Monday, March 7, 2011

Mother Nature Laughed

I knew I should have taken a photo of our first few patches of 'green grass'. It warmed and rained and washed enough of the last storms 3' of snow to see some lawn (and worry about flooding). Even the wild life was emerging - a few raccoons have been pests in the feeders, smelly skunks brawling, and the lumbering possum, but the old gal had the last laugh. Started with sleet and then snow that must be at least a foot and still coming down.

I'm getting low on the freezer stock ups and used my last packages of corn for my favorite dish.

CORN CASSEROLE
Ingredients
1 pound bacon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups sour cream
2 pounds fresh corn (or frozen corn, thawed)
Salt and pepper
Spring of chopped parsley
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the bacon, then chop it into bite-size pieces and set it aside. (I hate the mess and smell of cooking bacon so use the Micro-wave brand). Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion, celery, and peppers until soft. Stir in the flour, then the sour cream, until well combined. Add the corn and most of the bacon bits and season with salt and pepper.
Pour the mixture into a 9- by 13-inch baking dish and sprinkle on the remaining bacon bits and the parsley. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until lightly browned. Serves 6 to 8


I took creative license and changed the setting of the next BlockaPalooza block for more of a 'floating' geese layout. I just love this linen green.


I finished the HST quilt. The border print fabric is what I used for the backing. I just did stitch in the ditch around all blocks and then the same for all the diagonals - large cross hatch. Washed and dried and in the shop.



The quilt for the Moda Bake Shop Charm Challenge is at the long armer, but you will only get a sneak peek - no unveiling until voting on MBS.



Another 'in progress' - the next UFO for Judy's (PathcworkTimes) challenge. I have almost all the fused pieces hand-blanket stitched. I think I am going to use a mix of machine and hand quilting for added texture on this fun quilt - Noah's Ark.



And a tease of a sneak peek at 'in-progress' monochromatic quilt for the Project Modern - Challenge #2. I need to draft a plan of action for quilting and then this puppy is going under the machine.




SQUARED UP

I have been so busy with getting challenges, contests and swap projects done for the end of this month, that I haven't a project for here. But I would like you to check out Melissa's disappearing 16-patch block. http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/ (quilt along) and she also gave the tutorial again on Stash Manicure today. (see button on side for both)

Also, I want to thank everyone for their lovely comments here and in private e-mails on the new banner. Some of you were 'no-responders' so I couldn't send you a message back - again, to everyone, THANK YOU.


Our lives are like quilts - bits and pieces, joy and sorrow, stitched with love.

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

12 comments:

Unknown said...

that corn casserole looks yummy......

Cheryll said...

Oh yum! I can taste the casserole as I write this! I just love the colour of the monochromatic too... its beautiful.. just like all of your work!

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

You are such a tease with your sneak peeks of your projects. You have been busy once again! Mother Nature can certainly play tricks with the weather. Stay warm!

Char said...

Ooo thanks so much for the recipe. My husband will love this.
Love the monochromatic quilt. Great job.

Kris said...

Oh yum, Sharon!! This casserole sound dee-li-shish!! Kris

Anonymous said...

The casserole looks delicious - I love doing things like that; pull it from the oven and put a quick salad with it, and get back to sewing! :)
Your HST and Noah's Ark quilts are just beautiful!
Jacque in SC
quiltnsrep(at)yahoo(dot)com

Eat Sleep Quilt said...

I like your banner and that corn casserole looks scrumptious!

Mother nature must be laughing here too, or snickering... we had very mild, spring-like weather during the day Sunday, then it started raining with a vengeance, then I understand we had a bit of snow. You can't prove it by me though - I was sleeping! However, during the Monday morning commute there were accidents because of black ice.

I like your sneak peeks, I'll have to come back to see the finished projects!

Linda

young by design said...

Wow! Your property is beautiful!! I can see why you get so much work done when you have that gorgeous scenery for inspiration!! Looking forward to the reveals for all your "sneak peeks"!! I, too, like the monochromatic quilt.

Sheila said...

Corn Casserole looks delicious. Pretty fabrics in the HST quilt. What size is that quilt? The shop?
Noah's Ark is very nice! A lot of work there. Are you going to quilt it around the pieces you hand stitched with you sewing machine? Or send it to the long arm?
Can't wait to see your Moda Charm Challenge project to see which charm pack you used.
Sorry about all the questions here, but please tell me about your monochromatic 9 patch quilt. It looks like you used only 4 shades of batiks? I would like to try this one in a greens.

Shannon said...

Mother Nature can be a crazy woman. LOL! The casserole looks great. Your block is so cool.

Samantha said...

My mouth is watering looking at that casserole.... let me know next time you make it- I'll be glad to stop by!

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Woo.....going to have to try that one. Big Mick does a version with green chili's.

Darn now I'm hungry AGAINNNN!

Billie