Jenyfer Matthews

First things first – Congratulations Maureen! You are the lucky winner of your very own copy of Isabelle’s Diary. Drop me an email and Anita will get that out to you ASAP.

I was feeling a bit restless after my long weekend away. I am in a funny place – I enjoyed my time away tremendously and really want to find a way to enjoy a little more downtime in my every day life, yet I don’t do downtime very well. I’m used to being productive. I have trouble being idle. I sit for a little while and then have to pop up to find something to do.

This is what I did this weekend. The colors are eye-popping and prettier in person but you get the idea.

I promise that I’ll get back to writing soon. I’m in the homestretch with Aurora.

I’ve taken the week off writing to catch up on a few projects that I’ve had on the go. Like this queen sized triple Irish chain quilt in autumn colors which I was commissioned to make by a friend for an October wedding:

and this baby quilt I made because I liked the fabric and I need to replenish my dwindling stock:

I’m going to Dubai for the weekend to visit friends, talk quilting, and yes, buy more fabric. A quilter can never have too much you know.

I leave for the airport at dawn Thursday to arrive in Dubai mid-day. Today I’ll do some pre-trip organizing and packing. My son has a pow-wow at school Thursday – of course, because it’s not convenient timing for me and life is that way. He’s supposed to go dressed as a Native American and the moms have to supply the food! (the memo the school sent home was very excited about that announcement – me, not so much) The teachers very kindly sent home a recipe for me to make – a casserole that calls for four cups of wild rice, broccoli and cream cheese. It just so happens that I have wild rice but you know – it’s expensive and not available in Egypt. I don’t think that I’m going to waste four cups worth of my supply on kindergarteners who won’t appreciate (or even eat) it anyway. And cream cheese? Tell me where Pocahontas got cream cheese. I’m making some alterations to this recipe and will send a wild rice pilaf instead – white rice with a handful of wild rice for decoration and texture cooked in broth and tossed with dried fruit. Not only will it taste better at room temp I can make it tonight.

Fortunately his costume is all sorted out and he will look adorable.

So you won’t miss me too much while I’m away, Karen McCullough will be here this Friday to talk about her story “A Vampire’s Christmas” – she’s even going to give a copy to one lucky commenter. Whatever else you have planned for the weekend, make sure you stop by and leave a comment for Karen!

Ta-ta!

First things first. I want to thank everyone who stopped by over the weekend to read Marcia James’ excerpt. I put the names of everyone who commented in a bowl this morning and the winner of AT HER COMMAND is….. Nina Nash! Congratulations, Nina! I’m sure you’re really going to enjoy it! I was kind of sad I couldn’t put my own name in the bowl. Guess I’ll just have to go out and buy my own copy.

How was your weekend? Mine was full of small pleasures and amusements. Little man attended his first session of soccer camp. I cannot begin to express how cute he was. He was so attentive, so earnest during the opening drills. And his enthusiasm during the scrimmage? He’s going to need more than shin guards to keep him safe! Looks like I have another little sports enthusiast on my hands.

I whipped up a baby quilt over the weekend. I recently had a request for a girl quilt so what did I make? A quilt that could go either way but is leaning more toward the boy end of the spectrum. Why? Why didn’t I make a girl quilt? What can I say – the fabric was calling to me, I had to do its bidding. I have a girl quilt in mind, it’s just a bit more involved. (Now *that’s* the real reason) I’ll post a picture as soon as I’ve finished the edges.

Yesterday morning I did my grocery shopping as usual, stopping by my favorite vegetable stand. And it’s not my favorite stand just because they give me food nearly every time I go in, though I admit I like the food. Who would have thought that mashed fava beans in flat bread (“fool” in baladi bread as it’s locally known) could be so good? The guys one-upped themselves yesterday however. When I came in, one of the men was ready for me. He had a plastic bag of “fool” all ready to go – a do-it-yourself-at-home dinner kit. Must have been nearly a quart in that bag (that’s nearly a liter for the metric folks)! Not only that, but he gave me instructions on how to prepare it myself. I was touched and pleased at their generosity. I did as he instructed and improvised a bit as well. I added sauteed onions, garlic, chopped tomato and a bit of salt and cumin to it. We had it for dinner last night. Yummy. Even Little Man liked it.

I know it’s Egypt’s national dish, but I couldn’t help but think how good it would be wrapped up in a tortilla.

