My oldest daughter, Michelle, has been making a flannel quilt (oversized twin) for her step-granddaughter, who is 2-1/2 and moving into a twin princess bed.  The fabric Michelle chose for Ezra is a Disney princess flannel, and she put a coordinating heart fabric on the back, so it is reversible.  She is tying it, and brought it home to accomplish that last task.  Here are photos of the back and front of the quilt.  I hoped she would catch the quilting bug in making this quilt, her first venture into patchwork, but she assured me it may be the only quilt she will ever make, and her real passion is gardening!  I’m glad it is, because I reap the benefits of her garden, also.  I love those fresh tomatoes and peppers!  However, she did a great job on the quilt for her granddaughter.

Grandchildren are much more fun than children!  I have my almost-12-year old granddaughter from Minnesota with me now, at least for 2 more days.  Sunday I will lose her to her other grandma, but I will gain her 8-year-old brother for two weeks, so it won’t be so difficult to have her leave.  We choose to have them one at a time, so that they get plenty of one-on-one attention for the time they are here.  With all the modern conveniences, Ava Skypes with her little 4-year-old sister at home every day.  They play an online game together for at least an hour every night, so Charlotte doesn’t feel the loss of her siblings quite as much as she would if they had no contact.  She is a homebody, and although her brother and sister loved to travel with me when they were her age, she wants everyone to stay home together!  She is named after me... my paternal grandmother was Charlotte, and that is my middle name, also. 

Ava has decided she doesn’t want to eat anything that has a face, although she does like Wendy’s or McDonald’s spicy chicken sandwiches.  She wanted to try KFC one day, but thought it tasted “rotten”.  It was not spoiled… tasted just fine… but to her it was inedible.  She did like Chipotle’s chicken burrito, however, and Auntie Tricia brought us some beef taco lasagna one night that she thought was delicious.  If she isn’t told what meat is in something, it’s easier for her to eat.  She likes spicy things, mushrooms, garlic and onions… but doesn’t like eggs or want meat, so it’s been a challenge to find things she likes to eat.  We shopped for groceries yesterday, and she said she loves onion rings, so we got a bag of Vidalia onions and made some onion rings today.  Ava ate one and declared it was good but maybe her dad’s were better.  The second onion ring brought the pronouncement that they were the best she’s ever eaten.  Here’s the recipe I made up today: 

Onion Rings:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Paprika
½ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1-1/2 cups cold beer

Combine all ingredients.  Let sit at room temperature for at least an hour.

Slice Vidalia onions into ¼” to 1/2” slices and separate rings.  Let sit to dry for at least an hour.
Dip onion ring into batter with a fork, letting the batter drip off into the bowl.  Then transfer the battered ring to the oil.  Fry onion slices in very hot oil… I use Olive oil… until golden.  Drain on a plate covered with paper toweling.  For anyone who doesn’t like the idea of alcohol in cooking… the alcohol is cooked off by the heat, so there is no beer alcohol in the cooked onion rings.

Ava loves to do handwork, and wanted to learn to crochet… but after learning the chain stitch, decided crocheting wasn’t as much fun as sewing or embroidery.  She picked out a variety of fat quarters and I cut the napkins for her. She hemmed 12 napkins for her family… her first project on the serger… and then made two each for her maternal grandmother and her great-grammy, who is in her 90s and her namesake.  She loved serging once she got over the fear of the speed, and also started serging scraps, just for the fun of it.  She serged around a piece of pink flannel left over from her Auntie Michelle’s quilt, and embroidered a heart with names on it for her cousin. 

 

My two daughters took a class in cake decorating last night.  We’ve all decorated cakes for many years, but none of us ever took a class in it.  I taught my daughters when they were young, and have given them all of my Wilton pans and decorating supplies, so the cake decorating is up to them these days.  Here are photos of them with the cakes they decorated.  I thought they were going to save them for our birthday on Saturday (Ava and I share a birthday, and I tell her she is the best present I ever received!)  but they said no… they weren’t big enough.  So we had an early “birthday” tasting last night… white cake with raspberry filling… and it was delicious! 

Ava has also been practicing her viola, and she does a beautiful job with it.  She's made a lot of progress since I heard her practicing last year, when listening to her practice was an exercise in patience! 

This weekend, most of my children and grandchildren will be gathering to celebrate our birthdays… great-grandson Lucas is three today, and his party is on Saturday, also.  I love these times when the family is all together… it’s the best gift I can ever receive, and that’s the truth!