The other side of the beautiful bean footage - and a quilt for a friend! And don't forget to make a note of it!

Creative Input - the other side of the Cooking Light recipe page - do I keep both sides or just the great beans from yesterday?

Both sides are going in the cookbook!  The recipe on the other side of the baked beans is Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese and Basil also from Cooking Light Magazine July 2013.  Light, tasty and all I had to buy was the goat cheese.  The recipe calls for the basil to mixed in the salad and dressing, which I did but

I also mashed some

basil directly into the goat cheese

if this was a cocktail, it would be called " to muddle" the basil by smashing it.  I'll just say 'I incorporated' it into the cheese!
I also added corn from two left over corn on the cobs from the other night - the teenagers went out!

Just an added bit of summer and no waste!

The salad was light and tasty and I love the way the goat cheese turned out - it made the salad more special!

Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese and Basil
Cooking Light Magazine - July 2013

Hands on time: 5 mins  Total: 65 mins  Level: Easy

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
4 medium tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/2 inch wedges
1/3 cup small basil leaves
1.5 oz goat cheese, crumbled - about 1/3 cup

1.  Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Add chopped basil and tomatoe wedges; toss to coat.  Cover and let stand 1 hour, tossing occasionally.  Top with basil leaves and goat cheese.
Serves 6

                                                                                ****-----****            


Creative Output - a quilt for a friend!

Not a big deal - only 40 inches by 49 inches.  It's a fireplace screen!  My friend Deb has a drafty fireplace - and she never uses it except on a special occasion. We light ours on a nightly basis during the winter, I just love it!My first quilt for her was a Log Cabin block turned on point so it resembled a fire.  I let her choose the colors, and she went for an Amish inspired palette.   This is a picture from my notebook

She's out of town, so it would be rude to let myself in to take a picture of her fireplace!  

I have a notebook that I keep pictures of all the quilts I've made - especially the ones I've given away.

The picture on the cover of the notebook was a drawing by my son for a school project - aaah!

 I make little notes about who the quilt was given to and why or how I came up with the idea.  I was very pleased with a "signature" quilt table runner I did for my best friend who was moving back to her homeland in New Zealand.  We were a part of a knitting group here, so I had each member sign a tea cup block I made - each one with different fabric and a signature area.

So I saved a teacup signature block that didn't go into the quilt and put that into my notebook!  Why not - I am proud of it!

Back to my Deb's fireplace quilt - as much as she likes the old one, she is ready for something new.  Plus she has recently reupholstered her couch

so this is my color palette.

Off to work on this - will post when it's done!  One more thing to mention - my friend is an avid knitter.  So I am making her a small quilt, she is knitting me a sweater in exchange!

Icelandic sweaters are her specialty.  Lucky me!  And don't think for a moment that I don't know I am the one getting the better part of this bargain!

Sew on!
Pam