Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Quilt Camp 2017

Wow!!! HELLO to all my blogging friends !! Time sure does fly......it has been over 5 months since my last post!! I have been a busy girl but that 's no excuse. I really want to share all the fun recipes, quilts and travels that I have been doing but my good intentions never seem to result in posts. But never you mind my delinquent behavior today I am back and have lots to share!!!

So what has been keeping me busy.......

We just finished our 8th annual Quilt Camp at the lake. Debby, my college "roomie, flew in from WV and sewed for 10 days! She made two complete quilt tops plus an organizer!! More pix of those to come.

My friend, Diana, came from Baltimore to join us for her first Quilt Camp and and made the most beautiful Vintage Handkerchief Quilt. KING SIZE!!!!!! Impressive for a first quilt to say the least!

We worked on all sorts of projects.......here are some of the fruits of our labor!

King Size Handerchief Quilt ready to be quilted!!

Monogrammed bags from the dollar store.......very chic!!

Paper pieced Very Tall Christmas Tree. I am going to quilt this and put 25 buttons on it for an advent tree for the grands. Each day in December they will hang an ornament till Dec 25 when they will put a star on top the tree.

Debby surprised me with an early birthday present. A beautiful star quilt in my favorite color which is purple!! It is so gorgeous!!! To think I taught her to quilt just a mere 8 years ago!!! Now she is a STAR quilter!!!! LOL!

Fancy pants for Miss Madison!!

Busy working on projects!!!

Food for the journey from Chef Sue. Nothing like a rotisserie chicken to help the hungries!!!!

Debby and Sue wearing their newest Quilt Camp T-Shirts!!

Diana and Sue in their Quilt shirts they bought in Alaska together July 2015!

What a fun and productive time we had together!! Sad it is over but looking forward to another Quilt Camp soon!! Will be back soon with lots of fun, food to share and projects!!!

Happy first Day of Summer!!!! It's time to have fun in the sun!!!!

Happy Trails,

MTN Mama

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Friday, January 13, 2017

Chocolate Raspberry Vanilla Bars

Who doesn't like a recipe that starts with a cake mix? The base of this bar starts with a Devil's Food cake mix.

On that note let's start baking:

Chocolate Raspberry Vanilla Bars

Ingredients:

1 Devils Food Cake Mix

1/3 C Butter, softened

1 cup Raspberry preserves

1 8oz pkg Cream Cheese

1/4 cup milk

1 12 ounce pkg. vanilla chips

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

2 Tbsp Butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 15 x 10 x 1 (Jelly Roll) pan

Combine cake mix, butter and egg.

Mix till Crumbly. Press into pan.

Bake 10-12 minutes or till crust is. Puffed and appears dry.

Cool 5 minutes. Spread with Raspberry Jam.

Cool Completely

Melt vanilla chips in microwave. Heat for 1 minute in a microwave safe bowl. Remove from oven and stir. Continue to stir as the chips become smooth. If needed you can return the chips to the microwave for 15 seconds at a time, stirring well each time...continue till smooth.

Beat cream cheese and milk till smooth. Add melted vanilla chips.

Spread the vanilla layer over the jam layer on the cooled base.

Melt the chocolate chips and butter for 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Place the melted chocolate into a small sandwich bag. Snip the end and drizzle over the white chocolate.

Refrigerate till firm. Cut into squares. Try not to eat all of them at one setting.

Chocolate Raspberry Vanilla Bars

Ingredients:

1 Devil's Food Cake Mix

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 cup Raspberry Preserves

1 8 ounce pkg cream cheese

1/4 cup milk

1 12 ounce pkg. vanilla chips

2 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 15 x 10 x 1 pan.

Combine cake in, butter, and egg. Mix crumbly. Press into pan.

Bake 10-12 minutes or till crust puffs and appears dry. Cool 5 minutes. Spread with raspberry jam. Cool completely.

Beat cream cheese and milk till smooth. Add melted Vanilla chips. Spread over jam.

Melt chocolate chips and butter. Drizzle over white chocolate layer.

Refrigerate till firm. Cut into squares and enjoy!

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Happy Trials,

Mtn Mama

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Friday, January 6, 2017

Baby It's Cold Outside!!

So let's make comfort food for a cold day!!! Just before Christmas my son-in-laws' parents brought us a quarter of beef they had raised and butchered. Now that's great service. So I will be making many beef dishes in the coming days!!! LOL! The beef is grass fed and the taste is over the top!!

This recipe is my adaptation of Ina Garten's Parker's Beef Stew. I halved the recipe, used canned mushrooms because that was what I had, baby carrots and fingerling potatoes cut in half.

Beef Stew

1 pound stew meat (if you can get grass fed beef I would recommend it!!!)

1/2 bottle good red wine or you can use Beef Stock

1 whole garlic clove, smashed

2 bay leaves

1 cup flour seasoned with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper

2 yellow onions cut into 1 inch dice

1 pound bag baby carrots

2 cans mushrooms

1/2 pound fingerling potatoes cut in half lengthwise

2 tsp minced garlic

1 cup chicken stock

1 tsp dried rosemary

1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

1 TBSPWorcestershire sauce

1/2 (10ounce) package frozen peas

Place beef in bowl with red wine, garlic and bay leaves. Refrigerate and marinate overnight or 6 hours.

Preheat Oven to 300 degrees F.

Remove beef from marinade with slotted spoon, saving the marinade. Discard bay leaf and garlic.

Dredge beef in seasoned flour.

Heat 2 TBSP oil in dutch oven and brown the meat over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, turning to brown evenly.

Continue till all the beef is browned.

Remove from the Dutch oven onto a plate. Add 2 TBSP oil and add onion, carrots and potatoes. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat.

Return the meat to the pot, along with drained canned mushrooms.

Add the remaining marinade to the stew and bring to a boil.

Add Chicken Stock, rosemary, sundried tomatoes, salt, and pepper.

I used Sun-Dried tomatoes in oil from Costco. They add a great dimension of flavor to this stew.

Bring pot to a simmer on the stove, stirring to combine.

Cover the pot and place it in the oven to bake for about 2 hours, until the meat and vegetables are tender, stirring once during cooking.

Before serving stir in the frozen peas, season to taste and serve hot in bowls with plenty of crusty bread to sop up the sauce.

A perfect meal for a perfect cold, snowy winter's day!!!

Happy Trails,

MtnMama

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Tuesday, January 3, 2017

New Beginnings in 2017

A new year is exciting but coupled with a First Anniversary it goes over the top!!! So we decided to celebrate both and join friends at a quaint Inn in WV for the weekend. The Bavarian Inn is in Shepherdstown WV about an hour and a half from where our friends live in Baltimore. So we flew into BWI and drove over together. The day was full of fun conversations and excitement.

The Bavarian Inn, Shepherdstown, WV.

It is a very quaint, magical and serene setting. Love the fireplace and nutcrackers. When we arrived it was lightly snowing which made it all the more beautiful.