Handspun Mittens

It's cold around here and that means I get to wear my fingerless gloves, regular gloves, and mittens--all hand knit, of course!

But probably my favorite pair are these:

The yarns are handspun (for the knitting as well as the embroidery.) After completing the knitting, I slightly fulled the mittens to smooth out the stitching as well as to add warmth. Next, I added the embroidery. (Embroidered freehand.) Even more fun, the dying was done using cake frosting decorating gels. The colors are saturated, which is what I was going for. Nothing like a bright and cheery pair of mittens to see me through the long winter!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. May you have a peaceful day. :)

Blessings,
Georgia

Link to Amish Reader Guest Blog Post--Leftover Ham Pie

Brrrr! This morning was another frigid one. Winter has definitely come, and when the days are short and cold, hearty fare just tastes good.

I was asked to do a guest blog post for AmishReader.com and want to share the link with you. It's a recipe for ham pie that has potatoes, onions, and apples in it. The ingredients work well together, and if you are using leftover ham that might otherwise go to waste, it's a frugal dish as well. (Which, of course, always makes me happy!)

Here is the link: http://www.amishreader.com/2015/11/23/thanksgiving-leftovers-recipe-ham-potato-apple-pie/

I suggest you give it a try!

Stay warm. And stay well fed!

Blessings,
Georgia

Creamy Lime Jello Salad

The recipe I'm going to share with you today is a good one. We have made this molded Jell-O salad since I was a kid...which is approximately when the earth was still flat. :)

It's a great Jell-O salad to make for holiday feasts such as Thanksgiving. But really, anytime of the year is a good time to make it.

Our Molded Jell-O Salad

(Yes, I know that's a weird name, but that's what we always called it...as in, "Are we going to have our molded Jell-O salad for Thanksgiving this year?")

1 small package lime Jell-O
1 small package cream cheese
1 cup hot water
3/4 cup pineapple juice from canned pineapple (see next ingredient)
1 small can pineapple tidbits, drained but save the juice
1/4-1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 T. vinegar
2 T. sugar
1/4-1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 pint cream, whipped

Dissolve Jell-O in 1 cup hot water; add 3/4 cup pineapple juice. (If you need to, you can add some cold water to make a total of 3/4 cup.) Add cream cheese and beat on low with electric mixer until frothy and cream cheese is broken up completely. Add the vinegar, sugar, and walnuts and stir to mix well. Set in the refrigerator until it begins to set. Fold in the whipped cream and chill until completely set, for several hours.

You can serve it plain or add some sweetened whipped cream on top.

Yum!

Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken with Carrots

I'm not a fan of slow cookers (aka Crock Pots). Never have been. So why am I sharing a slow cooker recipe? Well, it's because of my neighbors.

But first a little digression. I moved into "town" about 5 years ago. By "town," I mean a small berg of about 2500 folks. But having raised my sons in the country, this was a mighty big adjustment for me. I was a bit nervous about having neighbors all around, and I wondered if they would be nice. I didn't hold out too much hope because after all, I was about to move into the big, bad "city." But I was absolutely, 100 percent wrong I'm glad to say. Since I have been here I have been repeatedly touched and amazed by the kindnesses shown me.

One neighbor--a 40-some-odd-year-old man, who looks like a very well muscled and kind of scary bear--has turned out to be a gem. He has stepped in to help me so many times that I now fondly call him my angel in disguise. (And whenever I do, he always gets embarrassed, but it's true!) Just this week he popped over to take measurements for a new door that I need as my old one is broken and needs to be replaced. (Now that's a story in itself! My home was recently burglarized while I was on a trip to California but the young man who burgled me realized--when he turned on my computer that he had stolen and saw my name on the opening screen--that he knew who I was from when he was a kid. He actually came back and returned all of the things he stole from me. He told my sons--who had shown up because another kind neighbor had driven to one of my son's homes to say that something was wrong at my house--that he felt bad because he remembered me from years ago and I had always been kind to him. My sons invited him in while they waited for the sheriff to show up, and the repentant burglar came in willingly. Amazing!)

Another neighbor is helping me to remodel my bathroom. He's retired and says he loves to remodel bathrooms. Ha! I find that hard to believe, but he solemnly swears this is so. And yet another neighbor showed up at my door this morning and informed me that he was here to cut the two trees I recently got cut down into firewood-sized pieces, and he promptly did just that.

As you can imagine, I've been making lots of cookies as thank you gifts lately.

Okay. So back to my chicken recipe. Yet another neighbor is a young husband and father. The family is on a tight budget and the dad recently knocked on my door and asked if I could teach him how to make homemade from scratch macaroni and cheese. While I was at their house cooking and teaching, he mentioned that he'd love some slow cooker recipes if I had any good ones. Well, I don't. But I started thinking that I could come up with a few for them. To wit:

Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken

* You can halve this recipe no problem, which would make it a good choice for smaller families.

2 cans cream of chicken soup (or you can use cream of mushroom soup)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp. Dijon-style mustard
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
8 large carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
hot cooked noodles or hot cooked rice
Parmesan cheese, grated

Mix together the soup, water, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and garlic powder until well blended. Now add the carrots and chicken and mix again. Place everything but the noodles or rice and Parmesan cheese into the slow cooker. Cook on high for about 7 hours, or on low for about 8-9 hours.

To serve, ladle chicken, carrots, and sauce over noodles or rice. Add Parmesan cheese if desired and dig it. Yum!

I'll no doubt be posting several more slow cooker recipes in the near future, but in the meantime, happy eating!

Blessings to you and yours,
Georgia