Baptism Brunch

LadyBug is eight and she choose to be baptized. The ordinance took place one week ago today. We arrived about 25 minutes before the meeting was to begin for pictures and a little orientation on what was going to happen that day. Here is LadyBug with my youngest brother, who baptized her. He turned 16 just a couple of months before Grasshopper turned eight and baptized him. He's 18 now and will be heading out for a mission in the early fall. LadyBug was excited to have him baptize her.

Amy has a cousin on Mr. Bug's side who turned eight just two weeks before she did and so together, the girls and their parents decided that it would be fun if we did the baptisms together because they were both scheduled for the same time on the same day. I think it was nice to do it that way because then everyone from Mr. Bug's family could attend two events at once and minimize travel a bit. I think it was fun for the girls too, to share such a special day.

We had 68 family members and friends attend and 57 of them stayed for brunch afterwards. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and enjoying good food. My mom, two of my sisters and my brother's wife brought bunches of muffins, including LadyBug's favorites (scroll to the bottom) and I took care of the brunch casseroles and fruit. I wanted to share the recipes for the casseroles we enjoyed. I found these on the internet a couple of years ago and served them at Grasshopper's baptism as well.

Ham & Broccoli Breakfast Casserole
8 slices white or wheat bread, cut into cubes
1 lb. shredded cheddar cheese
2 medium heads fresh broccoli, cut to bite size pieces
1 lb. cubed ham
4 eggs
2 cups milk
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
1 can cream of mushroom soup

• Cover the bottom of a greased 9" x 13" baking dish with the bread cubes. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the bread.
• Place broccoli in a vented, microwave-safe covered dish. Add about ¼ cup of hot water and steam in the microwave for 5 minutes on medium power. Broccoli should be bright green and still a bit crisp. Drain the broccoli and arrange on top of the cheese. Add the ham.
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk and mustard; lightly beat. Pour over mixture in the pan. Store in the refrigerator overnight. Spread the soup over top of the casserole in the morning.
• Heat the oven to 350˚. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 30 minutes more. Check to make sure the eggs are set; bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes if necessary.

Bishop's Brunch Casserole
8 slices bread, cut into cubes
2 lbs. sausage, cooked and drained
2 cups milk
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 small can mushrooms, drained
¼ cup finely chopped onion
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 can cream of mushroom soup
⅓ cup milk
Paprika

• Cover the bottom of a greased 9" x 13" baking dish with bread cubes.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine sausage, milk, eggs, mushrooms, onion, cheese, mustard and Worcestershire. Pour the mixture over the bread.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Before baking, mix the mushroom soup and milk together. Spread over the top of the casserole and sprinkle with paprika.
• Heat oven to 325˚. Bake, uncovered, for 1½ hours, checking that the eggs are set before serving.

Susan's Breakfast Casserole
6 slices of bread, cut into cubes
18 to 24 oz. bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
9 eggs, beaten
3 cups milk
1½ teaspoons dry mustard

• Cover the bottom of a greased 9" x 13" pan with bread cubes.
• Sprinkle bacon over the bread pieces. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the bacon.
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk and mustard. Pour over casserole. Refrigerate overnight.
• Heat oven to 350˚. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15 to 30 minutes, until eggs are set.

French Toast Casserole
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup butter, melted
3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 lb. French baguette loaf, cut into 1" slices
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1½ cups milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon

• Grease a 9" x 13" baking dish. In a medium mixing bowl, combine brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; mix in melted butter. Add apples and toss to coat. Place in the bottom of the baking dish. Arrange the bread slices in an even layer over the apples.
• Whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Pour evenly over bread slices, making sure each slice is soaked. Cover baking dish with foil and refrigerate overnight.
• Heat oven to 375˚. Bake casserole, covered for 40 minutes; remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes more. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Buttermilk Syrup
¾ cup sugar
½ cup butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

• In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, butter and buttermilk. Bring to a boil.
• Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla (baking soda will foam).
• Serve warm over your favorite breakfast foods. Store in the refrigerator.

Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along: block three

Rachel posted the instructions for block three last Saturday, but it was a busy day for us (more details on that soon). I started, and finished my blocks early this week, but one of them looked too much like one of my combinations for block one. So, I decided that I was going to unpick it and switch the colors. I did, and I like it much better.

