Blogiversary Giveaway!

 

The lovely Linda who is Living the Dream

over in France is celebrating a few special

milestones today. 

She promised me there would be cake and I see she’s having a giveaway, so let’s go!

Best Wishes my friend!

Diane

A Great Blade Deal & Scone Recipe

 

In September I found myself in need of a new blade for my Olfa rotary cutter.  I went to Michael’s and was absolutely shocked to find the price for ONE blade $16.99!!!!  (Canadian dollars)  Now with our 13% tax that brought the total price to $19.20 for ONE blade.  Too much for me.

I remembered my friend Linda over in France had ordered blades from the U.S. that were carpet cutter blades being sold to quilters.   She was happy with them and they fit her Olfa cutter.   So I too ordered from Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts.

3 pkgs 45 mm Rotary Cutting Blades 2 per pack @ $11.99 U.S.

Shipping $3.00 (Regular shipping)

Total $14.99 U.S.   Payment through Paypal

Worked for me!  Great service and prompt delivery. Thanks Moonwishes.

For the past two weekends I’ve made the Quick Cinnamon Rolls I posted about here.  So for a change this weekend I made the following recipe for scones.  With tea and homemade apricot jam – delicious.

Scones

Ingredients               Preheat Oven to 425F

2 cups  all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cold butter, diced

1 egg

2/3 cup milk or light cream

Preparation

In mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. With pastry cutter or two knives, cut in butter until mixture is about the size of peas with some larger pieces.

In a small bowl, beat egg lightly; remove about 1 tablespoon of beaten egg and reserve for topping. To remaining egg, add milk; add all at once to dry ingredients, stirring with fork to make a soft, slightly sticky dough.  Gather gently into a ball and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead very lightly a few times until smooth. Roll out dough to about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness. Using 2-inch/5 cm round cutter, cut out circles or cut into eight wedges. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet.  Brush tops of scones lightly with reserved egg.

Bake in centre of 425 F oven until tops are light golden, 12 to 14 minutes.

It appears that Kaaren from the Painted Quilt has received the quilts that Allie collected blocks for and beautifully assembled – great job Allie!  To read Kaaren’s wonderfully heart felt post please go here.

Keeping all of you who need them – in my thoughts and prayers,

Diane

Quick Cinnamon Rolls – Yummy!

Yesterday I whipped up a batch of these to enjoy this Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.   They are quick and easy and oh so good with a cup of coffee.  Here’s the recipe for you…

Quick Cinnamon Rolls (From Homemaker’s Magazine)

For homey satisfaction with a lot less bother than yeast-raised cinnamon buns, these are the quick-and-easy answer. Shortening makes the dough very easy to handle as well as flaky and tender; you could use butter or half of each, if preferred.

Ingredients

2/3 cups  (150 mL)  packed brown sugar

1/4 cup  (50 mL)  melted butter

1 tsp  (5 mL)  cinnamon

1/3 cup  (75 mL)  raisins

2 cups  (500 mL)  all-purpose flour

2 tbsp  (25 mL)  granulated sugar

4 tsp  (20 mL)  baking powder

1 tsp  (5 mL)  salt

1/2 cup  (125 mL)  shortening (or butter if desired)

3/4 cups  (175 mL)  milk

Icing (see below)

Preparation

In small bowl mix together brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and raisins; set aside.

In large bowl combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt; mix thoroughly. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk all at once, stirring quickly with fork to make a soft, slightly sticky, dough; don't over mix.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface, gather into ball and knead lightly for about 10 minutes. Roll out dough to 10-inch (25cm) square. Spread raisin filling evenly over dough. Roll up, pinch edge to seal.

With sharp knife, cut dough into 9 slices. Place in greased 8-inch square (2L) baking pan. Bake in 425F (220C) oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Let stand about 3 minutes, then turn out onto rack. Glaze or drizzle with icing if desired.
Icing: For glaze, mix together 1/2 cup (125 mL) icing sugar, 1 tbsp (15 mL) milk and 1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla. Spoon over top of hot rolls, using back of spoon to coat evenly. Let cool slightly; serve warm. For drizzle, increase icing sugar to 3/4 cup (175 mL). Let rolls cool until just warm: drizzle icing over tops.

Cooking Time

15-18 Minutes    Makes 9    Enjoy!

We have been blessed with warm sunny weather here while we  gather with family and friends.   As well as getting outside to tackle all the yard work before the snow flies (yikes! did I just say that?)

I can’t show anything on the quilting front as I’ve only been working on Christmas presents. So I’ll leave you with a picture of my garden bench and invite you to join me for a cinnamon roll and a sit in the shade.

 

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians and may all of you have a safe and happy weekend,

Diane