The butterball turkey site has some great recipes for turkey http://www.butterball.com/
I tried one of the recipes this evening:
Cajun Style Red Beans and Rice with Turkey
1 cup rice, cook according to package directions
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (15 oz. each) mild red beans in chili sauce, undrained
1 teaspoon gound cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
2 cups chopped leftover turkey
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery, bell peppers and garlic, cook 7 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in beans, cumin, salt and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover. Simmer 10 minutes and stir in the turkey. simmer for 5 minutes or until heated throughly, stirring occasionally. Add the parsley to the rice and mix lightly. Spoon the rice into bowls and top with the beans and turkey mixture.
As many of us do I change recipes to suit me or to what I have on hand. I use brown rice because it is healthier to do so. I did not have a green pepper so left it out. I did not have red beans in chili sauce but I did have pinto beans in chili sauce so used those instead. It turned out good and we liked it — if you want it a lot spicer though add more hot sauce the 1/4 teaspoon in the mixture was fine for me – but I like it mild – you could probably double that if you so desire.
Sometimes I think I spend more time on line looking at blogs then I do with my quilting. Everytime I tell myself to get off of the computer and start work on one of my many projects I end up getting back on the computer later in the day. I have gotten some work done though on the scrappy flower quilt. One border is appliqued in place and I got started on another side of the border. The large quilt on the frame is going nicely I have one section left to do – I am on the final 12 inches of the quilt and of course though that is about 108 inches long! but then I will be ready to take it off of the frame and get the binding on it. I have another quilt ready to go on the 3 roller frame when this quilt comes off. It is a scrappy Irish Chain, about twin size – I have forgotten the measurements. I have fabric for the backing but I need to stitch it together. I have discovered that my placement of pieces of the Irish Chain is not correct. Tough I’m not going to change it now. The problem is that I was going to make this a queen size then decided not to and took part of the blocks off to downsize it to a twin size instead. This will be my humility quilt showing that I make mistakes!! It should have one more row of tiny blocks all the way around to make the blocks exactly right. In the large white blocks I will do some kind of quilting design that will show off my quilting – maybe feathers or a flower.
Ok, everything has been re-glued in place with Roxanne Glue Baste It http://www.thatperfectstitch.com/ this is the company that has that fancy thimble that a lot of us have – I have one and no longer use it! Oh well, it is heavy and I prefer my paddle thimble. So here is the quilt that I am working on – I am designing as I go and I have posted several photos of it in the works. I am using up scraps, have not bought any extra fabric for this quilt. I’m trying to be good 
this is as large as this one is going to be. It will take several weeks to applique all in place, I do needle turn. I have the right hand lower corner area finished – now to finish the rest of it.
by Karen on November 24, 2008
in quilts
Ok – just my opinion but Fons & Porter glue stick with the refillable sticks does not stand up to Roxanne Glue with the needle nose applicator. I glue basted all the leaves and flowers on all sides of the border for the quilt I am working on and I have had to re-glue numerous times in the past day and a half and now I need to just sit down at the table and get the Roxanne glue out and do it right. The Fons & Porter glue stick might be good for short little jobs, but when you are handling your border for any length of time — this one that I am working on will be a good 2 weeks most likely off on again off again work — your fabric falls off easily. Now I will have to spend the next hour or so gluing pieces down again. Should have stuck with what I knew worked!!
I have been spending way too much time on the computer these days reading blogs and what not. I have to stop doing this – I’m not getting any work done on my quilts because of it. I was reading one blog in particular which receives tons of comments “Margaret & Helen” I have it on my blogroll on the right hand side. One comment in particular to todays entry caught my eye and I thought it was really sad if that is a good example of todays world:
“I heard a story about a father, mother, and two children who existed as mute entities in the same house. Mom, talking on her cell phone, picks up daughter and son from school. Doesn’t say “Hi, how was your day?” Keeps talking. Daughter focuses on her I-Pod in the front seat. Son turns on the video screen above his head.
They head for the ball field where son has a baseball game. Daughter complains she has to sit there in the bleachers–mom doesn’t hear because she’s still talking on the cell phone. Son forced to change into baseball uniform in the back seat because that’s just the way it is. Upon arriving at the ball field, all three go to their positions–son hoping mom will watch him on the field (yeah….mom’s still on the phone) Daughter stays in the car to listen to her I-Pod. Along comes Dad (give him credit that he shows up) and promptly opens his briefcase in the bleachers to work on his laptop. After the game (mom, dad didn’t notice the home run until they heard everyone shouting) the son sulks in the backseat and asks for McDonald’s. Mom groans and offers Arby’s (is that any better?) Dad passes them on the road home–doesn’t look at them because he’s on his cell phone. They arrive home and each one grabs their food and heads to their places again. Computers in the bedrooms and finally peace and quiet alone. And we wonder why so many of our children are needing help?”
A real pity if this is the way of the American family!!! Recently I have been thinking of things in the same line of thought and wondering if things today are really that much better than 20 years ago or so. Yes we have come a long way in modern appliances and some of us can’t do without our microwave, cell phone, computer, dvr, ect. But at least families had normal everyday conversations and knew what was going on with each other.
I guess this just caught my eye today because I no I have been spending way too much time on the computer and not doing some of my daily activities. The computer has taken over our lifes it seems.
So now I guess I better get off of the computer and try to stay off it for most of the day!! And get to work on my quilting. 