Here's my first block. LadyBug helped me decide on the colors. I love how it turned out. It kind of reminds me of neapolitan ice cream. Neapolitan isn't one of my favorites -- the chocolate and strawberry clash too much. But in the case of my quilt, it is a good thing.


And this is the second block, the one I had to unpick. As I was carefully pulling out each stitch, I remembered a tutorial for unpicking over at Park City Girl. I tried it, and lo and behold, it worked! And it took half the time! I wonder why no on ever taught me this before?


You can find the instructions for this block here: p.s. i quilt: pinwheel sampler quilt along: block three. Five more designs (10 blocks total) to go!

Eclipse Trailer

Only 110 more days . . .

Scripture Cases

LadyBug got her first set of scriptures this weekend. They were a gift from her grandma (my mom) after her baptism. She was pretty excited about it. As a matter of fact, it was her Primary class's turn to help with opening exercises on Sunday and she signed up ahead of time to read the scripture, knowing that she was getting new scriptures. We found the reference, marked it with a red pencil, bookmarked it, and she read it over and over to make sure she had it just right.

Recently I ran across instructions for making a quilted cover in a blog I follow. So, I decided to make one for LadyBug's new scriptures. I noticed that Grasshopper's scripture case had a rip in it, so I decided to make one for him as well. My original plan was to run to JoAnn's on Saturday afternoon and let the kids pick out their own fabrics. But I remembered a couple of pieces of fabric in my stash that I thought might work well; red for LadyBug, who happens to adore the color, and blue for Grasshopper, who thinks that if it isn't blue, it isn't a color worth noticing. I pulled the fabrics out and the kids were enthusiastic. Fortunately, I also had coordinating fabrics in my stash, as well as a small piece of batting and plenty of interfacing, which saved me a trip to the fabric shop. I cut the fabrics, got the interfacing pressed on everywhere and began quilting.

This was fun for me because I'd just taken a beginning machine quilting class a couple of weeks ago and was excited to try out my new skills. I thought I'd better keep it simple for a beginning project, so I just did straight-line quilting with my walking foot. I considered adding a little flower embellishment to LadyBug's cover in the large empty squares in the pattern, but after a little practice I decided that my free-motion skills need a little more honing. She's not a flowery kind of girl, anyway. Here is the back-side of the cover so you can see the detail.


Here is hers, all finished. The cover fabric is a South Seas Import. I have it in two other colors. Unfortunately, the selvage cuts off in just the wrong spot and it doesn't have the name on it.


Here is the front inside, with a little pocket just the right size for marking pencils. The fabric for the inside, including the lining is a Moda Marble, in red.


I wanted the quilting in Grasshopper's cover to be a little different, so I did a sort of crosshatch pattern. I'm thinking now that it might have been a little better had I turned it on an angle like LadyBug's. This fabric is Bali Rain by Blank Textiles (I think).


Here is the little inside pocket. I liked the contrast of using the cover fabric. I had a little more of this blue than I did the red in LadyBug's, or I would have done hers like this too. The fabric for the lining and inside came from JoAnn's.


Amy at Amy's Creative Side wrote up the instructions for these covers and you can find them here: Tutorial — Quilted Bible Cover. The instructions are easy to follow and include a section for customizing the size to your needs. Since my covers are smaller than hers, I thought I'd include the measurements I used. I calculated these using the conversion section in Amy's tutorial. This is for the medium size LDS Quadruple Combination (7⅜" x 5⅜" x 2⅜").

Exterior fabric:
Cover: 10" x 16" (to be quilted and then trimmed to 8⅞" x 15")
Handles: 2 - 4" x 14"
Tie: 1½" x 18"

Interior fabric:
Jacket Cover Pocket: 2 - 8⅞" x 8"
Pencil Pocket: 2 - 5½" x 3½"

Lining fabric (or interior fabric):
8⅞" x 15"

Batting:
11" x 17"

Interfacing:
Lining: 8⅞" x 15"
Handles: 2 - 4" x 14"
I also added interfacing to the jacket cover pockets and the pencil pocket. After you have pressed the jacket cover pocket in half, add interfacing to one side, from the center to the outer edge. This measures 8⅞" tall x 4" wide (you'll need two pieces, one for each side). The interfacing for the pencil pocket is 5½" x 3½".

These 'scripture cases' (as my kids call them) make two fun finishes for March! Hooray!

Sunday Sermons: Tender Mercies

The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works. -Psalms 145:9