The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace

Myrtle Grace Motifs - February 2012 Newsletter

2012-02-01T20:15:00.003-06:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

It’s February! When did that sneak up on us? Just wanted to let you in on a new release at Myrtle Grace Motifs – Mini Myrt is on her way – or is it Mini Marv? Either way Baby Raatjes is due June 22 and we are working to get things ready not only for Nashville but for our little bundle to arrive.

Nashville Needlework Market 2012 - Room 425
Our to do list is getting smaller and our bins are getting fuller as we count down the days until Nashville. We hope you are exciting about the show. We love getting to see you each year!
This week our sneak peeks will be starting on our blog and on Facebook – don’t miss them!
(You’ll get to see more than I’m showing you here – I have to teas you somehow.)

Ollie the Owl – This little guy found the perfect perch – right on top a wooden spool!
All We Need is Love – This pattern was a labor of love. Many years of punching and thought went into this one – Thank Andy for convincing me to finish it – sure glad I have him around. 
Just Bee-Cause – We couldn’t come to Nashville without a Mint Tin creation! This year we buzz right in with this cute bee.

Accepting Credit Cards!
Did you know Myrtle Grace Motifs now accepts credit cards! Run out of checks in Nashville? Save those checks - pay with a credit card.

Trunks Shows
We are working on our Trunk Show Schedule for 2012, if you are interested in a trunk show, if it’s cross stitch, punch needle or both, please let us know and we’ll do our best to work you into the schedule.

The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace
In the coming weeks catch our sneak peeks of our Nashville releases. Come see all the fun. www.myrtlegrace.blogspot.com

Facebook
Want all the news from Nashville? We’ll be posting on Facebook during the show. Come join our Facebook page. We love hearing from you – Facebook is a great place to do so. http://www.facebook.com/MyrtleGraceMotifs

Distributors
We are proud to be represented by these fine companies:
Hoffman Distributing Company - www.hoffmandis.com
Norden Crafts - www.nordencrafts.com
Yarn Tree - www.yarntree.com

Sneak Peeks for Nashville

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

Four weeks from today we leave for Nashville! Eek! Already?
See these cute little gems? Wonder what they are? Over the next three weeks we'll introduce you to our brand new Nashville Needlework Market releases.
Come see them in person in Nashville - not coming? No worries - our distributors will have them also.
So... consider this me teasing you to come back for the next few weeks.

An afternoon at the beach... in winter.

2012-01-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we got away! We went to Saugatuck, Michigan. Andy found a Groupon for a Bed and Breakfast that we couldn’t pass up. So off we went in the blizzard of January 2012… Ok it wasn’t really considered a blizzard – but if you’d ask the news people at the time – I’m sure they’d tell you of the impending doom. So off we went in the crazy snow – 4 hour trip that should have taken 2 ½ hours – we didn’t think that was bad at all.
Saturday after relaxing most of the day – we explored the town of Saugatuck. Too touristy for our tastes, but I saw a sign for Oval Beach. While I do not consider myself a Beach Girl – I do love the big lake. I find peace on the beach listening to the waves. So we followed the signs and found Oval Beach. I’d never seen Lake Michigan in winter before – so walking on the ice was so fun and interesting. To see these huge boulders of ice just rolling around in the waves, crashing into the shore/ice. So glad we spent that time wandering.

Pimped out Mixer

2012-01-17T07:00:00.001-06:00

Who else do you know has a pimped out mixer?
Yeah – this girl.I saw these vinyl decals that you can buy at the beginning of last summer – I wanted them! So bad! Sadly the woman who made them was taking the summer off to spend with her kids.
Then... at the end of the summer – she emailed me! Woo hoo!! I ordered them and promptly forgot all about it again.
Then, the decals came in the mail. They were a little tricky to adhere… if I did it again – I’d do it a little different, but honestly? $12 I can redecorate in a year or two – why not? :)
Here’s the site: http://www.thehouseofsmithsdesigns.com/product/mixer-decals

Sticky Puffs of Mollten Goodness

2012-01-10T07:00:00.001-06:00

By now you probably know my family does a cookie exchange at Christmas time. Well, we call it sweets and treats since we don’t like to be limited to cookies. Good thing my sister-in-law Allison knows no such limits. She brought this awesome Caramel Corn. I got a sneak taste the night before while babysitting. I’ve made two batches since that night – a mere few weeks ago. Anywhere we take it – it’s all eaten up. Be careful when stirring it while baking. Andy found out the hard way… those little puffs get coated with sugar and stick amazingly well to any skin – and stay stuck there. Oh – and they are hot… really hot. So… be careful and all will be wonderfully caramel and corny.

Caramel Corn
What you need!
2 (8oz) Okie Dokie Corn Puffs
2 sticks butter
2 cups brown sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp baking soda

Make it!
Grease roasting pan and pour puffs into pan. In deep sauce pan, combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda (mixture will foam). Pour onto puffs and stir until puffs and well coated.
Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool on wax paper.

Life - Laugh - Love - now in Cross Stitch

2012-01-06T07:00:00.001-06:00

Today Myrtle Grace Motifs introduces a new pattern. It’s actually one of our first patterns – but now it’s ready in cross stitch. We are so excited to be able to release it in cross stitch with Weeks fibers to give it such rich color.

Bubbling Bread of Awesome

2012-01-03T07:00:00.001-06:00

Some things only happen when company comes to stay; Bubble Bread is one of those things – in my family. If people were staying at our house, my mom would make up a pan of Bubble Bread at night – then get up early in the morning to bake it. Waking up to that heavenly smell is amazing.
This past Christmas we were having brunch at Andy’s folks – so I decided to bring Bubble Bread. Who would love yummy awesome sticky buns?
The awesome part of this recipe is how easy it is. Seriously – 5 minutes at night – throw it in the oven, then in the morning – turn the oven on – turn them out when they are cooled a bit. Not exactly one of those recipes that is hard. Be sure to use somewhat fresh dinner rolls – or you won’t have Bubble Bread – you will have Hockey Puck bread – which is far less desirable, although still as sticky.

Bubble Bread
What you need!
24 frozen dinner rolls
1 cup brown sugar
1 4 oz. pkg. regular butterscotch pudding (cook and serve)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup melted butter

Make it!
Sprinkle pecans in greased 9 x 13 cake pan or greased and floured bundt pan. Place frozen rolls on top. Mix brown sugar and pudding mix and sprinkle over rolls. Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over pudding mixture. Pour melted butter over all. Place in cold oven over night - no cover. Bake in 350 oven for 30 min. Let stand in pan 10 - 15 min. Turn out on board to cool.

Myrtle Grace Motifs - January 2012 Newsletter

2012-01-01T07:00:00.002-06:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

Happy New Year! We hope you’ve had a blessed Christmas and enjoyed time with family and friends.

Live – Laugh – Love
Many years ago – one of our very first punch needle patterns was “Live – Laugh – Love”. We are so excited this week to be able to release it in cross stitch. Weeks fibers give it such rich color.
Patterns will be ready for shipping on Friday at Hoffman and Yarn Tree. Norden has both punch needle and cross stitch.

Nashville 2012
We are start the new year in full swing getting ready for The Nashville Needlework Market. We are looking forward to seeing our lovely shop friends and creative designer friends too. Sneak peeks will be starting in a few weeks – don’t miss them!

Accepting Credit Cards!
Did you know Myrtle Grace Motifs now accepts credit cards! Run out of checks in Nashville? No worries! Pay with a credit card.

Trunks Shows
We are working on our Trunk Show Schedule for 2012, if you are interested in a trunk show, if it’s cross stitch, punch needle or both, please let us know and we’ll do our best to work you into the schedule.

The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace
We’ve been busy this Christmas with plenty of baking and adventures. Come see all the fun. www.myrtlegrace.blogspot.com

Facebook
Want to see the new designs in progress? Come join our Facebook page. We love hearing from you – Facebook is a great place to do so. http://www.facebook.com/MyrtleGraceMotifs

Distributors
We are proud to be represented by these fine companies:
Hoffman Distributing Company - www.hoffmandis.com
Norden Crafts - www.nordencrafts.com
Yarn Tree - www.yarntree.com

To bloom or not to bloom...

2011-12-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

Bread in a Dutch Oven? I’m game for that. This recipe was pretty easy to put together. It sure didn’t rise like I thought it would. I’m also not entirely sure why – but it tasted good, it dipped soup perfectly, smelled the house up amazingly – so what if it didn’t “bloom” perfectly. Maybe next time – I’ll blame the weather.

The Dutch Oven Bread
What you need!
20 oz. of all purpose flour – about 4 cups.
8 oz. of water (or 1 cup.)
4 oz. melted butter with chopped herbs of choice. We had thyme, parsley and green onions.
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon active or instant yeast. (if active, it would be best to sprinkle yeast over the water to let it start to work before mixing it in)

Make it!
Combined these ingredients all together in the KitchenAid stand mixer with the dough hook.
Mixed them together for about 10 minutes or so until you can successfully achieve a windowpane with the dough.
Once this elasticity has been achieved, the dough can sit out with plastic wrap over it for 1-4 hours to double in size. After it’s gotten bigger, it should be kneaded for a minute or two so that the yeast can redistribute.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Cut a large ‘X’ into the surface of the bread dough so it can bloom!
Bake inside a covered cast iron pan after coating the rounded dough with olive oil and sprinkling with kosher salt. Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove lid to finish it off for another 15 to 30 minutes.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you the gift of faith,
the blessing of hope and
the peace of His love at Christmas and always.

Love, Andy, Erin & Rusty

The Unsmoked Turkey Leftovers

2011-12-20T07:00:00.001-06:00

This year for Thanksgiving we did it! We had the family over and cooked that big ol’ scary bird! Ok… so maybe we cooked that big ol’ scary bird a few days earlier. Once I realized the size of such said animal – I mean fowl… I realized we didn’t have a prayer of fitting everything in the oven we needed. I’d read online that you could cook it ahead, make your own turkey stock, then reheat that big ol’ thing sliced nicely in the crockpot on low for the main meal. Worked amazingly well. Well… despite the fire… yes – the fire. Nothing major – a small grease fire in the oven– but big enough to cause the entire house to fill with smoke, set off both smoke alarms… quite an exciting time! No worries – the food was all safe and tasted great!
What does all of this have to do with soup? Ahh… Turkey Soup – see the link there? We used our leftover turkey and broth and made soup. Our broth turned out so well it was almost a gel – from what I hear that means we did it right. When I made the soup I did add an extra 2 cups of homemade chicken broth just to make sure we had enough liquid. Great soup for a chilly day.

Turkey, Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup
What you need!
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces mini portabella mushrooms, sliced
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups turkey or chicken broth
¾ cup long grain wild rice
1 bay leaf
4 cups cooked turkey, cut into bite-size pieces
¼ cup chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Make it!
Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms, onions, and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stirring.
Add the broth, rice, and bay leaf, cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low, add the turkey, and simmer until the rice is cooked through and tender, about 45 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf then stir in parsley, salt and pepper and serve.

Ever have a bag of candy stare you down?

2011-12-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

There they were – just staring at me… Stupid Mint M&M’s. Who bought those things? Shoot… it was me. But they were on sale – it seemed so smart. But there they were – a whole bag – just taunting me to eat them – all – in one sitting. Talk about a belly ache.
They sat unopened on the counter. Then – a party appeared. Actually we were invited – parties don’t just appear do they? Anyway – a snack was requested. A snack – what does that mean? Cookies… cookies are a snack. Chocolate cookies with mint M&M’s baked in them. Yes… that’s the ticket! Share the wealth of these little mint beauties.
These cookies turned out awesome. I added the extra mini morsels just to edge up the chocolate – you know because there wasn’t enough right? When warm from the oven – the chocolate is warm and gooey… oh yeah, good stuff.
Tell your friends and neighbors to get those Mini M&M’s and make cookies out of them, Ok you can eat them too – but don’t start eating them before baking – you may never have enough.
Wonder how these would taste with Peanut Butter M&M’s? Or… oh! The possibilities!!

Mint M&M Cookies
What you need!
2 1/4 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 package Mint M&M’s
1 cup mini semi-sweet morsels

Make it!
Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large mixer bowl beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in M&M’s and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 9 - 10 min until edges are lightly browned. Let stand 2 min before removing from cookie sheets; cool completely.

The cake Christmas can't wait for...

2011-12-06T07:00:00.001-06:00

Last Christmas I made this amazing Ice Cream Cake. Long after Christmas I downloaded the photos and I realized who would want this fantastic peppermint ice cream cake for…. January? Everyone is on diets – it would be a sad reminder of all things yummy.
So now that ya’ll are back to indulgence – here’s that awesome recipe.
This is a conglomeration of my favorite ice cream cake recipes – with awesome peppermint ice cream. We took huge slices – but not the clean plates – well received. Who wouldn’t love Oreos, peppermint ice cream, hot fudge and Cool Whip? It's like the best ice cream sundae in a slice.

Christmas Ice Cream Cake
What you need!
35 Oreo cookies
1/2 cup melted butter/margarine
1/2 gallon Peppermint Ice Cream
1 bottle chocolate Fudge Topping
1 tub (8 oz.) Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) Chocolate Instant Pudding

Make it!
Crush 25 Oreo cookies and mix with melted margarine. Spread on bottom of circular spring form pan. Pat down to make crust. Put in freezer for 20 min. Take out ice cream to soften slightly. Spread half of ice cream over cookie crust and freeze. Pour ½ cup of fudge topping into medium bowl. Whisk in 1 cup whipped topping. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. Stir in 5 chopped cookies. Cover with remaining ice cream. Pour fudge over ice cream and freeze several hours. Spread cool whip over fudge and sprinkle remaining (crushed) cookies on top. Freeze until ready to serve.

Myrtle Grace Motifs - December 2011 Newsletter

2011-12-01T07:00:00.001-06:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

We hope you’ve had a blessed Thanksgiving and enjoyed time with family and friends.

We so look forward to Christmas and the fresh new start the New Year brings.

Little Red Birds
Last month we debuted the Little Red Birds at the International Quilt Market. These sassy birds are available in punch needle and cross stich. Check out our website for more information www.myrtlegrace.com.

Nashville 2012
We are starting to get ready for The Nashville Needlework Market. We are looking forward to seeing our lovely shop friends and creative designer friends too. Keep an eye out for sneak peeks early next year.

