PLUM STREET SAMPLERS

One Bad Apple.

A few nights ago I decided to unwind by baking an apple pie. I love apple pie recipes, even if my hands always end up hurting from peeling all those apples. Sophie decided to help me with this one, which I got from my Just a Matter of Thyme book that Mom got me a few years ago. 

 

 

 

That's a quarter-cup of sugar she piled on that crust, and I'll never doubt her again, bc it was delicious! Now to blow it around a bit..

 

When our pie was finished baking, the house smelled wonderful! I wish you could have heard how this thing sizzled..

 

I couldn't wait to have a piece.. that first piece is always the best. I know most people like ice cream with their apple pie, but that's not my thing. (I don't like to mix hot and cold on the same plate!)

 

Sophie's not an apple pie eater - she's just an apple pie baker - so after I had my little piece of warm, spiced pie, I wrapped it up to keep it fresh for the next day..

 

THE NEXT DAY...

I came downstairs, poured myself a hot cup of coffee and couldn't wait to have my breakfast: a heavenly, delightful, mouthwatering piece of apple pie. So it was with great anticipation that I carefully unwrapped this:

 

...And felt the blood drain from my face. My temples throbbed. My hands shook. I looked around desperately for a barf bag, but then I remembered that I don't usually keep barf bags laying around.

Cough. Sputter. Mike.

 

What part of "GET A KNIFE AND A PLATE AND REMOVE A PIECE BEFORE YOU EAT IT" doesn't he understand?? How many times - how many, many times - have I asked him that one simple question? Is my English not good enough? Do I stutter? Is it too late for "til death do us part'?

Well... there's always my coffee. And he wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole.

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The Recipe...

Double Pie Crust:
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. salt
1 c. vegetable shortening
1/4 c. ice water
1 egg, beaten
1 T. white vinegar

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. With a pastry blender, cut in the shortening until evenly distributed. In a small bowl, combine ice water, egg and vinegar. Sprinkle water mixture over combined dry ingredients, and mix until dough barely clings together. Divide dough for bottom and top crusts. Roll out dough to desired thickness between two sheets of lightly-floured wax paper. Put bottom crust in pie pan without stretching dough. Roll out top crust in similar fashion, keeping wax paper on dough until pie is filled to keep from drying out.

Apple Pie Filling: 
8 or 9 tart cooking apples, pared (I used Granny Smiths!)
3/4 c. sugar, more if desired
6 T. flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
2 T. butter

In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle about 1/4 c. of mixture on the bottom of the pie crust and add the rest to the apples. Stir to coat apples. Fill pie crust heaping full of apple mixture, dot with butter. Place top crust over filling, flute edges. Cut slits on top of crust and sprinkle with sugar. Bake about 50 minutes at 400 degrees. 

(I really loved the way this apple pie turned out. If you like McDonald's apple pies, this one tastes just like those, in my humble opinion. And that big purple McDonald's character - Grimace? - he reminds me of Mike.) 

Happy Birthday, Frieda!

My sweet mother-in-law has had quite a go of things lately, being ushered in and out of the hospital for appointments, tube checks, unexpected extended stays, and neverending problems with the variety of surgeries she's had since August. And not one complaint. (Well, okay, she did slip up and say, "Well here I am with another s**tty bag again," which sent the nurse into a laughing fit, bc one doesn't expect a classy lady like Frieda to suddenly utter a cuss word.)

Mike spent every spare minute in the hospital with her while she was there, a few times taking her bills along so she could go over them to make sure he was managing them to her liking..

 

Sophie got to skip her morning subjects at school once so she could bring grandma some flowers and a balloon.. Sophie LOVES surprising people. (She should grow up to work for the IRS.)

 

On my many visits to the hospital, I consumed more than my fair share of these:

 

If you've never tried these and don't mind paying the price for them (I actually do, but I decided I'd ignore it since I didn't have a Starbucks nearby to blow my pocket money on), they are excellent. Especially the green ones that look like swamp water. Delicious!!

Frieda was released a little over a week ago to come back to live with us, and we were very happy she got to spend her birthday outside of a hospital room. Sabrina had to work that day, but before she left, she gave her grandma a beautiful scarf from Christopher and Banks...

A couple of Frieda's friends drove from Kansas to spend the day with her and brought her some gorgeous flowers..

