Chocolate-Covered Cherry Jello Shots

I'm packing today for my 3-day quilt retreat starting tomorrow.  I'll be a whole 30 minutes away at a conference center, but it will be out in the middle of nowhere as far as we're concerned.  We get fed three times a day, but everybody brings something for the snack table in our meeting room.  About ten of us will be in a very large well-lit meeting room.  We each get a 6' table and set up our sewing machines, irons, cutting mats and sew on our own projects.  My contribution last year was chocolate-covered cherry jello shots.  The others said I could do that again this year.  I just did one batch last year, but made a double batch this year. The recipe is at the end.

 I wanted larger cups, but waited until yesterday to get them and had to take what the stores had. Got two kinds from two different grocery stores.  The first store only had 50 and I didn't know how much I would get from one batch, so I got a package of 25 from the other store.

I put a maraschino cherry in each cup and filled them with the jello mix to within 1/2" to 3/8" from the top.  Had to leave room for the chocolate and whipped cream.  I put the cups on two cookie sheets and into the fridge to set.

After a couple hours they were ready for the squeeze chocolate topping that hardens when it gets cold.  Have the chocolate at room temp when you squeeze it on.  I used about 1/8" of chocolate for each one.  There's not much in a bottle.  I bought two bottles, but I didn't know how far each would go.  Turns out I came out perfect down to the last cup.  I do stuff like that a lot with numbers and amounts.  Like grab the exact number of papers/rubber bands/whatever that I need.  Open a book to the exact page.  I can guess what numbers people are about to say when they're talking - even on TV.  Works with everything except the lottery!  Once at a party, we could put $1 in a pot and guess the weight of one of the guys.  I wrote down 309 lbs.  Right on the nose.  I made about $16.

You probably don't need quite this much whipped cream.  It was the first out of the can and came out faster than I thought.....

Since the whipped cream can't go on now, I'm taking the can with me to the retreat.  All cups got a lid and went into some plastic bags.

As a very conscientious person, I needed do a taste test to make sure I didn't poison anyone. The cups are so small, and I wasn't sure they were acceptable, so I had a second.  They still didn't taste right, so I sampled a third.  Okay, they'd do.  Maybe the others won't like them and I'll have to bring them all back home.  What a shame.

Aster really wanted to sample, too, but she was too late.

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Jello Shots - Single recipe

6 oz. box of cherry Jello
2 c. boiling water
1 c. vodka
1 c. creme de cacao
maraschino cherries
chocolate syrup that hardens
canned whipped cream

Mix the jello with the boiling water like usual.  Add the two cups of liquor that takes the place of the cold water.  Some recipes say to let the jello cool to room temp, then add the liquor.  Whatever.  Put one cherry in each cup and fill to within 1/2" to 3/8" of the top.  I dipped a measuring cup in the bowl to pour the jello in the cups.  Refrigerate for a couple hours.  Top with about 1/8" of the chocolate syrup and put the lids on.  Refrigerate until used.

Note:  A 10 oz. jar of maraschino cherries has about 44 cherries.  This recipe will make about 24-27 shots the size shown here.  I made a double recipe and got 51 shots. Including samples. Since I used the whole jar of cherries, I mixed the cherry juice in, too.

It's Not Just a Box

Before I left Petsmart a couple weeks ago, I was taking the trash from our cat room to the back of the store when I saw some great boxes next to the trash cans.  I asked a manager and he said, yes, they were trash and I could have them.  There were three boxes and I gave two to another foster mom.  Display boxes that have held cat food or treats are like magnets to the gang, but this box held soft stuffed things.  Didn't seem to matter. Within seconds of putting the box on the living room floor, it was occupied.

First was Lilly and Zach.

Then Cody.

 Then Xena.
























Then Xena moved and Ebony came in her pretty pink collar.  I have four shiny black cats and need it for identification.

Then Delcy came.  This all happened in about three minutes.  Everyone loves a new toy.

Happy 11-11-11 Day

I've never been particularly interested in same month-day-year dates, but there's something about 11-11-11 that I find very cool.  If I was planning a wedding, birth, etc, I would move mountains to have it done on this date.  Alas, I'm already married, and way beyond babies, so I'll be scooping, cleaning, and sewing - and having a ball doing what I love.  Well, not cleaning so much, but I do try.

These are random photos of the fosters.

Cody

Daughter, Laura, and Eva

Ember and Cary

Zach

Aster

"You gonna eat that?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Delcy

Lucy

Meg

Micky

 What are cats thinking when they watch you brush your teeth?  When you spit white stuff in the place they sometimes use for a bed.  How can we be so thoughtless and rude?