The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace
Did you read the stories of our Little Red Birds? Each has their own story – check them out at our blog. www.myrtlegrace.blogspot.com

Facebook
We’ve been here there and all over! Brand new designs in progress posted. Come join us. We love hearing from you! http://www.facebook.com/MyrtleGraceMotifs

Distributors
We are proud to be represented by these fine companies:
Hoffman Distributing Company - www.hoffmandis.com
Norden Crafts - www.nordencrafts.com
Yarn Tree - www.yarntree.com

It’s a Knife Breaker!

2011-11-29T07:00:00.002-06:00

Do you have a recipe that is always wins over a crowd? Something you make that people eat, smile and nod at you with a mouthful? Scotcharoos are that recipe for me. When I don’t know what to bring somewhere – they are a winning pick. We had Christmas last Saturday with my mom’s family. Yes – Christmas – I know it was also Thanksgiving last week. Usually we celebrate late summer early fall – so this was pretty impressive that we could celebrate so close to the actual holiday. While we were there my Gram gave each of us grandkids one of my grandfather’s watches. My mom told me later that she found out he had 16 – he had 16 grandkids. The spouses each received one of his tie tacks. Pretty neat to have a remembrance of him.

Here’s a few helpful – eh maybe not so helpful – tips on these Scotcharoos.
1. Not sure how to get that hot molten lava flat? Spray the inside of a zip top bag with veggie oil spray and stick your hand inside the not sprayed side – use it like a glove. Be sure to pat the lava… touching for long periods of time will make you one with the lava and the plastic bag – less than ideal.
2. Run out of semisweet chips? Make up the different with milk chocolate – who will notice?
3. If your milk chocolate chips refuse to melt – just slap them on anyway – they give some extra crunch – dang it! They noticed.
4. Cut with caution – knives have been known to break – multiple knives. Side note – make sure to have lifetime warranties on knives. Dear Chicago Cutlery – yep – we did it again – sorry.
5. Andy and his brother have a really bad name for these. Want to know what it is? Ask him.

Scotcharoos
What you need!
1 cup sugar
1 cup Lite Corn Syrup
1 cup Peanut Butter
6 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup Butterscotch Chips
1 cup Semi Sweet Chips

Make it!
Heat sugar and corn syrup in med sauce pan until it just starts to bubble remove from heat and add peanut butter. Mix well. Add Rice Krispies. Press in 9 x 13 pan. Cool. Melt butterscotch and semi-sweet chips and pour on top.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Covered Hands

2011-11-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

Ever try to make candy in the summer? When it’s hot out and you are trying to set chocolate? Yeah… not the best idea. But when there is chocolate and peanut butter… throw that on graham crackers – how can you go wrong with that? This summer I made these little gems. I saw them made with full size graham crackers – but that’s way too much for me. I cut up the graham crackers and these made a nice size treat. Andy and my sister-in-law Allison loved them – actually they kept asking for more test samples to make sure their review was spot on. My guess is they’d like a few more to test again.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Grahams
What you need!
1 pound milk chocolate
16 oz creamy peanut butter
6 graham crackers broken into 4’s – 24 pieces

Make it!
Break graham crackers – using a sharp knife makes it easier and cleaner cuts.
Dip each graham cracker into melted chocolate. Refrigerate or freeze until chocolate set. Spread with peanut butter. Freeze or refrigerate until firm. Dip entire covered cracker into chocolate and let set.
Eat and enjoy.

Little Red Birds - Winifred

2011-11-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

Winifred Wingerly

Adeline, Estelle, and Winfred are The Little Red Birds. Friends for life - they have flown through the ups and downs of life together.

Winifred was born in 1923. She’s the youngster of the Little Red Birds and oh does she have spunk! Always the instigator of teasing – Winifred obviously was the youngest of 12 chicks. Never one to fly in formation, Winifred flew her own path. While she never married, she was the best aunt to Adeline and Estelle’s young chicks. But who is that around the nest? Is that Ralph Flighterly from her youth? Seems like Ralph has always been leaving her seeds here and there. Adeline and Estelle say it’s more than just seeds, could it be?

The Little Red Birds are a series of three punch needle and cross stitch patterns designed by Myrtle Grace Motifs. They available separately from your local needlework shop.

Shops – Punch Needle available at Norden, Cross Stitch is available at Hoffman, Yarn Tree and Norden

Not so soft caramels...

2011-11-15T07:00:00.001-06:00

So there are those recipes you can tweak here and there. You can oops a little here and there and it’s OK. Add a dash of this or that. Boil a tad longer, a little less, perhaps a little hotter than you should.
This is NOT that recipe.
It’s possible with this recipe I let the first round of cooking go a tad too hot. I swear I turned around for only a few minutes. Usually when I’m trying to get things up to temp it takes an eternity – not so this time. So my suggestion – keep an eye on the thermometer at all times.
My caramels turned out a tad different then the soft caramels this recipe promised. They were hard but then would ooze into each other. All who ate them said they were excellent. Next time – pay more attention.

Apple Cider Caramels
What you need!
2 cup high-quality apple cider
1 cup heavy cream or whipping cream, divided
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup real butter, cubed

Pour cider into a medium saucepan and boil on high for about 20 minutes or until the cider is reduced to 1/3 c. Keep an eye on it...it might try to run away. Set aside to cool.
Line an 8" square pan with parchment paper, making sure to leave about 1" hanging over the edges for easy removal. Coat with a bit of vegetable oil and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine 2/3 c. cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and reduced apple cider. Set aside.
In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, 1/3 c. whipping cream + enough water to reach the 1/2 c. line on the measuring cup, and corn syrup. Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Insert the candy thermometer and simmer until the syrup reaches 234 degrees.
Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream mixture. Add the cubed butter and stir until the cream and butter are fully incorporated. Return the pan to heat and re-insert the candy thermometer. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature reaches 248 degrees.
Remove from heat and pour the caramel into the prepared pan. Let the mixture cool completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Cut the caramels into 1/2" squares and wrap each caramel in wax paper. If your caramels won’t cut – stick the whole brick in a bag and bang away with a hammer. Enjoy!

Little Red Birds - Estelle

2011-11-11T07:00:00.001-06:00

Estelle van der Eggsma

Adeline, Estelle, and Winfred are The Little Red Birds. Friends for life - they have flown through the ups and downs of life together.

Estelle hatched in the summer of 1919. She married young, but lost her husband Earl in the war. She had two chicks which she raised with loving support from her feathered friends. Estelle has found love later in life. Harold Beakendorf has been pecking around her nest these days bring her sunflower seeds. Good thing Estelle has her Little Red Bird friends to confide in.

The Little Red Birds are a series of three punch needle and cross stitch patterns designed by Myrtle Grace Motifs. They available separately from your local needlework shop.

Shops – Punch Needle available at Norden, Cross Stitch is available at Hoffman, Yarn Tree and Norden

Randomness from the 1970's

2011-11-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

I remember the ice cream bookmark. As long as I can remember baking with my mom – it was that ice cream book mark right where the apple pie recipe was in her 1970’s Orange Betty Crocker’s Cookbook. Wouldn’t you know when my grandma gave me her cookbook – my mom gave me one of her bookmarks? There were others too! I had no idea! All I ever saw was the ice cream… wishful thinking perhaps.
a few weeks ago I showed you the pumpkin pies. What’s pumpkin pie without apple pie? Oh… I guess it’s just pumpkin pie. But apple pie… oh… that’s just sweet goodness. These little pies are made with Granny Smith Apples. They hold their shape – but lend themselves awesome to the sweetness you add. The Lattice top was really easy, I promise. 4 strips, weave them together, plop them on top. No fuss.
In 1970, the book says, apple pie is on the Big Ten list of American Favorites. Um… sure… ok… whatever. Hello Randomness.

Betty Crocker’s Old Fashioned Apple Pie – Mini Version
What you need!
Pastry for 9-inch Two crust Pie
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
Dash of salt
5 tart apples – cut into small pieces

Make it!
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Rolled out dough and cut into 3 ¾ inch circles. Place strips of parchment paper into muffin tin, place dough round on top and tuck gentle into mold.
Stir together dry ingredients and mix with apples. Spoon into prepared pastries. With left over pie crust dough – create 4 strips each and make a small lattice top.
Bake for 40 minutes or until crust is brown.
Serve with whipped cream.

Little Red Birds - Adeline

2011-11-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Adeline McFeatherline

Adeline, Estelle, and Winfred are The Little Red Birds. Friends for life - they have flown through the ups and downs of life together.

Adeline was born in 1920, the 5th of 10 chicks to her parents Mr. and Mrs. Fluffinhoven.
She met her husband Warren, a flier, while serving as a carrier in the war. They raised 6 beautiful chicks together. They now enjoy a life of retirement, having downsized to a condo-nest. Throughout her life she has loved to read and now enjoys spending time with her grandchicks. She loves flying together with her Little Red Birds. She feels so blessed to have such close friends.

The Little Red Birds are a series of three punch needle and cross stitch patterns designed by Myrtle Grace Motifs. They available separately from your local needlework shop.

Shops – Punch Needle available at Norden, Cross Stitch is available at Hoffman, Yarn Tree and Norden

Myrtle Grace Motifs - November 2011 Newsletter

2011-11-01T07:00:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

Happy November 1st! So hard to believe we are heading into the holiday season.

Today at this very moment – we are traveling on our way home from Texas where we were showing at the International Quilt Market a new experience for Myrtle Grace.

Little Red Birds
This weekend we were able to showcase our punch needle to the quilting world. This month – we will showcase to you our newest patterns. They are called the Little Red Birds.
Adeline, Estelle, and Winfred are The Little Red Birds. Friends for life - they have flown through the ups and downs of life together. They’ll be releasing at our distributors on the next three Fridays. Check out our blog each Friday to hear more about these birds.

Fall Issue of Spool
Did you happen to peruse the Fall Issue of Spool? Did you see a familiar owl? Our very own Erin Dekker Raatjes was featured on page 6. Pick up a copy today! www.spoolmag.com

Nashville 2012
What? YES! Nashville 2012 we are already planning! All we need is love… and cross stitchers and punchers… excited to head back to Nashville to see our stitching friends.

The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace
Ever wonder who still uses the 1970’s orange Betty Crocker Cookbook? We do! Check out how we took a few recipes and made them fit into this century. www.myrtlegrace.blogspot.com

Facebook
We’ve been here there and all over! Brand new designs in progress posted. Come join us. We love hearing from you! http://www.facebook.com/MyrtleGraceMotifs

The Orange Bible

2011-10-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

Growing up – my mom’s pie recipes came from the cooking bible – Betty Crocker’s Cookbook. You know, the orange one from the 1970’s. Several years ago – I was honored recipient of my grandma’s orange bible. It was in great condition – my guess is because she was a great cook – she didn’t need that silly orange book. But me? Oh I treasured it! I still do. I love that my name is written in it right next to hers. There are still questions I have about cuts of meat. Betty knows.
These mini Pumpkin Pies? Betty’s. Granted, Betty was all sorts of fancy and made her own crust. Yeah… I don’t do that anymore. They don’t turn out and they just aren’t very good. Store bought works for me. These little pies are easy and worked better than I ever thought possible. I used a scalloped edge biscuit cutter to get the cute edges. They pop right out of the muffin tins with the help of the parchment handles.
Enjoy this little mini taste of fall. Mmm sure smells like fall.

Betty Crocker’s Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie – Mini Version
What you need!
Pastry for 9-inch One crust Pie
2 eggs
2 cups mashed cooked pumpkin (1 pound can)
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
¼ tsp cloves
1 2/3 cups evaporated milk

Make it!
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Rolled out dough and cut into 3 ¾ inch circles. Place strips of parchment paper into muffin tin, place dough round on top and tuck gentle into mold.
Beat eggs, beat in remaining ingredients. Pour into prepared pastries. Bake for 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350. Bake for 40 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on racks. Serve with whipped cream.

Making a Farmer's Day

2011-10-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

My dear friend Mandie is so dear to me. Wow… that’s redundant – yet true.
Last year when Mandie and her family came for dinner she brought a jar of salsa. We had some in the fridge so we didn’t open it until this summer. It was awesome. It was just the right amount of everything. By the time I realized the awesomeness of her salsa, it was October. Yes folks… not exactly tomato season. You see… my aunt always has extra tomatoes. I could have gotten bushels of them and made gallons of salsa! Instead I found a farm stand on my way home one night and bought 20 pounds of tomatoes and peppers. I bet I made that farmer’s day. Who else is crazy enough to buy tomatoes in October?
As you can well see I had another case of too small of a bowl – a common problem in my kitchen. Maybe it’s because I’m short – things look bigger since I’m so close to them. Love all the cilantro in this salsa. Mmm can’t wait to open it up and dig in.

Mandie’s Salsa
Makes 10-12 pints
What you need!
12 cups heaping tomatoes chopped
2 cups green peppers chopped
3 large onions chopped
jalapeños - 1/3 c. (mild) - 1/2 c. (medium) - 1- cup (hot)
6 cloves garlic minced
1/2 bunch cilantro chopped

Mix above ingredients in a large bowl

Mix together:
12 oz. tomato paste
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons salt
1 cup vinegar

Add tomato sauce ingredients to salsa. Poor into sterilized bottles and process in boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

Wolfed it down like a milkbone

2011-10-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

Here I thought I would struggle to come up with a story for Apple Butter. First I thought – Apple Butter – what isn’t it good on? Broccoli. Oh – yeah… gross. Anyway…
Last Friday night in the midst of making 8 quarts of salsa, I decided to also make apple butter too. Got it all in the crock pot and ready to cook it overnight, then Rusty started not doing well. Seems he accidentally ate a pill he shouldn’t have. (And by accidentally I mean, quite intentionally he ate it. Wolfed it down like a milkbone.) Not surprising the pill did not have the same effect on dogs as humans… quite opposite in fact. I forgot all about the apple butter as I raced to the Emergency Vet. Came home – he was drugged up and OK – still didn’t think about the apple butter. Went to bed at 1:30 AM still no thoughts of the bubbling brew… 6:00AM I bolted straight up – Apple Butter! Ran down – phew… good thing it can’t really be cooked down too much.
I like to smooth out my apple butter with a blender or a food processer. That can be tricky with it being molten lava – but the texture is smooth and spreadable.
Enjoy this on biscuits, ice cream, pork roasts, by the spoonful… I don’t think there is a wrong way. Perhaps the broccoli idea…
Oh… Rusty is fine by the way… back to his normal goofy self. :)

Apple Butter
What you need!
5 pounds granny smith apples, cored, peeled, sliced
2 ½ cups white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice

Make it!
Pile cored, peeled, and sliced apples into crock pot. Top with sugar and spices. Stir to coat the apples. Turn crock pot on high for 1 hour. Stir at the one hour mark and turn down to low. Cook overnight, or 9-10 hours.
Using a food processer or blender, process cooked apples until a smooth consistency.
Pour back into crockpot and cook on high for an additional hour.
Pour into sterilized hot bottles and put in water bath for 10 minutes.
Let cool and enjoy.

