Annual Music and Squirrels Weekend!!

This is our second year of Music and Squirrels Weekend!

My sister comes to town and we meet up with Tanya for a concert and a Vegas Day.

This year it was Keith Urban and the Bellagio and Zia Records!

Every October we are hoping to get together for a concert here in town.

I book a mini suite at the Delano/Mandalay Bay, 2 beds and a couch. We meet up on Friday and hit the concert, then we don't have to drive anywhere just take tram back to hotel, we can have drinks and no one drives home!

We get up in the morning and have breakfast and go exploring in Vegas. We went to the Bellagio to see the Fall display! Squirrels! Then we took Christy over to Zia records to buy some Kieth Urban and more...

Sunday, Christy and I headed to Bingo. Christy won 25.00! Whoo-hoo!!

We met up with Tanya for breakfast then she had to go teach a class at Sin City Knit Shop.
Christy and I went shopping and I took her to the new scrapbook store in town: The Paper Bunny, great store!

We had such a great time this year! I can't wait to see what we see and do next year!!
They love to stick me under short signs:

I am vertically challanged at 5'2" so this sign was perfect!

Thanks for a GREAT weekend girls/squirrels! I love you guys!

Autumn calls for Peach Pie!

My neighbor, Wally, gave me some peaches, they looked like they had come from a gift basket, a real nice gift basket! 4 of them in a beautiful box. They were gorgeous peaches! I let them sit out for a couple days to ripen a bit more and then decided to make him and I our own little peach pies!

Wally lost his wife of over 50 years this summer, so we have been keeping an eye on him and making sure he is ok, and I have been sending over some home cooked meals once in awhile. He has daughters who come and visit but I still worry. I can't fathom losing my spouse after that many years together! Charlie and I are almost to 30 years married and morning coffee and Sunday naps sure would be missed without him!

But on to happier things, Wally is keeping busy and doing great according to him! So on to the peach pie...I went to you tube and my go to chef (chef John of FoodWishes) had the most amazing peach pie recipe. I chose to make mini versions since Charlie does not like peach pie, it would just be a pie for me and one for Wally.

You can search you tube for chef John at foodwishes, he has great recipes and I love the way he talks and teaches cooking.

But the quick version is this: Slice your peaches and add a sprinkle of salt and 1/2 cup of sugar, mix and let them sit for 1/2 hour, drain the juices only into a pan and cook it on medium until reduced to a thick syrup, set aside. To your peaches add some flour, sugar, a touch of cinnamon, a touch of cornstarch, and the cooked syrup you made, mix well and pour into crust filled pans. You can use homemade crust or pillsbury pie crust. Chef john shows you the easiest way to make lattice topping, My pies looked so wonderful!! But oh man, the flavor was over the top delicious, the secret is that little touch of syrup, I just know it!

I have a recipe for Lemon Chicken Romano to share but maybe another time, a cup of coffee and a slice of pie are calling to me!!

Autumn calls for Peach Pie!

My neighbor, Wally, gave me some peaches, they looked like they had come from a gift basket, a real nice gift basket! 4 of them in a beautiful box. They were gorgeous peaches! I let them sit out for a couple days to ripen a bit more and then decided to make him and I our own little peach pies!

Wally lost his wife of over 50 years this summer, so we have been keeping an eye on him and making sure he is ok, and I have been sending over some home cooked meals once in awhile. He has daughters who come and visit but I still worry. I can't fathom losing my spouse after that many years together! Charlie and I are almost to 30 years married and morning coffee and Sunday naps sure would be missed without him!

But on to happier things, Wally is keeping busy and doing great according to him! So on to the peach pie...I went to you tube and my go to chef (chef John of FoodWishes) had the most amazing peach pie recipe. I chose to make mini versions since Charlie does not like peach pie, it would just be a pie for me and one for Wally.

You can search you tube for chef John at foodwishes, he has great recipes and I love the way he talks and teaches cooking.

But the quick version is this: Slice your peaches and add a sprinkle of salt and 1/2 cup of sugar, mix and let them sit for 1/2 hour, drain the juices only into a pan and cook it on medium until reduced to a thick sauce, set aside. To your peaches add some flour, sugar, a touch of cinnamon, a touch of cornstarch, and the cooked syrup you made, mix well and pour into crust filled pans. You can use homemade crust or pillsbury pie crust. Chef john shows you the easiest way to make lattice topping, My pies looked so wonderful!! But oh man, the flavor was over the top delicious, the secret is that little touch of syrup, I just know it!

I have a recipe for Lemon Chicken Romano to share but maybe another time, a cup of coffee and a slice of pie are calling to me!!

Making fun stuff with my Cricut machine!

I just love my Cricut machine! I have the Cricut explore air. I can make so many things with it, but my favorite thing is making iron ons for shirts.

Of course, every crafter has to personalize their machine, mine has a cat and a bird!
Both designed and cut on the machine!

First you design what you want your shirt to say in the design space on your computer or ipad. There are tons of fonts, and designs to use. I can create where ever I am on my iphone or ipad then when I get home I can just connect via bluetooth to my machine and cut it out using the iron on vinyl from Cricut. So much fun!

Here are some of the things I have been making:
Every scrapbook trip I design a new wine/coffee  scrapbook shirt for me and my sister. We like to enjoy a little wine and a lot of coffee while at our retreats.

I can also make cute baby gifts like the onesies I made for a baby shower I am attending:

I love to go in my craft room and design and create, not sure if it is cheaper than therapy but it sure is fun!

Happy Fall!!

As promised, I am back to post a soup recipe for the first day of Fall 2016!

You can always find my tried and true recipes over on the right column, just click posts that have recipes, I have clam chowder, cheeseburger soup, gazpacho, ham potato, plus plenty of other good things I have labeled as recipe posts.

So this soup recipe is for tomato basil soup, it goes great with grilled cheese sandwiches;

Enjoy!

• 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes (Splurge on the best brand- San Marzano)
• 
  
• 1 11.5 ounce can tomato-vegetable juice cocktail : V-8 juice- I like the spicy!
• 
  
• 1 14.5 ounce can chicken broth

• 10-15 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips, use to your liking I usually do 10 and taste, they can be powerful sometimes.
• 
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 
  
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter 
• 
  
• I know the butter and cream is a bit much, I like to think I am balancing that out because of the V-8 juice!

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, combine the tomatoes, vegetable juice, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the basil. At this point, you may puree the soup if you wish. Add the cream and butter; return to medium-low heat, and stir until butter is melted. Serve with a Caesar salad or grilled cheese sandwiches!

Autumn is almost here!

I  love summer but I also like a little fall, only for the sweaters and boots I get to wear!
I have some cool fall outfits I am anxious to wear.

The next best thing for fall is all the delicious soups to eat, I love soup. I have plenty of recipes coming up so stay tuned....Chicken pot pie soup, Cheeseburger soup (oh it is so good!) and I make a copy cat Olive Garden minestrone that the hubby loves, and I can also make the Zuppa Tuscana soup as well. I will attempt to knit again this winter, hoping it will catch on with my hands and brain this time.

See you back here on September 22 for the first day of Autumn and a soup recipe!

Had to Share!

I found this card at the grocery store....it totally wraps up me and my hubby's relationship!

That's us in the car on a Friday night!

Yep!

29 years together....we still can't figure out where to eat!