Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you all have a blessed Christmas that is filled with love from family and friends!

Cream Cheese Peach Pie Delight

I saw this recipe on Facebook and will have to make it! Doesn't it look good!

The Secret Garden with Louise Malone and 4 others

Cream Cheese Peach Pie Delight
Source Huffington Post

Ingredients:

1 package of white or yellow dry cake mix
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, divided
29 ounce can of peach slices, drained
8 ounces of Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray. In large bowl combine cake mix, butter, and 1 egg. Mix until crumbly. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of crumbs for topping. Press remaining crumbs in bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes.

Cut Peach slices into 1 inch pieces. You can use frozen or fresh peaches if you choose but I like canned for this particular recipe because of the short baking time. Spoon into partially baked crust. In large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and vanilla extract. Beat with mixer until creamy. Spoon over peaches. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Bake 30 minutes. Chill at least 30 minutes before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Paper Dahlia Wreath

Yes, I am tired of the snow. Yes, I know that there is nothing I can do to make it warm. So I saw this tutorial on making the following wreath. It looked so pretty and Springy! And it looks pretty easy. I can cut cardstock and twist them. So I will be making this wreath and hanging it on my front door. How about you?

The tutorial is on Love Pomegranate House site.

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I was asked to only have one picture of the wreath on my blog with a link to the originator's site. Her blog is copyrighted. I was under the impression that I could put the post as long as I had the link to the original site. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Flowers That Last 6 Months or More!

They just showed these roses on the Today Show. The roses last 6 months! It is hard to get on the web site - probably because it was just on TV. I finally got on, so keep trying. The prices range from $7.95 to $182. Check it out http://www.bloomsbyheinau.com/.

Here is an example:

How to Make a Mug Rug- Cupcake Applique

Today it is icy and snowy outside and I plan to make some mug rugs. A mug rug is a little larger than a coaster and can be used for mugs, snacks, a spoon, or even plants. I have seen so many cute ones and have found one with a tutorial. My plan is to start with that one and then work my way onto making others. This the link for the video http://youtu.be/Z43J5S45FNQ or you can just click on the arrow in the picture.

Tourte Milanese - Looks so good!

This looked so good and I will just have to try it! I saw it on the Parsley, Sage, & Sweet Site .





Tourte Milanese
Recipe by Michel Richard
4 to 8 servings, depending how you slice it
Video of Michel Richard making the Tourte Milanese - Starting at 6:23

1 pound puff pastry, chilled - homemade or store bought.  If using store bought, roll both sheets together for 1 lb, then cut off a 1/4 lb for the top of the torte. Use any scraps to cut out designs for the top, if desired.
For the Eggs
10 large eggs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons snipped fresh tarragon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Filling
6 large red bell peppers
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds spinach, trimmed and washed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)
8 ounces Swiss cheese or Gruyere, thinly sliced
8 ounces smoked or honey ham, thinly sliced
1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water and a pinch of salt
DIRECTIONS:
1. Prepare the pastry: Generously butter an 8 1/2-inch springform pan. Cut off one quarter of the pastry, cover, and set aside. Roll out remaining puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface to a 1/4-inch thick round. Carefully fit the pastry into the pan, pressing to get a smooth fit, leave a 1-inch overhang. Roll out the smaller piece of pastry until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut out an 8-inch circle of dough for the top of the torte and lift it onto a plate or baking sheet. Cover both the crust and the lid with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare the filling. If using scraps for cut-out designs, like leaves, place the cut-outs on a separate plate, cover with plastiv wrap and chill in fridge along with top and lined springform pan.
2. Make the Eggs: Whisk eggs, herbs, salt and pepper together. Melt the butter in a large skillet over low heat and pour in the eggs. Gently but constantly stir the eggs around in the pan, pulling the eggs that set into the center of the pan. Slide the eggs onto a plate, without mounding them, and cover immediately with plastic wrap. You want a loose, soft scramble since the eggs will be baking for a little over an hour.
3. Roast the peppers: place whole and untrimmed, directly over the flame of a gas burner. As soon as one portion of a peppers skin is charred, turn the pepper. When black and blistered all over, drop into a bowl…cover with plastic wrap and let steam (I throw them all in a paper or large ziplock bag and seal it shut) for about 20 minutes.  Use your fingers to rub off skin – DO NOT rinse under water, you lose flavor.  Cut each pepper once from top to bottom, cut away the stem, open the peppers, and lay them flat. Trim away the inside veins and discard the seeds; season peppers with salt and pepper and set aside, covered, until needed.
Alternatively, lay the peppers on a baking sheet and place them under the broiler, turning them as each side chars   Then continue to skin and seed them as instructed above.
The peppers release a lot of liquid once roasted. Make sure the peppers are dry (blot with paper towels) before adding them to the tourte. I cut up the roasted peppers because sometimes you end up with big or whole pieces pulling out with each forkful.
5. Cook the spinach: in a large quantity of boiling salted water for 1 minute to blanch it. Drain spinach in a colander, rinse with cold water, and press it to extract all of the excess moisture. Heat the oil, butter, and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Add blanched spinach and sauté for 3 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and add a little heavy cream. Bring quickly to the boil and stir so it mixes with the spinach. Remove the spinach from the skillet with a slotted and set aside.  Once it’s coole, squeeze as much liquid out before adding it to the tourte.
6. Assemble the Torte: Remove the pastry-lined springform pan from the refrigerator and layer the filling ingredients in the following order: (quick tip: Sprinkle a little dry bread crumbs or grated Italian hard cheese on the bottom of the raw crust before adding first layer of scrambled eggs to protect against a soggy bottom crust).

