. . . pin{k}s and needles . . .

. . . i know i should have paid better attention

in mr. steiner's geometry class

my sophomore year . . .

. . . because it was hard to picture

those little wedges of fabric

actually fitting together

to form a teensy dresden plate . . .

. . . and i love polka dots to death . . .

. . . but circles are hard! . . .

{this photo is upside down :( please "read" it japanese style}

. . . and they don't turn out exactly round . . .

{better keep practicing}

. . . and trying to cover it up

doesn't necessarily make it better . . .

. . . but, let's focus on the

cute ric rac instead . . .

. . . or even better . . .

. . . take a look at

these pointy sharp little works of art . . .

. . . which i first saw here and here . . .

. . . and i knew i needed some

for a couple of quilty friends . . .

{her etsy shop is only open on mondays}

. . . seventeen/seven . . .

. . . drew's friend spent a dream summer

"working" at a fancy schmancy myrtle beach resort. . .

. . . she couldn't help noticing

the uncanny resemblance

between this cute little guest . . .

. . . and a much-younger elder romney . . .

. . . who, at that age,

was starting penny's preschool

and sporting a sweet bowl cut . . .

. . . crowned . . .

. . . please refer to me simply as

"your majesty" . . .

. . . even though the crown rests

on my first molar . . .

. . . and it will not

cause a royal stir

if you shake my hand . . .

. . . all i can say is

thank goodness

i can finally chew on either side . . .

credits:

moffat dental lab ~ parts

dr. hatch ~ labor

. . . witch stitchery . . .

. . . if you've been

sewing {slash} crafting

as long as i have . . .

. . . maybe you remember

a {terrible} product

called stich witchery . . .

. . . which was used

to fuse two layers of fabic

to each other . . .

. . . but, you had to

be super careful

cutting out the applique

and the stitch witchery . . .

. . . because, if they didn't

match up exactly . . .

. . . you {slash} i wound up

with sticky goo

all over the iron . . .

. . . which i managed to do

every single time {slash} without fail . . .

. . . stitch witchery was like the evil stepmother . . .

. . . to the beautiful princess wonder under . . .

. . . which is soooooo much better . . .

. . . press onto one fabric . . .

. . . cut out your shape . . .

. . . peel off the paper backing . . .

. . . then iron to second fabric . . .

. . . drastic improvement . . .

. . . anyhow . . .

. . . wonder under and i

bonded {pun!} this week . . .

. . . and it's amazing how much

blanket and {slash} or chain stitching

you can get done . . .

. . . while waiting for a z-pak to kick in . . .

. . . oh, and by the way . . .

. . . i'll take mine in

a size nine {wide} please . . .

. . . i'll have the chicken salad . . .

. . . with a side of memories . . .

. . . the year was 1979 - february . . .

. . . i was newly engaged

and home from byu

for a long weekend . . .

. . . hello? . . .

. . . how in the world

do you plan an april 19th wedding

{in ariziona}

when school ends on april 16th

{in provo}? . . .

. . . during that weekend,

my future mother-in-law

invited my mom and me

to a "ladies luncheon" . . .

. . . also invited were

my soon-to-be sisters-in-law

and gramma jenny . . .

. . . i remember the menu exactly . . .

• chicken ~ rice salad on a bed of lettuce •

• crinkle cut carrot sticks •

• the best homemade rolls i've ever eaten •

• raspberry jello salad with sour cream and pecans •

. . . everything was so delicious . . .

{even though i felt nervous and intimidated}

. . . we dined surrounded by sleek, contemporary, mirrored, red beauty . . .

{i guess i figured everyone grew up

with early american/traditional decorating,

like me}

l-r/clockwise: kathy, nicki, connie, debbie, gramma jenny,

mom romney, diane, me and my perm

. . . unfortunately, i don't have a photo from 1979 . . .

. . . this one's circa 1987 . . .

{eight years and three kids later}

. . . but, all these cute people

{minus connie/plus my mom}

attended that luncheon

where i first ate this salad . . .

. . . i HAD to get the recipe . . .

. . . which i

a} hand wrote

b} on lined paper

c} in cursive

d} still have the original

. . . i have since shared many times . . .

. . . here from a lovely luncheon at the wright house . . .

. . . here from a collection of

"what in the world am i supposed to do

with all the rice in my food storage?"

recipes from a homemaking night . . .

. . . yes, it was still "homemaking" at the time . . .

. . . and here in a {not so great} photo . . .

. . . remember ~ best foods mayonnaise and overnight chilling . . .

. . . try it . . .

. . . maybe you'll make some memories, too . . .

{please excuse blog neglect ~

i've been sidelined with a dumb upper respiratory infection . . .

why can't i just get a cold and get over it like normal people?}

. . . {not} gourmet cooking . . .

. . . for a little *gno/fhe . . .

{to translate or not to translate?}

. . . the daughters and i went to see julie & julia . . .

{dan aykroyd's snl cameo was the best part}

. . . which as far as mother/daughter activities go,

is currently all the rage . . .