 

 

Later that afternoon, we all headed to Olive Garden for her birthday dinner (Breanna was in Lincoln, so she couldn't join us, and as I said earlier, Sabrina had to work all day)..

 

 

Does Olive Garden not have THE best salads??

 

Frieda was so surprised when the wait staff came out to sing her a birthday song..

 

 

Miss Sophie loves birthdays.

 

 

Remember when they took Chocolate Lasagna off the menu? Well, they brought it back. And that's what made my life complete.

 

 

Sophie thought the Chocolate Lasagne looked pretty decent, but that's not her favorite thing about Olive Garden; somehow that child always manages to get more than the 1-Andes-mint-per person allowed by the server..

 

 

It was a beautiful birthday for a beautiful lady. Frieda made it to 81 years, and we were all thankful to be able to celebrate that with her. Onward to 82!

 

Here, Doggy Doggy.

My blogging has all but come to a screeching halt these days bc I've been extremely busy with doctor appointments and various other tasks for my mother-in-law, who has come to live with us. Through it all she's been extremely gracious and humble and unimposing, and we are all enjoying her company.

I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to see the much-anticipated New Moon when it came out at midnight bc I wouldn't be able to leave Frieda for the 2 1/2 hours of reel time. However, Mike came to the rescue and volunteered to take a few hours off of work to stay home with Frieda and allow me to go with Sabrina to the employee sneak peek - a whole 28 hous before it went public!! So last night at 8 pm, we sat snuggled in our seats with our nutritional fare of choice: nachos, hot dogs, and Milk Duds.

Jake has clearly been going to the gym. And that's all I'm going to say. For those of you about to see it in T-minus 136 minutes, please don't squeal with delight in the movie theater the way Sabrina and I all the womenfolk besides Sabrina and I did when we saw it. I mean puleez. So what if he's genetically gifted and has deltoids the size of Texas. And those biceps...  (GET A GRIP, WOMAN. HE'S 16 FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. How many is that in dog years?)

Enjoy!!!!! It's FANTASTIC!!! And thank you thank you thank you, sweet Mike, for making this happen. You know how much Bean and I have looked forward to its release, and we are both quite pleased with you at the moment. ;) (And yes, you have deltoids the size of Texas too, sweety. Grr baby, grr.)

 

Walt Would Not Approve.

I'm finally able to sit here on the computer for a moment or two. My apologies for the delay!

I went through all the guesses and found only 3 that came especially close to what Mike drew. Most people guessed either the Tooth Fairy or a bat! It was a lot of fun reading what people "saw" in his drawing. Again, here it is:

 
And here is what was attempting:

Three of you guessed "Mickey Mouse," so I'm going to call it close enough! I used the random number generator (gotta keep it fair!), and the number 2 won. And number 2 is....

Marjorie!

Email me at paulette71@yahoo.com and let me know which chart you'd like. Congratulations, Marjorie!

Thank you all so much for playing... Mike got a kick out of reading your answers, and so did I! 

Pumpkin-Eater.

I've never been one who enjoys bored board games. I'm not sure why, but I just dread it when the kids or Mike asks me to play a game with them. Once in a while though, I surprise even myself when the word "yes" falls out of my mouth. In this case, it was the game of Pictionary (junior edition), and I have to admit it was quite fun.

 

 

Anyone who has ever played a game with Mike knows how competitive he is. He will do anything to win - which includes breaking the cardinal rule of Pictionary: you are NOT to write words to help your partner figure out what you're drawing.

I do believe he was trying to get Sabrina to figure out the word "Winter." And his pencil accidentally wrote "brr" to indicate extreme cold.

 

Most of the time I have to marvel at Mike's uncanny ability to win this game, bc his drawings are.. well... ridiculous. I just don't get it. 

Exhibit A: The word being played is "Swan."

 

Here was my drawing, with Sophie as my partner:

 

And with Sabrina as Mike's partner, here was his drawing:

 

Sabrina and Mike won. 

Exhibit B: Dentist.

 

I don't have my drawing to compare, but trust me when I say it was reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting. Compared to this, that is.

Sabrina and Mike won.

Exhibit C: (Just try to guess.)

