Cake Pops, Quilt Guild, 05/06/2021

Good afternoon all! Wow, I can't believe this week is almost over! Spent Monday cleaning and repacking from our camping trip. Found that there are a few things I need to get to make camping and cooking go a little smoother. I picked up a nifty plastic measuring cup with a small measuring spoon set for a few dollars and a pack of dish scrubbers at WallyWorld. We did something a little different with our camp chili this time. I had a pack of ground beef that I took but also had picked up some Keystone Ground Beef. Granted, it does look a little like dog food (okay, well, maybe more than a little!) but Sean said it tasted very good in the chili. So, that will be a repeat for future camping trips. You can get that from WallyWorld or from Meijers. I believe you can also order from Amazon, just make sure you do a good price comparison before stocking up on it. They also have pork, beef, turkey and chicken. I've been getting the chicken and I have to say it's one of the few canned chicken brands that actually look, smell and taste like chicken. I saw a recipe on their site for a pork barbecue mac and cheese so think I will be trying that one here soon. My favorite dish and a really big time saver is Bacon Chicken Ranch Pasta. I use one can of the Keystone chicken, several slices of bacon, a few cups of cooked pasta (I will use 2 packs of the microwave pasta if I'm really short on time) a packet of ranch dressing mix (the powder), some alfredo sauce and shredded cheddar cheese. This does really cook up fast and everyone loves it. We get healthy and I add steamed broccoli if I have it on hand. There's several versions of this recipe out there on the web, but I just toss my stuff together and always comes out tasty.

Tried making cake pops for the first time today. I need a LOT of practice yet! I had been looking at getting one of those machines that make them but thought the price was a little high. Looked at one of the silicone jobs and then I found out that is not how some of the bakeries do it. Turns out, you bake your cake, crumble it after it cools, mix it with 1/2 or more of a frosting tub, chill it, ball it, stick it and dip it. That sounds a lot easier. I made my cake this morning, it was a birthday confetti white cake and mixed in about 3/4 of the vanilla frosting. I tried using one of the ball shapers, but found that it was making them a tad too large. So, I balled it by hand, stuck the sticks in them and now freezing the next batch. Right now, I'm just using one of the microwave containers of melting chocolate. Think in the future I will temper my own chocolate on the stove top so I can get it a little more liquid - just a thought.

Quilt guild. Met with a few of the members Tuesday, very nice visit. I'm still new to the guild, only been a member going on 3 years but was never able to really go to any of the meetings. A small group meets occasionally and I attended a meetup this week. I had brought a small bag with me that had fabric, a couple of Clover Yo Yo Makers, thread, needle, scissors, crochet thread and a hook. I whipped up a spool pin doily while I was there and gave as a hostess gift. After the meeting, which we really didn't discuss much outside of concerns for the guild, I showed my hostess the other items in my bag and that I planned to start making some yo yos. We discussed perhaps our quilt challenge this year should be something to do with yo yos! So excited for this! I've made a few of them and still getting the hang of it. *This is important!* In wanting to learn how to do this (paper piecing is next!), I watched several YouTube videos. I advise caution on this! The videos I saw in using the Clover Yo Yo Makers were not all the same, some telling you to do different things. I found it best to follow the instructions enclosed. There are pictures included and if you do the action following the pictures, you will get it right. I know you don't HAVE to use them, but they are super easy to use and I think mine are looking better using them. My plan is a Christmas panel that I will be using as a furniture throw. I will be using the yo yos with buttons to accent it and do my quilting by threading floss through the buttons and doing the old fashioned quilt ties on the back. The panel has the red pickup with the Christmas trees,, so I thought it would be pretty appropriate. I will share pictures as I get started on it.

Okay all, dinner needs to get started. Having chicken parmesan tonight with garlic bread - yum! Take care all and God Bless!!