QuiltLady – Chasing MY Life WHEREVER it Leads ME

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY, MENU & RECIPES week 15 of 2025 ~ BLOG 365.104

Be sure to join Happy Homemaker Monday with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

LAST WEEK RECAPPED

I can’t believe we’re already half way through April!! I worked several events at the Eagle’s last week on top of my normal duties. It seems like every minute was spoken for. I did get the tomato seedlings planted and the wrought iron porch furniture painted with fresh Rustoleum™ to cover the winter rust that settled in.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

I’m afraid to trust the weather prediction! Supposedly it will NOT rain this week, just be cloudy and is supposed to be in the 60’s and low 70’s. We’ll see – yesterday it said it was going to be sunny all week and in the upper 70’s and 80’s – it changed that quickly!

It’s still supposed to be in the high 30’s at night so each day will take a while to warm up and the breeze has been down right cold. Even working up a sweat yesterday while taking care of very manual labor, the minute I quit working and stood still for five minutes I had to put my sweatshirt back on.

TO DO LIST, APPOINTMENTS & PROJECTS

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’m still working on de-cluttering and spring cleaning.
GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have early morning doctor appointments on BOTH Tuesday and Wednesday so will pick up what I need for Easter dinner and the errands at that time. I also have an Eagle’s meeting tonight.
RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I have nothing planned past this week so really need to get that handled tonight.

DVR/TV TIME

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

STREAMING We’re still working on GILMORE GIRLS at night. We’re thinking about getting a new streaming service and seeing some shows we’ve been wanting to watch.
CABLE The DVR is all but empty and most shows will be going on spring hiatus this week or next.

READING TIME

I need to start the book for book club, but right now I’m reading The Wyvern Protection Unit by C.D. Corri

FUNNIES

MENU PLANS

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀

	4/14 MONDAY	4/15 TUESDAY	4/16 WEDNESDAY	4/17 THURSDAY	4/18 FRIDAY	4/19 SATURDAY	4/20 SUNDAY
DINNER	MEATBALLS SANDWICHES	BLACKBERRY BAKED CHICKEN and FRIED CORN	YUMMY BALLS aka OLD FASHIONED PORCUPINE BALLS	CHICKEN PARMESAN	working at the EAGLES CHILI BURGERS	MEXICAN STUFFED PEPPERS	~EASTER~ PINEAPPLE GLAZED HAM, MASHED POTATOES, GLAZED CARROTS
DESSERT							APPLE WALNUT CARROT CAKE with CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

FAVORITE PHOTOS FROM THE CAMERA

Worked at the cemetery yesterday to help my girlfriend and her hubby clean up the winter debris. We had an extremely stormy, windy and wet winter that took down a few of the BIG trees and tons of limbs that had to be cleaned up. I should have taken a picture of the burn pile that we’ll do later with hot dogs and marshmallows. 🙂 The burn pile is about 8 feet tall, 40 feet long and 20 feet wide! That doesn’t include the big tree pieces that she’s trying to give away for firewood.

Her family has “owned” the cemetery since 1926 and someone from her immediate family has been the caretaker ever since. Al and Mary Pepiot were her parents and she maintains the family plots. They sell affordable plots with deeds and each plot is maintained by that family, but she does the overall mowing and general clean-up of the overall cemetery.

I especially love her aunt’s headstone. One side looks so traditional and then the backside lists all the men she was married to over the years. The oldest headstone I could find was mid 1800’s. Unfortunately a few years back some teenagers went out and broke several of the older headstones 🙁

So I did the drastic change. It’s supposed to be a silver/gray sable combo. Unfortunately, my hair doesn’t take dye well and I’ll probably be back to my god given beach blonde within the month. Oh well.

INSPIRATIONS

LIFE TIP

HOMEMAKING / COOKING TIP

RECIPES COMING UP THIS WEEK

TETRAZZINI
SALSA VERDA PASTEL AZTECA

RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK & A FUN ONE FOR EASTER

WEEKLY FEATURED PARTY LINKS

SILENT SUNDAY ~ BLOG 365.103

SATURDAY COFFEE ~ BLOG 365.102

ITALIAN PAN-FRIED CHICKEN ~ BLOG 365.101B

Simple, delicious and can be dressed up for a company meal or down for a casual weeknight meal.

