Paper Piecing BOM 2014....

Jennifer from Sewhooked (also from Talk To Me Tuesday videos, which I have not done one in quite awhile) is having a block of the month for vintage paper piecing pattern. I can't wait to start! The pattern will be available monthly on craftsy.

Whats On Your Plate This Week? 12/16/2013

This week I wanted to make several new items, especially since I have plenty of time to cook. Here is the menu for this upcoming week (I might not make all of the main dishes if we have quite a bit of leftovers):

Main Dishes

• Macaroni with pesto sauce
• BBQ Pork Sandwiches with Garlicky Fries
• Marinated Teriyaki Chicken with Succotash and rolls
• Indian-Spiced Chicken with roasted vegetables and rolls
• Sage Sausage Hash
• Potato Rosemary Pizza

Desserts:

• Hazelnut Cookies
• Apple Tart

So what are your plans for meals this week? Share with us below with Mr. Linky.

A Talent For Trouble Review....

I received a copy of this book for free, for my honest review from Bethany House Publishers. I had never read anything by Jen Turano before. A Talent for Trouble takes place in the late 19th century in New York, and focuses on Felicia a wealthy woman who believes she is in love and heartbroken. Her mother and friends try to have Grayson, an aristocract from England who has forgone his title, to cheer her up. Trouble always seems to follow them along the way though.

My Thoughts: Overall, I liked this book, even though a few events were a little predictable. Parts of the book with Felicia's shenanigan's were hilarious, especially with the "investigating" a business. I don't want to give out any spoilers. I did find it hard to believe though, that Felicia wouldn't have been more chaperoned considering she was the only daughter of a wealthy family. Her brothers weren't in the book that much, which I figured that they would have been in Felicia's life more. I almost forgot she had a father, as he was always gone in the book until the very end, so never privy to anything going on, which seemed weird to me. Throughout the book we learn that Grayson isn't as polished as people would believe, as he has some dark secrets unknown to people. However, I felt that the secrets were always in the background, and I forgot about them until towards the very end of the book. All, of the secrets that came out, even unbeknownst to Grayson, I was not expecting in the least. I did think the ending was rushed though, especially for all of that information to come out at once. I would read another book by this author.

Rating: 3.00 out of 5

Whats On Your Plate This Week 12/09/2013

I know that I got a little bit behind in posting last week, but we mainly just had leftovers.

Previous Weeks:

Turkey Day

Of course I went all out for Turkey Day, but it was pretty simple since I cooked our turkey breast in the slow cooker. I have used the same recipe for quite awhile in just cut all of the ingredients in half (see previous post for the link). I made smashed sweet potatoes, and just put in a little bit of butter and brown sugar, just enough for a little extra sweet taste but not overpowering. I made the veggie herb dish (I froze the leftovers for a meal later on), which is just cut up vegetables with a little bit of olive oil and quite a bit of basil. Of course I always have to include rolls with a Turkey dinner. I also made a cheesecake type brownie dessert. Everything came out good, except we were disappointed in the dessert.

Past Week:

This past week we had leftovers of soups, sandwiches, etc., so nothing that I really made from scratch except for the Roasted Red Bell Pepper Basil Soup (which I have previously made and shown on other posts). This time though I added some mozzarella cheese to it, and it made the soup even better. The soup is better after allowing it to marinade for several hours or until the next day. It has much more of a roasted red pepper taste to it. 

This Week:

This week our meals will be easy and quick to make, as it will be a hectic week. Plus, with the weather who knows if the electricity will go out (which happened yesterday for several hours, and then went off and on), and I don't want to be cooking a huge meal if that occurs. We have quite a bit of leftovers from the roasted red bell pepper basil soup, so we had enough for about 3 meals. We will have smoked sausage sandwiches with just some chips. I have frozen leftovers of the veggie herb dish, enough to make its own healthy meal with rolls. Macaroni and cheese with some frozen green beans. Then another meal is pasta with pesto sauce. Perhaps tomorrow I will get to the grocery store if the storm lets up with the ice and snow. 

Next week though, I want to try a few new recipes, including soups and using the slow cooker. After all, it is no doubt weather for a hearty soup to keep warm and slow cooker weather to have a easy meal yet delicious without a lot of work. 

Any good projects?

Have you purchased or started any good craft projects lately? I recently purchased this one, and plan on starting it later this month. It will be for one of my grandmothers who love's birds. I thought it was pretty cute, and it is a small counted cross stitch project only 6 inches by 6 inches.