Sugar Bowl and Creamer Potholders Vintage Crochet Pattern

This was such a pleasure to re-image and put into a comprehensive format.  This was well written from the designer, and required no modifications.  

This is a vintage pattern for both the sugar bowl and creamer potholders, crochet pattern.  

This requires to use a crochet thread, but don't you agree that these would be really cute worked with a worsted yarn and a larger hook and made into placemats?  

Tea or coffee for two!!!

You can find this pattern here.

Enjoy,

Debra

Slow Cooker Senate Bean Soup Recipe

In our family eating black eyed peas are traditional on New Years for good luck and prosperity. This year I decided to try Senate Bean Soup, and yes, I will add some black eyed peas when the time comes.  

Since I always cook ham for Christmas, a slow cooked bean soup with the ham hock is a must.  Senate bean soup has a nice clean creamy texture to it. This makes about 8 servings and great for freezing.  

Here is my version:

Ingredients:

1 pound of Great Northern Beans

I Ham Hock

Couple of Potatoes

Couple of pats of butter

1/4 Cup of Milk  

Put your beans into a strainer and rinse thoroughly.  Sort through and remove any that appear bad.  

Place in a pot with approximately 8 cups of hot water.  

Bring the water to a rapid boil and boil for 2 minutes

Take off of the flame and place the lid on the pot and let them sit for at least one hour.

After an hour, rinse them, check for any missed beans that should be removed.  Place them in your slow cooker and cover them with water, by about 2".  Pull out your ham hock and rinse.  Then place your ham hock in your slow cooker.  Set your slow cooker to low setting for about 6 hours or so.  I know, I know, there is a lot of meat, but that's the way I like it.

After 6 hours prepare the potatoes Cut up a couple of potatoes and add the milk and butter.  Put in your microwave and cook until the potatoes are soft. 

Use a whisk and mix really well.  

Mix this in with the soup, Turn your slow cooker up to high and cook for about another hour.  

Once your soup thickens up, ladle in about 3 spoons into the bowl and enjoy.  I like to top all my soups with cheese.  

Enjoy,

Debra

Watch, Pin and Coin Purse set by Ensemble Giveaway

Hello Friends,

I am preparing for New Year's and it is the perfect time for another giveaway.

Be prepared for a new recipe, Slow Cooker Senate Bean Soup.

It is tradition for our family to eat beans on New Years, and make goals or resolutions for the New Year.

This giveaway is called, It's about Time!!!

This giveaway is for one lucky winner of a Watch, Pin and Coin Purse set by Ensemble.

Just in Time as we are settling into the New Year.

Up to 4 possible entries are available per person.

To enter:

Take Time and become a Member of this Blog clicking here , place a comment in the comments section of this post that you are a member.

In the comments section of this blog, tell me what you would like to see while spending your Time at this blog.

Make an effort to like Reciprocity Crafts on Facebook, by clicking here.  Already Like? No problem.  Share Reciprocity Facebook Page with your friends on Facebook.  In the comments sections of this post, comment that you did the Facebook Time.

Excited?  Spend some Time at Reciprocity Crafts and Pin one of your favorite post from this blog and comment in the comments of  this post what you pinned.

This Giveaway drawing ends on January 9, 2104, just in Time for me to get this to one lucky winner as they are settling into the New Year!!!

Good Luck,

Debra

P.S.  Remember to make each task you complete a separate comment.  Each comment is assigned a number and a number will be randomly drawn.

This is open worldwide!!!

Crochet Santa Wine Bottle Cover Cozy Pattern

My final Christmas creation for this year.  This was such a hit at the festivities this year.  

I'm ecstatic to bring you this Crochet Whimsical Santa wine bottle cover cozy pattern.  

A great gift or perfect to use with your Christmas celebrations.  

This cover cozy fits a 1.5 liter bottle.  

The hat isn't your typical looking Santa cap, designed to be formed and molded into different shapes to appeal to different taste.  

Never to early to start next year!!!

You can find this pattern here.

Enjoy,

Debra

Crochet Gift Tags

Does it surprise you that I have a change in plans?  Instead of the bottle rings, I'm making gift tags.

I write and eat with my left hand but do everything else with my right hand.  I thought I would try and crochet with both my right hand and my left hand today.  Talk about awkward, but I like the results of not turning my work.

Give it a try!

I did something simple, as you can see from the little gift tag above.  I also found it easier to embroidery on the yarn.

Supplies:

Worsted Yarn in colors of your choice
F Hook

Abbreviations:

sl - slip stitch
ch - chain
sc - single crochet

This is written in American Standard Terms

You can sell the products made from this pattern.  All I ask is that you link back to this post.

Here we go:

Ch 12
sc with your right hand into each ch across, ch 1
change hands and with your left hand sc into each previous row sc.
Continue the process above until you have completed 7 rows.
sc around the border of the gift tag with the exception of the corners, I did 2 sc in each corner around.

