Peanut Clusters

 Have ya'll started your holiday baking? When the kids were still home, it was hard to begin baking early because all the goodies would disappear before Christmas. DH has a sweet tooth too though so it's still a gamble. However, I had a small crew to feed  for 3 days last week. One day I made Buttermilk Pie, one day I served apple pie with ice cream, and one day I made these Peanut Clusters. 

This is one of the first recipes my MIL shared with me when we were first married because they were one of DH's favorites so I've been making these for 35 years. I haven't made them in probably 4 or 5 years so I thought it was time I add these to the cookie plate this season. These are fast to make and they freeze well so I figured I could hide them in the deep freeze after the crew had their fill and hope there are still a few left for Christmas. 😉

Peanut Clusters

12 oz chocolate chips

1 C peanut butter

1 C powdered sugar

2 C Red-skinned Spanish Peanuts

*Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter over low heat on a double boiler. Stir in powdered sugar. Stir in peanuts. Drop onto waxed paper covered cookie sheets. I pop these into the fridge to set up. 

I don't have  double boiler so I just add some water to one pot and then nest another smaller pot inside. And that's it! Fast and easy and a seasonal favorite around here. This batch has disappeared so I'll be mixing up more and hiding them in the deep freeze. 😉

Swiss Vegetable Medley

 I mentioned this side dish recently and referenced this text with our girl

One of my readers commented, asking : "Do we have your Swiss Vegetable Casserole? If it's worth a riot, maybe we should?" 

😂 

Ceci, your comments show up as anonymous and I am wondering if you receive my replies when I email you in return as I don't have your email address. 

So, today I am sharing this Thanksgiving side dish that has been a Thanksgiving tradition in our family for more than 30 years. 

Swiss Vegetable Medley

16 oz package of California Vegetables (Broccoli-Cauliflower-Carrots) - thawed and drained

1/3 C sour cream

1 can cream of chicken (or mushroom) soup

2 C shredded Swiss cheese

1 small container of French Fried Onions

1/2 tsp Pepper

*Preheat oven to 350°. In large bowl, mix soup, sour cream and pepper. Add 1 1/2 C Swiss cheese, 3/4 of the French Fried onions, and vegetables. Mix together and pour into baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Top with the remainder of onions and cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

We always double or triple this and I forgot to take a picture so I'm borrowing one from Google because I can't post without adding a photo and I probably won't be making this again until next Thanksgiving.

Playing Catch Up

 Goodness! How is it already December? I'm losing track of the days so after almost 2 weeks, you get a hodge-podge snapshot of what we've been up to. 

I brought germs home from work a few weeks ago and shared them with DH so a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup was in order

Loved having chiddlers home for Thanksgiving for 4 days

We smoked the turkey, but I had to improvise when I wanted to truss the bird and didn't have any string: DH brought me some feed sack twine from the barn:

I made everything else the day before - Butterhorns are a Thanksgiving tradition

Our girl pitched in as we took down all the Fall decorations: seeing it all in one place, makes me realize I have too much!

And we welcomed the Christmas season

Feeding season is also upon us

We had another skiff of snow and ended up with an inch of moisture in the rain gauge

Enjoyed a Christmas gathering at a friends' home

DH brought home a nice deer and jerky making has commenced

And I am spending some quiet evenings binding a quilt during the NFR performances for 10 nights

Today I'm at work at the sale barn - expecting to sell 2300 hd - that translates to about 11-12 hours if all goes smoothly so it's going to be a long day and I'll be cross-eyed by the time the last bovine is sold:

So, all is well, just dropping the ball when it comes to posting. I'll try and pop in a bit more, but that's a peek into life at the end of the dirt road lately. 

Hill Country Spring Quilt

 This quilt started with the first jellyrolls I ever bought - back in 2009. I grew up in the Texas Hill Country and it will always hold a special place in my heart. The bluebonnets sealed the deal and I came home with 3 jellyrolls. Back then they were $25.00 -a bargain on today's market. And then they sat. I often struggle with settling on a pattern, but in October 2020,  I finally settled on making a St. Louis 16-patch and unrolled the strips. Why is that so hard? 

I started making blocks, pairing the prints with solids from my stash, but they just didn't sit well with me and I switched things out for Grunge in some of the blocks

 I like the rustic look of Grunge better than the solids although you can't tell the difference from the back of a loping horse. Before long, the top was stitched and I handed it off to Jackie. She quilted a pattern called Bora Bora with a cobalt blue thread. This quilt is pretty busy and I made it even wilder with the back

But I found it on clearance years ago and if you know me at all, you know that I cannot pass up a field of wildflowers - they are my absolute favorite!

I bound this with a blue Grunge from my stash to match the bluebonnets

It's 66" x 74" - smaller than I usually make, but a good napping size and it makes me happy. 

I was surprised when DH said he liked it and I couldn't give it away. 

We recently had our first freeze and the first flakes of snow fell on Saturday so this quilt's a cheerful way of enjoying the Texas hill country wildflowers all year long