iris on display

Enjoying a fine day with sunshine so far--yesterday turned out to be a stormy day around here.  We have had an unusually wet spring which is raising the lake and stream levels back to where they should be.  But yesterday when I left the house to go to work, I noticed that I had some iris blossoms showing and I was afraid that when I came home they would be damaged by the wind and rain.  But I was pleasantly surprised to find them looking just fine, so this little spot must have been skipped over by the worst of the weather.  I know there was plenty of thunder, lightning, rain and wind over in White Bear Lake while I was crossing my fingers that the power would not go out and screw up our computers!

So this morning I went out to bring in the best of the blossoms.  I don't have much else for the bouquet right now, I did find a few hosta leaves that have escaped the hungry deer that sneak into the yard.  They really feasted on the early leaves, but we are working to keep the deer repellant spray in good supply and the plants are making a comeback.

I have a new recipe (new to me) to share with you--

Mixed Nut Bars

Surprise, surprise, it's for a dessert!  My weakness!  I don't make desserts as often as I would like because I end up eating most of it myself, Bob is no help at all when it comes to consuming sweets.  This pan of goodness is made from this basic recipe:

Mixed Nut Bars 

1 ½ cups flour

¾ cup brown sugar

½ cup butter

1 can mixed nuts

Syrup:

½ cup white Karo syrup

2 Tbsp butter

1-6 oz. package butterscotch chips

Mix flour, brown sugar and butter.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes in a 9 x 13 pan.  Cool for 10 minutes.  Pour on can of mixed nuts.  Melt ingredients for syrup over low heat.  Pour over crust and mixed nuts.  Bake another 10 minutes.

This recipe materialized after my quilt club's spring retreat because someone made it to share.  Even though I couldn't attend, I can still appreciate a good gooey treat!  My only variation this time was to use only cashews and peanuts instead of the can of mixed nuts, that way I wouldn't have to deal with all those other rogue nuts that I don't like so much!  It ended up with a great mix of sweet and salty, you might want to give it a try!

I'm getting serious about the hexagon project that I have been working on, and putting up some pictures over on the BP Blog if you want to take a look at what will be a fall class offering there.  

Also getting serious about patterns and fabric for the Quilt MN event coming up in August, not much to show so far but making progress.

Along with working on 3 customer quilts (one at a time!) my day is pretty well booked!  

I wonder what my favorite little guy is doing today?  I got to spend Thursday night with him, and managed to get a smiley picture when he wasn't too wiggly--seems that smiley and wiggly are nearly inseparable!  12 weeks old today!