Trip Around the World Quilt and a little bit of random

I finally finished the scrappy trip around the world quilt. I ended up machine quilting it because it has wa-a-a-a-y too many mistakes in it to warrant money spent on having it professionally quilted. 

Can I just say though, that every time I walk into the bedroom this quilt makes me unreasonably happy?

I am completely besotted with it mistakes and all. How can you not love the cheery checks?

I pair it with my yard sale and thrift store vintage white pillowcases.  I don't care if they come in pairs or not, I love the drippy lace and soft cotton. Sometimes I even layer them like petticoats. Earl prefers *ahem* less lacy cases on his pillows, but sometimes I slip a little lace on his too. Just a little.

In other news, I've been rimming the raised beds with flowers in preparation for the tomatoes, basil, zucchini and peppers that will fill the middle of the beds.

 I may have gotten a little too much sun today, but oh it was glorious!

 The garden is really beginning to glow.

  I have so many projects on my to do list in the next few weeks it is ludicrous, including starting to remodel the bathroom, reworking the flower beds, and painting the pergola.  We are hosting the appreciation dinner for our church's christian education department and I want to make it a magical dinner under the stars. It will be heavily influenced by my Party time Pinterest board.  

Now it's off to dinner with my sweetheart, he's taking me to the local barbeque palace to do some research on the party menu:>)

Are you putting in a garden this year?

Scenes from the yard

Have I mentioned Spring is my favorite time of year:>)



S'mores cupcakes

I'm willing to bet most of us have a pinterest board somewhere just full of luscious looking desserts and recipes that we plan to try. I have several.  Not that I am necessarily the one who will try them out. You know I live with a man who bakes right? I am one lucky girl:>)

So, back in January our church had a silent auction to help fund a mission trip to Africa for a group of our young mom's. They are going to help out with some building projects, and they are there right this minute doing what they can.  Earl decided that he would auction off a Dessert of the Month.  It would give him the chance to try some new recipes without the downside of us gaining a ton of weight by eating all those delicious new recipes. The winner gets a dessert each month for a year.

Enter the Pinterest board. Oh he has had fun! The lucky bidder is happy as a clam every month and we get to try some new goodies without being overwhelmed with too much to eat.

Aprils D.O.M  were S'mores cupcakes.  He printed off the recipe, whipped up a batch....and they were so bad he had to throw them away. I kid you not, it was not cooks error, there was something wrong with those cupcake. Very wrong.

Proof that just because something looks gorgeous in a photo it doesn't mean you will want to eat it.

But he liked the concept, it was a great concept. Graham cracker crust, chocolate cake, melty chocolate ganache on top of the cupcake and a light, fluffy meringue on top toasted to perfection with his creme brulee torch. So he switched out the chocolate cake recipe for a new one and used his favorite Italian meringue recipe for the top.  Success! These are so good, and not as much trouble to make as they sound like. Sure, they have several components but none are hard to make and the results are worth it.

The cake recipe itself comes from a website called The Best moist chocolate Cake, the batter may be the thinnest cake batter I have ever made, but it works and it really is moist and the chocolate flavor is superb. Use whatever graham cracker crust recipe you have and just put a thin layer in the bottom of the cupcake paper, for the ones I made today, I didn't even bother and I didn't miss it, but if you must have it, know that crushed graham crackers sprinkled over the ganache would work too.

The ganache is simply a 10 oz package of chocolate chips and a cup of heavy cream melted together while you stir it on top of the stove. Easy as can be.  Bake the cupcakes, cool, dip the tops in the ganache let it set up a bit and pipe Italian meringue on top in big swirls. The recipe that Earl uses is  Julia Child's Italian meringue, but you could probably put a dollop of marshmallow cream on top and toast it. Use a little kitchen torch and these are ready  to share. Victoria declared these the best cupcakes that she had ever eaten, I don't know about that, but they are pretty darn good:>)

Have you tried anything from your Pinterest recipe board lately? Any failures or favorites?

Mother's Day

I'll admit, this is a shameless plug, but I have had enough people request these pillows over the last year that I thought I would give a shout out. I just listed 2 more of the heart and home pillows in the etsy shop. Because home is where your mom is right? :>)

Gingham piping, polka dot sides and damask print back. With red vintage button flowers in the garden.

These require a lot of hand work so there will only be two for now. 

 Have you got your Mother's Day gift for mom yet?

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. ~Proverb

Happy first day of May! My favorite month of all.  Full of family birthdays, sunshine, warmth and flowers. It's the month I pretty much live for the rest of the year.

Sure, Autumn has it's charms, but it's a season that eventually leaves me cold. 

Summer is nice but, it can drive you indoors if you aren't a fan of the heat. We will not discuss winter.

At all. 

 I happily turned the calender to a new page this morning. I have a late day at work, which means I was able to take a beautiful morning walk with Earl, listening to the birds sing and watching the sun come up through the trees. Heaven.

The windows are thrown open and the birds are serenading me right this minute.  It just makes me happy.

 These primroses were on the clearance rack at Kroger, seems a bit premature, but I'll take it! Half off primroses are not to be ignored:>)

It is supposed t be in the upper 70's and sunny today, and the flip side of enjoying the morning sunshine at home is that I will be trapped inside a windowless building until nearly 7p.

**sigh**

C'est la vie, it will still be light out when I get home and I plan to set up the outdoor table and chairs by the garden with a cup of decaf and enjoy what is left of this first day of May.

What are you doing today?