back in the saddle

Well, hello, hello! Happy September! I'm glad to be back from my blogging break! My kids started school this week and we are slowly getting back into a routine. Although I miss them during the day, man, the quiet is awfully nice!

I've been working on cleaning the slate...trying to finish some quilts. I have a hundred new ideas (at the very least) that I want to try, so I have to get some of my WIPs cleared out. It's easy to get bogged down!

I basted my scattered showers quilt this week and I started quilting it yesterday. I committed to a very ambitious quilting pattern and I spent all of my quilting time questioning my sanity. I had many problems with thread breakage and skipped stitches, which made me question this quilting pattern even more. A friend suggested going up a need size, which I tried, and things got better after that. What a relief! Now, I'm quite certain that I'm going to run out of thread, but one problem at a time....

The back of the quilt is a funky green (Kona cotton in peapod) that shows every single stitch of the quilting. No pressure there! Ha! I have a long way to go on this one, but it feels good to be one step closer to finishing!

I don't share a lot of recipes here on the blog, but this one is such a good one! I made a batch of ginger molasses cookies yesterday....they are perfect for the fall weather that is just around the corner. This makes a big batch-plenty for your family and plenty to share with others. It's a keeper!

Ginger Molasses Cookies

4 1/2 cups flour
4 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
4 t. ginger
1 t. cloves
1/2 t. salt
2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
granulated sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well. Add the molasses and beat on medium-low speed until combined. Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture and beat until combined. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.

Roll the dough into small balls, about 1" in diameter. Fill a small bowl with granulated sugar and roll each ball in the sugar until is is completely coated.  Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for about
12-13 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for about 1-2 minutes, then transfer to wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Store for up to one week in a sealed container.

If you try this recipe, I'd love to hear what you think!

See you tomorrow for finish it up Friday!