Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Splinters & Threads Cooks - Mexican Fudge

No Texas kitchen is complete without chesse and a variety of chili peppers! This dish is a must-have!

Mexican Fudge
2 lbs. Cheddar cheese
6 eggs, beaten
1 jar green chili peppers

Grate 1 pound of Cheddar cheese in a 9" x 13" baking pan. Combine beaten eggs with green chili peppers and pour over the grated cheese. Grate another pound of Cheddar cheese and place on top of the first pound in the dish. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes at 375 degrees.

I LOVE to mix my cheeses and use 1 pound Cheddar and 1 pound Mozzarella. YUMMMMM!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Splinters & Threads Asks a Crafter: Birthday Crown from TK Harrison

First, let me thank Gina Reddin of Splinters & Threads for asking me to start off as her "Thursday Ask a Crafter" guest blogger. My name is Tammy Harrison and my website is BOMquilts.com and my blog is Quilt Therapy!

A couple of years ago, I found out I shared a birthday with a sweet little girl at church and we decided that we needed to celebrate our birthdays together - and my job was to find a way for a kindergartner and a middle-aged woman to come together to find the joy of our special days.

I went into my sewing room and searched high and low for items that would be fun for my little friend and "adult" enough (well, as adult as I care to be) to be presentable in church.

I came up with birthday crowns for the two of us. I used Peltex, Wonder Under, quilt fabric, a template made from cardboard, some scrapbooking heart-shaped brads and some sticker foam letters. Once I cut two pieces of fabric with Wonder Under ironed on the back, then I cut out the template from the Peltex and pressed both sides of the fabric to the front and back of the Peltex. Once pressed, I used my sewing machine to zig-zag around all of the edges. I finished off the crowns with the "Happy Birthday" letters and the heart-shaped brads.


I made my crown (shown above) and then made a smaller one for my wee friend. The really fun thing is that my three daughters have enjoyed wearing the crown for their birthdays, too! It's become a family tradition at our family parties as well as something special for me and my little friend in August when we worship together.

Do you have a craft you have designed and made? If so, please submit it for consideration as a Splinters & Threads guest blogger to gina.reddin@gmail.com.





Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Splinters & Threads Cooks - King Ranch Casserole!

Even though I've been bragging about LOBSTAH and stuffed crab while in Boston, there's always a taste of my Texas home that I miss no matter where I eat. This recipe is one of the best Texas dishes, and SO easy to make! In case you didn't know it, the King Ranch is the largest private family land holding in the state of Texas with over 900,000 acres. Their history is long and deep and a special part of Texas history.

This dish is DELISH!!

Ingredients:

  • 6 chicken breast halves, cooked and diced
  • 12 corn or flour tortillas, cut into quarters
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup
  • 8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt
  • dash cayenne pepper
  • 2/3 cup chicken broth

Preparation:

Pour about 1/3 cup of broth over bottom of a 13x9-inch baking pan. Layer half of the tortilla quarters on the bottom, then half of the chicken, onion, bell pepper, and dollops of about 1/2 of both soups. Sprinkle with a little garlic powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. Repeat layers. Spread tomatoes over the top and drizzle with remaining chicken broth. Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 45 to 55 minutes, until bubbly.
Serves 6.


My dear friend Tammy does another version routinely using leftovers - which makes it all the more simple and delicious!


Ingredients:
1 ½ c. cooked chicken or turkey
1 can Rotel® (regular or mild)
1 small can mushrooms
1 c. frozen corn
2 teaspoons Cumin
¼ teaspoon Oregano
¼ teaspoon Garlic powder
1 ½ c. grated cheddar cheese
Black pepper to taste
½ c. chicken stock
12 corn tortillas

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350ยบ. Combine all ingredients in a bowl except the chicken stock and tortillas. Using a glass baking dish (deep or wide, doesn’t matter), begin layering the corn tortillas on the bottom, then the meat mixture, then some cheese. Repeat the layering, making sure the cheese covers the top well. Pour the chicken stock over everything, to soak into the tortillas. Bake for 45 minutes or until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Make this wonderful dish and enjoy - and leave a comment if you LOVE it as WE do!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Patriot's Day spent in Boston!

We aren't in Texas anymore Mom!Mom and I took the subway into Boston today and toured the city. It's a good thing we decided not to drive into the city as it's preparing for the Boston Marathon tomorrow. We took a wonderful bus tour and saw SO many things! It was a great day. =)

Mother Goose's grave. Who knew she was a real woman. Poor thing. She had 20 kids!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

MQX in Rhode Island

My Splinter's & Threads Booth


I am currently attentending the Rhode Island Machine Quilter's Exposition this week and have been having a BLAST talking to new and old friends about my favorite subject - QUILTING & EMBROIDERY!


Here are a few pictures of some prize-winning quilts from the expo:

Wish you were here!