Hummingbird Cross Stitch

I made this for my Mother-in-law. She loves hummingbirds. Shh! Don't tell! I'm going to surprise her.

Sour Cream and Bacon Crockpot Chicken

I found the recipe through Pinterest and this is the website it came from Moms with Crockpots.

Sour Cream and Bacon Crockpot Chicken

8 bacon slices
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 (10 oz) cans roasted garlic cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup flour (all purpose or gluten free blend)
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-low heat until some of the fat is rendered. Be sure that the bacon is still pliable and not crisp. Drain on paper towels. If you use this method, reduce the flour to 1/4 cup. Or don’t cook the bacon and proceed with the recipe.
Then wrap one slice of bacon around each boneless chicken breast and place in a 4-5 quart crockpot.
In medium bowl, combine condensed soups, sour cream, and flour and mix with wire whisk to blend. Pour over chicken.
Cover crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours until chicken and bacon are thoroughly cooked. You may want to remove the chicken and beat the sauce with a wire whisk so it is very well blended.
Pour sauce over chicken.
Serve over rice, couscous, or wide egg noodles.

What I've read since my last post

#12 Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs
#13 The Woman In Black by Susan Hill
#14 Our Red Hot Romance Is Leaving Me Blue by Dixie Cash
#15 Valentine Murder by Leslie Meier
#16 Bloody Valentine by James Patterson
#17 A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo
#18 V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton
#19 Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
#20 Eye of the Tempest by Nicole Peeler
#21 Spells & Stitches by Barbara Bretton
#22 Destined by P.C. Cast
#23 Virtual Virgin by Carole Nelson Douglas

Tree Frog Trio Cross Stitch

I finished it before the end of February for my oldest son.

Address Wreath

I made this for our front door about a week ago.

What I used:

Grape Vine Wreath from Hobby Lobby

Wooden Numbers from Hobby Lobby

Sunflowers from Dollar Tree

Turquoise Plaid FolkArt Extreme Glitter Paint

Ribbon from Dollar Tree

I painted the wooden numbers a color that matched the trim to our house. Okay the trim isn't glittery like this but I like glittery. It took 3 coats I believe. I wrapped the ribbon around the wreath. Then took about 3/4 or more of the stem off the flowers and arranged them and then hot glued them in. Next I arranged the numbers and hot glued them on. Which was hard because the grape vine was sticking up in spots and wood doesn't bend. That's about it. I hope you like it because oh well I like it.

My Spring Wreath

This is a wreath I made yesterday for Spring.
What I used:

Foam Noodle ($1 at Dollar Tree) - I taped it into a circle for my wreath
2 balls of Confetti Fun Fur by Lion Brand Yarn
1 package of Table Scatter Foam Flowers and Butterflies ($1 at Dollar Tree)
3 Packages of Glitter Foam Picks (tulip, daisy, butterfly) ($1 a piece at Dollar Tree)

Hot Glue Gun

I wrapped the yarn around the wreath until it was covered. Then shortened the foam picks until the weren't too tall. Then I stabbed them into the foam. I then took a sharpie and wrote Welcome Spring on the foam flowers and Butterflies. Then place them. Added some hot glue to them so they wouldn't fall off. That's it.

My DIY Valentine Wreath

My first attempt with a hot glue gun and thinking off the top of my head. I think I could have place the hearts better but not bad for a first try.

What I used:
Grapevine wreath

Red ribbon

Foam Hearts (40% off at Jo-Ann's)

Wooden Cupid ornanment (40% off at Jo-Ann's)

Hot Glue gun

Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs

Description:
It was a summer morning in 1982 when soldiers ravaged the village of Chupan Ya, raping and killing women and children. Twenty-three victims are said to lie in the well where, twenty years later, Dr. Temperance Brennan and a team from the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation now dig. No records were kept. To their families, the dead are "the disappeared."
Forensic anthropologist for the medical examiners in North Carolina and Montreal, Tempe is in Guatemala for a month's service to help some families identify and bury their dead. She digs in a cold, damp pit where she finds a hair clip, a fragment of cloth, a tiny sneaker. Her trowel touches something hard: the hip of a child no more than two years old.

It's heartbreaking work. Something savage happened here twenty years ago. The violence continues today. The team is packing up for the day when an urgent satellite call comes in. Two colleagues are under attack. Shots ring out, and Tempe listens in horror to a woman's screams. Then there is silence. Dead silence.

With this new violence, everything changes, both for the team and for Tempe, who's asked by the Guatemalan police for her expertise on another case. Four privileged young women have vanished from Guatemala City in recent months. One is the Canadian ambassador's daughter. Some remains have turned up in a septic tank, and Tempe unfortunately knows septic tanks.

