THIS AND THAT

I received this card from Anya at Hills Creek Quilter. Isn't it just so cute? The note was written on the back. Anya won one of the prizes in my giveaway. My sweetie just couldn't get over the making of this in fabric! His question was "how'd she do that?" Thank you so much Anya!

Yesterday I received this rhubarb from Kelly. It was a very generous amount and so I cut it up, took strawberries out of the freezer and made

strawberry/rhubarb jam. I usually add apples

to make the pectin, but I didn't have any, so the

jam will be a bit runny, but it is yummy to say

the least. the berries were bought from an

Amish farm last year. Alex (granddaughter) and

I were driving home from the lake and actually

turned around to go back and buy the berries as they were just so beautiful. Organically grown, perfect berries. There was a box at the table, all the berries were heaped in the quart containers, and no one in sight. $5.00 for one quart, $20.00 for 5. We bought the 5 quarts, ate one on the way home, made shortcake etc with another and I froze the remaining 3 quarts.

So the berries were added to some of this rhubarb yesterday.

I also made the rhubarb coffee cake, which is really good to taste, but I made it into loaf pans as I wanted to give some to the generous person who let Kelly pick it for me. He will be getting a loaf and a jar of jam too!

Do you ever just not be able to do your quilting stuff? Yesterday, which was supposed to be bridge day, I didn't feel like that either....just too much to do....too many thoughts in my head and too much running around to get into the artistic (???) mode of quilting. So I baked and made jam in the afternoon.

We are not leaving for the cottage this morning due to the inclement weather. It's raining here and there too. It's not much fun arriving at the cottage on a boat that does not have a cover to protect the passengers and their gear. We may rethink this afternoon. I'm ok with it as I am sitting here writing, having coffee and am actually thinking the good stuff and will get some sewing done this morning.

There are a few of my blogmates who are away on vacations, unable to blog or may be in the same funk as I am. It's the weather I think.

Christine at "The cutting edge" made the Cowboy Bread recipe. Have a look on the blogroll and see her photo. It's partly eaten of course as you just can't help yourself when it comes out of the oven.

PROMISED...RHUBARB COFFEE CAKE

RHUBARB COFFEE CAKE...350 oven...9X13 pan...35 minutes baking.

Blend together

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Then add.....

1 cup buttermilk, or sour milk or half sour cream and milk mixture.

To the above add....

2 cups apps flour mixed with 1 tsp soda and 1/2 tsp salt.

Mix together till blended....

Add 2 cups chopped rhubarb (fresh or frozen)

Pour into greased pan.

Mix together....the following

1/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinammon

Sprinkle the above all over the cake evenly

BAKE for 35 minutes.

Now, I am telling you that if you are on a diet....DO NOT AND I MEAN DO NOT MAKE THIS CAKE. One piece is never enough as the brown sugar mixture goes through the cake and OMG it is so good.

I got this recipe from a neighbour who had a lot of rhubarb, had been given the recipe years back and had never tried it....she passed a piece over the fence and asked me what I thought...we both have been making it ever since.

I have a Phillips 4 in 1 processor, with a mixing bowl which I have had for years. It's convertible to processing, mixing and blending too. It slices, dices etc and I actually have two because when we bought the cottage, my youngest son and his wife gave me one for the cottage so that I didn't need to be bringing my favorite small appliance back and forth.

I have used it to blend pizza dough as it also has this attachment, but since I like to knead dough I don't use this very much. However the kids when making the dough will use it.

Today, I am packing up for a month at the cottage and am picking up a bunch of rhubarb from my Kelly who went and got some from a neighbour yesterday. This neighbour has a garden of about 10 X 30ft of just rhubarb....so generous to just supply the neighbourhood with rhubarb for free.

The weather which has been good for the past couple of days is going to deterioate overnight so we may not be leaving till Friday morning, although I will be ready. I'm taking some quilting with me and will be sewing hundreds of 2 7/8 triangle squares to make my new quilt. I'll be good at doing small stuff after this.

YUMMY AND SUPER EASY!

Here is the easiest and yummiest recipe that we make at the cottage.

It's called COWBOY BREAD but I don't know where they got the name. Because I love cinammon spice, years ago while surfing Recipes Only site, this was a recipe posted.

Here it is.

Oven at 375...9 X 13 Pam sprayed pan.

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/3 cups white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup marg. shortening, lard or butter
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinammon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup sour milk, or buttermilk, or left over sour cream (1/2c.&milk)
2 large eggs.

Beat eggs and milk & marg till smooth, add dry ingredients till not lumpy,
Pour into pan...bake for 20 minutes.

Super super easy...This is one of the recipes that the grandkids, boys and girls alike just make at the cottage. If they could read this, they could make it. It usually lasts only till it's cool as it is loved by them all.

I never ice this, sometimes somebody will add butter and maybe a bit of jam to it, but usually the knife stays in the pan and the kids take a piece as they walk by. It's that good.

I don't usually post a recipe, but it is spring and rhubarb is in season so will have to post my all time favorite rhubarb coffee cake tomorrow.

Baking is fun for me and I don't think anyone outside of Canada knows of buttertarts, but here they are a recipe passed down to generation after generation. A bit fussy to make, but once done...oh my so delicious. And they freeze well too.

Hope you enjoy the "Cowboy bread".

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today is the 17th birthday of Courtney, my daughter's little girl. She is now 5'7" and still growing, towering over her mother and her grandmother.

Being the daughter of a daughter, it's quite surprising how much personality she has that is similar to the two of us.

All the good stuff of course. She has drive and ambition, looking to the future of university and her dream of being an olympian. The olympian dream is strong to the point that she isn't home this year because of trials in Welland.

Our Courtney is a good student, is organized and very thoughtful. Her friendships with childhood friends have been long and loyal. She is the apple of her grandfather's eye as she continues on her path of adulthood.

She is also the Easter girl that I made the mystery dress for. Her style will always be simple and classic....that's just her make up. Happy Birthday Courtney!

Mother's day was quiet around here, what with all the kids working or visiting friends, it's not like the old days of huge gatherings. Phone calls came in the morning to see who would be the first to wish mom her day. Ted won it hands down!

I am making 2.78 squares which will be made into triangles using my grandmother's scraps. She saved blues as her favorite colours I think. The blocks have been a challenge, finding the size in the scraps big enough to cut the required fabric.

I'm just making the little triangles, then will add a 4 1/2" square of colour to go with the blues. I don't know what the end design will be....depends on how many triangle squares I end up with.

The storms of the weekend have passed .....of course and the day is beautiful without a cloud in the sky...Isn't that always the way though, rainy weekends and lovely Mondays. There should be a law....no rain on weekends in the spring and summer months.