Sharing my life and love of cross stitch. Thoughts about this and that.

Monday, November 21, 2011

New Passione Ricamo Angel freebie

# Little Angel Ornament - Passione Ricamo - new  November, 2011- click on News/ Blog if necessary, small .jpg of ornament at top of left column links to the .pdf chart

Sunday, November 20, 2011

New Freebie Link & Ro*tel Dip (No, not together :D )

Cute rabbit with scissors and thread freebie from Patrick's Woods at The DandyHare blog. Scroll down to October 3rd entry. Also check out Happy Harvest from The CrossStitcher Magazine, and my "Give Thanks" freebie as well.
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Cloudy grey day here with passing cold front stalling just south of us. Possible severe weather this evening and tomorrow. Maybe. Last promise of rain - none. Thanksgiving will be at my nephew's for the first time this year. My sister sent out a list for people to volunteer to bring food. I'm always the person who fills in what's missing at the last minute - as long as it's something I can buy prepared or make once I get there. Usually it's salad fixings or pre-dinner finger foods: usually veggies, Ranch Dressing to dip, fruit PLUS RO-TEL DIP and chips. ALWAYS have to have Ro-tel Dip! It's been a staple at informal dinners and parties for decades here in Texas. Thanksgiving dinner time at 2 is based on some football game starting at 3:15.

Classic Ro*tel Dip
  • 1 pound of Velveta Cheese cut into 1" or so cubes 
  • 1 can of Ro*tel Original Diced Tomatos with Green Chilis (you can use "mild" but it's hardly any different than regular diced tomatoes; use "hot" at your own risk)
  • Melt cheese and Ro-tel together over medium heat until cheese has melted or put it in the microwave  on high power for 5 minutes until cheese has melted
  • Stir as cheese is melting to smoothly blend
  • Stir in a bit of milk if dip gets too thick as it sits or as necessary to reheat
Super simple and quick. "Heat index": medium - but for less "hot" use more cheese or less Ro*tel - if dip is for more than a couple of people choose more cheese. The dip goes fast and you'll want more anyway. Store left- overs, if any, in fridge for a few days and reheat as you like.

Yummy as a dip with chips, cold veggies, tortillas, etc. or spoon over baked potatoes, eggs, and hot veggies to give them a bit of a kick. Great on hot dogs and hamburgers, with cold or hot chicken ...! We prefer our Ro*tel Dip straight, but you can add ground beef, sausage, etc.  Google Rotel Dip for other ideas.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Stitched for hours today

but got no where. I haven stitched a thing since May. I'm trying to finish up a PS Santa I started last spring. Apparently absence destroys one's ability to count. I had to start over twice. Then I did not like the contrast of the pineapple colors against the Fiddler's lite and took out all of what little I had stitched. In the end I spent 4 hours stitching and frogging (watching several TV episodes on On Demand) in the process, and am back to where I started. At least I picked up the needle.

Photos of my brother at the recent UT Arlington Jazz Band Alumni Concert.


Saturday, November 5, 2011

Airborne Angel Cadets

A new Highlights video from the organization my sister and other family members volunteer with. It provides Care Packages year round to our military women and men in all branches of the services who are stationed in remote areas of in Afghanistan, Iraq and other middle Eastern Countries. It's a feel good video, so please take a few moments to view. And, if you are so inclined or moved to do so, please share the link to the ACT Home Page and the You Tube videos or become involved in some other way.  Thank you so much on behalf of our troops!.


That's my sister proclaiming "Oh, it's fantastic," and one of my great-nephews in the green and yellow striped shirt taping up a box in the next scene.

Times moves inevitably - backwards

That irritating Standard to Daylight back and forth! Change is technically at 2 am but why wait? I've already done the official reset. After very insistent cat kept waking me up all night (but not enough to toss him out of the room and shut the door), I slept in a lot later than I intended - so it now being an hour earlier, I feel an hour less guilty!  Don't know about everyone else whose lives are governed by a tick-tock, but 2 of my clocks are 10 minutes fast, the clock in my office is 5 minutes fast, the one in the living room runs about 1 minute slow per week so time is always generally relative, and I'm always hitting the change time button when I am aiming at the snooze alarm - so that one gets frequently reset already.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Photos of My Brother - the musician

I added some additional photos of my brother in my Webshots album. One his his recent gigs was the Kim & Kris wedding. I suggested perhaps the K's would invite the orchestra back for "I'm Divorced & Available" party. Did anyone even think that one would work? I gave it 3 months. And I don't even watch the show!
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