Have you ever wanted a little sweet after a meal or had someone drop by for tea or coffee and had nothing to serve with it?  Making a cake would take time and then you would have a big cake to eat.  There goes your plan of a diet. Here is your answer.  The 3-2-1 cake.

Purchase three cake mixes.  One must be Angle Food and the other two whatever you like, yellow, white, lemon, strawberry, etc.  I used a white cake mix and a chocolate cake mix.

Place half of Angel cake mix into two containers.  I divide it by scooping mix out with a 1/2 cup measuring cup and placing every other cupfull in oposite containers.  Depending on the cake mix, it will be about 1 1/2 cups for each container.  Or you could measure the whole mix and divide by half.

Divide the other two mixes in half.   Place half of each cake mix into containers with the Angel food cake mix.  The other half goes back into the box for now.

Shake containers to mix cake mixes.

To make the cake – Place in a mug –  3 Tablespoons mix   2 Tablespoons water Mix with a fork and microwave for one minute.

To make the cake extra special, you can add one to two teaspoons of yummy things.  Cherries with chocolate cake.  Blueberries with lemon cake.  Chocolate chips and nuts with white cake. Different spices, coconut, dried fruit. Anything that you have in your cupboard.  It does take 2 -3 seconds longer to bake with add ons.

What to do with the left over mix.  You could make a one layer cake or cupcakes or you could bake cookies.,……..

Basic recipe for cake mix cookies

This is for the leftover mix in the bag, not the combined mix for cake.

4 Tbsp olive oil    1 egg   1/2 box of cake mix  mix together.  Place by Tablespoons on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. You can add yummy things as above.

Ashley’s favorite yummy cookies – To the basic recipe for white or yellow cake mix, add 1/2 c raisins, 1/2 c chopped dates.  1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg and 1/4 tsp ginger.

I bought a little cookie scoop and it makes the cookies all the same size.  It looks like a baby ice cream scoop.

Have a great day .

Enjoy your cookies and cake.

 

 

 

 

The seed catalogues have been coming in the mail.  Time to order from Wildseed Farms which is the only catalogue that I order from. This year, I will order wild flower seed for New England, Cosmos, and sunflowers.  I no longer plant vegetables , except herbs and tomatoes.  I can get everything that I need at the Farmer’s Market.  That way, I can buy just enough for one and the Dexer market has the best fresh veggies and herbs.  Also home made bread and other great things.   I can hardly wait for the brocolini.  Yummy.

February is also the time to root the geraniums for the gardens.  I was able to save three from last summer so should have lots to plant when it is time.

Have you thought about using flower garden pictures for quilt colors?  

Who would think to put pink and yellow or orange and purple in a quilt.  Green is a neutral color.  It pulls everything together. A splash of white would be wonderful.   Just remember to use lights, mediums  and very darks of each color for contrast.  Check the seed catalogues for other color schemes.

Kat Tucker designed this quilt.  It was in celebration of Cananda’s 150th anniversary.  We received three blocks for 50 weeks along with the story of a Canadian Women,  The quilt was supposed to be red and white, but I decided to make it in blue and white.  It was so exciting to open the e-mail each Tuesday and receive the patterns.  Thanks Kat.

The quilt is almost finished.  It is hand quilted and I have just two more evenings of quilting to finish the border.  Then on to the binding.  

I hand quilt just a bit different than most hand quilters.  My thumb is actually in the right spot for my quilting. I quilt in my lap without a hoop.   I rock the fabric, not the needle.  My right hand holds the quilt against my leg for proper tension.  I can see if the stitches are small enough or even enough before I push the needle through with a thimble.  My under finger does not get cut with the needle.   I learned this technique from Marj Murphy at the Vermont Quilt festival years ago.

February 2018

I challenged myself to finish one UFO a week.  So far, this year, I am up to date.  Of course, I am finishing easy ones.  The challenge will be harder to complete when the more complicated pieces come up.  I have found UFOs all around the house and in the attic.  There must be some reason that I start a new piece before I finish the one I’m working on.

I found a  UFO in a basket.  It was the sample when I gave a demo at the Capital Quilters Guild about flange binding.  The binding was partially sewn on and very easy to finish.  Sunbonnet sue is “trick or treating” and having a great time in an angel costume.  There is no hand sewing for flange binding.  It adds a nice touch to the wall hanging.  Now to find another easy one for next week.

 

 

My daughter came to visit today and I gave her a beautiful hand-made quilt.

Quilting is my passion. I would like to share my adventures in quilting with others.   Miss Molly is my 10 year old Wire Fox Terrier.  She is my quality control inspector and personally inspects every quilt.

I hate to cook. I used to love cooking when I could cook for a big crowd. Now that I cook for one, I am searching for great recipes to get my love of cooking back.  Travel with me along this journey.