Teaming with Special Crimes Investigator Bartolomé Galiano, and with Montreal detective Andrew Ryan, who may have more than just professional reasons to join her on the case, Tempe soon finds herself in a dangerous web that stretches far beyond Guatemala's borders. The stakes are huge. As power, money, greed, and science converge, Tempe must make life-altering choices.

From cutting-edge science in the lab, where Tempe studies fetal bones and cat hair DNA, to a chilling en-counter in a lonely morgue, Grave Secrets is powerful, page-turning entertainment from a crime fiction superstar who combines riveting authenticity with witty, elegant prose.

My Thoughts:
Very interesting information on what happened in Guatemala. It was a little confusing who was dead and who killed who but by the end it made sense. I enjoy reading these mysteries because Tempe is a wonderful character and it is interesting learning about Forensic Anthropology.

See No Evil... Cross Stitch

I started this Counted Cross Stitch project for my youngest son on January 1st of 2012.

Here is the first monkey. I finished this part on January 6th.

Here I have the first and second one done. I'd finished this much by January 13th.

And here it is with the 3rd one done. Not complete yet though. I finished this much by January 19th.

And lastly, here is the completed project. I was done by January 26th. I didn't do the French Knots around the borders, which was suppose to be in-between the leaves. I just suck at them. Plus my son didn't care. Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest.

Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Here's what was for dinner tonight. Another Pinterest recipe. The originally recipe is found here.

(My own picture!)

Pork Butt (I used 2.7 lb - but you can use whatever size needed for your family)
1 can Diet Coke
1/2 bottle Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce
Seasoning Salt

Generally coat pork butt with seasoning salt, don't be afraid to cover it all. Place in crock pot and pour in soda and barbecue sauce. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours. If you have a larger piece of meat, it will probably take longer. After 4 hours or so, take two forks and shred the meat into bite size chunks. Let it sit in the juice to soak up all that flavor. It can stay on warm in crock pot while serving, and can easily be reheated the next day. Serve on a bun and add more barbecue sauce if needed.

The boys and I loved it. Hubby is out of town working so we will definitely make it again when he is back home.

Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Description:

The story begins with an eerie midnight encounter between artist Walter Hartright and a ghostly woman dressed all in white who seems desperate to share a dark secret. The next day Hartright, engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie and her half sister, tells his pupils about the strange events of the previous evening. Determined to learn all they can about the mysterious woman in white, the three soon find themselves drawn into a chilling vortex of crime, poison, kidnapping, and international intrigue.

My Thoughts:

While it was boring at first, it sure picked up about halfway through. I loved uncovering the mysteries surrounding Laura, Sir Percy, Anne, and Fosco. I admit Fosco was my favorite character. He was a big man who loved his sweets. He also loved his animals. And was very smart. Plus very charming. His morals may have been lax but he was a happy person. You always expect evil people to be in foul moods all the time. I also enjoyed Marian for the same reason that Fosco did. She was a modern woman in a Victorian world.
I was right about who the Woman in White's father was. It's pretty obvious but it isn't really important part of the story thus you don't find out till the end. What Sir Percy's secret was and what Fosco was up to I had no idea until I found out towards the end.

What's for Dinner!?

Yesterday I made Italian Beef Sandwiches. I found the recipe on A Year of Slow Cooking via Pinterest. My husband and my boys loved it! I thought it was all right. I guess I was wanting it to be less meaty. That being said they want me to make it again so I will probably at least add some bell peppers next time.

(Stole the pic since I forgot to take one and my plates aren't this pretty anyway.)

And here's the recipes for all you fine folks.

Italian Beef Sandwiches

3 to 4 pound beef rump roast

1 onion, sliced in rings

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons dried basil

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon anise

1 (14.5-ounce) can whole tomatoes (undrained)

1 (12-ounce) bottle beer

8 hoagie rolls

8 slices of mozzarella cheese


Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Put the meat into your cooker. Top with sliced onion, and all the dried herbs and spices. It will seem like there are way too many herbs—try not to worry. Add the entire can of tomatoes and bottle of beer. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or until meat shreds easily with two large forks. Shred the meat completely, and stir well.

Slice the bread down the middle, then bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Once the bread feels toasty, and the cheese is melted take out. Serve on the toasted rolls with melted mozzarella cheese.

I'm back!!!

I decided to start blogging again. But now I'm not only blogging about what I read but what I've been cooking and creating too. I hope you enjoy it. I think I will. You might want to blame this all on Pinterest. It got me in the mood to do more than read and watch tv. Yay!