. . . dinner beforehand was certainly no boeuf bourguignon

. . . but, in my defense {spoiler alert!} i didn't burn it, either . . .

. . . have you ever tried these middle eastern flatbreads? . . .

. . . you can get them at your local arabian joe's . . .

{you're such a jokester, joe}

. . . i think it's funny that there're nine {random} in a package . . .

. . . anyway, this dinner isn't rocket science . . .

. . . but it is the way to a son-in-law's heart . . .

. . . just season/grill/dice a few chicken breasts or tenders . . .

. . . shred some romaine lettuce . . .

. . . toss with caesar dressing . . .

. . . warm flat bread in a hot skillet . . .

. . . fill with chicken and dressed lettuce . . .

. . . top with freshly grated parmesan cheese . . .

. . . eat like a giant soft taco/chalupa . . .

*girls night out/family {out of the} home evening

. . . great clips . . .

. . . contrary to the way it looks . . .

. . . this overgrown shrub is not in the yard

of some abandoned home . . .

. . . oh, no ~ it's mine ~~ all mine . . .

. . . but it WAS in need of some TLC . . .

. . . which gave me blisters . . .

. . . also, i think my yard guy lied to me . . .

. . . he told me to keep watering

my potted geraniums . . .

. . . even though they look like ____ . . .

{death}

. . . he says that deep inside, they're alive . . .

. . . and when it cools off . . .

. . . i should prune them {a lot} . . .

. . . and they'll come back stronger than ever . . .

. . . still, except for MAYBE this one . . .

. . . i think he lied . . .

. . . and if i lived outside, i'd die, too . . .

. . . i spy with my little eye . . .

. . . we have winners! . . .

. . . these cute little bundles all wrapped up with recycled ribbon . . .

. . . coming soon to four mail boxes . . .

. . . first the disclaimer:

. . . poor nancy . . .

. . . her computer wouldn't cooperate

and let her leave a comment,

so she kindly emailed me instead . . .

. . . and i added her into the comments

according to the timestamp on her email . . .

. . . she fits in at number eight . . .

. . . then good ol' random.org did the picking . . .

. . . drumroll, please . . .

. . . michelle {number seven}. . .

. . . katee {number twelve}. . .

. . . nancy ~ do you have a blog? ~ {number eight} . . .

. . . and beth {number thirteen} . . .

. . . it's your lucky day . . .

p.s. whoever "shows" me their finished i spy quilt top first gets a bonus prize

. . . and let's just say it involves literally hundreds of teeny tiny precut triangles . . .

think "border"

{see photo of my quilt in previous post}

. . . may the best quilter win . . .

. . . thanks for playing . . .

. . . winners ~ i'll be in touch . . .

. . . recipes i stole from other people . . .

. . . of course i don't make this stuff up . . .

. . . and i'm happy to give credit where credit is due . . .

. . . so, the first half of this week's edition of

what's for dinner

is brought to you by . . .

. . . semi-homemade ~ as seen on the food network . . .

{to tell you the truth, sandra lee makes me a little crazy,

but her kitchen/matching outfits on every show

will boggle your mind ~ really!}

. . . anyway . . .

. . . try this recipe from sandra herself . . .

{it's not pie}

spicy coleslaw

• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1 {16-oz} package coleslaw mix {carrots, green & purple cabbage}
• kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper

in a large bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, and hot sauce

add coleslaw blend and toss to coat

season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

refrigerate one hour before serving

. . . obviouly, coleslaw,

in and of itself,

is not that exciting,

but lime juice and hot sauce

really wakes up the flavor . . .

. . . i use cholula hot sauce since:

a} it's a staple at our house

b} there's an awesome senora/senorita {you never know!} on the label, and

c} it comes with a cool wooden knob for a lid . . .

. . . then, you're gonna wanna use your spicy coleslaw

to top what's in the crock•pot . . .

delicious/deluxe/delectable barbecue beef

• 2 lbs boneless top sirloin steaks
• 1 medium onion, diced
• a little olive oil
• kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper

secret sauce {from this girl's new mother-in-law} which is:

• one small yellow can of el pato tomato sauce +
• one small bottle of sweet baby ray's barbecue sauce

put all that stuff in the crock•pot for about 6 hours

{mine cooked from frozen solid for 6 hours on high}

then, shred it

. . . it was divine

and it looked like this . . .

. . . after i put it on a toasted cheesy kaiser roll . . .

. . . and when i say "a toasted cheesy kaiser roll", . . .

. . . i mean an enormous toasted cheesy kaiser roll . . .

. . . the cool, creamy, tangy, slightly spicy coleslaw

is the perfect complement to the saucy barbecued beef . . .

{had to look up whether it was complEment or complIment!}

. . . i highly recommend it . . .

. . . p.s. there's still {a little} time left

to enter to win the i spy charm squares . . .

. . . see previous post . . .

. . . you don't have to rewrite song lyrics to win,

but wow! pam{ela} . . .

. . . a+ for effort girlfriend! . . .