 

Leave your guess in the comments field of this post, and of those who guess correctly, there will be a drawing for one free (already released) Plum Street Samplers chart of their choice. In the spirit of Pictionary, you can guess as many times as you like before time runs out, which is at noon on Sunday. (And you don't even have to post this contest on your blog to be eligible!) The drawing will be held either Sunday afternoon or Monday (one never knows when I can get to the computer these days!).

Hurry up! Time's running out!

Here is another one of Mike's magnificent illustrations:

The chosen word is "Dog Sled." 

 

Okay, that one wasn't too badly done. Except his dogs look more like people.

One of my favorite drawings was by Sophie, whose word was "Dr. Seuss."

 

That brought a smile to my face. :)

I leave you with one final drawing by my ever-loving husband. Before I show it to you, I should let you know that my initials are, in fact, "PMS." I believe the word he was given was "Graveyard," and I'm not too sure I appreciate the first images that he thought of.

 

My only question is, why 1999? Does he wish I'd been gone for the last ten years? Would he have preferred to spend the last ten years mushing people harnessed to a dog sled? 'Tis a mystery.

And you guys thought he was cute.

He and Sabrina ended up winning the whole deal, and Sophie insisted on switching partners for the next round. When Sabrina looked suddenly alarmed at having me as her new partner, I suddenly felt like the last one picked for a schoolyard game of kickball. 

Fine then. Don't be surprised if I draw your dinner instead of cook it. After all, I apparently need the practice.

Don't forget to leave your guess before Sunday-noon!

 

Threadheads!

The next time Kim at Threadheads Unite! tells you she's got bundles for sale from Moda or French General or whatever, run - don't walk - over to her site and get your order in before she runs out! She's exceptionally good at getting your order to you lickety-split, and with extremely good prices.

Look what I managed to snag before they were sold out:

 

It's the new line of prints by French General! Gorgeous!!

 

I also got a quilted tote bag, and my husband asked, "Did you get a new Vera?" It certainly does look like a Vera Bradley bag, but nope, it's not. I don't have a photo of the tote bc it came out blurry, but I do have a picture of a new dish that Kim sent to me (she knows how much I love red toile!), and the dish is on top of the tote bag. :)

 

Isn't it lovely? What a sweet, thoughtful thing to send! When I excitedly showed it to Mike, he looked at it blankly and said, "It looks like a kidney." I politely informed him that yes, it is called a kidney dish by some. But I just call it a dish. He then said, " You could let my mom put her teeth in it." 

I will never again show him anything fun that I receive.

Besides, that dish it too shallow for Polident. It would, however, hold a freshly-harvested husband kidney. He'd better learn to sleep with his eyes open.

Thank you, Kim - for the lovely dish, the fabulous new fabrics, and your excellent customer service! :)

Fun Finishes

I've really enjoyed the photos of your finished projects that some of you have been sending me! 

Bonnie from MA finished Tomb With a View (Mehitable Grubb) last year, and this year she got her hubby to help her make it into an actual tombstone shape that stands up. I love it! (Btw, Bonnie stitched this over one thread. Crazy girl!!)

 

And this My Pretties finish was sent in by Sandy from Italy.  I love the beaded details she put on the trim, and the witch hat button on the front... wonderful job, Sandy!

 

 

In the spirit of New Moon, which is being released very soon (ohmygosh-ohmygosh-ohmygosh), a couple of you have sent me your Twilight freebie finished projects!

This belongs to Fred in Burgundy, who says, "Even in the deep French countryside, Edward is breaking hearts."  LOL  Oh Fred, I have no idea what that feels like, since Edward has been so true to me and my heart. (Shut up, Siobhan.) I love this bookmark idea, and may have to borrow it... :)

 

Here is Veronique from France's version... my goodness, Edward has been breaking French hearts! This is so unique as a change purse... I don't think I'd ever be able to get a zipper properly sewn in, but Veronique did a fantastic job on hers!

 

 

This last photo astonished me.. Julia from England (hi, Pen Pal!) sent me a couple of different photos of her finished sampler to see after she scanned it into her computer. It is for her aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary, and Julia has taken several designs by various designers - Brenda Keyes, Moira Blackburn, Jane Greenoff, Cynthia Zittel, and myself (to have my design combined with those designers is an honor indeed!) - and blended them into a "new" sampler that is just beautiful! The portions of the pattern she used that was designed by me was from A Sweeter Love. Take a look and see if you recognize some of the motifs from the other designers..  it's absolutely gorgeous, Julia, and I cannot believe the generous effort that went into this! (Oh goodness, at all that over-one stitching as well!)