Attach white in one corner and ch 20, sl into the same sl of starting chain, fasten off and weave in ends.

You can embroidery what every you like on the tag.

Embellish with buttons, charms, whatever suits your fancy.

I placed two tree buttons that my Daughter gave me years ago.

I might just have to dig in my stash and find some snowflakes!!!

Have a Joyous Holiday and see you on Thursday!!!

Love, Peace and Joy,

Debra

Cranberry And Rosemary White Christmas Sangria

I'm not much of a drinker, but I thought I would give this a try.  It looks festive and plus you can eat the fruits afterwards to make this drink last a long time.

Ingredients:

1 Granny Smith Apple
1 Braeburn Apple
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup of fresh cranberries
1/2 cup of white grape juice
2 cups of club soda
1 1.5 liter of Pinot Grigio wine
Rosemary Sprigs and granulated sugar to coat them with

The first thing I did was core my apples and slice them into small pieces.

Put into the mixing container and add  1/4 cup of sugar.

Add one cup of fresh cranberries.  I put a slit in each one of mine so it will infuse with the rest.

Add 1/2 cup of white grape juice.  

Add 2 cups of soda water.

Add 1.5 liter of Pinot Grigio wine.

Add a rosemary spring and mix really well and place in the refrigerator for about an hour or so.  

When ready to drink, spoon a little bit of the fruit into your wine glass, then add the liquid portion and top with a slightly damp rosemary sprinkled with sugar.

  

I must admit, I am more of a White Zinfandel wine drinker, but with the added fruit, this is defiantly a keeper. This is a great festive Holiday drink.   

If your your like to know how I made the crochet peppermint cover for the wine glass stem, head on over to here to get the free pattern.   

Adapted from the recipes of:  http://cookingstoned.tv/recipe/cranberry-rosemary-white-christmas-sangria/

Enjoy,

Debra

Crochet Peppermint Wine Stem Covers

I made this drink for a White Elephant I attended  I'm not much of a drinker but this one was festive looking and I know I could make it last a long time with all that added fruit to munch on.  

I also was concerned about keeping track of my glass and making sure I wasn't sharing my glass with anyone.  Not that I don't mind sharing, but I'm not much into sharing germs, this time of year.  

These are really easy to make, and here is how I made mine.  

Supplies Needed:

Worsted yarn in the colors of red and white.  

An F hook

Here we go:

Put the two yarns together and ch 40

Using both the red and white yarn together, sc 3 times in 2nd ch from hook.  

Continue to repeat the previous step in the next chain, until you have 3 sc in each of the chain loops.  

Fasten off and weave in ends.  

As you will notice the yarn will swirl and become a curly cue.  

Wrap the yarn around the stem of your wine glass to your desire.  Mine kinda gave the effect of round peppermint candies.  

You could always attach your curly cue to a stirrer, or wrap it around the bottom stem of your wine glass.  

All would be beautiful and fun.  

Simple but festive, don't you agree?

If you are interested in making the drink, head on over here.  

Enjoy,

Debra

Christmas Rush

With all the events taking place, I'm finding myself overwhelmed in a good kinda way.  I'm always one tiny step behind.  All the Christmas decorations are starting to be marked down and I can't resist to shop for next year.

I have a gazillion ideas running through my mind for patterns and I'm constantly bumping into things as I'm jotting down notes for upcoming patterns.  I guess I can't walk and jot at the same time.

I love the parties, especially the food but most of all the company with old and new friends.

This week my plans are:

Free crochet patterns for bottle ring wreaths and trees.

2 new recipes, since that is where I am spending the next few days.

A new pattern for a Santa Wine Cover/Cozy.  Here is a sneak peak.

Did I capture everything that I missed last week.  

Oh, I need to finish the salt dough frame imprinted with a crochet doily.  

And last but not least, don't forget to enter the giveaway for the watch, pin and coin purse set, just click here.

I can see hits on my blog, I don't know who you are, but it kind of scares me to think that it may just be one person checking me out that many times per day.  Reassure me that there is more than one person looking at my blog and enter this giveaway.  

This is travel week, be Safe and Merry,  

Debra

Christmas Glee Tree Crochet Pattern

I'm thrilled to introduce you to a new pattern called Christmas Glee Tree crochet pattern.  This pattern will give you instructions for crocheting a Christmas tree in 4 tiers.  

You could always keep building to the pattern to make larger trees.  

I'm using mine as a center piece for a small round table.  

Make several trees of different sizes to place on your mantel or for a winter wonderland scene.  

I decorated this one with bows, but you could use mini ornaments.  

You can find this pattern here.

