Sam

Our family is blessed with some of the sweetest nieces, and a nephew, in the whole world. Earl's sisters' girls are each 9 months different in age from my own daughters and I love them like my very own. We are blessed that they are willing to spend time with us and hang out and talk. I had coffee with my oldest nieces Kayla and Samantha this morning at Panera. We talked for two hours and I'm pretty sure we solved most of the worlds problems over those cups of java and breakfast:)

 Afterwards, Samantha had asked her uncle if he felt like making cheesecake with her. He pretty much loves time spent baking with any of the kids so guess what his answer was?

 Sam came home with me, tied on an apron and dug in with the Uncle. White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake was the cheesecake du jour. I grabbed a lick of the batter when they were done and, Heavens to Betsy, I think I need to make one for the next holiday!

Tasting is pretty much required for quality control don'tcha know.

And when they were done Sam went home with a cheesecake to die for.

 Hey Sam, You are going to save us a piece aren't you:)   Hmmmm?

You Can Make Your Own Greek Yogurt

Yes you can. It's easy and with the price of Greek yogurt at $2 for a small serving it will save you a ton of money!  I first saw this recipe here, and with these directions we have been making our own for over a year now. Grocery store cost = $2 for 6 oz.  Our cost= $2.50 for about a half gallon!

Greek yogurt is thick and creamy and so good for you! We make the yogurt overnight in the crock pot and strain it through extra large coffee filters to get rid of most of the watery whey so it gets stand up on your spoon thick.  With a little practice you will get pretty consistent results, and you can't beat the price! A little honey, a little fresh fruit, and you have a great start to your day:>)

I've added this link to my recipes page. If you give it a try let me know what you think. If you need help, email me, I'll be glad to help you through it.

Enjoy!

In the shop now...This cutie patootie little rattan bag I found at a sale. Velvet and felt fruits and veggies. Have you ever seen anything like this? When I saw it in I just knew someone would love it :>)

Maybe you?

Ok, off to the sewing machine I go. Hope you're having a great day, found anything cool at a sale lately?

Jam Session

I have gotten so much done in the last week. Some sewing, cleaning, a weekend away with the love of my life and Jam making! Our pastor has a peach tree and he shared some of the harvest. Bucket after bucket of fuzzy sweetness. We made five kinds of jam and two kinds of peach pie before we hit the bottom of those buckets.  And oh. my.  If I had to choose favorites they would be the Peach Melba with Raspberry, the Orange peach and the Vanilla peach. Since we make our own Greek yogurt in the crock pot, these are the bomb stirred in for a touch of peachy sweetness! We also made Grand Champion jam for those who like a little spice and a rockin' Butterscotch peach made with brown sugar that we tossed in the freezer. 

The Peach Melba with Raspberry recipe and the Butterscotch Peach Jam come from this book, Well Preserved: Third Edition: Small Batch Preserving for the New Cook . It is chock full of small batch recipes for jams and relishes, chutneys and pickles. You can find it in my Amazon store on my sidebar under the cooking category :)

Jam is easy and has lots more uses than just a topping for toast. Try it as a glaze for grilled pork or chicken, add some vinegar for the best sweet and sour sauce ever, or do as we do and add it to plain yogurt.  We have even given some as gifts already and with fancy flavors you can't get in the stores, and a fresh loaf of home made bread it's a special treat for someone you love.

I would love to hear if you can special treats this time of year. What's your favorite recipe to put up for the winter or give as gifts?

Do You Wanna Be a Quilter?

Hello, friends and followers!

I would like to welcome you

to a Wantobe Quilters Campaign over at www.sewwequilt.com

They are having quilting supplies to giveaway 5 x a week for 12 weeks!

Mondays-Wednesday-Fridays you can win

Supplies that will have you quilting

before you know it…From sewing machines to irons, to die cutters,

to mats, to rotary cutters, sewing baskets, scissors, batting, needles,

rolled sewing machine bags, patterns, books, magazines…everything

you could imagine to assist you in being a NEW Quilter.

Even if you are already part of this community you can win

quilting stuff too…Tuesdays and Thursdays are days for us.

All you have to do is give me your name and phone number

and email sew I can submit this to the organizer, because if you win

anything I can win something too.

All you have to do is be my follower and a follower

over at www,sewwequilt.com

That is all! There are over 53 Sponsors involved.

I am pretty excited to be part of this, sew should you.

I love being a QUILTER!

P.S. You will not be eligible to win anything if you do not register

with me (or with any blogger where you see this message)

Just email me at kathyscottage@yahoo.com and leave your name, email address and phone number. The info won't be used for anything but this contest!
You don't have to be a quilter to love these prizes! If you sew or know someone who sews, these prizes are gorgeous and with Chirstmas coming they would make great gifts!