Under the Influence (Cheese-ball)

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IMG_8886I got a little brainwashed during the days leading up to the super bowl. Normally, I don’t pay commercials any attention. However, after several decades of being exposed to them, one can’t help but experience some influence… and that’s why for the first time ever, I felt the need to make a cheese-ball.

I went in search of a cheese-ball recipe and it was over whelming. I got the general gist of what makes a cheese ball. Cream cheese was a reigning requirement, the majority of recipes called for 2 packs. I don’t usually have cream cheese on hand, but amazingly enough I had one pack left over from the holidays.

Many recipes called for chopping up things like onions, garlic, nuts and peppers to add to it. That’s okay, but I was in no mood to deal with that much work.

Mix everything together. Form into a ball. Refrigerate til firm.

Mix everything together.
Form into a ball.
Refrigerate til firm.
Roll cheese-ball in crushed crackers or crushed nuts.
Serve with crackers

So, I created my own recipe. It’s plain and a bit blandish, but served on Italian Herb Flatbread (crackers), it tastes quite good.IMG_8892

I’ll probably, make my cheese-ball a part of our traditional holiday recipes.
Fortunately, I can add anything I want in it and change it up special for whatever holiday or occasion I make it for.IMG_8904

Happy cooking!
chefspflwrsln

Loom Knitted Blanket Update

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update-2-2-2015

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In my 1/12/2015 Monday Mix post, I said I’ll give updates on my blanket when I’ve made significant progress.
I’m happy to say that I feel I’ve made significant progress. I was able to get 4 skeins done so far and my blanket is 26 inches long.
Hopefully, it’ll be finished by mid to late Spring.
🙂

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yarn1I was doing a bit of organizing in my craft room by putting my yarn into large bags… well, I was beyond surprised to see that I think I might be a yarn-hoarder. lol

So, how about you, have you ever surprised yourself to discover you had a bigger supply of ‘some thing’ than you thought you had?

Happy crafting!t6027
smileywreath
spflwrsln

Happy Groundhog Day 2015!

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“Happy Groundhog Day 2015”ghdance3

It’s still dark here at my home.
We have dreary weather and even more dreary weather in the forecast for all day long.
Fortunately there’s not much of a threat for snow or ice.

It’s Groundhog Day and I decided to make a forecast, even though I’m not a groundhog. 😉
Factoring in the morning dreary weather and all day forecast…
I predict Spring Season will be here in 46 days. 😀
(as for Spring weather, time-will-tell)

Wishing everyone a Happy rest of the winter.
😉spflwrsln

2015 WP Weekly Photo Challenge – Express YourSelf

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2015
WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge
~Express YourSelf~

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~*~

It’s been a rough week and I didn’t want to take a photo of medication and an icepack to express myself for this weeks challenge. So, I went through my photos and found this quiet group of candles burning peacefully during a power outage back in 2014.
Here’s hoping for a brighter rest of the week.  tinyc3

~*~
Wishing you all fun with the WP photo challenge!tinyc2

spgrnbgln

Farm Kids Quilt (2)

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Repost from –> August 31, 2011 (edited)
My Farm-Kids Quilt is finished
How I quilt a quilt on my regular sewing machine

August 31, 2011 –> I finished my farm-boy & sunbonnet sue quilt today. I’m pleased as peaches with it. Especially since it was the first queen size quilt I ever made. Originally I made the quilt top full-size to fit our bed. I decided to change it to a queen-size because someday we’re going to need a new bed and I figure we’ll buy a queen-size instead of getting another full-size. Because of the extra-added size, I ran into a few issues, but I managed to work them out okay.

I want to share the method I used to quilt it. I’m lousy at taking quilt photos because I can’t get a really good angle, but hopefully, you all can figure out the gist of what I did.

q11) Lay backing on the floor wrong-side up

q22) Lay batting on top of backing

q33) Lay quilt top right-side up on top of batting.

q44) Starting from the outer edge, Use safety-pins to join the top, batting & backing together.
Put safety-pins every so many inches all across the quilt.
q4aI roll the quilt up as I go because it makes it easier to handle.
q5

q65) After it’s pinned all the way across,
unroll quilt and spread it out flat.

q76) Starting at outer edge, roll each side to the middle

q87) Carefully slide the quilt under the pressure foot.

q98) Starting in the middle, Sew in the seam (ditch) or near the seam.
Be careful and remove the safety pins as you go and don’t sew over them.
Unroll the quilt as you go.
After you finish the first half, flip the unrolled half around and place the quilt back under the pressure foot and continue until you reach the outer edge.
*The main idea is to start at the center of the quilt and work your way to the outer edges.

q109) Here’s the finish quilted quilt
It’s 90″x93″ inches

q1110) Above photo is the middle after it’s quilted.

q1211) Here’s what the back of the finished quilt looks like

q1312) Here’s a close up of the back of the finished quilt.

All-in-all I think it turned out quite well.
It’s soft and snugly and will be warm this winter.

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Today, January 24, 2015

q00After I finished the quilt I didn’t like the squared corners, so I rounded them off.
Also, originally, when I made this quilt we didn’t have a queen size bed. I guessed at the dimensions.
We got a queen size bed this past fall and I was surprised delighted to see my quilt fit perfectly.

Wishing you all happy crafting.
t6001
spgrnbgln