I feel kind of embarrassed about posting this, but I am trying to make a history of all of my quilts. Soon all of these pictures will be in a category of their own and you wont have to look at them unless you're interested. So bare with me until I get new posts up and these get covered up. Also, I am no photographer so excuse the poor quality photos.

This was a quilt I made in honor of Ryan's and my 9th wedding anniversary. Nine hearts for nine years. The 9" heart block pattern is from Teri Christopherson's Heart Wreath Quilt. I used her block pattern and then added my own borders. It was a spontaneous decision to use the red floral fabric that I did. I ended up using it because I had enough leftover from the border on my Peppermint Fancy Quilt. Ryan was out of town one night and I wanted to start a new project. Thus the red floral heart blocks. Normally I would have done those scrappy, but I just did the backgrounds scrappy instead. The back is pieced using 5 & 1/2" squares of cream & tan scraps. The label information was embroidered right onto one of the squares on the back. This was a really fun quilt to make and got me thinking that small quilts are the way to go! Faster and cheaper!

Buttermilk Syrup

I had a birthday brunch at my house this morning with a bunch of neighbors and some of them were asking for this recipe, so here it is! This is a favorite in my family. Once you try it you won't ever go back to maple.

BUTTERMILK SYRUP

Bring to a boil:
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cube butter
2 cups sugar

Remove from heat and add 2 tsp. vanilla. Just before serving add 1/2 tsp. baking soda.

Andes Chocolate Mint Cookies

This is one of my new favorite cookie recipes. If you love chocolate and Andes mints - then you will love these! I didn't have a picture and in order to get my own that would mean that I would need to make them again and I am trying to be good!!! So - I found a picture of them on Becky Higgins' Blog. I hope that's o.k. that I stole her picture?!?

ANDES CHOCOLATE MINT COOKIES

3/4 cup butter

1 & 1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp. water

(1) 12 oz. bag chocolate chips

2 eggs

2 & 3/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 & 1/4 tsp. soda

Melt together butter, brown sugar and water in a medium size sauce pan. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted. Let stand 10 minutes to cool. Add remaining ingredients. Chill dough at least 1 hour. Roll into balls and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 - 9 minutes. Remove from oven and place 1/2 Andes mint on top of each cookie. Put back in oven for about 10 seconds. Swirl Andes mint on top of cookie with the back of a spoon. Yum!

Gingersnaps with Pumpkin Butter Sauce

My sister wanted this recipe, so I thought I would post it for anyone else who is interested. I got this recipe from friends, Keri & Misty. I love these cookies (and I don't usually like store bought gingersnaps,) but these are soft and wonderful and the pumpkin butter sauce is to die for. It doesn't actually even have butter in the sauce (it's cream cheese.) So if you decide to try it - enjoy! Sorry I don't have a picture.

GINGERSNAPS WITH PUMPKIN BUTTER SAUCE

Cream:
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
1/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup dark molasses

Add:
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 & 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cloves

Refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll into walnut size balls and roll in sugar to coat. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes. Do not over cook.

Pumpkin Butter Sauce:
(1) 15 oz. can pumpkin pie filling
2 cups powdered sugar
(1) 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. sugar

Blend all ingredients together.

Serve sauce in a bowl, next to the plate of cookies. To eat, spread on one side of cookie and enjoy.

Tammy's Brag Book

Today I got the pictures of my sister (Tammy's) brag book. I had so much fun making and personalizing it for her. It took me a long time to actually get the three done after I initially purchased the chipboard books, but once I got going I had a blast making them.

Cassie's Brag Book

My sister, Cassie, sent me pictures of a brag book that I made for her a couple of months ago. I made one for my other sister, Tammy, awhile back too. They were really fun to make. I don't get to do crafty little projects like this as much as I use to do, but I love it when I do. There is one for me in the works right now, maybe you'll see some photos in the near future. It was fun to personalize each one with names, dates, and personality traits.