Finally - A Quilt Finish

Hold on to your hats. I've actually got a finished quilt to share today. It's been a while.

A few months ago our son mentioned that his girlfriend would really LOVE a quilt. It makes my heart happy that the kids enjoy and appreciate the quilts I make because I love making quilts for them. When they come to visit she often walks around admiring the ones I have out and it's always heartwarming to see everyone curled beneath them in the evenings. She loves turquoise and horses and when I stumbled upon this fabric, I knew it was the perfect fit.

I wanted something youthful and modern for the design and this pattern made the cut:

                                              

I chose a turquoise minky for the back and Jackie quilted this fun design across it with turquoise thread:

                             

I enjoyed stitching on the binding in the evenings and it finished at 53 x 67:

                                    

Merry Christmas!

A message from Skeet:

From all of us at the end of the dirt road - may the magic of Christmas fill your hearts and homes as we celebrate the birth of the Savior.

Dangerous Pecans

So, when I asked DH what he wanted me to make the most for Christmas, he said Praline Pecans. It has become a tradition that we buy a cone of them from a vender at the WRCA in Amarillo when we are there every November as we leave and head home. Through the years I've tried a few recipes here and there, but it was never THE ONE. Well, this year I tried these and Eureka!

We can't keep our hands out of them. I'm not going to link to the original recipe because when I try to go there, it tells me it's not a safe site and I don't want to send ya'll anywhere that's unsafe. 😉. And I saw them on Amazon: 2lb 6oz for $44.99! Holey Moley!

We have a Safari Club Christmas party to attend later this week. The meal is catered, but everyone brings something for the dessert table. When I asked DH what I ought to bring, he just looked at me. We've been married long enough for me to know his answer was these Whiskey Praline Pecans.

Initially, I made one batch to try. They disappeared. I am taking a double batch to the party, but I can't make them until that day or there won't be any to take. I will triple the batch for us at Christmas. That will give us enough to share with the neighbors.

 Whiskey (Bourbon) Praline Pecans

1 lb pecan halves
1/4 C sugar + 1 Tbsp for later
1/4 C brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt
1 large egg white
2 Tbsp whiskey or bourbon
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp vanilla

*Preheat oven to 250°. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine 1/4 C sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne, and salt. Set aside.
In a 2nd bowl, combine egg white, whiskey or bourbon, honey, and vanilla. Whisk together until frothy. Add pecans and stir to coat. Remove pecans with a slotted spoon and add to sugar mixture, leaving extra liquid behind. Stir until all pecans are well-coated. Sprinkle extra Tbsp of sugar over pecans and give a quick stir. Pour pecans onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 80 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Pecans will be sticky until they cool. Good luck restraining yourself from eating them all. In fact, I made 6 batches. 😲

I know someone will ask - you can use any whiskey or bourbon. You can't really taste it in the finished product, but I used Maker's 46 because that's what was in the cabinet. And no, the cayenne doesn't make them very spicy. At least not to us so I add just a smidge more than the original recipe.

DH suggested I try this with almonds so I did. Two thumbs up!

However, the pecans hold the coating better due to their shape. I guess you could say we're going a little nuts around here. 😊

Chaos Free Zone Ahead

On Wednesday I went to the hospital for an outpatient procedure...nothing serious, but something my Doctor didn't see any sense in putting off. It is rare that DH or I find the need to spend time in a hospital and we are grateful daily for our health and never take it for granted. In fact, the anesthesiologist and nurses said they rarely see folks who don't take any medication or have any conditions or issues. I pray we can both keep it that way.

We were surprised when they handed us a buzzer that would go off when they were ready for us. And this screen was in the waiting room with the current status on patients for those in the waiting room.

 It reminded us of the ones at the airport, letting folks know what was happening behind the scenes.

Maybe that's the norm for every hospital, but we'd never seen it. We were impressed with the efficiency and kindness shown us throughout our visit. I convinced DH to run some errands and he replied, "I'll wait until they run you into the loading chute", LOL. Those of you who are ranch wives will understand the humor in his remark. I don't know if a day ever goes by that he doesn't have me laughing. He was back when I woke up and we were back at the ranch in time for him to make his feed run.

My nurse turned out to be a gal who is one of our dayworker's girlfriend so we had a good visit before they knocked me out.

I wore a pair of hand knitted socks sent to me by a generous blog reader a few years ago and every doctor and nurse that walked by commented on my beautiful, happy socks so thank you, Nancy...your socks were a hit. :)

All is well and I am leisurely enjoying the last few days leading up to Christmas. I'm doing some baking, finishing up a little wrapping, and working on a quilt binding today. The bedrooms are spruced up and ready for guests and the fridge is stocked. There's brisket, sweet potatoes, and corn on the cob for dinner today and plans for some reading, a walk, and a nap. I planned to have everything pulled together by this past Tuesday evening so I wouldn't feel rushed and I'm thinking I need to make this an annual goal because it's really a nice way to spend the week before Christmas. Hustle and bustle's not in my nature anyway. I like to be productive, but I don't do chaos and taking time to enjoy the sweet peace of the season is just what the doctor ordered. 😊

Gotta go tend to pecans in the oven...I'll be back tomorrow with the recipe...yum!