Mystery Revealed

Here is the paper pieced top of Paper Panache's Nativity Advent Quilt.

25 blocks, at least 2.5 hrs each = 62.5+ hours invested to date. Call me crazy.  22" by 34"

In my opinion, there are two publisher errors in the pattern. With something this complicated, the only errors should be mine.

He's a superb cook!

I'm braggin' on #1 son and his girlfriend. We ate delicious gumbo (Paula Dean's Seafood Gumbo) and roasted broccoli, followed by koeksisters! Koeksisters are a South African confection, a kind of a braided doughnut steeped in syrup. Difficult to get just right and time consuming to make. They were delicious! I am thoroughly impressed.

When I was living in the dorm at my university in South Africa, we were instructed not to "koeksister", which meant we should not entwine ourselves with, but keep a respectful distance from any amorous young man! I wonder if they still instruct the young ladies about that.

Mystery update: 24 done, one to go. Picture to follow.

Mystery and the mystery of cornbread.

23 down, 2 to go.

No good food news today. My oldest son is turning 28 tomorrow. He has invited us to dinner for the first time ever! He is a good cook, so I am looking forward to our get together. He asked me to bring one thing - cornbread. Simple? Apparently not. I decided to pit Alton Brown against Jiffy. Alton was a little softie at heart and Jiffy got sunburned. Oh well, it will do the son good to know his mom isn't perfect :) Updates on the protege's efforts tomorrow.

Mystery and Mash

22 down, 3 to go.

We had bangers and mash for dinner. Tried a recipe from Guy Fieri - "Adam's Apple Mashed Potatoes."
Garlic mashed potatoes with chopped apple. The hubby and I both liked it. Maybe you will too.

Mystery

21 down, 4 to go.

Angus the scrounge

Chloe, our 20 yr old gal, needs food several times a day, cause she only eats a little at a time. Angus, who doesn't need one single extra calorie, wants to help Chloe clean her plate. So he sidles up to her and acts all coy, thinking no one will see him. But of course we do and shoo him off. Occasionally he gets to lick the spoon, but only if he holds it himself :)

We tried Southwestern Shepherds Pie from last Sunday's Parade magazine for dinner last night. It was pretty good. Seasoned with cumin, cinnamon, jalapeños and garlic of course, studded with corn and tomatoes (didn't have the black beans on hand) and sweet potatoes i.s.o white. It was prettier before we dove into it, but then you wouldn't have been able to see the inside!

A walk in the park plus ice cream.

It was such a beautiful day, we took the dogs for a walk in Webb Bridge Park. There is a pond there. Knowing that Donna likes to paddle, we took her to the waters edge. She immediately waded in and next thing was up to her neck in water. Poor thing looked rather surprised. When we looked closely, we saw that they have a ledge of stones under the water that drops off. Not immediately visible especially with sunglasses on.
Afterward, we all wanted ice cream, so went to a new place recently opened by friends of friends. It's called "Ice Cream Social," on 141 just west of 400. Delicious coffee ice cream with chocolate pieces for me and the hubby, and vanilla for the pups. The pups' wasn't free like at Brusters. 

Here's a picture of Donna on a different day showing how much she likes the water. Unfortunately it had rained. And by the time we got home, the inside of the van looked like it had been given a mud pack spa treatment!