Scallops Pesto with Vermicelli

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Scallops Pesto with Vermicelli

This recipe came out of Cooking for 2 in the Fall 2007 edition.  It was submitted by Marilyn Lustgarten of Wentzville, Missouri. Andy and I loved it.  It was quick and easy.  Not too high in calories and made the house smell wonderful! 4 ounces uncooked vermicelli 2 Tbs. butter 1/2 tsp garlic powder ( I used the jarred minced garlic and used about a tsp.) 1/4 tsp. oregano 1/8 tsp. pepper 1/2 lb. bay scallops 2 Tbsp. white wine or chicken broth ( I found it to be a good excuse to open a bottle of wine to drink while cooking) 3 Tbsp. prepared pesto Cook vermicelli according to package directions and drain.  Meanwhile, in large skillet, melt butter.  Stir in the garlic, oregano and pepper.  Add scallops and wine or broth; cook an d stir over medium heat for 5-6 min. until scallops are firm and opaque. Reduce heat to low.  Stir in pesto; heat through.  Toss vermicelli into pan, toss and make sure it is heated through. A 1 1/4 cup serving equals 536 calories, 24 grams of fat, 76 mg. cholesterol, 481 mg. sodium, 47 carbs, 3 gms. fiber, 31 gm. protein. Now to get to sewing!  I have two orders to fill today plus a pile of things I need to mend or embroidery to give as gifts.  I also want to make one of the kitchen towels with scripture for myself!  I have loved making those and everyone that has used them has said they love them.  So it's about time I get to use one for myself!

Fall Designs & Pumpkin Bread

  Fall.  Bleh.  I love the colors and flavors.  I like the decreasing humidity and the slightly cooler temps and the end of yard work.  I do NOT like the feeling of impending doom.  I am not a fan of heavy clothes, coats, shoes, frost, snow, ice etc.  I like shorts and sandals, the beach, no coats, being able to walk outside without freezing and being encumbered by clothes.  

 

To add to that, fall means I have to return to work.  I used to work full time as a school nurse.  Now I've been blessed to do it only as a substitute which means I can make my own schedule.  Since we still need the income, that translates into me working as much as possible.  I'd rather be home cooking and sewing.  Even when I had a year round job and my children were young, I still didn't like fall.  Some parents like sending their children back to school but I liked having mine home and setting my own schedule.

 

I do love fall colors though.  They are so vibrant.  Nan's Nappies has some really cute fall designs that could look adorable on your child's shirt, onesie, burp cloth or blanket.  There are also beautiful designs for towels and adult shirts.  Click on the following links to check out the designs that are shown on Nan's Nappies Shutterfly share page:

School Daze

Back to School

Harvest Happenings

Back to School Critters 

Split Back to School ( names are not included, I can add your child's name in the font you choose)

 

Or what about these cute little designs on a shirt or bag?   You can choose the font or saying to be "written" on the "paper".

The one above is also applique' so the apple & leaves, heart and I will be filled with fabrics of your color choice.

Backpacks are another school necessity and I have added some names to some.  I have around 500 fonts from which to choose so your child's bag can be unique. I have over 100 colors of thread from which to choose also. 

  

   

Some don't want their child's name on the pack but a monogram or unique saying will set their pack apart from the rest.

 

 

 Now, for another thing I love about fall.  Pumpkin.  I love pretty much anything pumpkin.  One of our family favorites is Pumpkin Bread.  I make it all year round.  I teach 4 & 5 year old ( Pre-K & K) Sunday School and take pumpkin bread in as a snack fairly often.  Even the really picky ones will resist it at first, then they ask for seconds and even thirds!  I haven't had even one turn it down yet.  It is so moist and goes really well with some cream cheese or just plain.  Here's my recipe:

 

 Click here to print recipe

Pumpkin Bread

In large bowl mix together the following ingredients then set aside.

4 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 tsp. salt

In  your large mixer bowl, mix together:

1 large ( 29 oz) can pumpkin ( not pumpkin pie mix but plain)

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

4 1/2 cups sugar

6 eggs

As mixer is going, gradually ass the flour mixture.  Mix till well blended.

