Burlap Gift Bag

I've been on the hunt for a cute gift bag to put the class quilt in that I made for Trouble's teacher.  I've also been staring at some burlap that I got a few weeks ago and have yet to use. So I decided to make my own gift bag out of the burlap.

I cut a strip of burlap and folded it in half. The good edges (the part that won't unravel) are at the top. The sides have been cut.

I sewed the sides leaving the top open.

Next I stitched the bottom corners.

Then I turned the burlap inside out and folded down the top a few times.

I decided to use these grommets to make the holes for the handles. I poked a hole through the top fold and then inserted the grommet pieces. (I just followed the instructions on the grommet package)

 I installed four grommets (two on each side).

Ribbon went through the grommets and got tied together to make handles.

The quilt fits perfectly in this easy bag that took about 10 minutes to make.

Banana Nut Ice Cream

Last week I made chocolate ice cream for the boys. This week I'm making my favorite, banana nut. Whatever you do make sure you use very ripe bananas, it makes all the difference in the world!

What you need:

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 over ripe bananas
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

What you do:
Beat eggs for two minutes.

Add sugar to eggs and beat for an additional minute.

Slowly add cream, milk and vanilla to mixture.

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following manufacturer’s instructions.

Add  lemon juice to bananas and mash together. Set mixture in freezer until needed.

 Place nuts in freezer as well.

After the ice cream stiffens, add the bananas & nuts. Let it mix in the ice cream maker for a minute.

Put all this yummy goodness in a freezer safe container.

Me and ice cream.  Best friends forever.

Herb Pasta With Shrimp

My favorite Italian restaurant (Mandola's) has an olive oil and herb dipping sauce that is out of this world. My dad said that it reminds him of what his Italian mother would sometimes put on pasta instead of traditional spaghetti sauce.

So I decided to give it a try. Now, I could totally eat just pasta for dinner no problemo but Mr.Perfect wants a balanced meal with meat and veggies so here's what I came up with.

What you need:

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (I used basil, rosemary, thyme, and oregano)
• 1 chopped garlic clove
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 cups chopped veggies (I used zucchini, tomato, onion, artichoke hearts, capers and sun dried tomatoes)
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined 
• cooked pasta (I used thin spaghetti, use as much or as little as you like)
• Parmesan cheese, to taste

What you do:
Combine herbs garlic and olive oil, set aside to mingle.

Saute veggies in a little olive oil over medium heat until desired tenderness.

Add shrimp to veggies and cook until the shrimp is pink.

Toss together cooked pasta, shrimp, veggies and olive oil mixture.

Top with a little (or a lot) Parmesan cheese.

Dig in!

Class Handprint Quilt

Thanks to my mom the quilt is done!

 I've always wanted to make a class quilt for Trouble's teacher and thought this would be my year to give it a try. The class will be giving it to her for an end of year gift.

I cut out 24 white 7x7 inch squares, 35 yellow 3x3 inch squares and 58 blue 7x3 inch rectangles. (blue & yellow are the school colors)

The white and blue got sewn together into strips that I took to Trouble's school to steal hand prints from the kids in his class when the teacher wasn't looking (I used blue fabric paint).  The hands got labeled with the child's name.

Blue and yellow got sewn together to make more strips.

I put all of the strips together to make the quilt top. In the 3 empty white squares I embroidered the teacher's name, 2nd grade and the year.

I passed the top to my wonderful mother who put the whole thing together (top, batting and back) with her fabulous sewing machine that handles quilts so much better than mine.

PS- Shhhh....Trouble's teacher has no idea what I'm making so keep it on down low- thanks!

Chocolate Ice Cream

The men in my house love chocolate ice cream. I like it but it's just not my favorite... so what, I can't help it.

This recipe makes some decadently over the top chocolate ice cream that even I enjoy.

What you need:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt

What you do:

In a bowl, beat egg yolks for about a minute.  Stir in sugar and cocoa.

Slowly add cream and milk constantly mixing with an electric mixer. Mix in vanilla and salt.

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following manufacturer’s instructions.

Now Trouble and Mr.Prefect will be putty in my hands... he, he, he.

Jalapeno Freezer Jelly

Our garden has been pumping out some super spicy jalapenos and I thought it would be a great time to make jalapeno jelly with them.

Jalapeno jelly is a lovely combination of sweet and spicy. I love to pour a jar over a brick of cream cheese and scoop it up with crackers. Yum!

What you need:

• about 6 cups jalapeno peppers, sliced in half lengthwise and seeded (I leave a bunch of seeds in too. I like it hot)
• 1  1/4 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 (1.75 oz) box of pectin powder (I used Sure-Jell)
• 5 cups sugar
• freezer safe jars with lids, washed

What you do:
Toss the jalapenos and vinegar in a blender.

Pulse the mixture into small bits, don't  make them super fine.

In a saucepan combine the jalapeno vinegar mixture and pectin.

Heat until boiling, add sugar.

Bring to a boil again, boil for one full minute. (stir continuously)

Remove from heat, ladle jelly into freezer safe jars.

Screw on lids and cool completely to set. Refrigerate for up to a month or store in freezer for up to a year.

If you haven't tried jalapeno jelly, you must... just do it!