Parmesan Potatoes

I promised you I would give you the recipe for the Roasted Parmesan Potatoes.
My hubby (and I) really like these and they go so well with just about anything and they are super easy to make. You don't want to take up too much precious quilting time after all. Here you go.....

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper
new potatoes (4 large or about 6 -7 small)
cut potatoes into 1/2" thick slices (leave the skins on)
2 to 3 Tablespoons melted margarine or butter
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

Combine the flour, Parmesan, salt and pepper in a plastic bag. Moisten potato slices with water and shake off excess. Drop potatoes a few at a time into bag and shake to coat well.
Pour melted butter into a 9" x 12" x 2" baking dish ( or close to that size)
Place potatoes in the dish in a single layer. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes, turning once (halfway through) Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve plain or with sour cream or applesauce.
Let me know how you like them.
Now back to quilting........

Quilt-a-month

Recently during an out to lunch with some of my BFF's we got to talking about wanting to play around with some new quilting techniques and doing something "outside of the box".
So I tore some paper strips and wrote down 5 different themes. We decided we'd pick one out of the "hat" and make a small quilt by July 1st. I know, I know, many quilters can whip out an assignment like this in a day, or a week at best. Well, what can I say, we just didn't want that pressure stifling our creativity ~ LOL
So we decided we could handle a quilt-a-month. The "theme" or inspiration that got picked out of the hat for this months quilt is migration.

If I can talk my friends into it, I will post their quilts here as well as mine when we finish them.
I better get busy, but first I need to step outside and pick a few gardenias. Our tree is blooming and I am loving it.

Remembering our heroes

Yes, we along with other countless Americans will be cooking on the grill this Memorial Day weekend. We'll be having BBQ chicken, fresh corn on the cob, roasted Parmesan potatoes and then brownies for desert. (hopefully we won't be grilling in the rain) At the same time, and throughout this weekend we will also be taking the time to remember our heroes that have bravely and honorably served our country and those who are currently serving our country and upholding our freedoms. God Bless America, God Bless our troops and keep them safe.

Well, I decorated my project jar and got to thinking...
Maybe I need 2 project jars. One for around the house projects and one for the studio.
Heaven knows I have enough projects for 2 jars at least!
So I grabbed another jar and decorated it. This time with some of the Bamboo felt I have.
I still need to decide which will be my studio jar and which the household jar. Guess I'll flip a coin.
I cut up some paper strips from hot pink and bright orange and started writing my projects on the strips of paper.




Oh my gosh, I'm going to be busier than I thought. I did put some fun things in though, like hand quilting, hand appliqué, going shopping, napping... no I didn't put napping in, although I was tempted. Knowing that I have a chance to pull out something fun to do from time to time I am hoping that I won't shy away from my jars.
You know, the old carrot and the stick routine.
At this point my studio jar has more in it than my household jar... hmmm, shows you where my priorities are at this point in time.



Now to the rules. They are actually quite simple.
1. When you have a chunk of time and you can't settle on a course of action, pick a project from the jar.
2. If you don't like what you picked, write your initials on the paper and put it back in the jar and pick another.
3. you can only do this once.
4. If you pick out a project that you had rejected (hence, initialed) once before you can't put it back.
That's it.

Thanks to my mom, my jars are ready and I'm going to give it a whirl and see if I can whittle down my list one project at a time.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Now the real trick is to prevent your other family members from adding to your jar.
I better hide the pink and orange paper.

The Jar

As my mom & I got to talking about the project jar we threw around a few ideas. Such as....
what size jar should it be? My jar should be ginourmous but I decided on a Cheese Whiz jar.
(Yes Cheese Whiz, I'll post the yummy recipe that uses it.)
Then of course you can't just have a plain old jar sitting around. You want it to be enticing so you'll want to go pick out a project. That's the whole idea right? Then too, you have to decide what to write your projects on. If you have a pretty jar you're going to want pretty paper too. I've already laid out a few to choose from. What do you think?
So, back to the jar......I have my jar and have decided to decorate it hmmmm.
I pulled out my fabric CD ( Push-button Prints), chose a print (this one is called "Nexus"),
pulled out some printable peel and stick fabric, some trim and voila, here's my enticing new jar!



Now then, I was asked about the rules. Yes, there are rules...........and more!

The Project

Back in March when my parents were visiting, my mom and I were discussing all the wanna do projects that tend to add up in our lives,
and yes, don't forget the don't wanna do projects too.

I don't know about you, but on rare occasion I will find myself with a nice chunk of un-spoken for time. A half a day with no deadlines, no errands, no routine cleaning or laundry to be done, and I say to myself "this would be a great time to............ and that's where I get stuck.
I have so many choices of things I could do that I just can't settle on one and before you know it - poof - the day slips away.
Well, mom & dad to the rescue!. After they left, I found my solution. There it was, sitting on the dresser in the guest room right where they left it ..... the project jar!
The note inside said "call home"
The idea is simple, put all your projects in the jar and when you have a chunk of time pick one project and do it.
Sounds simple enough but after calling my mom things kinda got a bit more complicated.....

Tropical Toucan

Gosh, guilty again. Has it been another week? Well, I've sent my Toucan off on it's way to Quilt Market.
Sorry the pic isn't better. I was in a hurry and both the lighting and the perspective were not the best. I had such a good time making this piece. I let the colors inspire me and also the request for something tropical. Other than that I just played around and decided on making the Toucan. I machine quilted the piece but instead of binding it I put a wavy blade in my rotary cutter ( okay, actually my husband changes the blades for me, I'm a klutz) and after I quilted the piece I just cut the edges through all layers. Yes, I did put batting inside but kept it away from the edges so it wouldn't show.
Then I sent hubby outside to cut some bamboo for the hanger. He's such a dear!
This weekend I'm starting a new project organizing system inspired by my mom.
It'll be fun ~ no really it will. You'll see.