Organizing Your Fabric Stash

I have entered a brave new world. A world where all the fabrics are neatly stacked and sorted by color. Folded. Stacked. And sorted by color.

Oh, the happy. Words cannot describe how much easier it is to find a particular color or fabric when working on a project!

And those pretty little stacks of color-coordinated bliss fabric just look so cute!

Just one word of warning.... when you get all your fabric shelved in neat little columns of color, like this:

You will suddenly have empty spaces where fabric once lived.

Which you will want to fill with more neatly folded stacks of fabric.

But that's okay. Because now you can fold, sort, and keep it tidily in it's place.

This video is just precious... she really is enthusiastic about fabric folding! For more tutorials on organizing your stash, type 'how to fold fabric' into your search engine. You'll find plenty of folding and stacking info.

Please visit Works-For-Me-Wednesday for more great cleaning tips and ideas.

Foolproof-Never-Fail Pie Crust

So next week, I'm going to share my famous, most requested pie recipe. It's one of those top secret, handed down for generations, pretty big deal in our family kind of recipes.

But before we get into all that, it occured to me to post a pie crust recipe first. Just in case.

This crust has never let me down no matter what. And the best part? It keeps 3 weeks in the refrigerator, 1 year in the freezer.

Yep, I only have to do the measuring, the cutting, the mixing.....ONCE A YEAR. Dear recipe: I think I love you.

I'm much more likely to throw a pie together if all I have to do for a crust is roll it out. A tiny bit more work than store bought crusts, but there's no comparison in the quality.

Form 6 portions of dough.


Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap. Freeze or refrigerate in a zipper bag.



Thaw and roll out. Just like store bought (except better).

Foolproof Never Fail Pie Crust

4 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 cups Crisco
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 egg

Directions
1. Mix flour, salt and sugar.

2. Cut in Crisco until finely mixed (mixture will begin to stick together).

3. In a one cup measuring cup, beat egg; add vinegar; fill to one cup with cold water. Add 3/4 cup of liquids to well in center of flour mixture. Mix, using remaining liquid as needed.

4. Divide into 6 portions. Put each dough portion onto center of plastic wrap. Bring ends of wrap over dough and wrap tightly. Place in a container or zipper bag and store in fridge for up to 3 weeks or freezer for up to 1 year.

5. Crust is ready to use after 1 hour in the refrigerator.

6. Thaw frozen dough before using. Unwrap dough, roll and use for any recipe requiring pie pastry/crust.

Posted to Tasty Tuesday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Weekend Boutique

Time for Friday's Weekend Boutique!! Please drop by the Pretty Organized Palace to find lots of talented and crafty people.

Here are a few of the bits and bobbins available in my Etsy shop.

The last Hoot 'n Holler pair. The others have all flown off to their new perches homes.

The last pumpkin runner.

Hand crocheted spa set in a vintage basket...includes handmade minty rose Shea butter soap.

Crocheted neck warmer / capelet. I wear mine at work to keep warm sitting at the computer.

This Queen Anne's Lace scarf is one of my favorites! I found the pattern among my Grammy's papers. It was originally intended to be made as a thread crochet edging on sheets and pillowcases. I love making it into scarves instead!!

The Bubble Maker

You might have noticed the SHE team button in my sidebar. SHE stands for Schooling at Home Etsians and is one of the many Esty "street teams." A street team is formed to network, share skills, and promote their shops.

Not only are they a lot of fun, but all the SHE's are so helpful and encouraging. Case in point: When I was pondering which heirloom tomato to try, Teresa from Smokey Mountain Scents was quick to recommend her favorite heirloom, Cherokee Purple tomatoes.

Not only that, but she offered to send me some of her seeds. From her very own tomatoes. For free.

Just like that, peoples!

And so the little seeds from Tennesse made their way to a garden in Wyoming. Where they proved themselves worthy in a climate very unfriendly to tomatoes.

And here they are, in all their beautiful tomato glory:

Oh, mercy. They taste so good. I think I have a new favorite. And seed swapping has found a new fan.

But I just can't let you go without showing you a few yummies from Smokey Mountain Scents. Her shop is filled with all manner of handmade soaps, lotions, candles, and fizzies. Most of which look good enough to eat for breakfast!!

Like this Candy Corn soap

And Iced Pumpkin Spice.... SOAP. Doesn't it look yummy?

Pumpkin Spice Candles to match your soap.

So pop over and visit the bubble maker herself :)

Please visit Works For Me Wednesday for more great tips and ideas.

Easy Peasy Harvest Mix

I'm not generally a fan of candy corn, but I heard about this mix tasting like a PayDay candy bar and had to try it. Guess what! It really does! Just make sure each bite contains both peanuts and candy corn.

Now I buy a bag of candy corn every fall, just to make this mix. 2 ingredients. Effortless to make. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Harvest Mix

2 cups salted or dry roasted peanuts
2 cups candy corn

Mix together. Serve.

That is all.

Please visit Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday for more great recipes!

Sticky Chicken and Why It's Not Sticky

If you dream of putting Kenny Roger's Roasters, Boston Market, and other rotisserie style chickens to shame, here is your recipe. It is ridiculously easy!! With a capital "R". And delicious.

When whole chickens go on sale for .69 a pound, I round up as many as I can afford. When I get home I multiply the dry rub recipe, line them up and rub 'em down. Then they each go in a zipper bag and into the freezer.

Now just thaw overnight and bake as per the recipe. Then wait for the undying devotion that will soon be pledged to you.

Oh, and the chicken? It is not sticky. It's called sticky chicken because when you get done smacking around that dry rub you're going to look a little bit like this:

So that's really the only drawback.

But doesn't it look pretty?

ROAST STICKY CHICKEN
Spice rub:
4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
cayenne pepper to taste

1 whole chicken

Combine spices. Clean and dry chicken. Rub with spices, inside and out. Now you have three choices: 1) Place in zipper bag and freeze. 2) Place in roasting pan, cover and refrigerate overnight. 3) Slap that puppy in the pan and get on with the roasting already. The outcome will not be affected by the method you start with.

To roast: Thaw, if frozen. Put about 1/4 cup water in bottom of pan around chicken. Roast in 250 degree oven for 5 hours. Yes, 5 hours. Baste a few times. For safety, the chicken should reach an internal temperature of 180 F. Let rest 10 minutes, carve and serve.

It can also be done in the crock pot, but I haven't tried that yet. If you make yours in the crock pot, please let me know how it works!

Happily posted to Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Crock Pot Wednesday.

Crafter's Stimulus Plan

I'm participating in The Weekend Boutique at Pretty Organized Palace again this week. Pretty Organized Palace encourages us to "Come see... come shop... come buy from women and moms who could use the extra cash for their families." So click on over to the Weekend Boutique and get a jump on your Christmas shopping!

I'm highlighting a few items from PrairieCottageRose for you today.

Not so scary scarecrow table runner... Easy care runner for Halloween through Thanksgiving.

Hand crocheted luxury spring violet washcloth trio. Add a few other goodies and you’ll have the perfect gift for any occasion....or just a special treat for yourself.

Soft and gentle crocheted shower puff in sunny yellow will cheerfully help you stuff those stockings:)

Punkin patch table runner. Another one that could carry you from early fall through Thanksgiving.

Candy Corn Crow... has a seriously big sweet tooth. A new OOAK design for fall 2009.

Happy shopping everyone!! And remember, it's only 96 Days, 7 Hours, 3 minutes until Christmas!

...But who's counting?