Delcy

Ember in the Recycle Bin

 

Ember

I heard a strange noise the other day and investigated.  Ember was in the recycle bin.  We had to take the lid off of it or we couldn't open it under the counter overhang.  The regular wastebasket is smaller and does have a lid to keep critters out.  Guess we need a smaller recycle bin.

"Uh, Oh!  Somebody's gonna be in trouble!"

 Zach came over to help, or not.  Nita can't quite figure out what's going on.

Ember

A perplexing situation for a kitten.  And no food left in the cans!  This is only the second time - that I know of - that somebody's gotten in the bin.

Nita Meets the Panther Cats

The other day when I went in the panthers' room, I gave them their morning feeding, scooped their box, turned around to talk to them and found little Nita drinking out of their water dish.  She evidently snuck in with me, but I didn't see her for about a minute.  I inhaled and held my breath.  Mike and Ben can be bullies with some of my other adults, so I had no idea what they'd do to a small kitten.  Not a thing.  They sniffed and nosed her.  Toula, the longer haired female, even groomed her.  Nita worked her way around the room exploring.

Nita, Mike and Ben

Nita enjoying the view

Nita and Toula

 Toula came around the corner and startled Nita, who got in a crouched position and hissed.

Nita and Toula

 Toula is showing Nita how to use the track ball toy.  Nita said she already knows - she has one, too.

Nita and Ben

 Nita was rubbing on Ben, or it could be Mike. Unless I can see their chests for a white patch, I can't tell them apart.  Whoever this is was rubbing back and licking her.

Nita and Toula

Toula used to be the hissy one in the group, but now she's mellowed out and I can let her out of the room to socialize with the others.

Marilyn's Diamond Quilt

My friend, Marilyn, and I both wanted to learn to do pantograph patterns on our Handiquilters.  Marilyn came over one day and we practiced on my machine.  Then I went to her house and helped her with her tension, and we practiced some more.  I was complaining that I didn't have a quilt top to practice on.  She was so nice and gave me one of the many tops from her shelf of tops needing to be quilted.  What a good friend she is.  She doesn't know this, but I finished quilting it three nights ago. 

I think it turned out great.  I'm still not that good at following the line, but it's getting easier and better.  Not as good as my free-motion quilting, that's for sure.  It doesn't make much sense that I'm better without following a pattern, does it?  Hope you like it, Marilyn. No, I'm not doing the binding.

Marilyn's quilt

Close up

Flying Geese Challenge Quilt

One of the quilt guilds I'm in had a challenge this fall and it was due last Wednesday at our monthly meeting.  The challenge was to make a quilt, wallhanging, bag, or purse with colors of your initials.  Mine are BB.  I happened to be working on a small quilt with every color of the rainbow, as a lot of my quilts are.  I used black, burgundy and blue.  Since it's my quilt, and I can do anything I want, I can also rename the colors.  So, I also used, bink, breen, borange, byellow, and burple.  Spell check is going crazy.







The block is called a flying geese block.  It represents a goose or flock of geese flying in a V formation.  It's traditionally made by sewing two smaller triangles (the blues) onto one large triangle (the orange/goose) and involves sewing two seams.  I was watching a quilt show online where Ricky Tims was doing a demo on a one-seam flying geese block.  Knowing that was impossible, I was intrigued. 


Flying Geese block.

 The technique was to cut two background pieces 3" square.  Cut one goose rectangle 3" x 5.5".

Fold the goose rectangle in half, wrong sides together, and crease.  Lay one background square, right side up.  Place the folded goose fabric on top, with the raw edge even with the bottom and the fold 1/4" away from the top edge.  Place the other background square on top, right side down.  You're sandwiching the goose between the background squares.  Your right side edges will all be even.  I offset them to show you how the goose fabric is placed.

 This is a sewn block.  One seam, just like Ricky said.

When you open it up, it looks like this.  I pressed the seam open as much as I could to distribute the bulk.

The goose is dimensional, with the sides and points loose.  I used the crease I previously made on the goose to line up with the seam when I pressed it.  I made sure the points were straight and pressed on the diagonal.  They were fun to make, so I naturally cut 800 or so pieces of each.

I played with the blocks on my design wall and got a pattern I liked.  I didn't want the traditional geese all flying in the same direction.  When it was time to sew the blocks together, I realized the points needed to be secured first.  I ended up gluing each point to the background with as little glue as I could get by with.  What a pain in the butt.  No chance of making a king-size quilt with these.  I made just enough to make the nine large black square patterns.  I used some of the leftover geese to make a piano-key border.  The corners are four background squares.  The border needed to be separated from the quilt and black was the only logical choice.  It really makes the colors pop.  The black outer border is a very wide binding.

