Grand Finale winner!

Puddles of Grace is our Day #12 winner of the Flannel Days fat qtr. bundle. Colorado is the perfect place for a flannel quilt. Enjoy!

Thanks to all of you who have commented this year on my blog. I truly appreciate your time and enjoy reading every one. If you haven't won a KT giveaway so far, don't despair, there's lots more coming your way in 2012. I just received a huge box of strips from Moda that I'll HAVE to share from next year's Christmas line, Holiday Medley. Quilt shops will be introduced to all the new collections for the holidays in Jan., so watch for a sneak peek in February.

Robert had to work Christmas Day, but I enjoyed brunch with my son and his girlfriend after church, then my parents came over for dinner after R got home. I made an easy crock pot Chicken Marsala that Pam Buda shared with me. So simple but a little more elegant that your normal chicken/pasta dish. Everyone loved it! For dessert, I made a banana cream pie - R's fav - but added a little twist with a layer of dark chocolate on the crust before adding the bananas and pudding. (Just sprinkle mini dark chocolate chips in a still warm crust, let sit a few minutes and spread with a knife.) I think it helps keep the crust from becoming soggy and who doesn't love the addition of chocolate to anything??  All in all, a very quiet, but wonderful day. Today, I've puttered around all morning, picking up after having a grankid for a week. I always seem to get a burst of organizing energy each year after Christmas. As much as I love all the decorations and special holiday decor, I'm always ready to return to "ordinary time" as my sister says, doing some major cleaning and purging. It's an instant lift for me. Since Moda and our other main distributors are closed this week, it's a time for us to catch up at work, too. Seems a week is never enough!

Here's the Chicken Marsala recipe. It would great for a New Year's celebration, too!

6 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup butter
1 pkg. Good Seasons salad dressing mix
2 cans Golden Mushroom soup
1 cup Marsala cooking wine
1 large can mushroom stems and pieces, drained or 1 1/2 fresh mushrooms, sliced
8 oz. tub cream chees with chives & onion
1 lb. pasta - linguini, penne, etc. cooked according to instructions
Parmesan cheese shreds
 Place chicken in crock pot. In a large bowl, soften butter and cream cheese. Add seasoning, soup, wine, cream cheese and mushrooms; mix well. Pour over chicken; cook in crock pot on LOW 5-6 hours. Serve chicken and sauce over hot pasta sprinkled with shredded parm cheese. Add breadsticks and a green salad for the perfect dressed up dinner that's everyday easy. Yum!