• half the eggs
• half the spinach
• half the ham
• half the cheese
• all the roasted peppers, laid flat

Continue layering in reverse order;

• remaining half of cheese
• remaining half of ham
• remaining half of spinach
• remaining half of eggs

With each layer, make certain that the ingredients are spread to the edge of the pan. Fold the excess crust in over the filling, and brush the rim of crust you’ve created with the egg wash. Center the rolled-out top crust over the torte and gently push the edge of the top crust down into the pan, pressing and sealing the top and bottom crusts along the sides. Brush the top with the egg wash and cut a vent in the center of the crust. Use the point of the knife to etch a design in the top crust, taking care to cut only halfway into the dough. Chill the fully loaded tourte for 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking.
20 minutes prior to baking; position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
7. Bake the Torte: Place the torte on a jelly-roll pan, give it another coat of egg wash, and bake it for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until puffed and deeply golden. Remove from the oven and let rest on a rack until it reaches room temperature. Run a blunt knife or offset spatula around the edges of the pan and release the sides.  Let cool for 20 – 30 minutes before cutting.  I let it cool for 1 hour before cutting because it still felt like it would fall apart upon cutting, after 30 minutes.
Please excuse the hideous photos of the spinach layers, below.  The spinach was too dark to get a decent photo of with the artificial light.

I’m submitting this recipe to Weekend Potluck #69 and Recipe Sharing Mondays.

Candy Hearts Table Runner Tutorial

Valentine's Day is approaching and I saw this tutorial that looked so pretty and that would be great to make for Valentine's Day. It is from the Farm Wife Journal Blog . 

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Candy Hearts Table Runner Tutorial 

Our kitchen table needed a little brightening up for Valentine's Day. I searched through my fabric stash and found the aqua pieces of Sew Cherry by Lori Holt. I love this fabric!! Then found a few scrap fabrics that coordinated. I love it when I can just shop my stash!

The table runner is made with an uneven nine patch blocks and heart appliqué blocks. This was quick and easy to put together.

Here is a tutorial so you can make a Candy Heart Table Runner too.

Materials
1 1/2 yards of white back ground Fabric
1/2 yard of red fabric for heart and binding
1/2 yard of aqua for uneven nine patch blocks
Scraps of coordinating fabric for heart blocks
Batting (I used scraps. It is so nice to use up those little bits of leftover batting)

From the white background fabric cut:
4- 3 inch strip width of fabric (WOF)
2- 2 1/4 inch strip WOF
5- 6 1/2 inch squares

From aqua cut:
2- 2 1/4 inch strip WOF
1- 3 inch strip WOF

From red cut:
3- 2 1/2 inch strips WOF for binding

From scraps:
Cut five hearts

For the Heart blocks

 Cut a piece of paper 6 1/2 inches square. Fold in half and draw half a heart on the fold. Make sure that you leave enough room for seam allowances. Cut along your drawn shape to make a heart.