I couldn't put this on my HQ frame because the foot would get caught in the loose edges of the geese, and there's some serious bulk in the intersections of the seams.  So, at dusk, the night before it's due, I'm out in front of the house with a sheet spread out on the driveway, basting my quilt together with the basting spray.  John even came out and helped hold corners while I smoothed the fabric out.  This was my first manual spray basting in several years.

The only safe way of quilting it was diagonal lines with my walking foot.  I used a serpentine stitch on the loose sides of the geese and it worked well.  I finished the binding at 2:30am.  I'm naming it Thank God It's Finished No. 38.  I like to try new techniques, but I don't always care for them, so I have a lot of quilts with this same name.  I loved making the blocks, but nothing after that until it was done.  I love the look, but would make the traditional geese next time.  Sorry, Ricky.

Delcy's Kittens Update

My babies will be three months old on the 16th!  I can't believe it.  I still tend to think of them as tiny babies, but they've been ready for adoption for almost two weeks, and one, Pierce, has been adopted.  They're allowed out in the house when I'm home, but are in the bedroom at night. 

Nita

Nita is the spunky one.  She loves to play with Ember, and they wrestle, chase, and wrestle some more.  She's also very sweet, as are the others.  All three sleep with me and keep warm under the covers.  I  never know which one is going to stick their head out in the morning and lay their head on my arm.

Cary

Cary is the cuddliest and the first one under the covers.  He's just adorable.

Ember

Ember loves to play with Nita.  They're all learning to play with the general population and are having a ball running around two floors of the house, climbing cat trees, furniture, and stairs.

















Pierce's new mom sent me pictures of him and his other new brother and sister.  Betsy has two shih tzus and wondered how Pierce would get along with them.  I thought they'd be fine since kittens usually get along with anybody and anything, but you never know.  Cricket, the female, has adopted Pierce as her own and licks him from one end to the other.  Oscar, the male, isn't quite as fond of him, but is warming up.  This is such a great photo.  Thanks, Betsy.  It's so reassuring to know your babies are in a good home and getting along with everyone.

Colin Gets Adopted

Last week Colin got adopted by a great family.  Mom, Sandy, had seen Colin at Petsmart on Saturday and took my card with my name, blog, and phone number.  She called and we set up at time for her and her boys to come and see him.  Her two sons were excited about getting a kitten.

Chase and Sander with their new kitten, Colin.  Another great family.  Sandy said Colin is still getting use to the dogs, but everybody is doing fine.

Pierce Gets Adopted

This is a post I forgot I didn't do.  My apologies, Betsy.  Betsy and her family picked out Pierce a month ago and have been waiting for him to get old enough to get his package (neuter, testing and shots) so he could be adopted.  The day finally came and everybody was so excited.

This is Laney holding Pierce.  I think he'll be sleeping in her room.  He's such a good kitten and will love having a little girl to play with.  Pierce will also have a boy, Jack, to play with.  Every kitten's dream.





















This is most of the family, Betsy, Jack, and Laney.  Dad was home.  I have to pinch myself to believe the fabulous people who have adopted my cats.  Thank you, Betsy.

Zach's Great Adventure

Saturdays at Petsmart are quite exhausting.  It's a lot of standing around, waiting for people to walk by and look at "your" cats and kittens, falling instantly in love with one, and adopting it on the spot.  And, talking to lots of people just looking, parents who are allergic to cats but bring their kids up to pet kittens, and the people who just love cats and want to see who's new and who got adopted since last week.  Some of the regulars know the cats' names better than I do! 

I load my crates in the Highlander on Friday afternoon.  On Saturday morning, it's hard staying one step ahead of the cats.  As soon as they even see a carrier or my Heartland t-shirt, they're under sofas or on top of cabinets.  On Friday I make a list of what cats I want to take and what crate they go in.  I can stack three crates on the rolling platform John made.  On Saturday morning, it's easy to get the ones in a bedroom, but finding the particular cats that are loose in the house is a challenge.  When I can't catch the ones I want, I have to change cats, but be sure that the two or three in each cage will get along for the next five hours in very close quarters, in a loud and noisy store, with strange people, kids, and dogs walking around, music playing, and strange smells.  I leave my crates set up in the car, but wouldn't be able to lift the crate in or out of the car if it had three adult cats in it.  So, unless they're small, two cats go in a carrier, and one is in the crate, and then I put the carrier in the crate, too during transportation.  It comes out so I can lift the crate out of the car easier.  Then it all gets unloaded in the store parking lot, wheeled in the store, wheeled out, and repacked.  I drive 10 minutes home, unpack cats, unload crates, etc.   Jeez, I needed a drink and two Advil.  I wasn't feeling very well today.  Just a backache and a queasy tummy.   I know pill directions say not to mix the two, that "alcohol may intensify."  I was counting on it.

