HOW HOT WAS IT?

"I keep my end tables full of needlework and quilting so I don't have to dust them"
                                                                          ~author unknown

Ice Cream Truck In Bakersfield Yesterday

This is how hot it was in Bakersfield yesterday.   I was sent this picture via email and knew that I just had to share it.  It really did feel this hot yesterday.  Officially our high was 111', but in my backyard we reached 112'!!!!!!  I know I said I wasn't going to complain, but come on now!  I only ventured outside to feed my bird friends and to collect the mail.  So, this is my picture for the day.  I hope it made you chuckle.

I thought today would be a good day to do a nail laquer review.  I recently gave myself a mani in China Glaze Street Racing.  I know it's not a new color, but then, I have only started doing my nails about a month ago and several years of naked nails.  This is a much brighter color than I normally wear but the color in the bottle was just irresistable.  I think this color could be worn in both summer and winter.  The best description I can provide for Street Racing is it is reddish with a rosy gold metallic.  It's not quite a duochrome but it does show two different tones in different lighting. 

Outside it picks up more of the deep red and definitely shows the golden shimmer

In the shade, it has a softer look appearing more orangey

And, then under indoor lighting, it picks up both the deep red with highlights of a warm orange

I used my normal 3 coats and a top coat.  Speaking of top coat, not long ago my daughter made a comment on her blog how the polish she used "shrunk" (you can see this example at Kitschy Suburbia).  It looked like it had several days of wear at the tips after just a couple of hours.  One of her followers asked her if she used Seche Vite top coat, and she had.  The follower stated that the Seche was probably the cause of the shrinkage.  After reading that, I thought maybe that is why my manis always look worn at the tips after just 24 hours.  So, with my lates mani (not the ones in the pictures) I switched to China Glaze No-Chip top coat.  I still topped it off with Zoya's hurry up speed dry drops, but this time my mani still is looking worn at the tips and it's been over two days and lots of time on the keyboard.  So I'm thinking there is something to 'shrinkage' and the Seche Vite.  Have any of you had a similar experience?

Only a couple of more days to enter my first giveaway! 

Another chance for the Accuquilt GO! Cutter can be found at Sew Many Ways...  hurry on over and enter for a chance to win (or not, so maybe I could win - lol!)

One more AccuQuilt GO! Giveaway. Check out Sweet P Quilting and Creations to enter!

Do you like aprons?  Bobby over at A Vision to Remember is having a great giveaway!

Do you know of any other giveaways that you would like me to include?  Drop me a line and I will try to post them in future postings.

Off to The Village Grill for lunch - definitely a good thing.  Not sitting out on the patio today because I don't care how much shade there is, it will not be cool.  Not much else doing around here.  Still working on the blue and brown quilt and stitching the Christmas Stocking.  Stay cool and keep creating!

Comfort Food Via The Slow Cooker

"I really don't dislike to cook, but what you cook is eaten so quickly.  When you sew, you have something that will last to show for your efforts"

                                                                            ~Elizabeth Travis Johnson

It's Tuesday!  I was actually able to get about four hours of hand sewing in on my Hawaiian Quilt yesterday.  I hope to get in more today.  I did have to take some time off to give myself a mani since my nails had been naked since Saturday afternoon.  I went with a new color for me, Zoya Clara.  I will post pics on that at a later date. 

I have been following the tutorial from Jaybird Quilts on hand sewing hexies.  She is giving a wonderful step by step tutorial!  I haven't started mine yet as I'm waiting on an order of Quilt Patis Hexagon Templates.  I had ordered them for a shop here in California but they were back ordered and finally said that I should try ordering them straight from the creator.  So today I called the "Home of the Original Quilt Patis" and placed an order and was told they will ship out tomorrow!  I can't wait.  Of course, I should probably finish the hand sewing on my current project before starting another.  I am going to be strict with myself and make myself finish the Hawaiian Quilt before beginning the hexies (well, I'm going to try really, really hard).

Here is today's photo:

This is a cactus on my back porch that I inherited from my friend, Garry.  I have no idea what variety it is so I am unable to give you any facts on the cute little plant.  If any of you know the variety, drop me a line and let me know, please.

Today I thought I would share a recipe with you.  One day last week I decided I really could use some comfort food and what better and easier way to prepare that than in the slow cooker.  This recipe comes from my favorite slow cooker cookbook "Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook".   I did alter the recipe slightly from the original.

Pork Chops and Mushrooms

Ingredients:
4 boneless pork chops, 1/2-inch thick
1 medium onion, sliced
4-oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
10 3/4-oz can golden cream of mushroom soup
3 tablespoons red wine

Here's what I used

Directions:
1.  Place pork chops in greased slow cooker. Top with onions and mushrooms.