 Use your paper heart as a pattern and appliqué your scrap hearts to the center of the white blocks. I used needle turn appliqué.  I traced the heart on to freezer paper then cut it out and ironed it to the right side of my scrap fabric. Shiny side down. Then traced the heart shape into the fabric. Clipping the curves I stitch the hearts to the blocks.

For the Uneven Nine Patch Blocks
For the first strip set sew 2 1/4 inch white strips to both sides of the 3 inch color strip.

 For the second strip set sew 2 1/4 inch aqua strips to both sides of the 3 inch white strip.
From the first strip set cut 5- 3 inch blocks.

From the second strip set cut 10- 2 1/4 inch blocks.

 Sew a 2 1/4 block to either side of the 3 inch block to make an uneven nine patch block. Make 5 uneven nine patch blocks. Should be 6 1/2 inch blocks.

Now alternate the heart blocks and the nine patch blocks so that you have two rows of 5 blocks. Sew together to form rows then sew your rows together.

Add borders. Make your quilt sandwich. I machine stitched in the ditch between all the blocks and in the seams if the uneven nine patch blocks. Then I used floss to stitch around the hearts and in the border.

Add binding.

 All done!! A bright fun Candy Hearts Table Runner!!

First Day Of School Bracelets - this is a keeper!

I know that this is not the first day of school nor is it even close, but I just thought that this was a great idea! I got this from the Tie Dye Diva Patterns Blog .

The Pioneer Woman’s Chili

I have been reading and seeing more and more about the Pioneer Woman's recipes and cookbooks on the internet and newspapers/magazines. So this recipe caught my eye. I used to make my chili with McCormick's chili mix but it seems as if it just isn't as good as it used to be. I am not sure if they changed their recipe of seasonings or my taste buds have changed. This recipe does look like it has the right ingredients to make chili but I am not sure of the corn meal. So I still have to try it.

This is the link where I got the recipe: Crazy Jamie . let me know what you think.



Ingredients:

• 2 pounds Ground Chuck
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 can (29 Ounce) Tomato Sauce
• 2 cans (10 Ounce) Ro-tel (diced Tomatoes And Chilies) (I did 1 can hot, 1 can original)
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Ground Oregano
• 1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin
• 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder (more To Taste)
• 1 can (14-ounce) Kidney Beans, Drained And Rinsed
• 1 can (14-ounce) Pinto Beans, Drained And Rinsed
• 1/4 cup Regular Corn Meal
• 1/2 cup Warm Water
• Grated Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

• Brown ground chuck and add onions in a pot over medium high heat. Cook the onions with the meat until meat is browned
• Then add the garlic and stir in and cook for a few more minutes.
• Add tomato sauce, Rotel, salt, oregano, cumin, and chili powder.
• Cover and reduce heat to low.
• Simmer for 30 minutes.
• Add drained and rinsed beans.
• Stir to combine, then cover and simmer for another 20 minutes.
• Mix corn meal with water, then add to the chili.
• Stir to combine and simmer for a final 10 to 15 minutes.
• Serve up in a bowl with cheese, and diced onion if using

Crock-Pot Apple Pie Moonshine

My daughter-in-law gave me this recipe. There is a warning that the longer you store it, the more potent it gets. Also, this is an adult drink! It came from the Crock-Pot Ladies Site . Will you try making it? And if you do, will you drink it?

Crock-Pot Apple Pie Moonshine

Ingredients

1 Gallon Apple Cider

1 Liter Everclear Alcohol

3 Cinnamon Sticks

Instructions

1. Add Apple Cider and Cinnamon Sticks to crock-pot.
2. Cook on low for 8 hours.
3. Turn off crock-pot and allow the cider to cool to room temp.
4. In a large pan (large enough for a 5 quarts), mix cider and the Everclear Alcohol. If your crock-pot is large enough for this, you can do it there once the cider is cooled.
5. Pour into 5 Quart Canning Jars (or bottles of your choice) and put lids and rings on.
6. Let the jars sit in a cool dark place for 30 days to allow the alcohol to take the flavor of the cider.
7. This is shelf stable and can be kept on the counter, or if you prefer it chilled, in the refrigerator.
8. NOTE: this is a strong adult beverage. Serving size is one shot glass.