Super Star Santa - Now in Cross Stitch

2011-10-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

Remember this old friend? He’s a Super Star! He’s now available in Cross Stitch, today!
Sure… it’s fall – but Christmas is just around the corner. We won’t talk about that – quite yet.
Ask your shop to order it! Where from? Norden, Yarn Tree, and Hoffman all have it ready.
Norden also has the punch needle!

Exchanging Canned Goodness

2011-10-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Last week my family had our now annual canning exchange. If you can fit it in a jar? You are welcome to join! Heck… even if you can convince someone else to put something in a jar for you – that works too.
We had neat new recipes like Balsamic Jelly and Watermelon-Rind Chutney. We had good ol’ standbys Applesauce, Raspberry Jam and Grape Jelly.
It was such a fun night to get together with the women of my family, talk and share good food.
I made Watermelon Jelly – quite popular this year! My aunt brought the same thing and even watermelon rind pickles to go with it.

Myrtle Grace Motifs - October 2011 Newsletter

2011-10-01T07:00:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

New Pattern: Super Star Santa
Remember this old friend? He’s a Super Star! He’s now available in Cross Stitch, Friday October 7!
Sure… it’s fall – but Christmas is just around the corner.
Norden, Yarn Tree, and Hoffman all have it ready.
Norden also has the punch needle!

ALL the Franklin and Pierce Patterns – Sale!
All three Franklin and Pierce patterns are out and ready to find a nice warm home – somewhere near you. For the month of October we have a sale. Purchase direct from Myrtle Grace Motifs and get all three patterns for a low price. (This is only available for qualified wholesale shops.)

Fall Issue of Spool
Did you happen to peruse the Fall Issue of Spool? Did you see a familiar owl? Our very own Erin Dekker Raatjes was featured on page 6. Pick up a copy today! www.spoolmag.com

International Quilt Market – Houston, Texas
Just a month away! We will be attending the International Quilt Market in Houston, Texas on October 29-31, 2011. We are excited to debut our Little Red Birds. Don’t worry – if you won’t be at the show – we’ll make sure you get a sneak peak at them. We think you’ll love them!

Nashville 2012
What? YES! Nashville 2012 we are already planning! The bees are buzzing!

The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace
Need an excuse to look at some yummy food? How about some Glazed Donut Muffins? You know you want to! www.myrtlegrace.blogspot.com

Facebook
We’ve been here there and all over! Brand new designs in progress posted. Come join us. We love hearing from you! www.facebook.com/MyrtleGraceMotifs

Distributors
We are proud to be represented by these fine companies:
Hoffman Distributing Company - www.hoffmandis.com
Norden Crafts - www.nordencrafts.com
Yarn Tree - www.yarntree.com

One Classy Lady...

2011-09-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

Four years ago when I met Andy’s grandma – she was accompanied by her Oatmeal Caramelites. You see… she loved baking. I love baking. See how well we got along? Every family gathering I’ve ever been to? Oatmeal Caramelites. She made them as prizes for Bunco at Christmas, brought them to the lake for the summer family gathering, and even graduation parties
This past January we were with Grandma when she passed away. Do you know what was in her counter? Yeah… you guessed it Oatmeal Caramelites. These are special – so I make them for my special person, Andy. Here’s to you Katherine – you were one classy lady!

Grandma Derksen’s Oatmeal Caramelites
What you need!
1 package caramels
2 tbsp. milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
1 cup chocolate chips
½ cup chopped walnuts

Melt caramels with milk in a sauce pan on stove.

Mix flour, salt, baking soda, oatmeal brown sugar and butter together and press 3/4th of the dought into a 9 x 13 pan.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, sprinkle with chocolate chips and walnuts.

Spread carefully with the caramel. Sprinkle remaining crumbs over the top. Bake 15-20 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

A Frostingless Existence...

2011-09-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

I live with a man who does not like frosting. Really? No frosting? Ok… I agree sometimes when the frosting is an inch thick and blue – yuck! These cupcakes – no frosting, but they do have an awesome cheese cake filling.
The cheesecake sinks as it bakes – so it’s in the center – sometimes it’s a surprise – since you can’t see it on the top.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Cupcakes
What you need!
Filling:
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
1/8 tsp. salt
2 c. chocolate chips

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. baking cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 Tbs. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla

Make it!
In a bowl, beat cream cheese. Add sugar, egg, salt. Mix well. Fold in chips. Set aside. For cupcakes, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Mix well. Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full with batter. Top each with 2 Tbs. of cream cheese mixture. Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan. Makes 18.

Glazed with Amazing

2011-09-13T07:00:00.001-05:00

By now you know I’ll bake just about anything with cinnamon. Yet again – something amazing with cinnamon. I made these muffins on a Saturday in prep for Sunday morning breakfast before church. The longer I sat and looked at them – they called out to me. Well, you have to have quality control right? Warm and oozy glaze? Perfect. Pretty sure if I could get my butt out of bed on time in the morning to make these – they’d be perfect warm from the oven – but alas… I’m lazy. These were great for days after. The glaze seals in the moist cinnamony cake. Messy but awesome.

Glazed Donut Muffins
What you need!
For the muffins:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoons ground nutmeg, to taste
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk

For the Glaze:
3 tablespoons butter; melted
1 cup confectioners’ sugar; sifted
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons hot water

Make it!
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a standard size muffin tin with (12) paper liners.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth. Add the eggs, beating to combine. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.
Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full.
Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.
In a medium bowl, prepare the glaze by mixing together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and water. Whisk until smooth.
When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. Serve warm.

Purple Shrimp Cheddar Bread

2011-09-06T07:00:00.001-05:00

So I have this reputation. When people come over they expect something home baked. Eek! Well we had friends over not too long ago. Andy wanted to make fried chicken – the friends were bringing the sides and the dessert – whatever was I to do? Cheddar Bread – Oh yeah.
This recipe claimed to be a knock off of Red Lobster’s cheddar biscuits. I’d love to tell you that it’s an exact replica… but since I’ve been to Red Lobster a whole once in my life and at the time I didn’t realize I was supposed to be having and out of body experience with the biscuits – I have no idea if they are similar. What I do know is this – this is some good bread. :) We’ll call it Purple Shrimp Cheddar Bread – as to not confuse it with that other crustacean.
I had my worries – I melted the butter and in it went with the milk – yeah – guess what happened there? Chunky butter. Once it was all mixed together and baked – no big deal.

Cheddar Bread
What you need!
3 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup sour cream
3 Tablespoons of butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten

Make it!
Heat oven to 350.
Grease a 9×5 loaf pan with oil.
In a bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients.
Carefully stir in cheese cubes until covered in flour mixture. This will help prevent your cheese sinking to the bottom of your loaf of bread.
In a different bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
Fold the wet mixture into the flour and cheese mixture.
Stir until just combined. Do not over stir. Your masterpiece will turn out like a giant hockey puck.
Pour and spread the mixture into the loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Allow to cool for one hour before slicing and serving.

Myrtle Grace Motifs - September 2011 Newsletter

2011-09-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

2011 TNNA Fall Needlecraft Market
Franklin, Pierce and Penny are back from Baltimore. They couldn’t stop talking about all the wonderful people they meet in the Norden booth. If you missed them in Baltimore – they are ready at Norden, Hoffman and Yarn Tree.

International Quilt Market – Houston, Texas
This fall we will be attending the International Quilt Market in Houston, Texas on October 29-31, 2011. It’s just 2 months away! Yikes! We are excited to debut our Little Red Birds. We think you’ll love them!

Nashville 2012
What? YES! Nashville 2012 we are already planning! Trust us… we give a hoot! Ollie does anyway… you’ll meet him there.

The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace
Need a good Cole Slaw recipe? How about some Awesome Sauce? Just want to know what Awesome sauce is? www.myrtlegrace.blogspot.com

Facebook
Summer means road trips – and previews for designs! Come join us. We love hearing from you! http://www.facebook.com/MyrtleGraceMotifs

Twitter - @MyrtyGert
We’ve done it! We’ve gone and joined Twitter.

Distributors
We are proud to be represented by these fine companies:
Hoffman Distributing Company - www.hoffmandis.com
Norden Crafts - www.nordencrafts.com
Yarn Tree - www.yarntree.com

It’s a Bowl Dirtier

2011-08-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

“Cole Slaw? Ick… you eat it Dad.” Thinking back I wonder if my dad had an ulterior motive – teach the kids to hate cole slaw- then it’s all mine! Nah… Pretty sure we said “Eww! Vegetables! Mmmm French Fries!” Regardless of my uninformed youth – today? Love cole slaw. I’m a fan of the mayo variety – Andy? He likes the vinegar based.
This recipe – is a winner – but keep in mind, it’s a bowl dirtier.
Every time I make it… yes every time, I underestimate the size of the bowl when I start slicing the cabbage. It gets tossed into a larger bowl, then ready to add the onion and carrot? Yet another bowl. This time? I was impressed; I got 4 bowls dirty on my path to the perfect sized bowl – the largest glass bowl in the house. Do I ever learn that the glass bowl is the winner? No – sadly no.
I like to make the dressing ahead of time, and store it in a canning jar in the fridge to cool. That way it can he shaken quite a bit before it is tossed with the shredded veggies.

Carolina Cole Slaw
What you need!
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 medium cabbage (about 1 1/4 pounds), thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 large grated carrot

Make it!
Combine vinegar, sugar, oil, mustard and celery seeds in nonaluminum medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and dressing comes to boil. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper. Cool completely.

Combine cabbage, onion and carrot in large bowl. Add dressing; toss to coat. Cover; refrigerate until cold, tossing occasionally, at least 2 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; keep refrigerated.)

The Awesome of Sauces

2011-08-23T07:00:00.001-05:00

Awesome Sauce. Yes… this is what we call it and what we label it. (see my fancy labels?) Why? Because it’s awesome!
Several years ago I canned tomatoes. It was the first time I’d ever done so and I’m not sure how successful I was. I was scared to use them. What if I did it wrong and we all got botulism? You know – in a bad way – not Botox. So they sat. Sad and lonely in the canning cabinet. I read about someone who made their own marinara sauce and stuck it in the freezer – shoot, I can do that! Oh!! The canned tomatoes! So I shook them up to mash them even more – it certainly didn’t take much shaking. :) Away we went. The recipe I somewhat followed had some strange ingredients, so I tweaked where I could, out came Awesome Sauce. I made Andy try it and asked him what he thought. “Awesome.” Ok then! What shall we call it? “Awesome Sauce – of course.” So we aren’t exactly great namers.
So enjoy the Awesome Sauce. Oh yeah! Remember last week’s Lasagna Toss? Here’s the sauce you use. Makes for a quick meal with lots of yummy left overs.

Awesome Sauce
What you need!
1 whole Celery Stalk
1 whole Onion
1 whole Green Pepper
2-¼ cups Tomato Juice
2 cans Diced Tomatoes with juice
½ teaspoons Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
½ Tablespoons Dried Parsley Flakes
1 teaspoon Paprika
⅛ cups Sugar
¼ cups Ketchup
⅛ cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
½ teaspoons Oregano
½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
½ teaspoons Dry Mustard
¼ teaspoons Black Pepper
8 ounces, fluid Tomato Paste (or 12 Oz, If Needed To Make Your Sauce Thicker)

Make it!
Cook celery, onion and green pepper in a medium sauce pan in a small amount of water until very soft. (or you could also cook in a small amount of tomato juice). Add other ingredients. Bring to a rolling boil.
Turn heat down and simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve hot or cold. Store in freezer.

Tossed in Awesome

2011-08-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

So I’m having a “chicken or egg” moment. Do I post the recipe for Awesome Sauce or Lasagna Toss? Oh which to post first? You see… the Lasagna Toss is made with the Awesome Sauce… so if you want to make the Lasagna Toss, you’ll need the Awesome Sauce recipe. If I post the Awesome Sauce recipe first – you won’t know what to do with it for a whole week.
Lasagna Toss it is! (It’s like a book with a suspenseful ending… keep you wanting more.)
You don’t often find a recipe that has an ingredient that you are pretty sure is a typo but add anyway. Hrm Sour Cream. To my pasta dish? Really? That seems like such a bad idea! But truly? Best idea ever! Maybe not ever… but still… it ranks high up there.
Lasagna Toss is one of those quick go to meals that I can make that will give us lots of leftovers that only get better with time. You make it with Awesome Sauce – yes… the recipe for Awesome Sauce – next week. Oh… sad… you’ll have to wait a week. I promise – it’s worth the wait.
Fry up some ground beef with some onions, maybe even some green peppers. Heat up your previously made sauce, add the pasta, add the cheese and the mystery ingredient! Sour Cream. It’s creamy pasta goodness!
Oh, if you don’t want to use Awesome Sauce? Just use a bottle of your favorite marinara or spaghetti sauce, it’ll do the trick.

Lasagna Toss
What you need!
1 pound Ground Chuck
5 cups Bow Tie Noodles
3 cups Awesome Sauce (or Spaghetti Sauce)
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
½ cups Mozzarella Cheese
½ cups Sour Cream
Make it!
Fry ground chuck in small pan. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.
After noodles are cooked, drain and drizzle with olive oil. Mix in your Awesome Sauce (or boring old spaghetti sauce).
Add your fried hamburger, seasonings, cheese, and sour cream. Fold together and allow it all to combine and melt together, over low heat, for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

TNNA Baltimore 2011 Releases for Myrtle Grace Motifs

2011-08-12T07:00:00.004-05:00

Myrtle Grace Motifs is excited to release these new patterns at the TNNA Fall Needlecraft Market – Saturday, August 13.

