It's Recipe Time!

Well, it is fall after all!  So my post on FB and here are mainly about bagging leaves!  HA  I'm not sure what else I have been putting in a lot of effort in but....leaves are one chore!  This is the last tree in our yard that needs to drop its leaves!  I am sure our neighbor is looking forward to not seeing them in their yard (that's there house behind the tree!).  Bob and I do rake in their yard to pick up leaves.  We try to be a good neighbor!

The other, so called chore, is  making new recipes from the web site Half Baked Harvest!  I love her recipes and have two of her books.  If you enjoy trying new recipes, sign up for her emails.  I'm posting just a few of the ones I've made over the past few months...YUM!

Rosemary Chicken and Avocado Bacon Pitas with Honey Feta Sauce:  Don't let the Feta throw you if you're not a fan.  I used 2 ounces of Feta and 1/2 cup sour cream!  Perfect!  This was excellent!

Crockpot crispy chicken tinga tacos with Jalapeno Avocado Crema:  Another excellent meal!!!  OMG...so good!!!!  Yes, I love her Mexican recipes...one more coming!

Weeknight Cheesy Baked Chipotle Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch:  Similar to above but also SO good!!!

Slow Cooker Mustard herb Chicken and creamy Orzo:  I used rice (I made ahead) instead of Orzo and sour cream instead of heavy cream.  Another winner!!!

Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast:  OK, I cheated and just used a store bought spinach dip for the filling!  This was delicious!!!  I only used one chicken breast (large) which I cut in half then sliced half for the stuffing.  Not a Harvest recipe either....

I still had a small piece of chicken left over so  I made Bob a gourmet sandwich tonight!  I put some Jalapeno jelly on once side of a ciabatta bread, one slice of white cheddar cheese, some sliced apples and the left over piece of chicken (sliced).   (I used Ciabatta Roll - take & bake - you bake room temp roll for 5 min.  After it cooled, I added ingredients then wrapped in foil and kept in warm oven for about 10 min.)  YUM!!!

One Pan Maple Dijon chicken and Butternut Squash:  This was so easy to prep in the a.m. and just toss the squash in oven first, then I put the chicken on the opposite side of the squash (her recipe says to lay chicken on top of squash but I wanted them separate!).  This wasn't from Half Baked Harvest....but really a good recipe! 

I am also knitting a row now and then!  Christmas target date??  I hope~!

ENJOY being Betty Crocker!  Do let me know if you made one or more of the recipes!!! 

Fall is here!

One of our trees in the front yard...
yes, our leaves blow into our
neighbors yard (white van)..we do
try to rake as many as we can!  Have
to be neighborly, right!

 And that means it's time to start bagging leaves again!  We only bagged 3 today...beautiful weather here in Michigan the past few days...temps from 60-75!  Yesterday, we were going to rake leaves but it was so windy I just cut back my hosta plants in the back yard.  I don't normally cut them back until spring but we have bunnies that like to visit our yard at night and the dogs go crazy!

I have been busy the past month helping with our Friends group prepare for our book sale, which was a great success!  We raised around $1000, which isn't bad at all!!  Our next sale won't be until spring so we'll have somewhat of a break!

In between time, I'm still knitting..although, I did go 6 days without touching my needles!  The pics below show some of the progress...I'm only on row 30 or 31 or 69 rows!  And the color isn't really showing up it's true color...This was my start.....

And this is a closeup of the funky SPIKELET stitch...those little bobbles!  

It has a similar ruffle neckline as my first lace top but not as tight.  My sister was on vacation (tour of Egypt!!) so we are both caught up and around the same row knitting.  Always fun to knit with her!!!

And check out my mandevilla vine!!!  I brought it inside when night time temps dropped to 55.  She's doing so well!!!  I am determined to not set her back like I did last year!  

She even has a flower budding!  

I made a purchase that is helping me keep her alive!!  Last year I either over watered or didn't water enough...and repotting and fertilizing this plant just about did her in!

I love this meter! Works so good!  Of course it's an Amazon purchase!  Go figure!

So now it's time for Lions football and knitting and maybe a glass of wine later!  I have my veggies all washed and marinating and my Parmesan Oven-Fried Chicken all ready to toss in the oven at half time so dinner will be ready when the game is over!  Works for me!

Nope, I'm still here!!!

I am still alive and, yep, I'm still knitting...but haven't in a few days.  Actually, My sister and Nancy have been on a tour of Egypt for the past 10 days!  They've had some great experiences but my sister said they should have done this tour when they were 50!!!  Folks were dropping off left and right from some of the tours due to the ups and downs and walking required.  But MaryAnn and Nancy hung in there...even with a slight cold!  They are troopers!  So, I've been waiting for Mary Ann to get back and catch up to me in knitting.  I'm not that far ahead of her so she'll catch up quickly...then we start on the hard part!  HA

I am also working on the Language of Flowers online class with Hilary.  It really is interesting and I'm anxious to get started on the quilting and creating a piece....but...I figured I needed to do a practice piece first.  I decided to use this flower picture to trace/draw....

I'm using an old pillow case for the background (dots!)...the lace piece is from my flea market find.  Other pieces are from my stash.  

Just playing around with different layouts.

I am going to use the first layout and not this one.  Looks like an 'E'!  HA

Once I get the collage fused and sewn down, then I'll trace the flower and start stitching.  

But in-between knitting, making this collage, I'm helping set up for our local library book sale next week!  It's a lot of effort but we're lucky to have a great leader who is very organized.  Yes, she (her name is Amy!) and I get along very well....go figure you say!  HA

I also made some book marks to hand out to the kids or even adults.  I have lots of card stock that I've either stamped, dyed or printed on.  What better use then to sew edges of two pieces of card stock, punch hole and add a ribbon.  I only have about 18-20 made so far.  Hope to get more made as our book sale is next week.  

And speaking of our book sale, I've put together a youtube video that we can post on social media.  Hope you enjoy our little library and the effort the friends group put forth!