And last, Egypt defeated Cameroon 1-0 in the Africa Cup of Nations last night. I’m not much of a sports fan myself. I don’t follow soccer (football to the world outside the US) but even I couldn’t miss this news. How could I when the whole of Cairo erupted with whoops, cheers, and people beeping their car horns in time with each other for hours last night? I think that means they were pleased.

This week is a busy one but I do intend to carve out some writing time. After dragging my feet a little last week, I finally got into a groove and wrote nearly twice my normal weekly output in two days. It felt really really good.

When I’m not surfing the internet, writing, or being a mom, my other passion is quilting. I love working with the colors and patterns. I listen to music and sing as I sew. Often my mind drifts to my story and characters and stumbling blocks disappear and the next bit of the action reveals itself. All in all a very satisfying process.

I personally own a lot of quilts. I started making quilts to sell because 1) I work fast and can only use so many, 2) by selling them I earn fun money to buy more supplies / toys / and travel money. I’ve bought myself a pretty snazzy sewing machine and financed many mom’s getaway trips with my earnings.

Lately, I’ve been concentrating on making baby quilts. Not only are they small, manageable projects but there are always lots of babies being born in the expat populations in which I’ve lived. I’ve toyed with the idea of finding a shop where I can have a selection on permanent display or at least putting up a few fliers to advertise that I’m here. But lately word of mouth seems to be doing the trick.

I sold two baby quilts this week. One when I went to pick up a ticket to Dubai from my travel agent (mom’s getaway trip coming up soon!). She’s got a new grandchild and was thrilled to hear I make baby quilts. The other I sold to my downstairs neighbor. I never keep more than six “in stock” because I don’t have the space and actually I’ve been busy enough as it is working on two large bed-sized commissions. But I had another request last night for a “girl” baby quilt so I guess I better get busy whipping up a few more.

It’s going to be a busy weekend for me so I may not be around much. But don’t despair. Marcia James is my featured Cerridwen author this weekend. She’ll be talking about her book “At Her Command”. If you like your romance with a bit of heat, this is the book for you!

I made the children’s beds with their new Christmas quilts this morning and decided to include a present that my sister sent as well – a battery operated, antler-wearing, dancing chicken. I knew they would get a kick out of it and the bell-ed antlers are Christmas-y.

It was a tactical error on my part. I should have known that the kids would overlook the quilts in favor of a dancing chicken. He is cute, even if his song is annoying.

I’ll have the last laugh though – the quilts will be around long after the chicken’s wings have flapped it’s last chicken-dance polka…

I took the final stitches on my daughter’s Christmas quilt last night. Today I’ll wash it so it will be all ready to put on her bed tomorrow – and the children can come home from their final day of school to a decorated room. Phew!

On to cookie baking now. I ran across one reader on another blog who says she has close to 2000 cookies already made in her freezer, ready for distribution. My own plans are much simpler by comparison! I thought I’d share a recipe that I got from my grandmother. I have no idea where she got it, but whenever I eat these, I’m right back in her kitchen.

Toffee Bars

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

Cream together butter, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla. Mix in flour. Pat into a greased pan, 10″x15″ and bake for 15 minutes at 350F/180C. While hot, top with 6 plain Hershey bars. Spread chocolate when melted. Let cool before cutting.

NOTES: you can use a bag of semi-sweet choc chips instead of Hershey bars. Sprinkle with chopped nuts if you like.

Based on the ingredients, I shouldn’t have to tell you that these are decadent. I will however warn you that they are also addictive. I rarely make them outside of the holidays because no one in my family can resist them!

A friend gave me a bag of MINT choc chips this year. I’m thinking of trying them on this recipe but I’m afraid that I may not want to share them. Mint choc is my absolute favorite combination!

One to go. I just finished up the Christmas quilt for my son last night – will have to get busy on my daughter’s now. Not much left to do on it, but there isn’t much time left either!

I am not deluded enough to think that they’ll fully appreciate these quilts as presents. They are only children after all and quilting is just what mom “does”. They will appreciate these quilts more when they are older or I am gone. I’m okay with that. Still, isn’t it pretty? (Click on the photo for better color and more detail)

The BICHOK worked yesterday – got about 1500 words written on my WIP. I sort of wrote myself down a blind alley but having had the evening to mull things over, I think I know a way out back into the open again. More on that later…