Enjoy,

Debra

Hawaiian BBQ Meatballs Slow Cooker

This is one of the appetizers I took to one of the parties I attended last weekend and they are so easy and filling.  You could always serve these with some rice and make it a meal!!!!!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/4 cup of ketchup
2 tablespoons of vinegar
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce
10 ounce of crushed pineapple
15 frozen meatballs

Mix all the ingredients except the meatballs.  

Place the sauce and then the meatballs in your slow cooker and mix lightly.  

Cook on low for 8 hours. 

Enjoy,

Debra

Adapted from the Recipes of: http://happierthanapiginmud.blogspot.com/2013/08/hawaiian-bbq-meatballs-oven-baked-or.html

Be Prepared

For a new release on a crochet pattern today, rhymes with Glee.

2 new recipes, one is an appetizer and the other a festive drink.

Some free crochet patterns that incorporate plastic bottle rings.

And don't forget to enter the Giveaway by clicking here.

Quite a few neighbors are having a great time decorating their homes.  Walking the dogs with a cup of hot cocoa at night, makes this such a fun event.  It is very difficult to capture the lights with a cell phone, and I may just have to take some day shots.  

Be prepared for a lot of posting today!!!

Being Festive,

Debra

Cookie Icing

Do you ever just have those days where nothing goes right?  Today was one of them for me.  My icing was too thick and I ran out of milk, I don't think my cookies look like mushrooms, but that isn't going to keep me from eating them. I'm trying to decide if my crochet Christmas tree really looks like a tree?  I make a To Do list everyday and I couldn't even get half of the list done.

I'm going to put this icing recipe out and I'm going to go sulk and make myself feel better and eat all my cookies in one sitting and try again tomorrow.

Icing

Ingredients:

One cup of confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons of softened butter
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
Milk
Food Coloring
Sprinkles or whatever you use to decorate your cookies with.  There are tons out there.

Look I couldn't even get all the ingredients pictured, or forgot to take pictures.

I put the sugar, butter and vanilla in a plastic bag and squish, squish, and squish, until mixed well.  Then I add increments of about a tablespoon of milk until I get the thickness that I want.  Unfortunately, I ran out, so my cookies were more or less frosted.  Better luck tomorrow, I say.   

Once you have the consistency that you are looking for, add your food coloring.  I made two batches of icing, one with red food coloring and one with no food coloring.  I put in about thirty drops of the red food coloring.  

Then you just decorate your cookies.  Snip a small piece of the plastic off at the bottom of one of the corners of the bag. I'm no expert on decorating.  All I can say is make an outline and then put the icing on the inside and the consistency of your icing should be thin enough to shake the cookie and fill the inside, or you should be able to use a toothpick to spread it out.  Mine was more like frosting.  Do you think that's going to keep me from eating them,  NO WAY.  

Be sure and let the icing firm up a little before applying a different color.  I didn't have to do that with mine.  If you are going to add any type of sprinkles and what not, do it right after you put the icing on, and push it into the icing, so it will hold.  

Look at those poor things.  I think they look like red lollipop trees.

They still taste delicious!!!

I think it is ok to share a little bit of my bad.  Hopefully, Santa just sees the writing on the plate.  

Hope your day was smother then mine,

Debra

Gingerbread Cookies

I am going to do this in two series, or it becomes an all day process for me, and I know, we all have a lot to do during the Holidays.

These are nice in the aspect that you can break this down to a three day project and include family members or attend to other projects.

Mix one day, bake the next, ice the following day.

Here we go:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of brown sugar
3/4 cup of butter softened
3.4 oz of instant butterscotch pudding
1 egg
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 tablespoon of ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Beat the butter, sugar, egg and pudding mix until well mixed in a large bowl. I soften the butter for 10 second intervals in the microwave, so that my butter is more of a liquid.  This helps break down the sugar.

I pour about a third of the flour, baking soda, ground ginger and ground cinnamon and mix in the bowl with the butter sugar mixture.  By the time I get to the last third, I mix with my hands.  If it is a little too dry, I just wet my hands with water, if too wet, then just a little bit more flour.

Once you have the consistency of dough you need, refrigerate this for at least one hour.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface.  I roll this out to about 1/4 inch thick.  Using your cookie cutters cut out shapes and place on an greased cookie sheet. (I'm making mushroom this year, so I am using an egg shaped cookie cutter and a heart) I use the Pampered Chef stoneware, so I have noticed, I never have to grease.  Some of my pieces are so seasoned from using over and over they are so dark brown, I dare not show, but they do the best job.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.  

 Cool on baking pan for at least 3 minutes and once cooled transfer these to wire racks.  I let them cool for at least and hour before I start decorating.  

So once you have all this done, and they are completely cooled, place them in an airtight container and come back tomorrow and we will start to decorate our cookies!!!


Don't eat any!!! Well, maybe just one!!!

adapted from the recipes of: http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/gingerbread-people-62218.aspx

See you tomorrow,

Debra