Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Hot-pads & Recipes

I've been making quite a few hot-pads lately, and they are quite fun!

Two of my friends, both named Sue, aparently have similar kitchens also.  One Sue had asked for one awhile back when I had a give-away, and the other had a birthday last Friday.  Since I know the birthday Sue's kitchen is the same color as what the other Sue had asked for, I did coordinating ones.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize that I hadn't taken photos, till I was on the way to the one Sue's birthday lunch, and afterwards headed to the post office to mail the one to the other Sue.  Is anyone confused yet?  Luckily I had the camera in the diaper bag, so I snapped a quick photo in my lap.  Definately won't win any photo awards, but you get the idea.
And the backs.
Speaking of Sue (the birthday one), she is a very sweet friend that lives not too far away, and gave me this delicious recipe.  Actually I'm not too into following recipes exactly, but this is the idea.  It is absolutely FABULOUS!  I normally don't like sausage, but this is incredible.  And so easy.... hard to believe it's so simple when you taste it!  Seriously, definately a crowd-pleaser.  It's called Kiebalsa Stew.
1. In large roasting pan, place peeled pototatoes (or I use halved reds, unpeeled, if I have them), and carrotts; just like you would a normal roast.  Don't know the exact amount, maybe 5 large potatoes & 4 large carrotts cut into shorter pieces.  Cover with about 10-12, cut-in-half kiebalsa sausages (or any flavor, the apple-chicken ones from Costco are even better- but expensive).
2. Slice an onion and two green bell-peppers into "strings" and cover sausages.
3. Cover with lid, and bake at 365 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Once time is up, melt about 4 TB. butter in a saucepan & add about 1/4 cup flour; stir till blended.  Add about 3-4 cups milk, and some salt- I prefer Johnny's Seasoning Salt.  When near-boiling, pour over meat & veggie mixture, stir gently, and bake (uncovered) for another 20mins.
Enjoy!
(I did learn something on this batch pictured: I used only one green bell pepper & 1/2 onion..... NOT a good idea.  The mixture of onion, pepper, & sausage is what makes the delicious gravy.  It was fine, just kindof bland).
A new type of pot-holder I tried, they are so you don't burn your fingers accidentally.  They fold in 1/2 at the middle; one thumb goes in one end, the fingers in the other.  There were a couple more, but they already got nabbed.  I'm going to add these to Etsy when I finally get that done.
Another recipe that is frequent here, is what we call Angie's chicken.  My friend Angie in Alaska made it one time, and we've been hooked ever since.  I kindof throw it together instead of following the recipe, here is what I do:
1. Place boneless/skinless chicken (any type; breast, thighs, whatever) in glass baking dish.  This time I used 4 large chicken breasts.  I've used it when fresh, or frozen & baked it first to thaw.  You can use whole pieces, or cut it into chunks.
2. In a small bowl; place about 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup mustard, 1 TB dried onion flakes, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 4-5 large mushrooms sliced & cut in half, and 5-6 pieces cooked bacon cut-up.  Spread sauce over chicken.
Bake at 375, maybe 30-45 mins, check meat temperature for doneness.
Enjoy served over rice.
This is a real treat, even the kids love it.  I tried it once with the crock-pot, and that worked great too.  All depends how far in advance you plan.
And Shay, is this red enough for you?  I figured the black & white would go with your dining room too, it is bright and fun!  I went through my scraps to find 36 different prints, then made half-square-triangles by adding white.  It was harder to be very accurate with such tiny piecing, but I love the results!  I quilted it with just straight lines on my normal machine this time.
The back.
Outside.
I really want to try a quilt with this pattern, using much bigger triangles.
I really to plan to mail it to you soon, but am trying to figure out shipping.  Will an international package arrive safely in one piece if it's not in a big tough box? 
Breanna was sure she needed to pose with it also.  She really liked how this one turned out.
Kindof a crazy conglomeration of stuff, but I actually remembered to use my camera while food was fresh this time, so decided the two went together.  Let me know what you make and enjoy!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loooove those pot holders!!!! Looks like yummy recipes I'll have to try one of these days too ;) hugs to those goofy kiddo's in the next post... Haha love their silliness- and hate to say it but they sound like us as kids :) crossing my fingers this will post from my phone... Anna

Anonymous said...

K... To all you who it won't let u post comments... It never lets me post from my phone usually! But this time when I chose the profile I posted comment from (I always click google profile) I instead clicked anonymous ... And IT POSTED!! :) yaaay! Just had to add my name so my Sis doesn't think I'm ignoring her blog :)

Shay said...

You are officially the hot pad queen. I bow to your hot pad-ness.

That's completely red enough for me...talk about gorgeous. Thankyou! (Love the photo of Breanna posing with it ) Chuck it in an envelope - it should be fine. That's how I get all my fabric sent.

My last foray into making those uber cool pocket pot holders was a complete disaster.

Sue said...

I sure do love my pot holder and the colors are just perfect. Thanks ever so much. I will have to try those yummy meals. They do sound simple, yet with lots of color and flavor. Thanks for sharing.
You are one cleaver woman, mother, cook, yard maintenance, quilt maker and I am sure I could come up with other things but will stop at those.

KimP said...

I made that sausage recipe, Lisa. Thanks for sharing - we really enjoyed it. :)

And I'm drooling over all of your sewing. You're awesome!

Prineville Kim (just so you don't have to guess)

Bethaney said...

Love the picture of the potholders! Gorgeous against that sky! Both of those recipes sound like ones I could really enjoy adding to my repetoire! I need some easy, chuck them all together, sort of recipes!

SunshineStateWilson4 said...

Tried the chicken tonight Lisa...yummy! Thanks for sharing. - Sara

Holly D. said...

Oh my...I LOVE the potholders! Especially the red and black one with the cherries, etc. You really are SO talented! I just love the things you come up with when you rummage through your fabric bins! :)