Pour into three greased 9" loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 min or until toothpick comes out clean.  After 10 min. dump the loaves onto a cooling rack.  When well cooled, wrap and refrigerate.  I often use heavy duty foil to wrap each loaf and then freeze.  Another way I wrap them is with Glad Press N Seal and then put several loaves inside a gallon size freezer bag.  Even after months in the freezer, you can thaw it and it won't taste like it's been frozen!

I often make mini loaves instead of the big loaves.  I have 6" mini pans and 4". I fill them around 2/3 full.  Both of those only take 40 - 45 min. to bake.

How Was Your Christmas?

Christmas was a VERY busy time for me this year.  In November I was invited to return to a Holiday Shopping Open House the weekend before Thanksgiving.  One of my daughter's friends, Lani Harmon, sells Mary Kay Cosmetics and opens her home to around 10 vendors over a weekend.  We display our goods, sell and take orders.  It's a fun, relaxed atmosphere with food and music.  I always make new friends and meet up with old friends.  I got quite a few orders that weekend.  I also had orders from my Etsy shop and orders from local customers.  I was sewing everyday right up to two days before Christmas.

I made a lot of lace Christmas ornaments.  Everyone seemed to love those.

Another popular item was kitchen towels.  One of the most popular was one with the Fruits of the Spirit on it.  These towels are a wonderfully soft, absorbent,100% cotton waffle weave.  This design, as well as other scripture verses that I have, are so colorful they will match any kitchen. This particular design came from a collection by Designs by JuJu. I have several scriptures that are wonderful for towels. 

  

 My Mom's favorite verse is Isaiah 40:10.  I didn't have a towel with that so I made one for her.  I didn't arrange them in an artistic arrangement.  She is 90 and would rather have it just plain.  Below  is the towel I did for her.

 Some of these verses are great on burp cloths and blankets also. Bright, colorful and just plain Happy!

Once I finished all of my sewing, I turned my efforts to baking and cleaning.  Three days before Christmas.  Christmas Day arrived and I was so looking forward to all of the family being at my house.  My son brought my elderly parents who live 30 miles away.  My mother is 90 and my dad is 94.  Mom is almost always cold, so when she started complaining of being cold, we put a blanket over her.  We were waiting for my daughter and her family to arrive.  Mom started having severe chills.  I knew she was starting to run a fever.  I took it but it was normal but I suspected it was going to go up.  I was running back and forth from the living room where mom was to my kitchen, trying to get dinner ready.  

Just as my daughter and her family were walking in the door, Mom started vomiting.  She didn't bring up large amounts but it kept happening.  We hurriedly opened presents and got our dinner.  Mom was continuing to go down hill.  We had a heating pad on her and a wool blanket.  Her temp went up to 102.  At this point, I didn't want her to go back home without being seen by a doctor.  I knew she was dehydrated and she was getting a little confused.  I knew that I couldn't get her in the hospital by myself so I told my daughter to call an ambulance.  Mom and I arrived at the ER around 6 PM.  Blood work and a CAT scan of her belly showed nothing.  They wanted a urine sample and kept waiting for her to go but I kept telling them she was dehydrated.  They finally listened to me and hung a liter bag ( 1000cc) of NSS.  She still didn't have to go so they catheterized her and only got 400cc back.  I thought they should have given her more fluid but they didn't.  They discharged her at 2AM.  At least the fluids lowered her fever and she was more alert.  We drove to my house to pick up my husband. He did not want me on the road by myself at that time in the morning.  My son had already taken my father back home.   I got in bed at 4AM.

The next morning I awoke early :-( with a terrible sinus headache.  I called mom at 10 AM and found that she had still not urinated since they had catheterized her.  She does not like to drink a lot.  I threatened her with a return visit to the hospital to get more fluids.  By noon, she finally started urinating on her own.  She was weak but doing okay.  I don't think it was a stomach virus because she didn't vomit large amounts or have diarrhea.  In addition, no one else in the family got sick and her blood work did not indicate a virus.

Not the Christmas I had planned but it could have been worse.  I am thankful for all of God's protection through all of that.  In addition, I have terrible back pain almost everyday.  For the first time in a long time, I had no pain while I baked and cleaned.  And no pain for the 8 hours I had to sit in the terrible chair in the ER.  That was definitely a gift from God.