Norden has these patterns in stock and ready to sell in Baltimore.

In the Meadow with Franklin and Pierce

Picking Poppies with Penny

Cubes from Heaven

2011-08-09T07:00:00.002-05:00

These are cubes of amazingness. Frozen fresh basil to be used in sauce, casserole or pot of anything.
Recipe? Um… sure… Take a handful of basil and stuff it into a food chopper with ice. Chop until it looks like a green slushy. Pour into ice cube trays, or vegetable oil sprayed mini muffin tins, freeze. Like magic - cubes of amazingness.

Sneak Peaks for Baltimore

2011-08-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

Who it this? Looks like Penny to me... but what has she found?
Find out next week at the TNNA Fall Needlecraft Market in Baltimore.

Is that Franklin? Ohh! Look there's Pierce! What are they up to this time?
Find out next week in Baltimore at the TNNA Fall Needlecraft Market

Myrtle Grace Motifs - August 2011 Newsletter

2011-08-02T22:02:00.004-05:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

Today, August 2nd, is an exciting day!
Today is our 5 year anniversary of Myrtle Grace Motifs!
Thank you so much for being along to watch us grow up. Sure, we are only 5, but we try to play well with others and color within the lines, sometimes :)

2011 TNNA Fall Needlecraft Market - August 13-14, 2011
Franklin and Pierce are on their way to Baltimore – and they brought a friend – Penny. Come visit the Norden booth at the Fall Market in Baltimore and say hi! They are premiering in both punch needle and cross stich. Penny even has a Just Another Button Company Button!

International Quilt Market – Houston, Texas
This fall we will be attending the International Quilt Market in Houston, Texas on October 29-31, 2011. We are so excited to start preparing and planning. Our van is rented and the hotels booked! So excited to show our punch needle to the quilting world.

The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace Keep an eye on our blog! In the coming weeks you’ll get a sneak peek at our new patterns releasing in Baltimore. www.myrtlegrace.blogspot.com. There is always something going on.

Facebook
We are getting new patterns ready for the coming year and for Quilt Market! Plenty to read about. Come join us. We love hearing from you! http://www.facebook.com/MyrtleGraceMotifs

Twitter - @MyrtyGert
We’ve done it! We’ve gone and joined Twitter. Not really sure how this all goes – but we are willing to give it a go. Our name is @MyrtyGert on Twitter. Follow us and see if we figure out where we are going. 
Distributors
We are proud to be represented by these fine companies:
Hoffman Distributing Company - www.hoffmandis.com
Norden Crafts - www.nordencrafts.com
Yarn Tree - www.yarntree.com

Do you have a "guy"?

2011-08-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

What do you do with perfect tiny, cute little spring strawberries? You might display them in a beautiful dessert, I wizzed them up in a blender. :)
Oh but why mush up perfectly wonderful strawberries? For Sorbet. Oh yeah…. Strawberry Sorbet.
Mmm Sorbet. Fresh, frozen and delicious!
We had company over and it seemed silly to make a heavy dessert (plus there were fresh chocolate chip cookies to be had). I bought some fresh strawberries from my mom’s “guy” at the farmer’s market. Oh yes, she has a “guy” and it’s not my dad. He’s a fruit farmer from Michigan – has the best produce. So when we need some fruit – he’s our guy. Anyway…
I looked for sorbet recipes that did not involve alcohol since we have a dry house (well… other than the Kahlua for fudge). This one was a touch on the hard size when we froze it, but let it thaw a little, velvety smooth and delicious.
I’d like to say delicious one more time… mmmm delicious. :)

Strawberry Sorbet
What you need!
1 lb. ripe strawberries, hulled
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup sugar (more to taste)
1 tbsp lime or lemon juice
a pinch of salt
Make it!
Purée the strawberries and cold water in a blender until smooth. Strain the purée through a fine mesh sieve if you want a smooth sorbet. If you want the seeds in the sorbet, then skip the straining. Stir in the remaining ingredients until the sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate the strawberry purée until it is cold. Pour the contents into your ice cream maker and churn for 30 minutes per the instructions on your machine. Freeze. Makes just under a quart.

Oh go stuff a strawberry....

2011-07-26T07:00:00.001-05:00

Sometimes you want to make something patriotic for Independence Day. Some of us do not like blue anything. Anything… it’s not natural. So… Red White and… hrm… no blue. So….
Happy Canada Day! Eh!
Ok ok… I DID make these for Independence Day. I had the red, white and blue sprinkles sitting right there. I almost did it… then chickened out. Yuck. Blue? Really? Come on people! It’s nasty!
Anyway… the cupcakes! These are easy and delicious. Almost like strawberry shortcake but not at all. These are a nice change from the heavy frosted cupcakes since you do have a strawberry (that makes it healthy) and not as much frosting. So go stuff some cupcakes. :)

Strawberry Stuffed Cupcakes
What you need:
24 baked white cupcakes
24 small-medium size strawberries
Filling/Frosting
4 oz cream cheese, softened
4 tbls butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Make it!
Bake 24 white cupcakes according to cake mix package directions.
Cut a cone shape out of the tops of all the cooled cupcakes.
Wash and cut the tops off strawberries, cut the white core out of center.
Mix frosting ingredients until well blended. Load frosting into plastic ziptop bag. Trim the tip off. Squeeze a tablespoon of frosting into cut out area of cupcake, insert strawberry. Squeeze more frosting inside the strawberry, then 2 rows around the strawberry. Continue with remaining cupcakes.
Refrigerate cupcakes until serving.

Good Recipe - Bad Photos

2011-07-19T07:00:00.002-05:00

“Well… I’m sorry, what you have here is a case of the blurries… also the lack of photographic ability.” Oh… sad... FAIL. So just when you think you’ll have an awesome post about one of the favorite things you make – you take horrible photos and then not enough of them – so you really don’t have much to go on here. Sure, the bread is in focus... the tomatoes? 50/50 on that one. The bowl of amazing summer goodness? Not bad. The finished product? Can I offer you a pair of glasses?
This my friends, is Tomato Basil Crostini or Bruschetta (as my family calls it). This is one of those side dishes or appetizers that will impress. All you need is fresh ingredients, a little time to let the flavors meld – then fresh light and oh so good.
So, apologies for the lousy photographs, but please do enjoy this recipe. I promise – it’s a winner.

Tomato Basil Crostini (Bruschetta)
What you need!
Fresh plum tomatoes – halved, seeded and diced
Fresh basil leaves, stacked, rolled and sliced thin
Fresh garlic cloves, halved and “Smooshed”
Sweet onion; diced fine
Red wine vinegar to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt; to taste
Ground black pepper
Italian or French baguette bread sliced diagonally 1/2in thin; grilled or toasted in the oven

Make it!
Season diced tomatoes in a bowl with salt and pepper. Add garlic and onions and toss. Drizzle olive oil and vinegar to taste. Mix well. Just before serving add basil leaves. When absolutely ready to eat, place grilled bread on large platter. Scoop spoonfuls of salad atop crostini.
Best when salad is refrigerated a few hours before serving.

A Tale of Two Fabrics

2011-07-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

It’s amazing the difference the right fabric can make.
When Sweet Sample was first stitched(pictured on right), this was the darkest brown linen I could find. When I received it back from the stitcher I loved it! But, the fabric? Eh… seemed like it was a little too milk chocolate. I like my chocolate dark. But what to do? Put it on some brown wool and be content.
Then, along came some dark chocolate, in the way of Weeks Dye Works Kris’ Bon Bon Linen.
Last February in Nashville while looking over all my models. I kept coming back to this one. I had a strong desire to have it restitched. I sent it off to my stitcher and it came back just how I wanted it. (pictured on left).
My photography skills have improved a bit too since the first photo was taken.
Enjoy the facelift! Hrm… I think I need some chocolate or maybe some watermelon!

Rolls of Sadness

2011-07-12T11:44:00.001-05:00

Folks, I’m about to do you a favor. I’m not going to give you the recipe for this one. Looks great right? Impressive how all those pretty rolls are put together – so neatly placed in the pan…
Yuck… this recipe was not good. Sure I added some dill and parsley… could it have destroyed the recipe that much? SO bland – not enough salt in the house to make this any better. And it was not easy! It was a tough recipe to put together.
So – I’ll do you that favor… just look at the pretty pictures… wish it tasted good – and move on. :)
Andy didn’t even want to eat the left overs… that’s big… he likes all food. Sadly this recipe? Shredded and never to return!
So… go back to last week… check out the TaterTot Skillet of Awesome and count yourself blessed.

Skillet of Awesomeness

2011-07-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

So let’s talk about tater tots. In my opinion they the perfect packet of potato. They are all minced up pillows of potato, they get crunchy on the outside when you bake them but stay tender and potatoey on the inside. Just add some other good items with them – only makes them that much better.
This is awesomeness…. Yes… amazingness even!
I showed Andy pictures of this recipe online and instantly said we must make it. Anything with the cast iron skillet is his domain. He loves his skillet! He did all the cooking and was quite proud of himself… as he should be!
Next time I think we’ll add some diced up ham… that would make this dish even better!

TaterTot Skillet of Awesome
What you need!
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups tater tots
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped onion
1 cup chopped mushrooms
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Make it!
Bake tater tots in oven as directed by package.
Heat cast iron skillet with veggie oil. Toss in onions, peppers and mushrooms. Cook until slightly soft.
Toss in tatertots, pour in eggs, top with cheese.
Throw in oven (still on from tater tots) for 15 minutes.
Carefully remove and enjoy!

Myrtle Grace Motifs - July 2011 Newsletter

2011-07-01T07:00:00.001-05:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

It’s been a strange summer in Chicago! Hard to know whether you should have the heat or the air conditioning on. We’ve been doing a fair amount of travel – that means lots of new projects in the works. Last weekend we charted 26 new patterns! 12 punch needle and 14 cross stitch. Yes – LOTS of work for the coming year. Can’t wait to introduce you to Ollie, Winifred and Estelle.

Twitter - @MyrtyGert
We’ve done it! We’ve gone and joined Twitter. Not really sure how this all goes – but we are willing to give it a go. Our name is @MyrtyGert on Twitter. Follow us and see if we figure out where we are going. :)

2011 TNNA Fall Needlecraft Market
We have new releases planned for the Fall Market in Baltimore! While we aren’t able to be there in person, Franklin and Pierce are making the trek. More details next month!

International Quilt Market – Houston, Texas
This fall we will be attending the International Quilt Market in Houston, Texas on October 29-31, 2011. We are so excited to start preparing and planning. More news to come – anyone with market experience – we’d love to hear from you! What you like, don’t like. The more we know, the better it will be.

The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace
Another busy month on the blog! Basil basil everywhere! Come on over to www.myrtlegrace.blogspot.com. There is always something new and crazy going on.

Facebook
We are getting new patterns ready for the coming year and for Quilt Market! Plenty to read about. Come join us. We love hearing from you! http://www.facebook.com/MyrtleGraceMotifs

Distributors
We are proud to be represented by these fine companies:
Hoffman Distributing Company - www.hoffmandis.com
Norden Crafts - www.nordencrafts.com
Yarn Tree - www.yarntree.com

From our smelly fridge - to yours...

2011-06-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

Ever open your fridge and just stand there and smell? Oh, I mean the good kind of smell. Not the kind where you wonder what crawled in there and died. The good kind. The kind that makes you stand there and just enjoy. That’s what we’ve been doing this week at our house…. Oh Basil! How we LOVE thee! How many recipes including basil can I make? Quick!
This one is simple – yet so so good. I bought several bunches of basil from the Farmer’s Market. We grew our own last year, but didn’t want to bother. Besides, the neighbor’s dog pees on all the plants; we don’t need any special flavor. Yuck.
This pasta dish is a caprese salad, but warm and with noodles. Don’t cook the tomatoes to death – it’s not a sauce – it’s a friend. Tomatoes are our friends, we do not kill our friends... or shouldn't anyway...

Caprese Pasta
What You Need!
1/2 lb. spaghetti, uncooked
1/2 cup Italian Dressing or Marinade
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups halved grape or cherry tomatoes
1 cup Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil, finely sliced

Make It!
Cook pasta as directed on package.
Heat dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir 2 min. Add tomatoes; cook 5 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
Drain pasta. Add to tomato mixture; mix lightly. Sprinkle with cheese and basil.

Bar-B-Que – Dekker Style

2011-06-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Growing up as we ate BBQ. Bar-B-Que… that’s what we called it. We had BBQ day at school – once a month, one of the very few lunches we could buy. My mom made it for dinner. We even had it at family functions. Much to my shock and amazement – as an adult I found out this was not really Bar-B-Que…. It was something called Sloppy Joes! Then my husband called it Spanish Hamburger. What?! All these years I’ve been led astray! I guess in my close knit Dutch upbringing the closest thing to Bar-B-Que was using BBQ Sauce when cooking the ground beef? Or maybe… Oh I have no idea. Whatever you call this – it’s good. I still call it BBQ… it’s ingrained in my very being! And my mom still says it… Moms are always right – aren’t they? :)
So enjoy this one… I had great hopes of showing it on a bun… we didn’t have buns… we had bread… and I was too hungry and forgot… oops.
Also – please note the meat wrapper, that’s right! Raatjes Ground Beef! Well, um, sure. We like to call him Albert – he’s a member of the family. He’s the Raatjes family cow my in-laws bought. Well, they bought part of them and we got part of him, the eating part. He’s good eating too!

Bar-B-Que – Dekker Style
What you need!
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large onions chopped
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup Open Pit Barbecue Sauce
1-2 tbsp. prepared yellow mustard
1 tbsp. Vinegar

Make it!
Brown ground beef and onion. Drain. Add remaining ingredients and simmer ½ hour. Serve on buns or bread.

By the romantic light of... an iPhone.

