HAPPY NEW YEAR

I want to wish each and every one of you a very Happy New Year. Please be safe in your celebrating. I have been reading about people setting goals instead of making resolutions. I think that sounds like a great idea. I am sure I am not the only one who has not been very successful in keeping resolutions. So I have been thinking about the goals that I would like to set. Of course there are always the personal ones - lose weight, be a better house keeper, etc. In my quilting world I am setting a goal to finish at least one UFO each month. And yes, I do have that many UFO's and probably enough to make that a goal for 3 or 4 years. I have been involved in several Block of the Month quilts and have not finished them. I also have a few quilts that were started here at Thunder Bay Resort during a Quilter's Retreat that need to be finished. Right now I am working on a baby quilt that I was commissioned to make. I am also hand quilting my Round Robin quilt. As soon as I finish the baby quilt I am going to get started on the UFO's. I think the first one I will finish is my Broken Star wall hanging. It is a design by Edyta Sitar and I bought the kit at Lolly's in Shipshewana, Indiana in September of 2007. I started piecing the blocks then and just haven't got back to it.

So what are your plans for the evening? Steve and I will be hosting a small dinner party. We have invited our two sons and their wives, our grandson, my parents and his brother and sister-in-law. Our daughter-in-love will be bringing a turkey. Later this afternoon I will be putting a prime rib in the oven. We will also have mashed potatoes, spaghetti squash, a tossed salad and rolls. This morning I made my first cheese cake. It was really fun to make and it smells yummy. I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Oreo Cheesecake

1 cup crushed Oreo cookies

1 TB butter, melted

32 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 eggs

20 Oreo cookies, quartered

Press a mixture of the crushed oreos and butter in a 9 inch spring form pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl at medium speed until smooth. Beat in the eggs until well blended. Gently stir in the quartered cookies. Pour the mixture over the cooled cookie crust. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until set. Loosen the cake from the side of the pan. Let cool. Chill, covered for 4 - 10 hours. Serves 12

Happy New Year to you and your family. I hope the New Year brings joy and happines to all.