On a VERY happy note, two years ago today our little Pixel came to live with us. He is a 4.9lb pure bred Yorkie. He was rescued from a puppy mill and had never been out of a cage in his 5 years of life.  His fur was long and matted.  Every touch from a human was terrifying for him.  He didn't know how to run or jump off of anything.  Now he hops up and down off the sofa and gallops everywhere.  He's still a little nervous in new situations but is SO much better than when we got him.  He absolutely adores my husband.  Here are some Christmas pictures of him and of our pug/terrier mix, Tommy, and two of our precious grandchildren opening presents.

 The picture below was taken a couple of weeks before Christmas when we were decorating the tree.  I put Pixel in the hat and he didn't mind so I laid him on the sofa.  He stayed in that hat for over an hour.

                         

 These pictures were taken Christmas Day.

                                          

 Our grandson is 2.  He would very gently rip the paper off a present with encouragement.  The minute he saw something in the package , he'd say " WOOK!"   Our granddaughter, opened one present and disappeared.  We wondered where she had gone.  How many 4 year olds walk away from opening presents????  We called to her and discovered that she had gone back into the kitchen to snag another  Sweet Roll.  They are a delicious yeast roll I've been making for many years.  They are loaded with butter and sugar so I only make them for special occasions.  We have no idea how many she ate that day.  She absolutely loved them.  It made me so happy to see another grandchild enjoying a family tradition.  Don't you think you'd love these rolls?

I hope your Christmas was filled with many blessings and was a little more calm than mine was!

Learning About Christmas

My sweet 4 year old granddaughter, Taylor, and 2 year old grandson, Logan, took their usual naps on Monday. My daughter took advantage of the time to start decorating for Christmas.  Logan was the first one to wake up.  He's a sweet sensitive little guy.  When my daughter brought him downstairs, he just kept looking around and saying " Oh No, Mama!  What happened?"  He was not content until Taylor woke up and assured him everything was okay.  She, being 4, was very excited to see the decorations so Logan followed her lead.:-)

The weekend before Thanksgiving I participated in a holiday shopping open house.  I , along with several other vendors set up displays of our goods and services.  I got over twice as many orders as last year.  Last  year was my first year and I thought I'd give it another try this year.  It's difficult for me to have goods ready for purchase since almost all of my work is custom and personalized.  I didn't get to sew much the days before Thanksgiving but got to sit down to my machine the day after.  My machine was due for it's annual maintenance check up in October or November.  I was hoping to get through until January.  For a few weeks I've had an occasional time when the thread would knot up on the back of the design and then the machine would stop.  If I re-threaded, it seemed to fix the problem and I could continue sewing.  Monday, that changed.  It would sew a few stitches and then start sounding like it was grinding and knot up  again.  I think the timing is off.  I have no idea how it got off.  The last time my timing was off, it happened when I sewed my finger but I  haven't sewed my finger since then!  I was so frustrated at the end of Monday.  Yesterday morning I called to make an appointment to have my machine serviced.  I take my machine to the closest repair shop, which is an hour away. Lilies of the Field in Easton, MD.  I pay extra for same day service.  My son, has recently started working in Easton, so hopefully , we'll be able to meet for lunch tomorrow.  Thankfully, I started sewing early and have plenty of time to complete my Christmas orders!

Many of my regular readers know that I am a registered nurse.  My last full time job was as a school nurse.  I am still a school nurse, but I do it as a substitute now.  One of our CNA's, Fayetta, has had a rough week.  The home where she grew up and where her parents ( aged 70 +) still live, caught fire Sunday.  Her father wasn't home and her mother is in a wheelchair.  Thankfully, someone pulled her mother out through a window but her mom suffered severe smoke inhalation and is in ICU on a ventilator.  Her dad has many health problems also so Fayetta has not been able to work this week.  Her parents did not have any insurance so this has really hit the family hard. Here is a link to the news video about the fire. http://www.wboc.com/category/174346/main-wboc-video-player?clipId=7997985&topVideoCatNo=109353&autoStart=true If you would like to contribute some financial help, please let me know and I can give you Fayetta's address.  You may e-mail me at nancy@nansnappies.com.

