Bottled Italian Chicken

     This chicken is flavored with the italian seasoning packet you would use in the salad dressings.  It is done only with the seasoning packet and chicken.  The chicken makes its own juices.  I did this so that I could whip out a quick meal when needed.  You may have tried the chicken recipe that you cook the chicken (about 4 breasts) in the crock pot all day with italian seasoning packet and butter, then at the end you add the can of cream of chicken and block of cream cheese.  You can even put frozen chicken in the crock pot and it still works out great.  It is really good if you haven't tried it you should.  I don't know the name of the recipe but we call it Ugly Chicken.  We serve it over a bed of rice or noodles.  It is a family favorite.  

     For bottling this I put 1/2 of a packet per jar.  I would next time put in the whole thing in each jar.  You fill your sterilized jars with chicken leaving 1 1/2 inch head space.  Wipe the rim and place hot lids on.  Process them as instructed with your pressure canner.

     It was very convenient to just open a jar, dump it in a pot and add the can of cream of chicken and cream cheese and heat.  The chicken can be shredded or just cut into smaller pieces.

Horseback Treasure Hunt

We go on a horseback scavenger hunt every year in the spring.  It is so fun.  My husbands Aunt Barbara plans the whole thing and hides the clues.  We had about 35 horses this year.  Friends and family bring horses and food.  We have a bar-b-q with pot luck sides.  Then after we are all well fed, we go on the treasure hunt.

Those that bring horses try to match skill level to the horses so that everyone is comfortable.

The hunt goes all over.  We have up to 12 clues.

This is down the streets of Mack, Colorado.  Babies to great grandmas ride.

The clues are hidden in vitamin bottles and placed so they are not too hard to find, and the papers don't blow away.  They are numbered too, so that we are sure to get them all.

Cindy with my kids Wylee, Zoey, and Sophie

This is my husband, Eric with two of our kids, Wylee and Zoey.

We always have a vehicle to follow along in case kids get tired, or there are any accidents.  Also the photographer (me) needs to be able to take pictures easily.  The treasure is always located on Aunt Barbara's ranch so that nobody has to haul it on the horses.  It is a large can filled with treats that everyone can take what they like.  The kids love it.  

Bitter Sweet

Bitter Sweet

This quilt is called Bitter Sweet.  The pattern is by Kim Diehl.   I loved making this quilt.  It is a wool applique on cotton.  I over-dyed my wools to give them more texture.  This is the first quilt that I hand quilted.  It is quilted in squares or cross-hatching.  I also quilted around the flower.  If you believe it, the wool is from thrift store finds.  You can get some great wool from the thrift stores.

This is Kim Diehl's Quilt.  I went to her class in Midway, Utah, to see what her technique was.  If you compare quilts you will notice that I made some changes.   She has wonderful quilt designs.   

These are closer up photos of the original

Kim has some beautiful fabrics that she designs too.

  Convenient Sweet Mexican Chicken

I thought that it would be convenient to have this chicken bottled.  Normally you put the chicken in a crock pot with salsa and sugar and then shred it after it has cooked all day.  You eat it on tortillas, like tacos.  This is great with pork too.  It is so good but sometimes I don't plan ahead well.  I decided to bottle this.  It turned out fabulous.

Sweet Mexican Chicken Recipe.

2 c. brown sugar

2 jars (16 oz) salsa

Mix these together. Put the chicken in the clean sterilized jars.  Then pour the salsa mixture over the top filling in around the chicken.  Remember to leave 2 inches of head space.  Wipe the top rim and put the hot lids on.  Then process as your pressure canner recommends.  Sometimes it leaks out a little but it will be fine.  When you are ready to use it shred it and heat.  Serve with all the taco fixings, lettuce, cheese, tomato, avocado, and beans.

Chickadee Pin Cushion

Isn't this pin cushion cute.    It is designed by Annie Downs.  My friend Jerilu made this one.

This is a great way to use that fabric that you thought was wool but didn't felt up like you thought it would.  The background fabric was a skirt that just didn't have enough wool to felt up nicely.  You want the wool to felt so that you don't have to worry about the fraying.  It worked out great for these pin keeps because the edges of the fabric was in the seams.  The flowers are the ones we are giving out to the Quilt Walk participants.  

Here are some more of the same.  I think they are really fun.  As you know I like working with wool.  

 I made these.  It is fun to see the difference that just changing the stitching and thread color will make.  I like both my friends and mine.  That is what makes us so unique.  These will end up being gifts.

 I had decided that I just wanted to add beads for eyes because it was quicker.  I generally go for the easy way.