How I’m I supposed to finish any one project when new patterns keep finding their way to me! Today someone on one of my quilting lists forwarded me a new link to a great site with patterns — http://appleblossomquilts.danemcoweb.com/ if you look under patterns, , you will find at the bottom of the Christmas pattern section a pattern called “Christmas Memories” and another called “My Christmas Baltimore”. I want them both!! I have always planned on making a Christmas quilt and always wanted to make a Baltimore Album quilt of some type – here is both in one. What is a girl to do they are on sale – it will have to be just one not both. I’ll let you know what is decided!
by Karen on November 16, 2008
in quilts
I have been working on the tedious job of applique preparation the last couple of days. The next border of the quilt that I have been working on off and on pictured a week or so ago has a lot of applique flowers and leaves. Which means — cutting out a hundred or more leaves and 25 flowers at least with 5 petals to each leave plus yellow centers! I have a lot of them cut out:
next step will be to start scattering them on the border and decide where they will lay and then I glue baste them with a Fons & Porter glue stick – I use to use Roxanne glue baste it with the needle size dropper but I found the last couple times I used it that if I didn’t wash it out fairly soon that it occasionally left a mark on the fabric. I have heard that the Fons & Porter stick doesn’t do that. One can hope!
The applique that I do is needle turn, I do not mark the pieces with pencil or marking tools, after I cut the piece out allowing for about 1/8 inch or so to turn under I just go with the flow and glue the piece down and then work with it from there. I do not do precise work, I do not care if every single leave is the same size and exactly the same — after all are all leaves and flowers exactly the same – I don’t think so. The picture of the border that I am kind of making shows the stems as being embroidered, but I really don’t embroider all that much so I am trying to decide on just a regular bias stem to weave all over the border or to do the embroidery – I will decide another day!
by Karen on November 12, 2008
in quilts
I assume all quilters have the same problem as I do and that is keeping your work area neat and clean and organized. If this isn’t done on a regular basis when you have a small room like I do chaos becomes a big problem you forget what you have in the line of sewing supplies and before you know it you have purchased duplicate notions that you did not realize you had because they were stuck away in a drawer or a box where they got covered up by something and you forgot you had it. Here are two pictures of my sewing room – on the opposite end not pictured is my husbands messy side of the room where he has his computer and books, papers ect.
this is the design center, cutting table, storage area – everything except the quilting gets done here. The colorful boxes above the table are full of scrap fabrics that I took the time earlier this year to cut into squares, strips ect and packed into boxes. Larger pieces of fabrics that are for the Dear Jane quilt and Dutch Treat are on bolts laying flat along with some extra fabric for backings or background. Above the flat bolts is more fabric mainly for background choices in scrap quilts. Rulers are on the wall in a rack and the thread cabinet is on the wall too. I cleaned up a metal shelving unit and spray painted it black and all my books & magazines & patterns are on the top & second shelf, odds and ends on the bottom shelf along with the quilts to be quilted in see through plastic to remind myself what is there to be done. I love my cutting table, it is actually supposed to be in the kitchen, it was sold as a kitchen island, it has two drawers and has a drop leaf on the back of it that can’t be seen from this photo which extends it to an almost 36″ square that has enough room for my largest cutting matt with a little extra room on the side. It was an unfinished table that I stained and varnished myself.
the other side of the wall is completely taken up by my 3 roller quilting frame. The quilt that is on it right now I designed, it has a large 36 point mariners compass in the center. I started this quilt a year ago and it has been on the frame since late January – I will be getting it off of there before the end of the year – I have been busy with other projects and have not paid enough attention to it for most of the year. Above the frame my husband put 2 long shelves up and a lot of fat quarters or almost fat quarters are in wire baskets, it use to be color coded but somehow things have not gotten put back where they should have been and is getting out of order. The top shelf has a lot of family photo’s and knick knacks along with my featherweight sewing machine that needs to be fixed and I haven’t gotten around to doing that so for now it is decorating the room.
Several of my wall hangings are also decorating the room – my husband especially loves the stain glass dragon http://threeswans.com/ it caught his eye on a trip to Canada quite a few years ago and asked me to make it.
(edited 11/16) I just noticed that the stain glass dragon wall hanging I mentioned didn’t get in the photo’s earlier on in my blogging at the beginning of the year in January I put several views of the sewing room on here so it is under January 2008. I used the proper lighting with the camera this time and the sewing room turned out with white walls as it actually is – in the January picture they looked yellow.
by Karen on November 9, 2008
in quilts
I have a long list of blogs that I frequently visit to see what other quilters and others are up to. One interesting site is Caron Mosey: Michigan Quilts http://blog.caronmosey.com/ Caron is making a Dear Jane quilt like me but unlike me she is the author of several books – here is the newest of her books (I wish I had the talent for writting a book and coming up with the patterns for one) :
If you go to her site you might have a chance to win a copy of this book. I’m not buying it until I see if I win it
(edited 11/10) Caron told me that this book is not new – she has had it out for some years – I guess I have missed it, but then with no quilting shop near by that is not surprising )
by Karen on November 8, 2008
in quilts
Awhile back around September 28 or so I posted a photo of a quilt top that I am designing as I go and I have been at work on it off and on over the past six weeks or so. I added another patchwork border to it and then an 8 inch off white border – not all the same print, I think I used 4 or 5 fat quaters cut down to size. My friend Regina gave me one of her books and we found the perfect border that would look great on this quilt with lots of flowers and leaves out of Cynthia Tomaszewski’s book “Garden Party” page 42. It will be perfect for it. I have copies of the flowers made in the right size and of a bunch of leaves – all copies printed out on freezer paper so now all that is left to do is cut out the patterns and iron onto the fabric and start cutting and do the needle work involved. I can see I will be busy with this one for several weeks to a month before I get done. This will not be an organized layout – the flowers and leaves will be scattered and no two sides will be the same — the way I like to do it – after all that is the way they grow outside right – who ever has two vines or flowers & leaves grow exactly the same way?
The quilt top at it’s current and final size:
The book that the applique pattern is in:
