Art in the Bag

There's an auction going on in Omaha Oct. 17th to support organizations related to cancer. I looked for patterns yesterday, I coerced my sister in law, she'll sew the bag and I will donate lampwork beads as a purch dangle.

The patterns that I found are pretty neat. One of them only takes 2 fat quarters to make one bag. There are so many cool fabrics out there, it is hard to choose.


Here are the choices:

QuiltSmart:













Since my Mom has had several cancers, I contemplated making 2 different colored bags, one for each type of cancer. However, I am not sewing these up, Brandy is. (Gotta get permission before I make big plans) I really like the bag with the big buttons. Mangelson's has these great leather buttons that would be really cool, depending on the type of fabric I purchase.


Here is the other choice, but the pattern isn't in at the Country Sampler Quilt Store, I am not sure how long it will take to come, and if Brandy can get the bag done in time This one is Flour Sack, By Busy Bee Quilt Designs. I love the flower, the one at the quilt store is so much cuter!:




















Here are pics of my grandkids.

Recipe Friday Sept. 19th

Extra Special Spinach Salad

1 bag baby spinach
1 bag spring salad mix
1 sm. bag slivered almonds
1 bag craisins
1 lb. honey maple bacon, (cooked crisply and broken into pieces)
2 Fuji apples, cut up
8 oz. freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 bunch green onions (sliced)
Lightly toss all of the above ingredients.

Dressing:
1 cup canola oil
1/3 C. red wine vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1 t. dry mustard
1 t. salt 1 T. poppy seeds

Whisk together (dressing may be made ahead of time).
Pour on salad and toss right before serving.

This makes a lot so use two regular salad bowls or one big bowl.

Blogging by Mail Photos of Isaac and Steve Random other Photos

I saw on Dozen Flours a sign up for Blogging By Mail (BBM). Of course, I had to run and sign up for it right away, I asked for a baker to send things to. Now I am on the hunt for really fun things to ship to this person! I saw some really cute Halloween rubber spatulas at Michael's this week. I got this woman as the person I am supposed to mail my stuff to, it should be fun, she lives in Chicago. I think I'll get one of them. I had thought about them for my grandkids anyways.

I have some photos to share of our trip to see Isaac. Then a few random ones. The pecan pie I made for him before he left for Job Corps, it's his favorite.
























Then there is one of Steve touching the statue in Hawaii for good luck, I forgot about this one. He didn't want to touch it at all, but the guide told us everybody rubbed it for good luck.......I wanted a picture of him doing it, so he obliged, although begrudgingly:





















Random photos, one of Olivia going to see Noah at the hospital all dressed up in her purple clothes. She is wearing the Salvation Bracelet I strung for her. Next is a picture of her salvation bracelet. She was so tired the night I strung it, she finally went to bed and fell asleep. First thing when she woke up the next day, she wanted to see her bracelet. One is of Olivia and Grandpa when they came to visit us. They both had just gotten out of bed. Others are of Isaac's room, I redid it for guests when he is not home. Deb will stay there in November when Michael Barley comes to Omaha to teach his class on glass bead making. Then Isaac will be home for Christmas for a month.

























There are photos of Deanne's birthday in Feb. that I never posted. Left to right: The first one is of Wendy (baby sis) Dianne, Michelle and Brandy (Sis in law) the 2nd one is of Wendy and Deanne.





















There are also photos of the BMW ultimate drive. The one is the signature car for 2007, it is auctioned off at then end of the drive for 2008, then they will drive this year's car through 2009. It was so much fun. Linda and I both drove SUV's. I took a shot of our signatures on the car.......Linda thought it was cheesy, But I wanted to get a shot in case it ever got scrapbooked.

Recipe Friday Sept. 12th

Pumpkin-Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

• 2 c. flour
• 1 1/3 c quick or old fashioned oats
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 c. butter or margarine, softened
• 1 c. packed brown sugar
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. Libby’s canned pumpkin
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¾ c. chopped walnuts
• ¾ c. raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheets. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract; mix well. Add flour mixture, mix well. Stir in nuts and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 14-16 min. or until cookies are lightly browned and set in centers. Cool on baking sheets two minutes, remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies. 120 calories per cookie.

Never forget

One of the guys I work with has a son that did this drawing for Sept. 11th. I wanted to share it:

Recipe Friday Sept. 5th

I love this recipe, Deanne makes it, now Steve's family is all ga-ga over it when I take it to Thanksgiving. Easy, too.

Corn Casserole

1 can cream corn
1 can whole kernel corn (undrained)
1 stick margarine
1 cup large elbow macaroni
1 cup velvetta cheese

Mix all together and bake at 375 covered for 30 minutes then uncover and bake for 30 more minutes or until macaroni is tender. You can also put it in a crock pot and cook it, or a small electric roaster. The crock pot cooks it in about 2 hours.

What a week

Went to Dubuque to ride the paddle boats down the Mississippi. It was very relaxing. However, it is also tiring to do back to back trips just a week apart.

The trip to Galena, Illinois was fun. The town is very unfriendly with their parking. The place gets completely packed with people, the parking is limited, there are signs all over that you are limited to 3 hour parking. So, at the end of 3 hours, are you supposed to move your car? MOVE IT WHERE? If you don't, they put a parking ticket on your windshield. It is $15 if you pay it in 7 days, but $30 if you don't. We won't be returning to Galena any time soon. That put a big damper on our day. Sad thing is, we spent $600 in that little town. I wouldn't recommend people go there. Lots of other tourist places that would treat their tourists better.

The interesting thing was, the car that parked right next to us with Illinois plates didn't get a ticket. I think they target the out of state cars. I did write the town council a letter to tell them that very thing.

My car was in the shop for a week. They finally got a new wheel for it, the total was just over the $500, so of course it was too little to turn it in to insurance. What a bummer. It is good to have the car returned and in good working condition.

This weekend I have a little show in Glenwood, the nursing home where Mom is staying asked me to put my glass beads out on a table there. It will be fun. I'll also make some bread and cookies for their bake sale.

The grandbabies both started pre-school. Olivia yesterday, Noah today. They go from 8:15-11:00. Olivia had a great time, Noah will, too. He has 2 little girlfriends there. It is too cute.