Simply Primitives Update

Simply Primitives has updated for the 15th! If you haven't had a chance to check it out, please hop on over and see what everyone has to offer.

My offering for this month was a pillow adapted from a Maggie Bononomi design which is on its way to Connie in Illinois. Thanks, Connie! Between trying to keep up with the dust from our remodeling project and goings on at work my crafting time has been limited for the past month. I hope to be able to reclaim my craft room in another week or so, though!

Last Saturday I spent time with 450 church friends packaging Meals of Hope for Malawi, Africa. This well organized event was put on by a group from Arkansas. Due to a drought in Africa many will be facing starvation and hopefully these meals and others that will be packed and shipped will help avoid this tragedy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pink Champagne Cupcake from Gigi's Cupcakes

Did you do something special for Valentine's Day? We're staying in and my sweetie is painting away so we can get our remodeling project done---isn't he the best? It wasn't all work today, though. We enjoyed a special treat from Gigi's. Several cupcake bakeries have sprung up in our area over the past few years. I'm not a real connoisseur of cupcakes so I have to admit Gig's special Valentine's packaging won me over!

 

Good Day for Soup!

We're finally getting a little taste of winter here so it's been a good week to try out some new soup recipes. Yesterday I made Cheese & Corn Chowder for a potluck at work and it received rave reviews from my co-workers. This recipe is a little different from most because it doesn't used canned cream style corn, but believe me, it was plenty creamy!

Photo from SoupAddict

Ingredients:

5 strips thick-sliced bacon

2 T butter

2 T EVOO

2 C diced onion

1 C diced celery

1/4 C all-purpose flour

2 t minced fresh thyme

1 t kosher salt

1/4 t cayenne pepper

1/4 t tumeric

6 C low-sodum chicken broth (I used turkey broth from the freezer)

1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and diced

8 ears fresh corn or 4-5 C frozen corn

1 C heavy cream (I used half and half and thought it was rich enough)

1 C shredded white Cheddar

2 oz cream cheese

Cook bacon in large soup pot on stove until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towel. Pour off bacon fat and wipe out the inside of the pot with another paper towel, then return to burner.

Melt butter with oil in same pot, add onion and celery and cook about 7-8 minutes until limp and translucent. Stir in flour, thyme, salt, cayenne and tumeric and cook 2 minutes. 

Add broth, potatoes and corn. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are tender. (After adding the potatoes and corn I put the soup in my crock pot and let it finish cooking there so I could transport it.)

Stir in cream cheddar, cream cheese and reserved bacon and simmer until cheese melts, about 5 minutes. (I put the cheeses in about half an hour before serving; then added the Half and Half about 10 minutes before). Don't let the chowder boil or it will curdle. 

The soup traveled well and I didn't bring any home with me--always a good sign! 

On the home front, the bathroom floor is done! DH and I (mostly DH) will be painting this weekend and hopefully everything will be wrapped up in another two weeks!

Early Work Mercantile Update

First of all, I must thank you all for your encouraging words and good thoughts for Cookie. She is eating again and enjoying her little kitty life and we're thankful.

Early Work Mercantile updated this week! Lots of new goodies there, just in time for Valentine's Day! Here's a peek at my offerings as well as one that didn't quite get completed on time.

Maggie Bononomi Inspired Penny Rug

Kitty Cupid Design by Robin Leuschen

WIP-Another Maggie Design!

I feel a little bit like Dorothy this week, but instead of clicking my heels and chanting "There's no place like home" I'm saying "The dust will be gone. The dust will be gone".

The bad part of remodeling is coming home to a new layer of dust every night. But I'm not complaining. Okay, I kind of am, but I know it will all be worthwhile when it's all done, probably in another three weeks. 

 Foxy has enjoyed checking out their progress every day, especially when it involves rolling in red chalk dust.

Our Furry Best Friend

The hardest thing about having pets is facing their mortality. Our little old lady, Cookie, (named by our younger son after Cookie's Week, a book he read in first grade) quit eating this week so I left work early yesterday to take her to the vet. At 15 years old and down to only seven pounds she is still full of spirit but can't afford to lose any more weight.

After a steroid shot and aromatherapy (no kidding--kitty pheromones in the cat cage to calm her) she is back home and eating a little. The cause of the problem hasn't been determined--it could be cancer or kidney failure or just stress from all the chaos that goes with remodeling--but after talking it over with the vet we decided not to pursue any extreme measures to determine the exact cause of her issues. After owning several cats I can't say that running extensive tests and diagnostics have ever added to their length or quality of life. Please keep a good thought for our little Cookie.

Bake Someone Happy

Woo hoo! It was my turn to bring a snack to a group event this week. Since we have an empty nest at our house we don't need the temptation of a whole cake sitting around, begging to be eaten, so I'm happy when I have the opportunity to make something special to share with a group. I love the combination of cranberry and orange flavors and when I saw the recipe for this pretty coffee cake I knew I had to try it.

Candied Orange Cranberry Swirl Breakfast Bread

Makes 12 servings. 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon finely shredded orange peel

1 cup sour cream

1 cup canned whole cranberry sauce, stirred

1/3 cup Candied Orange Peel

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 to 2 tablespoons orange juice

1/4 cup chopped craisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted tube pan or an 8-ince tube pan. Stir together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, sale and nutmeg. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with mixer on medium to high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the 1 tablespoon finely shredded orange peel. Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

In a small bowl, stir together cranberry sauce and 1/4 cup of the Candied Orange Peel. Spread one-third of the batter into the prepared pan. Carefully spread half the cranberry mixture over batter. Repeat layers. Spread remaining batter evenly over top. Using a knife, gently swirl batter and cranberry mixture. Do not over mix. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack. Remove cake from pan; cool thoroughly on wire rack.

For icing, in a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and orange juice. Stir in additional orange juice until icing reaches drizzling consistency. Drizzle icing over cake. Sprinkle with the remaining Candied Orange Peel and the dried cranberries.

Do you have a zester?

For years I used a box grater to zest citrus fruit for recipes but I find it so much easier with this handy little tool. An added plus is that it's inexpensive and small enough to be easy to store. Happy zesting!

Old Summit Antique Show

Stone Fruit - Colleen Boland Freese

The holidays are over, the Christmas decorations are boxed up and put away for another year and I've sworn off cookies for the foreseeable future, *sigh*. And just when I could use a little pick-me-up, it's time for the Old Summit Antique show in Lee's Summit, Missouri! As usual, it didn't disappoint.

Forged Pieces from Wayne (W.D. Pickers Antique Mall, Platte City)

Spirit of the Home and Darrow Antiques

Early Lighting from Jody (Greenwood Antique Mall)

Candy Containers from Wayne Browning of The Toy Department (Brown's Emporium)

I hope so!

Diane Gish - Antique Cottage (Estes Park) and Forget-Me-Not Antiques (Omaha)

Colleen Boland Freese (Smokehouse Square Antiques)

Country Crow Primitives

 

Wonderful Lighting from Whitehorse Antiques-Rocheport, Missouri

 

Ever Seen a Gourd Light?

The best part is seeing friends!

Leslie and Ginger at their booth

Cloche by Ron Schrader

 

A very fun way to spend a cold Saturday! I'll share my little finds in another post.