2.  Combine soup mix, Worcestershire sauce, red wine, and mushroom soup. Pour over mushrooms.

3.  Cover. Cook on Low 6 to 8 hours.

Pork chops in my slow cooker

Pork chops with the mushrooms and onions on top

Pork chops with the soup mixture on top

This is so easy and smells so good cooking for most of the day.  The meat is extremely tender and my hubby loves all of the mushrooms (I scrape mine off - not a mushroom fan).  I served this with mashed potatoes.

My mother turned me onto to these frozen packaged mashed potatoes called Ore Isa Steam n' Mash Garlic Seasoned Potatoes. 

You just pop the whole unopened bag of potatoes in the microwave and follow the directions for cooking.  When finished cooking, dump them in a bowl and add some milk.  With minimal mashing, you have real mashed potatoes without all of the hassle of boiling the potatoes, endless mashing and trying to get the milk to potatoes ratio just right.  The one hint my mother did suggest was to warm the milk before adding it to the potatoes (the package doesn't tell you to do this) so that way your potatoes don't cool down from cold milk.  You might want to give them a try some time.

I have decided to join in Amy's Creative Side "One Thing, One Week Challenge".  My goal this week is to get at least half way through the hand stitching on my Hawaiian Quilt.  So today is a fairly short blog today as I want to get an earlier start on my Hawaiian Quilt.  I hope all of you are getting accomplished what you hoped to do this week - at least so far. 

And, of course, don't forget to enter my first GIVEAWAY!  The winner will be announced Monday!

Ta-ta for Tuesday!

Three-Cheese Potatoes - Yum & A Beautiful Summer Color

Today is Tuesday...terrific, terrible, tremendous, terrifying, it's your choice.  Monday certainly flew by but I did manage to get some things accomplished.  My house cleaner was here yesterday, so I'm enjoying a nice clean house with no dust on the furniture or doggy bunnies (my form of dust bunnies) floating around.  I am remembering to enjoy the summer heat by bringing you another picture from my yard.

Gerbera Daisy - pink spider

Today I thought I would share a great side dish with you that won't even heat up your kitchen.  We had this over the weekend and my husband kept saying "This is a redo!"  It tastes a lot like twice baked potatoes without as much work.  They were soooooooo good!  Can't say they are heart healthy, however.  Here it is:

Three-Cheese Potatoes

Ingredients:
3 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced chives
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup crumbled cooked bacon
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
1.  In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Transfer to a double thickness of greased heavy-duty foil (about 18 inches square). Dot with butter. Fold foil around potato mixture and seal tightly. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 30-35 minutes or until potatoes are tender, turning once.

2.  Carefully open foil. Sprinkle bacon and mozzarella and cheddar cheeses over potato mixture. Reseal foil and grill 3 to 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Personal Notes:
1.  I used only 2 potatoes and will still get 4 servings out of this
2.  I didn't have chives and can't say they were missed
3.  I used bacon crumbles like you use for salads
4.  I forgot to tell the barbecue chef (my husband) to turn the potatoes once but they turned out just fine, so turning is not a necessity

Ingredients (can you tell only one of the potatoes has been cleaned?)

Sliced potatoes

Potatoes in foil after butter has been drizzled on them

Potatoes all wrapped up and ready to go out to the grill

I served the potatoes with steak and asparagus

I hope you give these a try.  Let me know if you enjoyed them as much as we did!

I tried a new polish recently - Zoya Calypso.  What a wonderful summer color.  And I even received a couple of compliments on it over the weekend.  It lasted fairly well as I had applied it on Tuesday and didn't remove it until Sunday.  It did have a little wear at the tips, which is expected, but no chipping.

Zoya Calypso outside in sunshine

Zoya Calypso - inside under fluorescent light

I really liked this one and will use it again before the end of the summer (which is not until the end of September here).  You can wear Calypso with almost any color clothing and not worry about clashing.

Don't forget about my first giveaway, just click the link. 

Here are a few more giveaways to check out:

Leona is giving away: 60 -  4 1/2" tropical squares, a pattern, an easy scallop ruler, and a June Taylor fancy fleece ruler. Winner announced August 31st

Christina is giving away: Craft size Warm and Natural packaged batting, 50 curved Dritz quilt basting pins, Fons and Porter grippy gloves, a package of Schmetz size 90/14 quilting needles, and a spool of YLI machine quilting thread - all in preparation for her instruction on machine quilting. Ends August 21st

Also a reminder about my daughter's giveaway of a $40 gift card from CSN stores - visit her blog today, as her giveaway ends Saturday!

Off to work on some quilting, a little cross stitching, and perhaps some crocheting while watching tv tonight. Ta-ta for Tuesday!