In the Hive

This one cuts holly leaves and berries!

Thank goodness for my Accuquilt! It's the best purchase I have made in a while! I wish I could get all the dies! I have another 64 triangles to cut and my retreat project should be ready to go for our trip! This is the project I will be working on!

We had some buttermilk I needed to use up. What better for snack than buttermilk biscuits, a bit of butter, and some honey! MMM. Buttermilk Biscuits Source: Elizabeth Powell (24 biscuits) 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 ½ tablespoons double-acting baking powder ¾ teaspoon baking soda ¾ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons sugar ¾ cup butter, cold 1 large egg, slightly beaten ¾ cup buttermilk Sift dry ingredients together. Cut butter into tablespoons and, with a pastry blender, blend into dry ingredients until mixture resembles cornmeal. Stir 1/2 cup buttermilk into beaten egg and add mixture to flour mixture. Stir quickly, adding remainder of buttermilk as necessary until dough forms a ball. Turn onto floured surface and knead once. Let dough rest for a minute, then roll out to 3/4' thickness. Cut into 2' rounds. Place biscuits on buttered baking sheet, 1" apart. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown. NOTES : For cheese biscuits: When kneading dough, knead in 1/2 cu...

Did some more gardening today, and still cutting for my upcoming quilt retreat project. I made this recipe tonight for dinner: Debdoozie's Blue Ribbon Chili Source: Allrecipes.com (8 servings) 2 lbs. lean ground beef ½ onion, chopped 1 teaspoon ground black pepper ½ teaspoon garlic salt 2 ½ cups tomato sauce 8 ounces salsa 4 tablespoons chili seasoning mix 15 ounces light red kidney beans, drained 15 ounces dark red kidney beans, drained 1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the ground beef and the onion and saute for 10 minutes, or until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain grease, if desired. 2. Add the ground black pepper, garlic salt, tomato sauce, salsa, chili seasoning mix and kidney beans. Mix well, reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour. I drained the beans before adding to recipe. 8.75 ounces per serving

Almond Cookies Source: Martha Stewart (24 servings) 1 cup blanched almonds, whole, toasted ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature ¾ cup sugar 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest ¾ teaspoon almond extract, optional 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt (To toast almonds, preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toast almonds until lightly golden and fragrant, about 6 minutes. Remove from sheet; let cool completely.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Reserve about 24 almonds (1/4 cup) for garnish. Place remaining almonds in a food processor; pulse just until finely ground (do not overprocess). Set aside. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add whole egg, orange zest, and almond extract (if using), scraping down sides of bowl as necessary; beat until smooth. In another bowl, whisk t...

Weeding, planting, baking, cleaning, cutting fabrics.....I will check back in soon!

We found that out when went by Philly Pretzel today and they were giving away free pretzels! National Pretzel Day When : Always April 26th National Pretzel Day celebrates pretzels of all shapes and sizes. How do you like your pretzel? Thick or thin? Straight or twisted? Crisp and crunchy, or soft? Salted, unsalted, mustard flavored, perhaps? There's no shortage of types of pretzels. If you are having trouble deciding which ones, we suggest you mix a bunch of different types of pretzels in a big bowl, and grab a handful, or two, or three, or..... Did you know? Pretzels are believed to be the world's oldest snack. Pretzels date back to 610AD in Southern France. Monks baked thin strips of dough into the shape of a child's arms folded in prayer. Add a little salt, and Voila! ...the pretzel industry was born. Do you know how to celebrate National Pretzel Day? We thought so!

Kutztown University offered AJ a full scholarship and he just got news that Weis is also giving him a scholarship!

I picked up some annuals today! -- Honeybee Quilter on the road

Karl was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society last night! Congratulations Karl!

I love this Red Rooster print a friend picked up for me!

I found a new bee fabric the other day and I got a FQ bundle of Marcus Brothers Seneca shirtings!

I had leftover buttermilk to use up today! This came out delicious! Raisin Buttermilk Coffee Cake Source: Country Woman (32 servings) Topping: 1 cup packed brown sugar 1 cup chopped nuts ⅓ cup butter or margarine, melted 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon Batter: ½ cup butter or margarine, softened 1 ½ cups sugar 2 eggs 3 cups all-purpose flour 4 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 2 cups buttermilk 1 cup raisins 1. In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Stir in raisins. Spread half of the batter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Sprinkle with half of the crumb mixture. Carefully spread with remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or ...

This time Michael brought me home .... and himself, course!

I finished binding this last night. It was quilted a while ago, but my wrist has been giving me trouble lately. This is my Chocolate Chip Cookie quilt. I named it that because I had a nice picture of chocolate chip cookies I found on the internet (see below). I took that photo and ran it through my software, which in turn gave me a print out of the colors - kind of like a paint chip strip - and I took that to my stash to pick fabrics with!

Saw this tree on our walk. -- Honeybee Quilter on the road

My friends picked me up some new treasures on a recent roadtrip. LOVE the bee fabric!

I love seeing the daffodils at this farm near us every Spring! Click for a closer look!

This die cuts flower rings, but I also thought it was neat to layer it on top of a circle!

Michael is off to California (again). Today the pilot did not show up for the first flight, so Mike's departure was delayed by 2 hours. That delay made him miss his connecting flight in Phoenix. He had to sit in the airport for 3 or so hours until the next flight was available! Not much sewing today, I had two friends who needed computer help. I did make the BOM for guild though!

The hubby and boys treated Mom and cooked Easter Dinner!! It came out great! Nice job! Thomas fooled around during dinner and stuck corn on his teeth (see below). Since they took care of dinner, I had time to sash my quilt - (see below)! What a corny guy! Sashing!

I put the green sides on my blocks....

Michael brought me fabric home from California again...I have him visit a different store this time since he leaves again soon!

I am thinking about how I want to eventually set these stack and whack blocks together. I have a couple of options I am thinking about so far...

I am still fascinated by the stack and whack quilts so today I did this print, in squares instead of hexagons .... I have more I can cut up, but I am not sure how many I want to do!

Andrew went on a class trip to Washington DC and saw a taping of Face the Nation!

Today is Tommy's actually birthday. He asked me to get him donuts to make the number 10 to celebrate! Happy Birthday Thomas!

My friends brought over a chocolate cream pie from wegmans for a treat, too bad Michael is in Bakersfield again!

The day Thomas was born, our tulips bloomed. Tomorrow is his birthday and our first tulip has popped up despite the cold and threats of rain and snow showers! -- Honeybee Quilter on the road

Row 1 is done, but not without some reworking. I thought I could add the geese as I went to each block. Lo and behold, no they MUST be added as a whole strip! So, I had to remove at the geese from the blocks I had pieced and assembled earlier and re-sew them. I will have to warn the ladies at the shop so they don't make the same mistake.

Basa Swai with Lemon Pepper Ingredients ½ cup Italian dressing or white wine 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice ½ teaspoon Black Pepper ¼ teaspoon Dill ¼ teaspoon Rosemary ¼ teaspoon Dry Mustard Dash of salt Method Marinade the fish (overnight preferred but a few hours at the least). Wrap it in 2-3 layers of foil. Grill for approximately 15-20 minutes. It is done when it separates easily with a fork.

We had to have Thomas' cake a bit early since Andrew was leaving town today and Daddy is flying back to California this week! This year Thomas asked for a Vanilla Sheet Cake.

New Year, New Rabbit. So it begins ... Thomas is on patrol!