Chocolate Waffles with Strawberries

I bought strawberries last night and my daughter requested Chocolate Waffles and Strawberries for breakfast this morning.  My niece, Alisha, who is staying with us was so impressed with this that I asked my daughter to take pictures so I could also post this recipe.  I first found a recipe for chocolate waffles in an old Southern Living Annual Recipe book years ago.  It was complicated with a lot of ingredients made from scratch.  Over the years I've streamlined it by using a pancake mix (like Bisquick).  I follow the recipe on the box using 2 cups pancake mix and I add about 1/3 cup cocoa and about 1/6 cup sugar (half as much sugar as cocoa) and add enough milk or water to make it the consistency you like.  Our family puts maple syrup over the strawberries but you can use whip cream or powdered sugar or whatever you like.  Try this for your kids or grandkids next weekend and they will love you.

Lemon Cookies

A close tie with my love of quilting is my love of cooking and baking.  So I decided in addition to my quilting projects I would share some of my recipes.  I don't remember where I found this recipe.  It's been typed up in my collection of recipes for years.  But last month for my mother's 80th birthday party I made these cookies and they were a big hit.  I needed to send my son in California a care package this week so I baked these cookies.  One recipe doesn't make very much (only about 2 dozen cookies),  I made three times this recipe so I had enough to send my son and have some for our family to munch on.  Please enjoy, these are very easy to make, and wonderful to eat.

Sunshine Kisses

1 package lemon cake mix

1 egg

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 Tblsp. water

1/3 cup pecans

Combine cookie ingredients.  Bake at 375 degrees for 16 minutes.  Let cool 3 minutes.

Glaze: 1 lemon

1 cup powdered sugar

Remove 1 tsp. zest from lemon,

remove 2 Tblsp. juice from lemon.

Whisk ingredients in small mixing bowl.  Drizzle glaze on cooled cookies.

International Quilt Festival - Long Beach

Okay Ladies and Gents this is a new experience for me.  I've been published recently and I've had to make a decision whether I was going to jump into the quilting world with both feet or continue to sit on the sidelines. So with my daughter Tanna's help I will try out this blogging thing and see how it goes.  Her and I recently went to the 2012 International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, California.  Tanna is my photographer, and my helper in all my quilting endeavors, she gives me advice and she loves going to all my quilt meetings when she is not in school.  She is a senior in high school this year.   Tanna has been quilting for about 9 years.  I've been quilting for about 40 years (that's about how long ago my mother, Evelyn Chugg, taught me to hand quilt).  My mother-in-law, Sandy Riggs, taught quilting classes at adult education in California until she died of cancer 15 years ago.  My sister, Lynette Herlan, loves to quilt, she loves handwork and enjoys English paper piecing.  And my paternal Grandmother, Mary Ellen Barker Chugg, was very passionate about quilting, she died in 1958, she sewed with a treadle sewing machine and hand quilted all of her quilts.  So I guess you could say quilting is in my blood.  I am a very passionate and prolific quilter, someone asked me once what kind of quilts I like to make and I told him I make all sizes of quilts. I recently made a quilt for my sister that was 10" square, I make tablerunners, table toppers, wall hangings, baby quilts, and bed quilts up to King size, I also love to make aprons and bags.  We have never had a store bought blanket in our home.  I think thats enough about me for now.  I will post more pictures soon of some of the quilts I have recently made.  Please enjoy these pictures that Tanna took of the Quilt Festival in Long Beach, California.