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Season’s Greetings!

May this holiday season be full of love and hope and NO Stress!

I am enjoying the season with the concept of Less is More,

except where fabric is concerned.

Slow the pace down, take time to relax and enjoy the moment!

I am sharing with you a recipe that should be called

If You Can’t Make Anything Else, This Is It!

Enjoy!

 Cherry-Date Shortbread Bars

Makes a 9” sq. pan – Do not grease pan

1. Combine in a mixer at low speed:

1 c. flour

¼ c. sugar

½ c. butter – softened

Press into ungreased pan

Bake at 350º for about 15 minutes until edges are very lightly brown

2. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes:

¾ c. sugar

½ c. flour

2 eggs

½ tsp. baking powder

11/4 tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

Stir chopped Step 3 into the mixture

3. Chop ahead:

¾ c. chopped dates

½ c. flaked coconut

½ c. pecans

½ c. drained cherries

4. Pour mixture (steps 2 & 3) over hot crust.

Return to oven. Bake 25 – 30 minutes until lightly brown and filling it set.

Cut into 1” sqs. and enjoy!

NOVEMBER, 2014

November makes us stop and give thanks for all our blessings. I give thanks for having YOU as a Bouquet recipient. I hope you get a bit of pleasure from each month’s offering. It is a blessing to be a quilter and to have the pleasure of fabric. Some of my fabric blessings are overflowing and shall be shared with other quilters who make Quilts of Valor for our veterans. They deserve our heartfelt thanks for their sacrifice for our freedom. Let us not forget them in our prayers.Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy the recipes below!

Nantucket Pie

Compliments of Nancy Ekola,

Cocheco Quilters Guild, Dover, NH

Filling: 2 cups cranberries, 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 cup slivered almonds

Batter: 2 eggs beaten, 1 teaspoon almond extract, 3/4 cup melted butter, 

                 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar

1. Grease a 10" pie plate or spray with Pam

2. Place cranberries on bottom of pie plate and sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar.

3. Add all the almonds over the cranberries.

4. Prepare Batter: Mix sugar and melted butter, then add the rest of the ingredients and 

pour on top of berries.

5. Bake at 325 degrees F for 35-40 minutes.

6. Serve with whipped cream.

Amazing Turkey Soup… It’s OMG Delicious!!!

½ cup butter cubed, 2 carrots & 2 celery ribs finely chopped, 1 medium onion chopped

1 /2 cup flour, 4 cups chicken broth, 2 cups half and half ( I used Non-Fat version)

2 cups cubed turkey, 1 Pkg Uncle Ben’s Long grain & Wild Rice – prepared

½ tsp salt ,¼ tsp pepper

1. In a Dutch Oven, sauté carrots, onion and celery in melted butter until tender.

2. Stir in flour until blended – cook until blended.

3. Whisk in broth. Boil, stirring constantly. Stir until thickened.

4. Stir in remaining ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally

5. ENJOY! From Maryann at Mares Bears Quilt Shop in Lewes, Delaware

OCTOBER, 2014

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Please take care of yourself and get a mammogram!

You are very important to many people, especially to yourself.

You have lots of quilts to make!

In celebration of the memory of a wonderful mother,

I rerun this October recipe bouquet as a tribute to my Mom and apple pie.

Enjoy and take care!

The beauty of Autumn is all around me in my New England home. Along with the beauty of the fall foliage for serenity and inspiration, I also enjoy the delicious beauty of the fruits of spring blossoms, most especially apple blossoms. These delicate spring time blossoms have become a wonderful variety of apples. What a wonderful way to celebrate fall than with Mom’s Apple pie! Actually, this is not Mom’s apple pie, but rather her recipe for the pie crust.  This recipe is over 100 years old and was given to my Mother by a pastry chef when my Mother was a cook in a Retirement facility. “Mamie” was one of the residents and enjoyed coming into the kitchen every now and then to make a treat for her friends in the home. This recipe makes a foolproof, flaky and delicious piecrust. You can add any filling of your choice for a really delicious pie. I hope you enjoy it!

Mamie’s Pie Crust Recipe

From Ourania Samaras and “Mamie”, Manchester, New Hampshire

A foolproof recipe that makes a very flaky and delicious pie crust.

Makes 4  -  9” pie crusts.  Cut recipe in half for just one pie.

5 cups flour

2 ½ cups Crisco sticks

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1. Cut Crisco into flour and salt with a pastry cutter until it is in small pieces.

2. Add milk and handle just enough to hold together.  (Too much handling makes the crust tough)

3. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill about 1 hour. I like to remove the dough from the bowl and wrap in piece of plastic wrap before chilling. Mold the dough in the shape of a flat ball.