2011-06-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

So you are going along mixing up these lovely cupcakes on a bright sun shining day and the power goes out. Comes back on. Goes back off, comes back on. Um… Ok… 17 minutes in the oven? Give it a shot. Phew! They came out perfect and the power is still on!
Frosting? 4 sticks of butter? HECK no… take 2 sticks out – quick work out and shower, throw it in the mixer and make the frosting. Done! Oops… need to get the dog from the groomer. Throw the frosting in the fridge for a few minutes and chase and get the dog. Then we get soaked due to it looking like the world is about to end outside.
Quickly throw the now cold frosting in a bag and start piping – not worry about the pretty – we have places to be – people to see!
Start setting the cherries on top? Boo, no more power. And it’s dark as night at 4 PM on a Saturday. No more off and on and off and on…. Just off. Hrm. What’s a girl to do? iPhone flash light! That’s right – I turned on the ap I only use in power outages. (I live in Palos Heights – it’s a common occurrence!) Set the phone up on the counter and finished by iPhone light – oh how romantic.
Ok – so my story telling can use some work. These cupcakes got such rave reviews despite any askew cherries! They have a subtle taste of root beer and the frosting. Oh the frosting. SO good. I kept sneaking tastes on our way to the party we were going!

Root Beer Float Cupcakes
What you need!
Cupcakes
2 cups root beer
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Optional: Maraschino Cherries (my world cherries are always optional)

Make it!
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Fold the liquid and flour mixtures together in the large bowl. The batter will be slightly lumpy; this is okay. If you overbeat it, it will get tough.
Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 to 3/4 full and bake cupcakes, rotating trays back to front and top to bottom halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center of each comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting: Beat butter until broken up. Add powdered sugar, a little a time. Alternate with vanilla and milk. Add remaining powdered sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Pipe on top of cooled cupcake and top with Maraschino Cherry

"Not if it's in cans..."

2011-06-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

And what should appear on my desk that Monday morning? A grocery bag full of rhubarb. One of our coworkers shared his spring crop of rhubarb. Andy loves Rhubarb pie, but I had no pie crusts. Found this recipe and gave it a whirl. Turned out great. It was even healthy – you know the oatmeal in the crumb topping? Hey… you need to get your fiber where you can!
A side note… my Grandpa Dekker passed away on May 21, something he always said… “think the rain will hurt the rhubarb?” Then with a smile, “not if it’s in cans.” Not sure what that means… but it made him smile and today - it makes me smile. (so does the bottle of Franks in the picture.)

Old-Fashioned Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp
What you need!
Filling
2 pounds rhubarb stalks, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 pound strawberries, hulled and quartered
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt

Make it!
Make te filling: Preheat the oven to 375°. In a bowl, toss the rhubarb with 3/4 cup of the sugar and let stand for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. In another bowl, toss the strawberries with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and let stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the rhubarb to the strawberries; discard any rhubarb juice. Add the cornstarch, lemon juice and vanilla to the fruit and stir well. Transfer the mixture to a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish.
Make the topping: Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, mix the ingredients together until large crumbs form.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the filling and bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325° and continue baking for about 30 minutes longer, until the fruit filling is bubbling and the topping is nicely browned. Let the crisp rest for 10 to 20 minutes before serving.
Make Ahead The topping can be refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before using. Serve With Vanilla ice cream.

Home Sweet Home - New Pattern - Released Today!

2011-06-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

This is our newest pattern – released today! I started punching the punch needle version of this pattern on our way home from Australia, so Home Sweet Home held even more meaning. I’m a homebody, love to be home. Sure I love to go away, but it’s always great to come home.
I love the gingham linen from Weeks Dye Works. It gives the cross stitch version such dimension.
Yet again we’ve used an antiqued wooden plaque to mount the project. Love the look of the layers of paint that show through when the paint is sanded away.
This pattern is ready to ship today from all our distributors Yarn Tree, Norden and Hoffman. Punch Needle is ready to ship from Norden.

Myrtle Grace Motifs - June 2011 Newsletter

2011-06-01T07:00:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

Home Sweet Home
We have a new release on Friday – June 3. Home Sweet Home is brand new and available in Cross Stitch and Punch Needle. Fibers are all from Weeks Dye Works – can’t get enough of those beautiful colors!

Shipping Delays
We apologize for any shipping delays the last few months. Due to several deaths in our family, we’ve had some delays in getting shipments to our distributors. Thanks so much for your patience.

International Quilt Market – Houston, Texas
This fall we will be attending the International Quilt Market in Houston, Texas on October 29-31, 2011. We are so excited to start preparing and planning. More news to come – anyone with market experience – we’d love to hear from you! What you like, don’t like. The more we know, the better it will be.

The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace
Another busy month on the blog! Spring Asparagus Pizza, a birthday cake for Xander, and plenty of recipes. Come on over to www.myrtlegrace.blogspot.com. There is always something new going on.

Facebook
We’ve shown lots of new and upcoming designs lately on facebook. Even asked for some help naming the patterns! Come join us. We love hearing from you! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Myrtle-Grace-Motifs/19773500668?ref=ts#!

Distributors
We are proud to be represented by these fine companies:
Hoffman Distributing Company - www.hoffmandis.com
Norden Crafts - www.nordencrafts.com
Yarn Tree - www.yarntree.com

Loving his Gruel

2011-05-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here’s a tasty new recipe! It’s easy and only has two ingredients! Ground turkey and rice.
First, fill a pot with water, plop a pound of ground turkey in it.
Make about 6 cups of rice.
Boil the ground turkey until it appears done and the water is really nasty looking.
Then, mix the rice and turkey and feed to the dog.
Yes… this new recipe was for Rusty. He had a little… tummy upset a few weeks ago. The vet’s orders were turkey and rice. I’m not sure if he could possibly have loved it more! Oh he was so excited! Each time we fed him, he was anxious to get his nose in it.
Please don’t make this for yourself. Smells so bad! Have a pup with a sad tummy? Works like a charm.

Pizza - The Shaved Story

2011-05-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

‘Tis the season for asparagus. Spring. Oh you know – that season between winter and summer… although we had a bit of summer when we had this pizza. This pizza is easy. It looks fancy – it’s not. The trick is shaving the asparagus. Chop the fancy top of the stalk into thin slices, then use a veggie peeler and make long strips of asparagus. Sure looks fancy – but it’s easy.

Shaved Asparagus Pizza
What you need!
1 Boboli Wheat Thin Pizza Crust
1 cup Alfredo sauce
1 cup sliced mushrooms
7 green onions – chopped
8 stalks fresh asparagus
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
8 oz fresh mozzarella

Make it!
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place crust on a pizza stone or a pizza pan. Spread alfrado sauce around crust. Use half of mozzarella cheese and even spread over sauce. Spread mushrooms and green onions.
Toss shaved asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on top of pizza. Use remaining cheese on top of pizza. Bake for 25 minutes until cheese is bubbly and brown. Slice and serve.

Xander turns 2!

2011-05-20T07:00:00.002-05:00

So the little man turned 2 on May 2! It was his golden birthday. I can relate... I had my golden birthday at two... :)
Xander is BIG into trucks. Trucks of all kinds! So what better to have for his birthday cake? A Dump Truck. His Grandma made a beautiful quilt for his bed room full of trucks too.
He grabbed a wheel - notice the M&M lug-nut on his face. :) Love this little guy! (and his new sister too!)
When I made this I realized I suck at spacing... I wrote his name the first time and it all went downhill... scrapped it off and started again... this time started too far in the middle... so I had room for the "2". Eh... it worked - no one noticed... just at the cupcakes!

Not enough powdered sugar around to cover this mess....

2011-05-17T07:00:00.001-05:00

“Roll it in a towel” she says… Hrm…. “that seems like and awfully bad idea” he said.
She is Deb from Smitten Kitchen.
He is Andy.
He was right.
Remember my last attempt at rolling a cake? Let’s take a trip down memory lane…
http://myrtlegrace.blogspot.com/2010/06/rolling-rolling-rolling-like-jelly-roll.html
Oh don’t remind me… ugh.
So why did I try this? I have no idea. It looked good. Deb made it look so easy! So I delved in and baked it! Then – the scary part about this recipe was rolling the cake into a towel. Andy was convinced this was a bad idea… but I did it anyway. I dreaded going back to it – finally did and ugh… tiny bits and pieces of cake smeared in the towel. This time I didn’t get mad, I laughed instead. Took a picture and moved on. Pieced together what seemed like a sheet cake – then plopped the cream in there and rolled it with the help of wax paper. Got it on the platter – threw some powdered sugar and wa-la! It sure isn’t the prettiest cake I’ve ever made – but it sure got rave reviews.
Here’s the link to the Smitten Kitchen Recipe. I have zero tips on this… just follow her directions and pray. http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/04/heavenly-chocolate-cake-roll/

Yes... MORE Cinnamon

2011-05-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

It’s possible that you see quite an obvious trend to my baking. Quite often it involves cinnamon. I guess I have a thing for it. This bread was fun to make, tasted awesome – presentation? eh… should have waited a while longer to let it set before we dug it out of the pan. Actually…. Parchment paper would have worked out ok too.
I tweaked it a little – mostly the order of how I did things. We didn’t have all that time on a Sunday morning to let it rise and rest. We made it Saturday, Andy held the pan while I stacked everything inside. I did have some weird dough cuts – I consistently cut smaller pieces – which made for a strange looking loaf. I stuck it in the fridge overnight in the pan. Then took it out as early as I could Sunday morning – then baked it. So good – gooey, cinnamon, caramely, so good. This one is a repeat for sure! Even if I DO have to get up a o’dark 30 to make it.

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread
What you need!
For the Dough:
2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces butter
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
2 ounces butter, melted

Make it!
In a large mixing bowl whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Set aside.
Whisk together eggs and set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted. Remove from the heat and add water and vanilla extract. Let mixture stand for a minute or two, or until the mixture registers 115 to 125 degrees F.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula. Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter. The eggs will feel soupy and it’ll seem like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together. Keep stirring. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes. The mixture will be sticky.

Place the dough is a large, greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling. Set aside. Melt 2 ounces of butter and set aside. Grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.

Deflate the risen dough and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out. The dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long. If you can’t get the dough to 20-inches long… that’s okay. Just roll it as large as the dough will go. Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough. Sprinkle with all of the sugar and cinnamon mixture. It might seem like a lot of sugar but it’s good – I promise.

Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips. Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again. You’ll have six stacks of six squares. Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book. Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown. The top may be lightly browned, but the center may still be raw. A nice, dark, golden brown will ensure that the center is cooked as well.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto a clean board. Place a cake stand or cake plate on top of the upside down loaf, and carefully invert so it’s right side up. Serve warm with coffee or tea.

Rusty Bucket - New Release

2011-05-06T07:00:00.001-05:00

Does this guy look a bit familiar? You may remember the punch needle version of our very own dog Rusty, but now after many requests - Rusty Bucket is now available in Cross Stitch! He’s new and improved!! He is now showcasing amazing buttons from Just Another Button Company.
Our pup Rusty has quite a handle, which is how this pattern came to life. We call him Rusty Bucket O’Leum Dekker the 3rd Raatjes. You know… Rustoleum the paint? He was a Dekker… but now he’s the third Raatjes in our family… and the Bucket… I’ve always called him Rusty Bucket. So there you go… that’s how Rusty got in the bucket! Enjoy this one – it’s a new release today!

The Bread o' Pizza

2011-05-03T07:00:00.001-05:00

“Pepperoni inside of bread” was all I had to say to Andy to get him interested in this bread.
I thought I had all sorts of time… then realized it needed to bake for 45 minutes then sit in the pan for another 30 minutes! Rush rush!! It went together so fast – even used my mixer to mix it all up. Grabbed a jar of sauce to pour in the middle – done. My grandma could not get enough of this bread and Andy? He finished up the loaf… I’m guessing he thinks it’s a winner as well.

Pepperoni Pizza Bread
What you need!
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 cup quartered pepperoni slices, about 32 slices
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese

Make it!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray small bread pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Place flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper into the bowl of a stand or electric mixer, mix to combine. Slowly add in eggs, oil, milk, Parmesan, Mozzarella and pepperoni until just combined. Pour half of batter into prepared bread pan that measures 9x5x2 3/4-inches. Top evenly with marinara sauce then pour remaining batter over sauce. Top with Italian seasoning and additional Parmesan cheese. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until toothpick comes clean from center. Let cool for 30 minutes before removing from pan. Slice and serve warm or room temperature.

Snow Dog... he is not....

2011-04-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

Did you hear about our Snow-maggedon? This past February we had the storm of the century… at least that’s what the news people called it. Granted… while it DID shut the city of Chicago down for a few days and we even had an emergency plan go into effect at work – it wasn’t the end of the world. We did get lots of snow! Rusty LOVES snow. Mostly LOVES to eat it. He also loves to jump around in it. I had to get some pictures of him in it just to show how high it was on him. Sure makes for a tough place to do your business… we had to find a low spot for him. :)

Cookie Cannibalism

2011-04-26T07:00:00.002-05:00

So Jenny over at Picky Palate has a problem – she keeps stuffing cookies inside of cookies! These are awesome. Fun to make - a big bite to eat.
http://picky-palate.com/2011/01/06/oreo-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/

That middle picture – take special note… there may be a bottle of Frank’s Hot Sauce in the picture. Someone in my house has decided that my photos should contain a bottle of Frank’s. It can be like the Where’s Waldo of Myrtle Grace. Oh who is doing that? Let’s just say it’s not Rusty…

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
What you need!
2 sticks softened butter
3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 bag Oreo Cookies, I used the double stuff

What to do!
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Serve with a tall glass of milk, enjoy!

Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE Cookies

Showing off my young-ish-ness...

2011-04-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

“Who is that roller-skating down there? And why?” Andy said at the Nashville Market. We had no idea – so he went on a mission to find out.
Spool Magazine was down in that room having a great ol ‘party!
De Selby came up to our room later in the show – and proclaimed her mission of getting the Needlearts out to younger generations. A mission I believe in!
She picked a pattern and said – “Can I publish that?” You don’t have to ask me twice!
What you see is the final printed copy. Cool right? I’m pretty excited about it!
Want a copy? Head to your local needlework shop and request a copy! Or! Go to Spool’s site www.spoolmag.com and sign up for a subscription. The projects and articles are so fun.
Can’t wait to see the next issue!

