Life really can be a picnic!

Everyone loves a picnic! This blog is about some of the things I love the most, and the term "picnic" just about covers them all. First of all, a picnic has to include food; simple food that is easy to fix. Next, you need someplace fun or different to visit; a nice, peaceful location. And of course, you always need to take along a good book to read and a well-used quilt to spread everything out on. So, there you have it! Easy recipes, good books, fun quilts along with some interesting, down-to-earth places to visit. You can even take your family or a friend or two if you want.



Sunday, May 13, 2018

A Mother's Love is Like a Quilt!

"There is no other role in life that is more essential than that of motherhood." ~M. Russell Ballard

    
     I love attending the UQSM the first weekend in May!  It stands for Utah Quilting and Sewing Marketplace.  I love looking at all the quilts displayed there.  Here are some that I especially admired.













































 


 












     I love Clam Chowder.  It's one of my favorite things to order when I eat out.  I finally found a recipe that I like just as well as at a restaurant.

 
 

Yummy Clam Chowder
4-6 slices bacon
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
¼ to ½ cup carrots, diced
½ tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp. dried parsley
1 bay leaf
2 cups chicken broth
3 (6.5 oz.) cans chopped clams
4-5 medium potatoes, diced
3-4 Tbsp. flour
1 cup milk
1 cup half and half
Salt and white pepper to taste

Heat a large pan over medium heat and add bacon and cook until crispy.  Remove to paper towels.  Reserve 1 Tbsp. bacon grease in pan.  Add butter to the bacon grease and add garlic, onion, celery and carrots.   Cook until onions have become transparent, about 4-5 minutes.  Stir in thyme and parsley and cook another minute.
Add chicken broth, bay leaf and liquid from canned clams. Add diced potatoes.  Bring to a boil; cover with lid. Turn down heat and simmer until potatoes are soft; about 15-20 minutes.
Whisk flour in milk until blended.  Slowly add to soup mixture stirring until slightly thickened.  Add clams, crumbled bacon and half and half and heat through about 1-2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and white pepper.  Serve immediately.  Makes 6 servings.

 
 
A Perfectly Imperfect Mom by [Wilson, Michelle]

     I read this short little book in less that 30 minutes.  I loved the message that none of us are perfect but we are the perfect mother for the children we have.