Molasses Gingersnaps and Ornaments

 

Oh my goodness!  Has it really been six weeks since I last wrote a post???  Since blogging isn't my first priority time can slip by me quickly.  My family, job as a substitute school nurse and embroidery usually take precedence over blogging.  When I do finally take the chance to blog, I get so into it, I find myself wondering why I don't make it a point to do this more often!  But then I look and six weeks have flown by.  Oh well, I'll just enjoy it when I can.  I hope you enjoy reading my blogs as much as I enjoy writing them.


Today I have a couple of new treats to share.  One is edible, and the other isn't.  The first is Molasses Gingersnaps.  My father's sister, Audrey, used to make this and I LOVED them.  I've been eating them all of my life and making them for at least 40 years.  I have used various combinations of the shortening.  Sometimes I use 3/4 cups each of Butter flavored Crisco and butter.  You do not want to use 100% butter, and you do not want to use plain Crisco.  You want butter flavored.  When I was a teenager, my dad would provide black strap molasses for me to make the cookies.  I've found molasses that calls itself black strap but it isn't like the nasty stuff my dad was able to get.  I saw nasty because it was REALLY bitter.  But it made the BEST cookies.  The more bitter the molasses, the better the flavor in the cookies. My daughter has been known to eat almost an entire cookie jar in a fairly short period of time!

Printable Version

Aunt Audrey's Molasses Ginger Snaps 1/2 cup  Butter Flavored Crisco 1 cup  butter 2 cups sugar ½ cup  BlackStrap or less sweet molasses such as Grandma's Robust 2 eggs 4 cup  flour ½ tsp  salt 4 tsp  baking soda 2 tsp  cinnamon 2 tsp  ginger 1 Cream shortening, butter, sugar and molasses. Add eggs. Beat well. 2 Add dry ingredients and mix well. 3 Roll into small balls, 3/4" to 1" in diameter. Dip top of ball into sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet - I use parchment paper- about 2" apart. 4 Bake at 350° for approximately 8 minutes. Servings: 108 The second thing I want to share is Christmas ornaments.   I have been stitching lace Christmas ornaments.  I can make them in any color. They measure approximately 3" to 3.5".  They are extremely affordable at $3.50. An added bonus is they are non-breakable! Take a look at the ones I can stitch and see if you'd like one as a gift for a special person.

Dedication Dresses

A friend, Joy, has two precious little granddaughters.  These little girls were going to be dedicated to the Lord.  For those of you who aren't familiar with this, it is based on Hannah and Samuel in the book of 1 Samuel in the Bible.

I'll inject a little trivia about me.  My parents were two of the six founding members of their church in 1957.  That is the year I was born. In 1958, I was the first baby dedicated at Grace Baptist Church .  I am happy to say my parents are still living in the same house they lived in at that time and doing pretty well for their ages.  Dad will be 94 in a few more weeks and Mom will be 91 in February.

Joy made her granddaughter's dedication dresses and I had the privilege of embroidering them.  They were gorgeous!  The little girls are cousins. 

She chose an Imperial Batiste ( 65% polyester, 35% pima cotton) fabric in white.  It is so soft to the touch but had wonderful body for draping.  The lace on the sleeves was overlapped cotton cluny lace.  The lace around the bottom edge of the skirt was an antique 3"cotton lace with a flower motif.  The back of the bodice was closed with 3 pearlized shank buttons.

At first, Joy thought she wanted all white embroidery.  As she began choosing embroidery designs, she decided to go with a touch of pale pink and green.  The results were stunning. as you can see in the photos below.

The bodice.

The center front of the skirts.

This design was stitched repeatedly around the entire hem of the skirt.

This shows the embroidery around the hem of the skirt, the beautiful lace and the pleating.

This is the baby's long gown before she attached the sleeves.

This is the shorter version for the toddler.

She also made slips.  We plan to embroider the names and dedication date on the slips.  they are heirlooms that cn be passed down from generation to generation.  With each use, the name and date can be added to the slip.  The toddlers slip had crinoline added to add fullness.

She made bonnets and attached beautiful ribbon ties but the girls were not happy about keeping those on! 

Below are the professional portraits in their dresses.  Aren't they precious?  You can click on any picture to see it larger.