Frozen Blocks + Crock Pot = Ham Goodness

2011-04-19T07:00:00.001-05:00

Remember all that chicken broth we made? Some of you – yes you Leah – asked what the heck we do with all of that? Ham Chowder Soup is just one of those things. We came upon this recipe one night when we were hunting for something to make in the crockpot for the next evening’s dinner. The cook time said 6 hours. Well… we are at work generally FAR longer than 6 hours. :) Rather than using canned chicken broth, we used frozen blocks and a frozen block of ham, set it and forgot it. I did post a picture to Facebook from my phone… something about – here’s hoping this turns out.
What came from those frozen blocks and freeze dried potatoes – was delicious and hearty. So good. Great for left overs and lunches. Enjoy this one. It’s easy and certainly a keeper.

Ham Chowder Soup
What you need!
1 box Au Gratin Potatoes or Scalloped Potatoes (with Seasoning Packet)
4 stalks Celery, diced
2 Onions, chopped
4 Carrots, chopped
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1 cup Diced Precooked Ham
4 cups Chicken Broth
1 dash Black Pepper
⅓ cups Flour
2 cups Milk

Make it!
Combine the uncooked potatoes, seasoning packet, veggies, ham, chicken broth, and pepper in your crock pot. Cook on low for about 6 hours (or on high for about 3 hours). There is some flexibility here, you just need to make sure the potatoes are soft. Whisk the four and the milk together in a bowl and add to the crock pot. Cook an additional 30 minutes on high, stirring occasionally.

Finishing Robin’s Sweet Song

2011-04-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

Of all the parts of designing a new project – I think my favorite part is finishing it. Tweaking the look of how the project will be displayed, testing different ideas, and just plain goofing around.
The type of finishing I used for Robin’s Sweet Song is so fun and you never quite know how it will turn out.
First I took a wooden plaque found at just about any craft store. First paint it green and let it dry. Then paint it cream – also allow it to dry completely.
Then – the fun part. Sand most of that great paint right off! You can use sand paper – but I have a father with a full wood shop. He used an orbital sander! Make it uneven, sand more off in some places than others, have lots of the wood show through or not…. This is the part that is totally up to you. Have fun with you. If you take too much off – just paint it again and sand again.
Next is another fun part… staining. Usually I pick a walnut or an oak stain – nothing with too much color. I rub the stand in with paper towels. It changes the look of the entire thing. Wipe away any wet stain and allow plaque to dry for at least a day.
Final step for the plaque is to clear coat it. I like matte finish polyurethane. It seals in what you’ve done but doesn’t leave it glossy.
Now your project… Cross Stitch or Punch Needle!
To mount, trim project within about a half inch around the project. Clip the corners and slowly spread glue and tack down the edges to the back of the project. When that is dry, spread more glue on the back and apply to fully cured and dried plaque.
Sometimes I glue a black cording around the cross stitch just to cover all my edges and give it a border.
Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into finishing… my favorite finishes are the ones were I get to beat things up, drag them across the driveway, and mess it all up… and then do it all over again! Hope you have fun with your finishing.

Fried with Love - Glazed with Goodness

2011-04-12T07:00:00.001-05:00

Andy’s favorite kind of donuts are raised and glazed. What better to do on a Saturday morning? Make raised and glazed donuts! The Pioneer Woman is who I went to for the recipe… Because she’s awesome. She also makes things look doable and workable.
We made the dough the night before. Andy was less than thrilled about that part… we’d had friends over the night before – so making dough as the last thing we wanted to do before hitting the hay.
I got up decent time the next day, rolled out the dough and let them rise.
It took a bit longer than we thought – but we had a great time frying the donuts and glazing them. I loved the holes – they were so cute and were a one bite taste of awesomeness!
So – have some time on a weekend? Make some donuts! You’ll be glad you did!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/02/homemade-glazed-doughnuts/

Homemade Glazed Doughnuts

What you need!
Doughnuts
1-⅛ cup Whole Milk, Warm
¼ cups Sugar
2-¼ teaspoons (one Package) Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
2 whole Large Eggs, Beaten
1-¼ stick Unsalted Butter, melted
4 cups All-purpose Flour
¼ teaspoons Salt
Canola Oil
Glaze:
3 cups Powdered Sugar
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Vanilla
½ cups Cold Water Or Milk

Make it!
To Make the Dough:
1. Make sure milk is nice and warm, but not overly hot.
2. Add sugar to milk. Stir to dissolve.
3. Add yeast into a small bowl.
4. Pour milk/sugar mixture over yeast. Stir gently, then let sit for 10 minutes.
5. Melt butter in separate bowl until butter is almost melted. Stir to finish melting so butter won’t be overly hot.
6. Add beaten eggs to melted butter, stirring constantly to make sure the butter’s not too hot for the eggs.
7. Add the egg/butter mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.
8. With the mixer on 3 or medium-low speed, pour in the yeast mixture.
9. Allow the dough hook to stir this mixture for a couple of minutes, making sure it’s thoroughly combined.
10. With the mixer still going, add helpings of the flour mixture in 1/4 to 1/2 cup increments until all the flour is gone.
11. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl, then turn the mixer on the same speed for five whole minutes.
12. After five minutes, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl.
13. Turn on the mixer for 30 seconds.
14. Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to sit in the bowl undisturbed for 10 minutes.
15. After 10 minutes, transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Toss the dough to coat, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place straight in the fridge.
16. Refrigerate dough for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

To Make the Doughnuts:
1. Remove bowl from fridge and turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface.
2. Roll out to 1/4 to 1/3-inch thickness.
3. Using a 3-inch cutter, cut as many rounds as you can, then roll out remaining dough and cut as much as you can, etc.
4. Cut holes out of each round using a 1 1/2-inch cutter.
5. Place both doughnuts and holes on a floured baking sheet.
6. Cover with large tea towel and place in a warm place in your kitchen; my kitchen is very drafty, so I have to briefly warm the griddle, then turn it off and set the sheets on top to keep warm.
7. Allow doughnuts to rise undisturbed for at least 1 hour; 1 hour 15 minutes if necessary. Donuts should be visibly puffier and appear to be airy.

To Fry the Donuts

1. Heat plenty of canola oil in a large pot until the temperature reaches 375 to 380 degrees—do not let it get hotter than 380 degrees! 375 is ideal; keep the thermometer in the pan to continually monitor.
2. One to two at a time, gently grab doughnuts and ease them into the hot oil. Allow them to cook 1 minute on each side; they will brown very quickly.
3. Remove doughnuts from the oil with a slotted spoon, allowing all oil to drip off.
4. Place doughnut immediately on several layers of paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over onto a clean part of the paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over again; the purpose, obviously, is to drain as much grease as possible before it soaks into the doughnut.
5. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and holes. The holes will cook more quickly than the doughnuts; about 30 seconds per side.
6. Allow doughnuts to slightly cool.

To Glaze:
1. Mix all glaze ingredients in a bowl until completely smooth.
2. One by one, dip doughnuts into the glaze until halfway submerged. (Note: completely submerge doughnut holes, then remove with slotted spoon.)
4. Remove from glaze, then turn right side up on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet (to catch dripping glaze.)
5. Serve warm if possible, or room temperature.

Robin’s Sweet Song

2011-04-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

This Sweet Singing Robin is being released today! Sure, Spring has sprung already – but this guy is a late bloomer. This is available in Cross Stitch and Punch Needle at all our distributors.
Watch next week for how week finished Robin’s Sweet Song

Toasty Topped Comfy Goodness

2011-04-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you just want comfort food like Chicken Pot Pie. We had all the ingredients – but nothing to top it with… I did have bread – so bread we used. It worked out great – to soak up that great sauce.
I love using frozen veggies when I do casseroles instead of canned veggies – but carrots… that’s usually my issue. I chop raw carrots and throw them in – but they are still hard. I steam them in the steamer? Too mushy. I have found the solution! Put your chopped carrots in a glass bowl, put a little water in the bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for a few minutes – then let them sit for a few more…. They aren’t quite cooked, but it gives them a little head start. When the casserole is done – they are done to perfection!

Crusty Bread Topped Chicken Pot Pie

What you need!
4 large chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Mix, reserve 1/2 teaspoon for topping
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 fresh cracked black pepper
2 10 oz cans cream of chicken soup
10 oz can cheddar cheese soup
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 cup steamed carrots
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen green beans
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 slices of wheat bread
1/2 teaspoon Lawry’s Garlic Salt
1/2 teaspoon reserved dry Ranch Dressing Mix
1/2 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

Make it!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place chicken into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle in ranch mix (reserve 1/2 teaspoon for later), salt and pepper. Toss to combine seasonings. Stir in soups, broth and milk; mix until combined. Stir in veggies. Transfer to a large 9×13 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Cut bread slices into small pieces, place over top of chicken mixture until it’s all covered. Sprinkle bread with remaining ranch dressing mix, garlic salt and 1/2 cup cheese. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes then serve.

Myrtle Grace Motifs - April 2011 Newsletter

2011-04-01T07:00:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

Robin’s Sweet Song
We have a new release – one week from today - Robin’s Sweet Song. This late bloomer will be available in cross stitch on Friday, April 8 from all our distributors. Norden will have the punch needle – as per usual. :)

Spool Magazine
Have you seen the latest issue of Spool Magazine? There is a familiar pig that is making its appearance there. www.spoolmag.com What a great magazine! We love what they are doing to try to light a fire of excitement in the Needlearts community.

The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace
Check us out next Friday for more information on Robin’s Sweet Song – and in two weeks? Just how did we finish that sweet bird? A step by step on how to do the finishing. Come on over to www.myrtlegrace.blogspot.com. There is always something new going on.

Facebook
Want to see new patterns before they come out? Want input on what should be designed next? How about naming our designs? Be our fan on Facebook. We love hearing from you!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Myrtle-Grace-Motifs/19773500668?ref=ts#!

Distributors
We are proud to be represented by these fine companies:
Hoffman Distributing Company - www.hoffmandis.com
Norden Crafts - www.nordencrafts.com
Yarn Tree - www.yarntree.com

A Bubbling Brew

2011-03-29T07:00:00.001-05:00

One of the more odd things we’ve done lately is making our own chicken stock. Odd because it looks so gross and disgusting while it’s cooking for 8 hours. Let’s be honest – throwing a few chicken carcasses, veggies and herbs…. Seems a little odd, but the results are great. Cook it until it’s almost amber in color. This certainly isn’t your store bought chicken broth!
The one great tip we learned – thanks to Alton Brown – the great - use a vegetable steamer upside down to hold all the … stuff at bay. :) (Can you tell I was searching for a word there? One that was junk, gross, or nasty.)
We have a huge stock pot… we just added more and more water when the level would go down. Ended up with about 24 cups of stock for the freezer. Also – we added a TON more garlic than the recipe suggests, we like garlic – a LOT.

Chicken Stock
What you need!
4 pounds chicken carcasses, including necks and backs
1 large onion, quartered
4 carrots, peeled and cut in 1/2
4 ribs celery, cut in 1/2
1 leek, white part only, cut in 1/2 lengthwise
10 sprigs fresh thyme
10 sprigs fresh parsley with stems
2 bay leaves
8 to 10 peppercorns
2 whole cloves garlic, peeled
2 gallons cold water

Make it!
Place chicken, vegetables, and herbs and spices in 12-quart stockpot. Set opened steamer basket directly on ingredients in pot and pour over water. Cook on high heat until you begin to see bubbles break through the surface of the liquid. Turn heat down to medium low so that stock maintains low, gentle simmer. Skim the scum from the stock with a spoon or fine mesh strainer every 10 to 15 minutes for the first hour of cooking and twice each hour for the next 2 hours. Add hot water as needed to keep bones and vegetables submerged. Simmer uncovered for 6 to 8 hours.

Strain stock through a fine mesh strainer into another large stockpot or heatproof container discarding the solids. Cool immediately in large cooler of ice or a sink full of ice water to below 40 degrees. Place in refrigerator overnight. Remove solidified fat from surface of liquid and store in container with lid in refrigerator for 2 to 3 days or in freezer for up to 3 months. Prior to use, bring to boil for 2 minutes. Use as a base for soups and sauces.

Sun Sitting

2011-03-25T07:00:00.001-05:00

Rusty is one fierce creature. You can tell from these pictures – it must be the pit-bull in him right? Or not.
On a sunny day this winter we had the front door open and he enjoyed sitting in the sun – just like a cat. He’d follow the sun and just sit. Not lay – sit. Stare directly into the sun and sit. I took a few picture of him since I thought it was so odd. He must have been a bit dazed since he wasn’t bothered by me – generally he less than thrilled to be photographed.
If nothing else you get to see his crazy eye brows… wild animal!!

Mmmm MORE Cinnamon!

2011-03-22T17:52:00.003-05:00

Have you noticed that I have a thing for cinnamon? Mmm Cinnamon – or in this case – Yum Yum Cinnamon! This is a coffee cake that goes way back. I’m sure your mom or grandma had some family recipe for sour cream coffee cake – this is mine. My grandma and mom have made this as far back as I know. We used to eat this Sunday mornings before church. So good with some butter on top.

This cake stays moist from the sour cream but sweet from all the brown sugar and cinnamon goodness inside and on top.

And let’s talk about the Jesus Eggs. These aren’t Easter Eggs… they are eggs with a mission. We have a local dairy called Dutch Farms – they put Bible verses on the inside of the egg boxes. Somehow I feel a little more special making my grandma’s Yum Yum Coffee Cake with Jesus Eggs for Sunday breakfast. :) Did I take that a bit too far? Quite possibly. And I didn’t even touch the Dutch part of that!

Enjoy this recipe – it’s a good one – aren’t they all? Oh wait… that Macaroons… those weren’t so good….

Yum Yum Coffee Cake

What you need!
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. chopped nuts

Make it!
Cream butter until soft; add sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Add dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Add vanilla. Pour half of batter into a lightly greased 9 inch square pan or bundt pan. In separate bowl, combine all topping ingredients and mix well. Cover the batter in the pan with half of the topping mixture. Pour remaining batter over and top with rest of topping mixture. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes in the square pan and one hour in a bundt pan.

Find your self a spot a tea....

2011-03-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

Ever go to a store looking for a specific spice and find it to be WAY too expensive? That’s how it was with cardamom. Good thing my mom gave me a good hint – go to the loose spice section of the produce section. WAY cheaper! Anyway… this bread is awesome. It’s spicy but sweet. My favorite part of the recipe is where it says the batter will appear curdled… sure will… looks really gross, but it bakes up just great. Add the glaze, cut a slice and enjoy it with some tea.

