Happy Valentine's Day!

As you know by now my hutch is the first seasonal change I make. I was going to put away everything winter after New Year's Day but since the snow started coming a little later than usual this year I decided to keep the snow theme going a little while longer.

So I've incorporated Valentine's Day in with everything else going on in my house.

I told my friend at the gym last month that I think we're going to get away with no snow this year. He said wait till February! He sure was right!

One of the night's we were snowed in I took this photo from inside my bay window. The snow completely covered the steep front steps leading to our front door.

So what do the ladies who love to quilt do on a snow day? WE QUILT!!! Bring on more snow days!!!!

Last summer when I was at City Quilter in Manhattan I bought a Moda "Summer" jelly roll. I didn't know at the time that it would have been a good idea to buy another similar complimentary jelly roll so I could incorporate both together in a quilt block. Now of course I'm on the hunt for another suitable jelly roll. So, because I'm all over the lot with quilt projects I started "liking" jelly rolls on Facebook. And we all know once you "like" something on FB you get a ton of those kinds of posts. It's all good though because this gem came up. At one of our quilt meetings I shared it with my buddies and we actually stayed quiet long enough to watch it!

Here's the link again! I could watch this over and over. Sue and I got so excited watching it we ran out and bought the rotating quilt mat! BTW-that's a great advertisement for the $50 mat!!!

Amazing Jelly Roll Quilt Pattern by 3 Dudes!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5Ixvjje310

Aug 25, 2011 - Uploaded by MissouriQuiltCo

Jen actually made this beauiful table topper after watching the video!

So what's the next best thing to do when you're snowed in?

You got it! Bake cookies! My dad's favorite cookie was oatmeal raisin. I had such a desire for them when the snow hit last week I decided to make them. That was a mistake because I couldn't stop eating them!

The recipe used to be on the lid of the large round Sunmaid raisin box but now that they've changed the packaging I haven't seen that size. Here's the online version:

Classic Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Raisin oatmeal cookies are one of the most popular cookies in America. This all-time favorite is easy to make and is a fun activity to do with kids.

Preparation time: About 10 minutes
Baking time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup softened butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 cup Sun-Maid Natural Raisins
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

HEAT

BEAT

COMBINE

ADD

STIR

BAKE

COOL

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

NOTE: Sue dips her cooled cookies in melted white chocolate. I have done that and they are to die for!

So last weekend we started celebrating Valentine’s Day early. We had a house full of people for dinner Sunday night and Kristen made these delicious cherry chocolate brownies for dessert. Here’s where Pinterest comes in handy. She looked through my Dessert board and found these. They are soooo wonderful. They taste just like a hot fudge sundae. You don’t even need the ice cream although of course we had it!

Cherry Chocolate Brownies Recipe

APRIL 3, 2013 BY STACIE 49 COMMENTS

Cherries are not just for sundaes! CherryMan has a bunch of sweet and even a few savory recipes you can make using their cherries. The first recipe I wanted to try was the Cherry Chocolate Brownies. They are moist and chewy and full of sweet maraschino cherry goodness. You can also add nuts, but I left them out of my recipe. Top with some vanilla ice cream or eat them plain, these Cherry Chocolate Brownies make a scrumptious (and seriously simple) dessert.