4. Flour a pastry cloth lightly ( or use a clean linen dish towel)  and roll out to the desired thickness.

5. Remaining dough stores in refrigerator for 1 week. It also can be frozen

No matter what pie filling you use, you will always make a delicious pie with this wonderfully flakey crust! Enjoy

SEPTEMBER, 2014 

AUGUST, 2014

I hope everyone is enjoying the dog days of summer…. Guess that term means the last days of summer! I just came home from vending at the Bayberry Quilt show in Harwich on Cape cod, Massachusetts. It was a wonderful show! I thank everyone who stopped by my booth.  

One lady who stopped by mentioned that she was buying NO more fabric as she had plenty! Well…. We all have plenty! But sometimes you do need to spice up your selections on hand with new fabrics for projects. Maybe it is time to take stock of what you have on hand. Sort through your fabrics and remove any that do not grab you or speak to you. You know those fabrics – they are saying why did you ever buy me??? Give those fabrics away! There are lots of charitable organizations that will take fabric and USE it! If you are really in a sorting mood, try this exercise – separate your fabrics into color groups. You will soon see that your palette is limited in certain color areas. Now you have a reason to shop for more fabrics in those missing or depleted areas areas. 

The sorting process will make you feel much better, maybe every gain some more shelf space after you eliminate certain fabrics that are just taking up space. You will know what you have and maybe find some forgotten surprise purchases! I know I have. Your fabric collection (please don’t call it a STASH… give it some dignity! ) will look neater and more inviting to work on projects. 

We all love our fabrics! As long as you get inspiration and pleasure from your fabrics, they have served their purpose, even if they never get cut up and sewn back together again.

Enjoy Summer!

JULY, 2014

Happy Summer Everyone!

Hope you are enjoying it and staying cool! I am celebrating the USA with revised kits for my state flowers in America's Quilted Garden Blocks. Now all kits available contain the full size pattern and directions, so you can make a block without having to purchase the book - which is great by the way! The book includes a DVD which contains all the full size patterns plus 144 pages of text on state info and trivia.

Check out the Store for details and kits available.

These are limited in number, so shop early!

Enjoy the USA!

JUNE, 2014

I can’t seem to keep up with the weeding in my garden, especially when I just look at them! But, I have been busy these last rainy days weeding out my studio and storage area for ribbons.  I don’t dare stop and head outdoors while I am still in a cleaning mode. It’s amazing how much stuff we accumulate and that we've forgotten about! I have been enjoying opening storage drawers and bins and sorting out, finding lots of hidden treasures! I'll be vending at the Vermont Quilt Festival at the end of June and the Bayberry show in August and the Scrap Bag bin will be bursting with great bargains.

Enjoy these summer days and hope to see you at one of the shows if you are in the area.

MAY, 2014

Happy Springtime to Everyone!

I have some more news for you about the Kathy Dunigan Applique Academy to be held Feb 3-8, 2015 in Texas. The website should be up by June 1 so you can then register for the event and classes.

The room block is now open and you can reserve your room early so you don’t miss out on any of the action and fun!

Call the Hilton Dallas / Rockwall Lakefront – phone 1 (214) 771-3700

The group code is TKGAA. The room rate is $124 / room.

Another bit of news: I shall be vending for the first time at the Vermont Quilt Festival June 27-29 in Essex Junction, Vermont at the Champlain Valley Expo Center. I shall have lots of beautiful ribbons, trims and embellishment items. Hope to see you there! www.vqf.org

APRIL, 2014

At last winter really SEEMS TO BE OVER! It was a long one!!

I enjoyed February at the Elly Sienkiewicz Applique Academy.

Sadly, after 19 years, this has become the last year of the Academy.

It was a wonderful event with some much talent shared by many.

Congratulations on a well done event.

On the horizon there is hope for the future in a new Academy!!!

More details next month!!

This month I am vending at the MQX show in Manchester, NH

on April 10-12 as the Radisson Hotel / Center of NH

Come on down!!!

I shall have a large booth with lots of ribbons and embellishments.

See you there! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

JANUARY, 2014

A belated New Year’s Greeting to one and all!

I apologize for being lazy with updating this monthly Bouquet for the past few months.

The holidays are past and it’s a wonderful new year, so let’s begin again.

I hope this finds you in a relaxed mode and staying warm. No better way to stay warm than in a cozy chair with a favorite project. I SAY THIS AS A “HAND” PERSON. Machine people will relax behind their sewing machines… to each his own. This month is a great time to decompress after the hectic pace of the holidays. It is also a good time to sort out old projects you no longer want to do. Get rid of them and free up space….Less IS more.