Chai-Spiced Bread
What you need!
Bread
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup prepared tea or water
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3 to 5 teaspoons milk
Additional ground cinnamon

Make it!
Heat oven to 400°F. Grease bottom only of 8x4- or 9x5-inch loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray.
In large bowl, beat granulated sugar and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. On low speed, beat in tea, 1/3 cup milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla and the eggs until ingredients are well combined (will appear curdled). Stir in remaining bread ingredients just until moistened. Spread in pan.
Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not underbake). Cool in pan on cooling rack 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf from pan; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool 30 minutes.
In small bowl, stir powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and 3 teaspoons of the milk, adding more milk by teaspoonfuls, until spreadable. Spread glaze over bread. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Much Ado About Macaroons

2011-03-11T07:00:00.001-06:00

So… have you ever looked longingly at a recipe and wanted to try it? Oh how cool these would be! I need to try these!
That’s how I felt about French Macaroons!
They looked so cool! Andy even noticed my interest in them and bought me a book for Christmas that was just on Macaroons! How exciting!
So with gusto I learned about making them – I did lots of googling, looked at my favorite blogs for tips and suggestion, hunted FOREVER to find the most expensive pound of flour I’d ever encountered – almond flour – and I was ready!! I learned that I should “age” the egg whites – sit them out for a day. Ok… did that… check! READY to start!!
In all my research I guess I didn’t really look too closely at how to pipe out these little gems. Mine looked like pinwheels. Oh well – they were going to taste awesome – so who cares how they looked.
They came out of the oven – they weren’t perfect – but I am not a professional baker so who cares right? My first inkling of badness was when I couldn’t get some of them off the Silpat. Um… NOTHING sticks to Silpat… how could this happen? Gradually my frustrations grew… I had chocolate ganache for them – yet another thing I was excited about… slathered some on – took a bite… um… no. All this work and build up? I didn’t even like it.
So since hindsight is 20/20 – I thought about this. Before getting a book, before buying insanely expense almond flour, perhaps I should have – you know – actually TRIED one of these silly things. I could have said – huh… they are cute… but not really for me. Nope… I went ALL the way and made the silly pinwheel cookies. At least Andy enjoyed them. He said they were good – I’ll trust him.

A strange flower

2011-03-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I volunteer for things then wonder – what on earth was I thinking? Our church has its very first kids Christmas pageant. Usually we have donut holes after the service, but I offered to make cookies for after the pageant. A few cookies right? Well… 12 dozen (or more?) later – I was trying to remind myself this was for a good cause. :)
I’ve never made Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies – at least not to my knowledge. But I thought they would work well for church. They were really easy and I assume they tasted good – every single one was eaten. My favorite part of these cookies is that part when you put the kiss on. Note… that is AFTER they are baked. I almost put them on before. Anyway… when you put the kiss on there, it gets all warm and settles into the cookie – so neat. Not sure why I enjoyed that part… but I did. Make them – enjoy them… freeze them if you need to make them for a later date – they worked great!

Hershey's Kisses Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
What you need!
48 Hershey's Kisses Milk Chocolates, unwrapped
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup Reese's Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar

Make it!
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F for baking.
Using an electric mixer, beat shortening and peanut butter together until creamy. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar, beating until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beating dry ingredients into wet mixture until dough forms.
Using your hands, shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll shaped balls in granulated sugar; turning completely to coat. Place sugared balls of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
Bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies turn a very pale brown. Immediately remove sheet from oven and press a Kisses® Chocolate into the center of each cookie. Carefully remove cookies from cookie sheet to wire rack and allow to cool completely. Store airtight.

Fresh Hotel Baked Cookies

2011-03-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

Just how do you get fresh baked cookies in a hotel? That was our challenge a few weeks ago at the Nashville Needlework Market. We wanted to provide warm cookies and milk as a bed time snack to the shops who were at the Market.
Well… in the world of my day job at ProviNET Solutions – we have an Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Oven. Why? That is an excellent question. Why don’t you have a cookie oven where you work? :) Ok… we acquired it from somewhere… Anyway… I borrowed that cookie oven – which is like an easy bake oven on steroids – snuck it into the hotel, brought unbaked dough that I had prepared at home and there we go! Fresh Hotel Baked Cookies! We were told people could smell the cookies from down the hall!
While we didn’t have a stampede for the cookies, we did have some great people join us, sit on the couch and the floor and had a great time chatting. What a blessing it was to have that time with friends.

Myrtle Grace Motifs - March 2011 Newsletter

2011-03-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

Nashville Needlework Market 2011
Is it over already? Nashville came and went so quickly! It was so great to see so many friends and meeting new friends too! What a great time we had sitting and eating homemade – but hotel baked cookies and chatting. Thanks to everyone who stopped in and said hello. What a great group to be a part of.

New Nashville Releases
We had three new releases for Nashville. All three were released in cross stitch and punch needle. All the distributors have them ready to ship on out.

Spool
Have you heard about Spool Magazine? www.spoolmag.com We missed the big party in St. Charles – but heard about it in Nashville. What a great magazine! Love what they are doing to try to light a fire of excitement in the Needlearts community.

Designing
Coming back from a market – we are always energized to design new projects! If you have customers requesting certain designs or motifs – please let us know! We design for you and your clients so if we can do something they are looking for – all for the better. :)

Facebook
It was great to be able to keep everyone up to date via Facebook while we were in Nashville. Be our fan on Facebook. We love hearing from you!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Myrtle-Grace-Motifs/19773500668?ref=ts#!

Distributors
We are proud to be represented by these fine companies:
Hoffman Distributing Company - www.hoffmandis.com
Norden Crafts - www.nordencrafts.com
Yarn Tree - www.yarntree.com

Vending at the Nashville Needlework Market 2011

2011-02-25T07:00:00.001-06:00

How exactly do you turn a hotel room into a viable cross stitch and punch needle shop? A whole lot of effort and a big strong husband!

This my friends is an Embassy Suite. Not your normal hotel room… a step above some might say… it has a parlor. I know – you are all saying “Ohhhhh a parlor!” Basically, where I’m from, it’s called a front room or “Fronch Room” if you are really from Chicago. I’m from the suburbs… so we say both words. Anyway! Separate room in the front (sly there right?). We moved all the furniture out – all but the couch and the desk table. (I say we like it was really both of us.) Ok, try again. Andy moved all but the couch and table into the bedroom. (This post is really going nowhere isn’t it?)

With very little furniture in the room we are free to setup our cheapo CostCo plastic tables – throw on our wrinkle free table clothes and setup! We bring our displays put together and labeled. I don’t even want to think about how much work some people have to go through to setup who are unable to do some of the work ahead of time. We bring our bubble wrapped displays ready to unwrap and setup. Grand total? 10 minutes to actually setup the displays. :)
We brought up the desk from the bed room to setup a small work area to process orders – it worked wonderfully. We were able to fill orders right in front of the customers, count out the kits and enjoy time to talk.
We really had a great market – it was fun to see so many familiar faces and see new ones too! As always I love spreading the gospel of punch needle as well. I finished a project that has plaguing me for almost a year. Andy was right, of course, it turned out beautiful – but we won’t tell him that quite yet… we’ll let him read the blog and find out on his own. :)

Crinkles o' Cinnamon

2011-02-22T07:00:00.002-06:00

Cinnamon Crinkles

These cookies are an old favorite. 13 short years ago I would make a bucket of these cookies for each of my co-workers…. That was when I had 6 co-workers. Now? 44 co-workers… they might get a full tray to share, no more bucket o’ cookies for each person. They stay soft and chewy – so addicting.

Cinnamon Crinkles
What you need!
2 2/3 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons sugar
halved pecans or walnuts -- optional

Make it!
Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt -- set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time; beat well after adding each.
Add dry ingredients. Refrigerate 1 hour. 4. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Press half a nut into center -- sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes

Chocolate Coated Pretzel Oreo Cream Cheese Amazingness

2011-02-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

In the hunt for a recipe for my family cookie exchange, I ran across this one. While these were amazing, they were too much work to make 18 billion for the family. But they were great. They have enough sweet and salty to balance well. They also have an oreo cream cheese middle – how can that be bad? Trust me – they are great. One suggestion someone made was dipping them into white chocolate instead… if you are into that sort of thing – go for it… I’ll take dark chocolate any day.

Oreo Cheesecake Pretzel Bites
What you need!
15 whole Oreo Cookies
2 oz cold cream cheese
48 square pretzels
2 Cups chocolate chunks or chocolate chips, melted
Sprinkles

Make it!
Place Oreos into a food processor and process until finely ground. Mix Oreo crumbs and cream cheese until dough forms. Pinch 1 Tablespoon of dough and form into a little square. Place onto pretzel then gently press top pretzel to close. Dip into melted chocolate and top with sprinkles. Chill until chocolate has hardened and serve.

Sneak Peek for Nashville Market – “Clarence’s Day Out”

2011-02-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

Clarence’s Day out is one of most exciting releases. We can’t wait to see what people say! We took our love for Weeks Dye Works fibers, Just Another Button Company Buttons and Sudberry Round Shaker Pincushion and found a place for Clarence to frolic.
We had an amazing day taking photos of Clarence with actual sheep! You’ll see a few of them in the background. There were more – big sheep munching at his buttons.
Both the punch needle and the cross stitch are designed with Weeks Dye Works fibers. The cross stitch is modeled on 30 Count Weeks Dye Works Blue Jean – not surprisingly again - our new favorite color!
Please make sure to stop by us at Booth 615 – February 18-20 at the Nashville Needlework Market.

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

2011-02-08T07:00:00.001-06:00

A night at the Boomsmas means we are bringing dessert and there will be cards to play. The day we made these was no different. These turned out to be awesome cupcakes – easy too. I’m sure the girls killed the boys in cards that night… Right? We always do, sometimes? Ok… really? The boys slaughter us at cards on a regular basis… but we are great losers… sometimes. At least I make a darn good cupcake… that’s something.

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes
What you need!
1 white cake mix – batter prepared as packaged directions call for
36 chocolate sandwich cookies
4 oz cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extra

Make it!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place one sandwich cookie into each cupcake paper. Crush 12 sandwich cookies – stir half of crumbs into white cake batter, fill each cupcake batter to ¾ full. Bake according to the box instructions. Bake until toothpick comes out clean.
Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla. Stir in remaining cookie crumbs. Frost top of cooled cupcakes.

Sneak Peek for Nashville Market – “Feathered Star”

2011-02-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

Feathered Star is one of our new releases for Nashville. This project was actually punched on the way to the Feathered Star Inn in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin (Door County). The Inn had a quilt theme – quilts in every room. What a great time we had there – and how fun that the project I was working on was this quilt design. Both the punch needle and the cross stitch are designed with Weeks Dye Works fibers.
Please make sure to stop by us at Booth 615 – February 18-20 at the Nashville Needlework Market.

Myrtle Grace Motifs - February 2011 Newsletter

2011-02-01T05:00:00.003-06:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

Nashville Needlework Market 2011 - Suite 615 - February 18-19
Are you ready for Nashville? We are getting close to being ready! It’s been a year since our last market, so we are so excited to get to see our friends and show of so many new things!

New Nashville Releases
We have three new releases for Nashville. All three are being released in cross stitch and punch needle.

Clarence’s Day Out

Feathered Star

You’re a Hoot!

Warm Cookies and Cold Milk in Nashville
Join us for after hours for fresh baked cookies and milk before heading to bed while you dream about fibers and patterns and fabric - Oh My!
Saturday, February 19 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm - Suite 615

New Fall Show Date and Location
TNNA has changed the date and location of the Fall Market.
This fall’s Needlecraft Market is moving to Baltimore MD, and will take place August 13-14. We are hoping to attend, but of course we need to focus on Nashville first. More news on the Fall show later.

Accepting Credit Cards Now!
Myrtle Grace Motifs now accepts credit cards! Run out of checks in Nashville? No worries! Pay with a credit card. :)

Facebook
This past month – our Facebook friends have gotten a sneak peek into all the preparations and new releases for Nashville. Get the inside track! Be our fan on Facebook. We love hearing from you!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Myrtle-Grace-Motifs/19773500668?ref=ts#!

Sneak Peek for Nashville Market – “You’re a Hoot!”

2011-01-28T07:00:00.000-06:00

Over the next three weeks we’ll be giving you a sneak peek at the new patterns debuting in Nashville!
You’re a Hoot is our Mint Tin release for this year. This little guy is perched on a branch just waiting to tell you what a hoot you are. What a great gift to others. Both the punch needle and the cross stitch are designed with Weeks Dye Works fibers. The cross stitch is modeled on 30 Count Weeks Dye Works Blue Jean – our new favorite color!
Please make sure to stop by us at Booth 615 – February 18-20 at the Nashville Needlework Market

Dipped into Awesomeness

2011-01-25T07:00:00.001-06:00

Once upon a time in a land far away – there was a family that brought my family a plate of Dipped Gingersnap cookies each year at Christmas. We fought over those cookies. Mmmm SO good. “What are they dipped in? Awesomeness?” So good.
It was a secret recipe – sure isn’t now! Ha!
This recipe makes a LOT of cookies –but I promise you will savor each and every one. The dough is hands down the worst tasting cookie dough that I have ever encountered. Thankfully they come out of the oven as perfect sugar coated soft cookies ready to be dipped in white chocolate.
I usually do not dip the entire cookie, just the top half, lay the cookie down into the melted white chocolate and pull out. You’ll get a rhythm – and if not? Drizzle or however works for you. However you do it- they’ll be great.

Dipped Gingersnaps
What you need!
2 cups sugar
1 ½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
½ cup molasses
4 cups flour
1 tbls ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking soda
1 pkg. white almond bark
additional sugar

Make it!
Combine sugar and oil, mix well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in molasses. Combine dry ingredients and add slowly to creamed mixture and mix well.

Roll into ¾” balls and roll in sugar. Place 2” apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes or until cookies springs back when touched. Removed to write rack and cool.

Melt bark and dip cookie ½ way. Shake off excess and place on waxed paper to dry.