ITALIAN PAN-FRIED CHICKEN
1 tablespoon softened butter
2 tablespoons avocado oil
6 LARGE bone-in chicken thighs
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons FRESH minced rosemary
1/2 teaspoon FRESH minced oregano
1 teaspoon FRESH minced basil
3-4 LARGE garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup QUALITY merlot
1/4 cup QUALITY chardonnay
1/4 cup QUALITY balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon COLD butter, diced

In a large skillet, melt butter and avocado oil over medium-high heat.
Season chicken generously with FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
Brown chicken 4-5 minutes on each side.
Add garlic and simmer 1 minute more.
Add vinegars and wines.
Reduce heat to medium; cook 10-12 minutes, covered until a thermometer reads 165°-170°.
Bring to a SLOW boil, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan; cook 5-7 minutes or until reduced by half.
Remove chicken to a serving plate and keep warm.
Stir in cream, butter and herbs.
Return to a SLOW boil, cooking 3-5 minutes more or until slightly thickened.
Serve over chicken and potatoes.

TGIF ~ BLOG 365.101

MARMALADE LIME GLAZED PORK CHOPS ~ BLOG 365.100

The original recipe called for JUST enough glaze to coat one side of the chops. We LOVE the glaze so I doubled the amount because we like to coat both sides of the chops as well as drizzle it over the stuffing!

MARMALADE LIME GLAZED PORK CHOPS
3/4 cup orange marmalade
1 jalapeno pepper, seed and FINELY chopped
Juice of 1 LARGE lime
1 LARGE lime cut into wedges
1 teaspoon FRESH grated ginger root
4 bone-in pork chops or 2 pork sirloin steaks
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
Prepared stuffing – homemade or Stove Top

In a small saucepan whisk together the marmalade, jalapeno, lime juice and ginger, cooking 5-7 minutes over medium heat until marmalade is melted.
Season pork chops with FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
Heat grill to medium-high.
Reduce grill heat to medium and lightly oil grates.
Grill chops 4-8 minutes depending on chop thickness until cooked through to 145.
Brush with glaze during last few minutes.
Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ~ BLOG 365.99

OLD FASHIONED WACKY CAKE aka DEPRESSION CAKE or WAR CAKE ~ BLOG 365.98

I’ve been obsessed with WWII lately. I’ve also been researching recipes that were popular during times of rationing and this one caught my attention, so much so that I JUST had to try it! I’m so glad I did – it is completely scrumptiously rich and moist and uses NO eggs, milk or butter! I’ve updated the original ingredients and instructions a bit.

OLD FASHIONED WACKY CAKE aka DEPRESSION CAKE or WAR CAKE

1½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
4 3 tablespoons QUALITY cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons NEUTRAL oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 1 teaspoons PURE vanilla
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350°. 
Spray 8×8 inch cake pan with Baker’s Joy.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in ~~an 8×8 inch pan~~ large bowl.
Make 3 wells in the flour mixture.
Pour the oil into one well, the vinegar into another well, and the vanilla into another well.
Pour the water over everything.
Whisk the mixture until cake batter forms. ~~You may need to use a spatula on the corners of the pan to make sure all of the dry ingredients get mixed in.~~ Spread into prepared cake pan.
Bake for 30–35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool, slice, and serve.
Top the cake with powdered sugar, whipped cream, or frosting (chocolate or cream cheese are best).

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY, RECIPES & MENU week 14 of 2025 ~ BLOG 365.97

Be sure to join Happy Homemaker Monday with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

LAST WEEK RECAPPED

It was a busy week! I was dog sitting, spring cleaning and baking for a bake sale yesterday. During the spring cleaning I was also de-cluttering and trying hard to downsize. 🙂

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

We had an absolutely beautiful Saturday last week. Compared to the poor people in the south I will not complain. Our cold and rain are both back and spring is once again on hold. My tomato starters are up on the porch as the garden will have to wait a couple more weeks. I did plant a few flowers on Saturday, but they are in raised planters under the eave so I think they’ll be okay this week.

We’re supposed to be in the low 50’s during the day and 30’s at night with lots of rain. It’s only the beginning of April, but our rain fall totals are equal to the yearly average already this year.