Table Runner

Cami's aunt is hosting a raffle to raise money for the Relay for Life, so Cami put out a call for handcrafted items for the home. Originally I had wanted to put together a kitchen towel and potholder set, but the pre-made towels I bought were horribly crooked and I didn't want to have to remake them in order to embellish them.

Instead, I improvised this table runner with some of my new favorite fabric line, Lizzie Dish. I had the two solid fabrics already in my stash, so I ended up combining the three fabrics into the table runner top and then quilting it with diagonal stripes. I forgot to measure it before I sent it off to Cami, but it was about 40" x 14". I like this runner so much that I might even use the remaining fabric to make one for our kitchen table.

Recipe Binder & Oatmeal Jumbos

I was on a big organizing kick earlier this year and finally had the chance to set up my recipe binder. I've had this binder in the work for a few years now, having already put all of my recipes into plastic sleeves and into the binder. I went through the binder and took out recipes that I have never made and that don't look too appealing to me anymore and put all my floating tear sheets from the front pocket into plastic sleeves. Previously all of the ripped out articles were jumbled in the front pocket and hard to find. The recipes in the binder are from friends, magazines, websites, blogs, and photocopied from my personal cookbooks that I don't want to ruin with food splatters.

This time around, I added subject dividers with card stock and plastic tabs for ease of searching. For the tabs, I separated the recipes into the following categories.

Favorites
Breakfast
Appetizers
Breads
Vegetables
Soups
Salads
Asian
Main Dish
Fish
Pasta
Pizza
Christmas Cookies
Cookies
Desserts
Beverages





I added a new favorite cookie to our Christmas cookie lineup this year, although it could be used all year. These cookies are so peanut-y and really delicious.





Oatmeal Jumbos

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder*
1/2 teaspoon baking soda*
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups candy-coated milk chocolate pieces
3/4 cup chopped peanuts, walnuts, or pecans (I used peanuts)

* corrections to my previous post are in bold. Sorry for the error!

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Beat the peanut butter and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugars, baking powder, and baking soda; beat until combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined. Stir in the rolled oats, the nuts, and candy-coated milk chocolate pieces.

2. Use a 1/4-cupmeasure or scoop to drop dough 4 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake in a preheated oven about 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. (For smaller cookies, use a teaspoon to drop dough about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven about 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned). Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool. Makes 26 large or about 60 small cookies.