Easy Stuffed Mushrooms

I have a sister that tells people that I can't cook.  I do not cook everyday because of cooking for one but I can cook.  Tonight I am making Easy Stuffed Mushrooms.  I tried something like this at a social a few years ago and could not find a recipe that I liked so I made up my own.  These are so easy and can be made with many variations that suit your own taste.  I like the very lean pork sausage in bulk that I get from my sister who raises hogs.  You can use your favorite bulk sausage.  I use cream cheese and when in the mood or when I have the other ingredients I have added mozzarella cheese and/or Parmesan cheese also.  Green onions would be good here as well. Fresh medium sized whole mushrooms seem to work best for me.  I do not like to chop and add the mushroom stems to my stuffing.  I will chop them then freeze to add to other dished later that I'd like mushrooms in.  Just brown the sausage, mix with cheese, add any other things you like, stuff into mushrooms where the stems were removed and bake or broil.  Yum, yum good. 

Rose's Easy Stuffed Mushrooms

1 pound bulk sausage, browned (can use pork, turkey or your favorite sausage)
1 - 8 oz package cream cheese (can be lite or fat free if you wish)
1 pound fresh whole mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed

Mix cream cheese and browned sausage until well blended.  Add any other of your favorite ingredients (such as mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, chopped mushroom stems if you wish) and mix well.  Stuff the cheese/sausage mixture into the mushrooms, place in a baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees 10-20 minutes or until mushrooms are at preferred tenderness.  You can also place under broiler for a firmer mushroom and browned stuffing top.

My First Quilt

I finally finished my first quilt.  It is the “Lone Star” or “Star of Bethlehem” pattern.  I love it and think it is so beautiful.  I found the perfect fabric to match my bedroom.  I chose mauve roses and navy.   I took a class at the local fabric shop to make the top.  It was fun to learn how to strip piece diamonds.

Now there is more to this story.  I began the quilt class September 24, 1994 and finished this quilt July 25, 2010.  I’ll do the math for you—yes, that is nearly 16 years—15 years, 10 months, and 1 day to be exact.  As a first quilt, I made every mistake in the book and probably some that are not in any book.

First, the class was great.  That is one thing I did right.  I found beautiful fabric I loved that it matched my bedroom.

MISTAKES -
(Mistake 1) I made it the size to fit my Cal-king sized waterbed.  No starting small for me.  I have since sold the waterbed and purchased a regular king sized bed.

(Mistake 2)  I chose cream fabric to fill in the huge star but then chose navy for the backing.  Why?  I liked the navy and thought it might not show dirt as fast.  But then why the cream fill in on the front?  It would show off the huge star well.

(Mistake 3)  I went to Wal-Mart to buy a batting and picked up the only king size bat they had.  When I was sandwiching the quilt together I realized it was a high loft batting.  Oh, well, that will make it look soft and fluffy.

(Mistake 4)   I got the quilt all put together in the large quilting frame from my grandmother.  I did this alone and had to work and work and work to get it all pinned in and stretched and squared.    Why did I not ask for some help instead of being so independent?

(Mistake 5)  Once in the frame, it is time to quilt.  I decided to outline quilt each diamond in the center star and around the small inner border.  I purchased a quilting template that fit perfectly in the big fill in squares.  I marked the template in the cream with a fine point mechanical pencil with regular lead.  I marked a partial of the template in the fill in triangles making a judgment call as to how much to put in there.  I used a white chalk pencil to mark the navy print borders with a part of the template and then with 2” wide lines going towards the center of each side of the border.  I did not want to do a cross hatch design.  Did I really think that chalk would stay on the entire border until the last border was quilted?

(Mistake 6)  I wanted to do my first quilt right - just like Grandma would have done it.  I really wanted to hand quilt this but I have never hand quilted before.    I chose cream thread to match the top.  Now what about the navy bottom?  Every stitch shows.  Being in the frame so tightly, I could not get small, even stitches.  Actually, I could not even make a stitch that was not the entire length of the needle and then I had trouble getting the needle pulled through the quilt.

(Mistake 7)  Quilting in a frame was not going to work for me, so I decided to quilt in a lap hoop.  This means that the quilt needed to be basted together before being taken out of the frame.  I thread basted all around the edges and decided I was not going to hand baste the entire quilt and then hand quilt it again.  I decided to pin baste it instead.  I used large safety pins that were the size of diaper pins (if anyone remembers using diaper pins) placing them every 12-15 inches apart because that is how many were in the package I bought.

(Mistake 8)  I used an oval hoop that measured 12” x 20” and then later a 14” round hoop to quilt in.  This is so that the quilt would be portable.  Who wants to haul around a king sized quilt with them to work on.  Well, I did it.  I would put it in a suitcase and take with me to church to work on while watching General Conference.  I took it with me when I traveled to visit my sister and even when I went camping.  Because of the pin basting at the distance apart the pins were, I had to really watch the backing each time I set the quilt in the hoop to make sure there were no lumps, folds, or tucks.  There were a lot of hoop movements in quilting this quilt!

(Mistake 9)  I only worked on it when I was sick or when my house was completely cleaned and only in winter.  Why, you might ask.  The quilt was so heavy because of its size and the high loft batting that I only worked on it during the winter when it was not too hot to have it on my lap as I worked on it.  I worked many hours at my job and never had a lot of time at home.  I felt guilty if I worked on it when my house was such a mess and needed cleaning.  I only had any length of time to focus on the quilt was when I was sick.  Now being sick, I usually felt too awful to quilt and spent the time in bed.  Obviously it did not get worked on very much.  It never was a UFO (un-finished object) because it was left out in the living room all winter and in the bedroom all summer so I could work on it a little at a time. 

(Mistake 10)  I quilted with whatever needles I had on hand which was a multi-purpose pack of all sized and types left from home ec class in high school.  They were hard to weave through the fabric and even harder to pull through.  I had to use pliers or else take only a stitch or two at a time.  I did graduate to a little rubber disc to pull the needle with.   I finally found some fine appliqué needles that worked well and then later bought actual quilting needles.

I'm sure there are many more mistakes.  I have made many other quilts during this journey and have learned so much.

Things I Did Right -
1.   Learned the love of quilting from my Grandmother and Mother
2.  Took a class for my first quilt
3.  Finished the project even though it took a long time

Things I Learned -
1.  Do not give up
2.  Do not hand quilt with high loft batting
3.  Blend your quilt back color with your quilt front color and use an appropriate color of quilting thread
4.  Baste well
5.  Use fine needles even if you break them along the way
6.  Quilt every chance possible
7.  No matter what size the quilt, it is wonderful to lay it on the bed or hang it on the wall
8.  I love to make quilts

New Blogger

I have had an online journal of sorts through Spaces at WindowsLive.  It is going to be changed to another blogger type site and then be eliminated.  I decided to join the real Blogger.com world.  I do not really understand what will happen to those Spaces posts as I do not want to lose them and would like to transfer them here but not sure that is possible.  I'll see what I can figure out.  For now, I am glad to join the Blogger world.  My blog setup is still a work in progress so the look and options may change.  I hope to share my thoughts here as well as projects I'm working on and completed. 

I enjoy sewing and quilting.  I have more quilts than any one bed needs and more wall hangings than my sewing room walls can hold.  There are more quilt projects in progress and many in a tub waiting to be started.  I have been trying to make an applique baby quilt that can be used as a wall hanging for each of my nieces and nephews as they have their first baby.  I have made a sports theme, a farm scene,  baby doll dresses, and fire truck theme.  I have 2 more on the way and due only a week apart.  I need to get busy but have not gotten the inspiration yet for them.  When it hits, I'll sew up a storm.