 

 

I'd like to thank each of you for sending in your lovely finishes.. they just make my day, and I'm thrilled that you've found them enjoyable enough to finish! Maybe one of these days I'll be able to actually finish something. ;)

It's that Time Again!

Lately I've started turning into my sister, who has been so excited about Christmas she can hardly sleep at night. (I believe she started listening to Bing Crosby and going gift shopping in July?) For some reason, I have been bitten by the Christmas bug, which is a little early for me.. one of my very favorite holidays is Thanksgiving, so I tend to wait until the last of the leftovers has been eaten before I start digging out my Christmas cd's (hiding Elvis's "Blue Christmas" for fear that my husband's alter-ego, Karaoke Mike, will suddenly break out in song).

Here is my newest Christmas cd acquisition:

 

I love this cd! Harry Connick, Jr. has always been one of my very favorite artists (was he not hilarious in New in Town? I loved the part where he was threatening his daughter's date!), and I was thrilled to see another holiday cd by him. (I think this one came out last year, though.)

And whilst listening to Harry, I was making this:

 

Pretzel Bark! 

It's super easy... 

Simply melt 8 squares of Baker's chocolate (I used semi-sweet, but milk chocolate is also available) in the microwave, and then add a cup of broken-up pretzels and 1/3 cup of whichever nuts you like (I used a mixture of walnuts and roasted peanuts). After you've got them stirred in, just spread the mixture onto wax paper or a metal cooking sheet and put them in the fridge for about an hour, or until they're set. (They don't have to stay in the fridge though.. once they're set, you're fine to leave them out.)

Delicious!

Btw, Breanna came home for the weekend and took about half of the bark back to school with her. :)

Here's something else I acquired lately, in my excitement for the holidays:

 

I figure this is more Thanksgiving than Christmas, but since I'm excited about both, I also purchased an oil refill for my Yankee Electric Home Fragrance Unit in the "Merry Christmas" variety pack,  which includes the Christmas Cookie and Balsam & Cedar refills. If you've never tried one of their plug-in units, I highly recommend them (Bath and Body Works also makes a fantastic one)!

And while at Honeybaked Ham yesterday, placing my mother-in-law's annual order, I picked up this:

 

(Tanya, are you on your way to pick up your jar yet??) Here was the exciting conversation I had with Sabrina when I got home yesterday:

Me: "Sabrina! Guess what!"

Sabrina: "What?"

Me: "I got us a jar of Mango-Lime Salsa from Honeybaked Ham!"

Sabrina: "AWESOME!!! Do we have any chips??!!?"

Me: "No. But the jar is pretty, don't you think?"

She looked at me blankly and again thought about how I just don't get her.

The next thing I want to do is get busy on Mom's Christmas sampler that was supposed to be done ages ago. I'll do my best to get it finished in time for our exchange! It shouldn't take long though, since it's done with jute on 6 ct. ;)

Enjoy the season! 

Flowers? For Me??

A couple of days ago I was unloading groceries from my car when the UPS guy pulled up and brought over a large florist's blox from FTD. I had assumed they were for Frieda, but when I opened them up and looked at the tag, they were to ME!!!!! Paulette!!!!! Paulette Stewart, me, me, ME!!! 

A very dear friend had sent them to me, just to put a smile on my face. The gorgeous bouquet worked its charm and I'm still smiling! Thank you soooo much, "dear friend."  :)

 

 

 

 

 

I love it when God lets us play with His paints. :)

Usurped

There's only one thing worse than having one's identity stolen...

 

...and that's having one's stitching spot stolen. The would-be princess has even pulled down an extra pillow to lay on.

 

I now have a twitch that won't go away.

And equally to my horror, it has come to my attention that I've made a mistake in the "bok bok" freebie I posted yesterday. There is a symbol mix-up and a color is missing (you'll also need DMC 712, which is cream). I've uploaded the correct file to yesterday's post, so if you already printed it out, you have my apologies! Thank you, Bonnie, for letting me know. :)

I am now off to search for the Royal Squirt Bottle. I've got a title to reclaim.