, and fall is the perfect time to ride around with Stacy doing all, I mean most of the peddling!