So, having done all that, and standing for five hours, I'm now on the deck with my cats, my Kindle, and a bottle of Mike's Hard Berry Lemonade.  Drinking out of the bottle makes me feel like I'm really drinking an adult beverage.  I hear a noise on the canopy, look up expecting to see Lilly, but see Zach instead, looking at me through an 18" hole in the canvas.  The canopies only last three years and this was the third year, so it's pretty fragile at this point and has several rips and holes.  I told him to get down, and I could swear I heard him mutter, "Yeah, right."  He then jumped up onto the roof of the house.  My only explanation for how my little brain didn't register that the edge of the roof and the top of the canopy were 12" apart, or how a cat could easily go from one to the other is that the canopy is UNDER the eave and I can't see the roof, so therefore, it doesn't exist.  Then he disappeared.  I threw cat treats on the kitchen floor to clear the cats off the deck, then treats on the deck, shouting Cookies, Cookies, to entice Zach, who is still gone. 

I grab the camera and head to the back yard.  No Zach on the roof.  Walked up the hill to the front yard, no Zach.  Back down the hill to the back yard, no Zach.  He has to be here somewhere!!!
 

Back up the hill to the front yard - and there he was.  I snapped the picture and wondered how I was going to get him down?  Then, I wondered how was I going to explain to Cheri that one of my fosters jumped off the roof and ran away. 

Before I could take a second picture, he ran up the roof and over the peak to the back.  I sure didn't need this today.  This time I went in the house.  I would wait on the deck for him to come back.  Chasing a cat only adds to his adventure and makes it more fun.  Guess who was there waiting on me.

Like he'd never been gone.  Never put his mama through hell and a heart attack - not to mention the Exercise!  Like he'd been laying there all afternoon.  Poor thing looks all tuckered out. I'm going to cut the canopy off of the part closest to the house.  I only need the other half for shade.  I don't want to take it down, yet, because this is the perfect deck-reading weather.  I put Zack in the house, reclaimed my lounge, Kindle and not-so-cold drink, which I drained, anyway.  I think I may have closed my eyes for half an hour, too.  It was getting a little cool outside, so I went downstairs and sat with John while he watched cooking shows and soccer.  I think I closed my eyes again, just for a couple minutes.  Somewhere I heard John ask if we were still going to the party.  Yeah, I'd love to leave my recliner, go change clothes, try and do something with my hair, put make-up on and be ready in....30 minutes!

John's been going with his friend, Hank, out to a shooting club on weekends for a couple years.  Hank has all kinds of guns and ammo, and won't let John pay him for anything, so we try to take them to dinners occasionally.  The club has four competitions during the summer.  John usually places in the top four out of 25 or 30.  He even came in first place once, beating the two-time national champion.  This party was the season-ender awards party at one couple's house.  John came in 3rd place for the year and got a framed certificate.  Pretty cool.  The MC explained that the scores were very high and close this year and that he'd compared them to some national scores for the same event and that their club had higher scores.  So, John is shooting at a National Level!  Pretty good for someone who doesn't even own a bullet, much less a gun. Congratulations, Sweetie!  We had a great time and stayed till midnight! 

We also got stopped in a police checkpoint just as they were towing somebody's car off.  John'd only had diet Pepsi, so we were good.  This was my second checkpoint stop.  Ree and I were coming home from a quilt guild meeting about 10:30 one Thursday night and had to stop.  When they saw us and heard "quilt guild meeting" they waved us through. Rather insulting.  They think older women who make quilts don't drink!  They should be at one of our quilt retreats.  One of which is coming up in 15 days.  Woo Hoo!!!  Fifty hours of not fixing food, doing laundry, cleaning, shopping, errands, and scooping.  I'll miss my cats and kittens, but I know John's taking good care of them.  Nobody can starve in 2 days, and they all drink out of the toilets.

Delcy's Milk Problem

A recent post told about Delcy and trying to get her very large boobs dried up.  The cabbage leaves worked while they were wrapped on her, but the problem, too much milk, came back.  I know all the websites and people who know say to separate mom from the babies so she dries up.  Poor Delcy was separated, but not drying up.  I felt so sorry for her and followed my gut instinct, and let her back in the room with her 8-week-old babies and two slightly older kittens.  It was the only way I knew to give her some immediate relief.  Well, the kittens sucked her dry in less than 5 minutes and she was flat as a pancake.  I've let her in to nurse several times and she is much better and seems to be drying up on her own.  She also loves being back with her kittens, and especially with Bridgette.  I know Bridgette has missed her, too.  They rub all over each other.

All you can see of Delcy is part of her head and an ear next to the white kitten, and one leg on the far right.