Peace and Plenty on the Barn

2011-01-21T07:00:00.001-06:00

Another preview… you know I can’t keep a secret! I try so hard – but I just can’t seem to do it! This is another new design – soon to come later this year. This one – obviously called Peace and Plenty – but the cool part is the barn board it’s been glued to. I have an unhealthy love for barn board. Barn board is simply boards from an old barn. Usually they are boards that have been weathered by the sun and weather over the years. We drive by a barn that is falling down, I want to sneak onto the farm – steal have the barn just so we can get some barn board. This barn board was legally obtained by my father. They used it in their church for a project but the left overs get to come to Myrt to play with.

Do you know the... Tasty Kitchen?

2011-01-18T07:00:00.001-06:00

Have you meet the Pioneer Woman? Not the Muffin Man… the Pioneer Woman? Use the Google… she’s awesome. Well… she’s started a recipe swapping website Tasty Kitchen – awesome. All these amazing people who’ve posted recipes, with photos, ratings, comments etc.
I found this cake recipe on Tasty Kitchen. Awesome. The person who wrote the recipe says it’s better warm – I disagree, it was even better the next day – cool and still super moist. It’s a super easy recipe – give it a try – you certainly won’t be disappointed.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/honeybun-cake-2/

Honeybun Cake
What you need!
1 box (18.25 Oz. Box) Yellow Cake Mix
4 whole Eggs
1 cup Sour Cream
¾ cups Vegetable Oil
1 cup Light Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
2 cups Powdered Sugar
6 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Preparation Instructions
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Make it!
By hand, blend the cake mix, eggs, sour cream, and oil until well-incorporated. The mixture will be pale yellow; it’s okay if it has some lumps! Then set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon until well-blended; set aside.

Pour half of the cake batter into a greased 13×9 pan, spreading the batter out into a thin layer. Add half of the swirl mixture to the top, covering the entire layer of batter. Don’t be alarmed if it looks like you’re over-saturating the cake—it’ll taste great! Pour the rest of the batter on top, and spread the batter until the cake is even. Top the cake off with the rest of the swirl mixture. With a knife, swirl the batter until you create a beautiful masterpiece (I always pretend I’m a barista pouring cream into a cappuccino because I’m really nerdy like that).

Place the cake into the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the glaze. In a bowl, mix the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until glaze is of desired consistency. When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately pour glaze onto the hot cake. You might have to pick up the cake and tilt it to spread the glaze evenly. Let the cake sit for a few minutes so the glaze can set and serve warm or at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

2011-01-11T07:00:00.001-06:00

So, is it dorky that I call my brothers-in-law’s dogs Rusty’s dog cousins? :) Well I do – call me whatever you want, I will still probably say it. This year for Christmas I decided to make dog biscuits for Rupert and Misty. Do you know how hard it is to find a recipe that doesn’t involved some really odd things? Finally found this one – thankfully we had everything in the house.
I made them so they looked like little peanut butter cookies. Hopefully the other pups do not react as poorly as Rusty does to peanut butter. He’s not allowed to have it… he makes bad smells.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits
What you need!
2 cups flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth
1 1/4 cups hot water
Additional flour for rolling

Make it!
Preheat oven to 350° F
Mix dry ingredients together.
Mix in the peanut butter and hot water. You may need to add more water if the dough is too sticky.
Knead the dough well. Rolled it into balls. Then make a cross hatch fork mark on the dog cookies. This is the same way you would do for human peanut butter cookies.
Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet for 40 minutes. Turn off the oven and let them cool overnight.

18 half dozen cookies

2011-01-04T07:00:00.001-06:00

Remember my family’s jam exchange this past fall? That idea came from the annual cookie exchange that we do. Every December we get together and share cookies and catch up on the family news. This year was no different. I had grand plans for something else…. Then I saw this recipe – seemed easy and good all together. I brought some to work – they were gone instantly. Even had some to church – same thing. Knew they’d be a hit. So much so that my aunt made the same exact recipe! These were easy and awesome. And.... yes they did taste like Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. Mmmm Ice Cream!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
What you need!
1 pouch sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
6 to 8 drops green food color
1 egg
1 cup creme de menthe baking chips (Andies Candies)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

Make it!
Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, extract, food color and egg until soft dough forms. Stir in creme de menthe baking chips and chocolate chunks.
Using small cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Serve warm or cool completely. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

Myrtle Grace Motifs - January 2011 Newsletter

2011-01-02T13:58:00.002-06:00

Dear Friends of Myrtle Grace Motifs!

Happy New Year! We hope you had a very blessed Christmas!

Nashville 2011
Last month you may have noticed we were excited about Nashville 2010… well… we meant 2011. :) We are still excited about it! We have three brand new releases. We have partnered with Just Another Button Company and Sudberry to add even more charm to our designs. Can you smell fresh baked cookies? We’ll be open after hours on Saturday with warm cookies and cold milk. A great bed time snack. – Even more info next month!

Accepting Credit Cards Soon!
We are in the process of having the ability to accept credit cards at market! More news later…

The Misadventures of Myrtle Grace
In the coming weeks before market – keep an eye on our blog for the new sneak peeks for new Nashville releases. Come on over to www.myrtlegrace.blogspot.com. There is always something new going on.

Facebook
This past month – our Facebook friends helped us name am upcoming pattern. Get the inside track! Be our fan on Facebook. We love hearing from you!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Myrtle-Grace-Motifs/19773500668?ref=ts#!

Distributors
We are proud to be represented by these fine companies:
Hoffman Distributing Company - www.hoffmandis.com
Norden Crafts - www.nordencrafts.com
Yarn Tree - www.yarntree.com

Best Potpourri Ever! And... you can eat it!

2010-12-28T07:00:00.001-06:00

Baked Apples are awesome. End of story, no more words necessary.
Oh, Ok… Apples cored with a little butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and white sugar… Baked in an oven for 45 minutes – fills the house with an amazing smell. The apples explode in their dishes – it’s like the best hot applesauce you’ll ever encounter.
I’ve been making these more and more lately. Andy will be at meetings in the evening - so I will have them ready for when he comes home. The baked apple warms you all up after being out in the cold. Best potpourri ever!

Baked Apple
What you need!
1 Granny Smith Apple
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon white sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ tablespoon butter or margarine
¼ cup water

Make it!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Core apple. Cut a slice off top and bottom of apple. Place apple in custard dish, fill middle of apple with sugars, cinnamon and butter. Fill outside edge of dish with water.
Place custard dish on cookie sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes. Be very careful – dish will be hot – so will the apple – but it will be amazing.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T07:00:00.001-06:00

This Christmas,
may you feel His
immeasurable,
indescribable,

and infinite love.

Merry Christmas!

In The Meadow

2010-12-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

In the meadow we can build a snowman…. That song is going through and through my head… I can’t escape it. When planning came for the next adventure for Franklin and Pierce, this song was in my head. I had some other ideas, but then the snowman. Let’s have them build a snowman! Short little Pierce needed some extra help to get the hat on. Franklin let the snowman barrow his scarf. These guys will be ready Fall of 2011 – but wanted to give you a sneak peek.

Behold - the power of baking powder...

2010-12-21T07:00:00.001-06:00

When you are cooking or baking, do you ever wonder if such a small amount of an ingredient makes a difference? Say… oh I’ll just leave that out this time – who will know? Or perhaps forget an ingredient… then wonder what could possibly be wrong with what you’ve made?
Yeah me either.
Wait… Ok…. I found out how important baking powder is. Oh so very important.
You’ll see in the pictures – yes… those are baked… do they look any different than the raw? No, not really, maybe the baked version is a bit browned on the edges. These were supposed to be pumpkin whoopie pies. Yes, always drama with the whoppie pies.
I made up these guys for a church dinner, thought I had it all figured out – then took them out of the oven… hrm… that’s odd. Read the recipe, nope, did it right. Read it again…. Nope – got it all. Added some milk, still the same problem. Hrm. Took the recipe with me, sat down with no distraction – nope it’s all in there.
Then… God turned the light on… OH that says BAKING POWDER! Well shoot… I didn’t add that! I added some… but it was far too late for that. What a mess!
I will win against the whoppie pies – someday. It’s not today… tomorrow sure isn’t looking good either… but I will! Dang it. :)

Using everything but the seeds....

2010-12-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

Remember the watermelon jelly we made from the overripe watermelon? Well that watermelon was well used. We pickled its rind! I’ve only heard about pickled watermelon rind. My grandfather told me about having it as a kid and how wonderful it was. So, we made them. What a process! It took several days to brine, then cook, then cook and can them. Again, something I can’t eat because of the lemon the recipe has, but my grandpa said they were great; he’s been enjoying quite a few of our pickles. :) I’ll take his word on that one.

Pickled Watermelon Rind
A Bitten Word recipe adapted from the National Center for Home Food Preservation

What you need!
2 quarts watermelon rind (equal to one medium-sized melon)
3/4 cup salt
3 quarts water
5 cups sugar
3 cups white vinegar
3 cups water
1 tablespoon (about 48) whole cloves
6 cinnamon sticks, broken into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon Allspice
1 lemon, thinly sliced, with seeds removed

Make it!
Trim the pink flesh and the green outer skin from the rind. Cut into small strips, about 1" x 2". Cover with brine made by combining 3 quarts water and 3/4 cup salt. Refrigerate for five hours or overnight.
Drain; rinse. Cover the watermelon with water and bring to a boil; continue cooking until fork-tender, about another 15 minutes. (Overcooking will cause the rinds to become rubbery.) Drain.
Combine sugar, vinegar, water and spice. Boil 5 minutes and then pour over watermelon; add lemon slices. Refrigerate overnight.
Heat watermelon in syrup to boiling; reduce heat to medium-high and for one hour. Pack the hot watermelon pickles loosely into clean, hot pint jars. Cover with boiling syrup, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal lids.
To seal: Submerge the full jars in boiling water (enough water so the jars are 1-2" below the surface); boil for 15 minutes (or slightly longer at higher altitudes). Remove jars and let them sit undisturbed at room temperature for 24 hours. Check seals.

Quilt for Kris

2010-12-10T07:00:00.001-06:00

A new release today!

Quilt for Kris

This design is in memory of Kris Stott of Norden Crafts.

When Myrtle Grace Motifs had just started its adventure, we did the Nashville Needlework Show. We were tucked away in a corner next door to Norden Crafts. I didn’t have a distributor at the time, but longed to go talk to Norden. I didn’t have the courage. On the last day of the show, Kris came in and complimented my designs and said she’d heard so many good things about them. She then offered to distribute my designs. And that’s how it all began!

Last year, Kris suddenly passed away. It was a shock to the needlework world – and to me. This is just a little way to honor her and thank her for giving me a chance.

Death by Pie

2010-12-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

So… of all the pies in all the world, my father-in-law had to pick Lemon Meringue Pie for his birthday dessert. Um… yeah… have you heard about my allergies? You know… that silly epi-pen that I am supposed to carry, yeah, allergic to lemon. But, I’m always willing to try a new adventure. I promise I did not do anything with the lemon – that was all Andy – thankfully. I did the meringue and the crust. Andy did great on the filling, I mean it looked good, how do I know?
See from the lovely photo? What a beautiful pie. Um… yeah, I didn’t get a final picture of this pie. Totally forgot, didn’t even think about it! So, you will have to imagine the great final photo, the huge meringue on top that had my finger prints in it because I kept touching it. I have no idea why I kept touching it… but I did… so weird. Dennis (f-i-l) said it was the best lemon pie he’d ever had. How about that? :)

Lemon Meringue Pie
For Meringue:
3 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
1 Tablespoon + 1 Tsp Cornstarch
½ cups Cold Water

For Lemon Filling:
1 cup Granulated Sugar
7 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1 cup Cold Water
1 cup Boiling Water
3 whole Egg Yolks
3 Tablespoons Butter
⅓ cups + 1 Tbls Fresh Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Grated Lemon Zest
1 whole 9" Or 10" Baked Pie Crust

Also for Meringue:
4 whole Egg Whites
6 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar

Make it!
Before making pie filling, combine 3T sugar, 1T + 1t cornstarch, and 1/2 cup cold water. Cook slowly, stirring constantly until clear. Set aside. This will be added to the meringue later.

For Lemon Filling:
Mix in top of double boiler 1 cup sugar and 7T cornstarch. Add 1 cup cold water and mix until well combined.
Transfer to direct heat (low) and add 1 cup boiling water, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened over low heat.
Place over boiling water in double boiler again, cover and let cook 10 min.
Beat 3 egg yolks and pour small amount of cooked mixture over yolks, beat. Add a little more and beat again.
Add the yolk mixture to the double boiler mixture. Cook and stir for 3 minutes over the boiling water. Remove from heat.
Beat in 3T butter, 1/3 cup + 1T fresh lemon juice, and 1T grated lemon zest. Pour lemon filling into baked pie shell.

For Meringue:
With electric mixer, beat 4 egg whites until frothy, add 6T sugar – 1 or 2T at a time – until stiff peaks form.
When all the sugar has been beaten in, gradually add the cooled thick mixture (from the beginning). Pour meringue over filling, making sure to seal in the edges.
Bake until lightly browned, 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Don’t touch it… just don’t do it.

OZ – Beach

2010-12-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

Kevin and Belinda whisked us off to the beach as soon as we arrived in Brisbane. Oh the beach – how gorgeous! The breeze, the sand, the waves… love every part of the beach. We spent a morning walking the beach then the next afternoon I walked the beach at low tide. I’ve not seen a low tide before – but was amazed by how the beach transformed. What a relaxing way to spend an afternoon enjoying God’s creation.

Princess Cake for Miss Em

2010-12-03T07:00:00.001-06:00

Has it really been so long since we celebrated Emily’s 7th birthday? It sure has… eek. Well Miss Emily Joan wanted a princess cake. What does that mean? Probably something with a face, which seems like an awfully bad idea. I did quite a bit of googling on this one… well… found lots of weird princess faces. Then found LOTS of these crown cakes. I was excited! Someone had a pattern for a crown. Um, no, that’s a form. Really? How many of people have enough room in their house to store all these pans in crazy shapes? Not me. I printed a photo as large as I could, stuck it on a frozen 9 x 13 cake and went a cutting. I did have some fun with starbursts, rolled them out and use mini cookie cutters on them. Em loved it – it was all eaten at once, so it must have tasted ok too. Happy belated birthday girlie!