A Rare Sight and a Good Recipe

On a clear day, you can see.....um......about 230 miles! Yup, for the first time in nine years of traveling up this highway to go to church, we looked out to the west this morning, and there, on the horizon....clearly visible to the naked eye....

....about 230 miles away, was the top of Mt. Rainier!

After living under a layer of fog since mid- January, it's amazing what shows up after a good rain! Sorry the picture doesn't do it justice. My smart phone is not my usual first choice for a sight like this. Check out the link for Rainier and read all about it.

Here is a snap from the U.S. Geological Service.

This one is shot from the Puyallup Valley which grows more tulips than, well, anywhere else you can imagine.

Anyway, we always know the Cascades are over there to the west of us. We can often see the Stuart Range on our way over to Ephrata, and I've assumed for years that Rainier might be visible....but not until today, did we see it. What fun!

Okay, enough of that. Ever need a lot of cookies quick? I know. When you do, you can just run over to the store and get some pre-mixed cookies and, Bob's your uncle....you've got a lot of cookies. I guess I could do that, too. I just didn't want to.

These "Less Sugar Oatmeal Chunkies" are based on a "Highland Oatmeal Cookie" recipe from an old cookbook (American Home All-Purpose Cookbook edited by Virginia T. Habeeb, 1966). I tripled it to make enough cookies for the "Quilter's Tea" we are having tomorrow here in Odessa. 

I make these up as a sugar-free addition to the stock of cookies we're going to have on hand from the members of the guild. What doesn't get consumed tomorrow, can go into the freezer for later treats.

"Highland Oatmeal Cookies"

1 c. sifted AP Flour

1/2 t. Salt

1/2 t. Baking Soda

1 c. Butter, softened

1 c. Brown Sugar, firmly packed

1/2 c. White Sugar

1 Egg

2 t. Vanilla

1/4 c. Water

1/2 c. chopped nuts

1/2 c. Raisins

3 c. Rolled Oats

Cream the butter, sugars, vanilla and egg well until light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients and stir until mixed. Drop by rounded teaspoonsful onto greased cookie sheets and bake 12 to 15 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool slightly before removing from pan to cooling racks.

"Less Sugar Oatmeal Chunkies"

Replace the Brown Sugar with 1/2 c. Brown Sugar "Splenda"

Replace the White Sugar with  1/4 c. "Truvia for Baking"

If doubling or tripling the recipe, you'll need a bigger bowl and will need to mix in the dry ingredients by hand. Place the dough in a ziplock bag and roll into a log form. Keep refrigerated or frozen if you don't want to bake them all at once. When ready to bake, cut open the bag(s) and, using a heavy chef's knife, cut the log into 3/4" wafers. Cut each wafer into four equal chunks, spread out on the cookie  sheets and bake about 17 minutes until lightly browned.

You've got cookies! And having less sugar, these can make a very nice "pocket breakfast" when you don't have time to stop and eat. Just grab your latte and you're all set!

Quilter's Tea - To Raise $ for Donation Quilts

Odessa Quilt Club's "Quilter's Tea"

Each year we need to raise money to buy batting for our donation quilts. Last time, our Quilter's Tea raised enough for an enormous roll of the important stuff (or stuffing).

We held it in our meeting room last time and it was so popular, we were bursting at the seams. So, this year, we opted to rent the local meeting venue, Any Occasion, on Odessa's main street across from our lovely quilt shop.

Here you can see the lovely main, big, room. We set up about 12 tables and marked them alphabetically from A to L. Each of us brought a UFO or a book, or fabric, or a pattern, or notion to donate, with a cup for each item. Each item was marked numerically as it came in with a number on the item and one on the cup.

We started at about 9:30 AM and quit about 3 PM. There were over 200 items raffled off during the day with drawings each hour or so.

Here you can see some of the items on Table D: some fabric, a pattern and a notion or two.  Each visitor bought tickets (25 cents each or 5 for a dollar). I bought more than $15 worth of tickets, not that I needed a lot of new stuff (new to me) but because I wanted to make that contribution to our guild.

After we  bought our tickets, we put our names and phone numbers on them and walked around to look at the offerings. Here are some nice books and patterns.

When we found something we liked, we put one of our tickets in the cup corresponding to the item. Sometimes, if we REALLY liked something and wanted it, we stuffed the cup with our tickets.

See that lovely block roller in the center of the picture? I won that. Our guild president made it to carry applique' blocks in while working on them. It holds quite a few blocks, keeping them clean and wrinkle-free, while you work on them. I REALLY wanted that and I was lucky enough to win it.

Table-by-table, quilt guild officers, drew names from the cups, almost hourly. Throughout the day,  lots of quilters moseyed through, looking for that special something they could not do without. The place had a busy buzz going all through the activity.

Any Occasion venue has a nice setup with a table and bar for drinks and such. We set it up with coffee and hot water (for tea, cider, cocoa) and bottled water, too. Guild members baked cookies to serve. All the food and drinks were free.

Some of us ordered in lunch and some went out for lunch. There were comfortable chairs and tables and lots of chatting going on. It was very pleasant.

 There was something for everyone. 

It took a little contemplation to see the possibilities......

.....and there were a lot of possibilities.....see that little old sewing basket on the right? I won that! So, now I have a block carrier and a sewing basket to carry around. I'm set!

......how many of these projects can one finish in a year?

A great time was had by all, I think.

Next month:  Quilt 'Til You Wilt!