In Fond Memory

I had planned to start this blog this evening on a happy note, but unfortunately, that is not the case. A lovely lady who has been in several of my quilt classes passed away yesterday. She was only 63 years old. Her name was Clara and she was a sweet funny lovely and talented woman. She lost her battle to breast cancer after only knowing about it 6 weeks ago. She made the classes so much fun and had so many hilarious and funny stories to share of her life with her fellow classmates.

We will especially remember her drive to New York with her best friend Edna (another former student of mine) and how they got lost in the middle of the city on the freeways. And of course the time she came into class with her finger wrapped up in gauze because she sliced her finger with a rotary cutter. She told us of her night at emergency and the colourful events of the people in the waiting room sitting around with her. And then who could forget the time she took a crazy silly hissy fit in class cause her pieces wouldn't fit!! I remember having to take her pieces from her before she hurt herself! LOL. I spent the following week at home fixing up her blocks so she could complete her quilt. She was close to giving up. But we all encouraged her to stay and I am so glad she did. What a beautiful quilt she made! When she wasn't in a course of mine, the students that did know her wished she was with us in those courses. There were days we would be practically on the floor rolling around in laughter from her stories! She will be deeply missed.













These photos came from one of the last quilts she did with me. We made the Blackford Beauty Quilt. Some of her quilting class friends and I will be attending her funeral this week. You could not help but smile in her presence.

Tonight I spent another productive evening working on one of my Christmas gifts. I got a nice bit of it done. I have some embellishing to do before I start assembling it together.

Tomorrow I will kick myself to get back to quilting up a couple more tree skirts.

As I promised the other day, I am going to post two recipes I made this past week. First of all the Baked Cod Fillets

Cod Fillet Dinner

1 lb cod fillets
1 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp Tex Mex Spice
1 Cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup bread crumbs

Cut fish into serving size pieces and place in a greased baking dish. Make cheese sauce and pour over the fish. Top with bread crumbs and bake 35 minutes at 350º F.

Cheese Sauce:
Melt butter and blend in flour and Tex Mex spice. Gradually add the milk, stirrring constantly until the sauce is thickened. Add grated cheese until melted.



And then for dessert try out this cheesecake! It is one of my favourites to make and to eat!
Mandarin Orange Cheesecake

2 pkgs of cream cheese (250g each)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cans mandarin orange sectiosn (10 oz)
1 cup liquid (mandarin syrup plus orange juice)
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp corn starch

Crust:
Spray spring form pan, combine 1 cup graham crumbs, 3 tbsp sugar, and 1/4 cup melted butter. Press on bottom of pan. Refrigerate.

Preheat ovent to 325º F. Combine cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cornstarch, eggs and vanilla.

Drain 1 can of mandarins; add 1/2 cup syrup to cream cheese mixture. Blend 1 minute or until smooth scraping down sides once. Chop drained mandarin sections; stir into filling. Pour onto crust. Bake 50-60 minutes or until set. Turn off oven, open door slightly and let cake cool in the oven for 1 hour. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely. Remove sides of pan.

Drain remaining can of orange sections. Add enough orange juice to syrup to make 1 cup of liquid. In a small saucepan combine 1/4 cup sugar, 4 tsp corn starch and syrup mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly, simmer 2 minutes. Spoon half of mixture over top of the cake. Arrange orange sections on top and spoon remaining mixture on top. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Enjoy!

Well its past my bedtime again. Tomorrow I plan to get more sewing done before I head to my class in the evening.

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea