Peaches

Yesterday I got a great deal on peaches at our local grocery, so today I peeled, sliced and froze some of them. It will be good to take them out of the freezer later and make something yummy.








Actually I made a very yummy pie today, but waited too long to get pictures ----- all gone now!

We had a visitor overnight. Her name is Ariel, and she was here because her "daddy" (our daughter's boyfriend) was away from home too long today for a young lady such as herself to be left alone.

She behaved herself very nicely!

I am trying and trying to get myself plugged back into sewing. I have a quilt in process for said boyfriend, and I really need to get back to work on it.

Enjoy your evening!

Okay, Thimbleanna, This Is For You!

Quite a while back I posted about a cherry dump cake and Thimbleanna and I had a little email conversation, the end being that when I next made the dump cake I was telling her about I should blog about it. Hence:

Pumpkin Dump Cake

1 can (15 oz) solid pack pumpkin
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice mix
1 pkg (18 3/4 oz) yellow cake mix
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

In a mixing bowl, combine the first five ingredients.

Transfer to a 13 X 9 X 2-inch baking pan.

Sprinkle with dry cake mix and drizzle with melted butter. Top with nuts.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Dump Cakes really are wonderfully easy to make and SO good!

Just to balance out all the sin of the dump cake, :) I also made some healthy, healthy whole wheat bread. Got to be fair, right?

Have a great evening!

~Elaine~

Someone Else Likes Sprinkles

Rain! and Pumped Chocolate Bundt Cake

We have been so short on rain for so long that I actually had to run out and make a little video when we actually got a little shower today. It was SO refreshing! I could almost see the trees, grass and plants smiling in relief! Me, too! Thank you, Lord!

I've had to slow down on my watering in the yard after getting the biggest water bill EVER last month. I think it would have been a losing battle anyway. It's just been too dry for a water hose to make up for the lack of rain. :(

Yesterday I made what I call a "pumped" chocolate bundt cake. What I've done is modify a cake mix to make it special. Here it is:

Pumped Chocolate Bundt Cake

1 - 18.25 ounce chocolate cake mix (or devil's food)

1 + 1/3 cups water

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mix all above ingredients together in medium bowl at low speed until blended, then on medium speed for about 2 minutes.

Add:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Pour into 12-cup bundt cake pan that has been sprayed with a non-stick spray and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until top springs back when touched lightly.

Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto cake plate.

Microwave on high:
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk

until butter is melted. Stir until brown sugar is completely dissolved, then add:
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Stir until completely blended.

Drizzle over bundt cake.

Microwave on high:
1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter

until chips are melted, stirring occasionally, being sure not to overcook (burned chcolate chips are not a good thing)

Now, drizzle this over the bundt cake as well.

Exercise caution not to make yourself totally sick eating way too much of it.

DELICIOUS!

Today we were much better behaved with a sugar-free gelatin parfait.

Have a great weekend!!!!!

~Elaine~

Sleep? What's That?

I don't know. Somehow I just didn't ever make it to bed and here it is morning already. Surely I am not the only one to do this.



I've been working along on another quilt, which is a lot of fun and just a little bit addictive.


No one was home tonight but me, and I got a lot done.

Then everyone was home and needed to be fed and then went to bed. All except me.

I kept sewing.


Then I needed to do some paperwork.

Then I decided I needed a new header for my blog.

Oh brother!

I'm going to bed!

Have a great day.

~Elaine~

Savanah's Quilt

I have finished a quilt for my other niece's daughter, Savannah. It started out as a Yellow Brick Road quilt, but somehow along the way I totally messed up the cutting out of it and it turned into something else. I'm sure there's no real name for it, but I think it's pretty anyway.

I love the bright colors.

Doesn't it look like it would be fun to throw down on the floor and let a little cutie play with some toys on it?

And she IS a cutie! This is from when they visited in February, so she isn't this small any more.

I think she'll enjoy her new plaything.

Three words: fresh peach pie

Sorry I forgot to take a picture before the ravening horde descended on it.

Boy, was it good!

Have a great weekend!

~Elaine~

Squash and a Spider and Some Other Things

I had to make a stop at the grocery story today and the summer squash just looked so good and so fresh that some of it had to come home with me. I sauteed it with some onion slices in a little olive oil as a side to lunch. Delicious!

I picked up the August issue of Woman's Day and there on the front

were these pretty parfaits, and I just had to try making some. They looked so refreshing!

Mine didn't turn out nearly as pretty, but they still tasted good.

This little girl (don't know her name) has been really busy out on our patio keeping the insect population under control, and fortunately for her - she's in an out-of-the-way spot so she's relatively safe.

I love this view from our bathroom window. The yard looks so lush and inviting. (And from in here you can't tell how beastly hot it really is outside!)

I've got all the fabrics cut for my niece's little quilt. For some reason my mind just kind of kept slipping out of gear when I was trying to get it cut out. I made stupid mistakes and had to do over several times.

Oh, well. Now I'll start putting it all together. I'm loving the bright colors.

Have a great evening!

~Elaine~