In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter and sharing of pleasures. ~ Gibran

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Make and Take, April 14, 2011

April Make and Take Goes Viral!

 Enjoy this months project on video...



The Make and Take Gals have formally partnered and will be producing video segments so others can join our great Make and Take sessions!  Look for our new format coming this fall!

This month's Make and Take was at my home with with a bit of the Easter Bunny runny amuk. We started with delicious carrot cake muffins from Elephants deli. Amazing!


 After hot tea and catching up we launched into our butter molds from Poland.  Darling little chicks soon formed and with some effort, popped out of our molds.  Pam is hoping to improve the process for us by discovering what tricks may be held in Google for this art form.

(Chick wooden molds)

Once we cleaned up the slippery mess and tucked the chicks in their refrigerator coop we started the big project for the meeting...Adult sewing cards.  I saw this idea in Country Living magazine and thought it would be a beautiful art for gifts.  Starting with heavy water color paper and an enlarged photo we traced the image onto the watercolor paper by poking holes through all the layers.  Afterward we sewed them with a running back stitch.  Watch for future postings to see all the finished projects.

Our Sample that I had made to test the idea.








 It did not take long to work up an appetite and and sore fingers.  Lunch was Lime Tortilla Soup, Chicken Tortellini Salad, and Onion Cheese bread.  We tried the new Smith Tea Fruitfusion drink and finished up with a Coconut Pineapple Pound Cake with Wild Blue Berry Sorbet...yummers! The place cards were baskets of flowers and the gals names sewn onto a leaf.



Hope these help to plan some of your Easter ideas for gathering around the table!

Underground Make and Take, February 10, 2011

Valentine Underground Make and Take You Can DO!

 (Pam's hubby gave her these beautiful blooms!)

The gals pulled together an underground M&T today to make these darling mini-cupcakes that look like decorated candies in a heart box...yummers!  Pam composed this sweet box of love and had all the trimmings for us to craft masterpieces.  Now, how to get into the mail to my daughter...Shhh, don't tell her!

~ MJ
Copyright 2010 MJ's Table Talk



Make and Take, January 6, 2011

January 2011 Make and Take! Baby it is cold outside!

Jean provided a warm and welcoming day for us to unwind and catch up on all the holiday news.  I know after my first hairy week at school and work it was nice to escape to good friends for a few hours.  We enjoyed a wonderful lunch salad recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook.  Then Jean made one of the Food Day 2010 best recipes...Margarita Bars!  It was delicious!  We spent the morning making Valentine throws for college boxes.  A very clever pattern where we braided the edges.  Thank you Jean for a fun day!

~ Come Gather Around The Table!





 Our finished bundles!

Make and Take Christmas Tea, December 2010

2010 Make and Take at the Tea Zone!


Pam once again pulled together her beautiful club Tea Zone celebration for us!  I love this tea spot on the Pearl map.  Full of loose leaf tea and experts who know how to make the perfect pot!  Our yummy tea plate this year seemed even more substantial than years past.  We enjoyed a delicious variety of sweet and savory and then got down to exchanging tea cups filled with treats!  Oh the joys of vacation!

~ MJ
Copyright 2010 MJ's Table Talk

Annual Cookie Exchange, December 2010

2010 MJ's Cookie Exchange!

We shook it up this year and gathered on a Sunday night for the annual cookie exchange.  This is our 17th year and we are ushering in the second generation of cookie bakers.  This core group has shared a lot of life, celebrations, and cookies. This year we were honored to have three generations with a visit from Yolanda's mom, Uma!  She caught on quickly to the ornament exchange, and lets just say that stealing was at an all time high.





Once we all made nice again it was time to collect our cookies.  Every year I am amazed at the beautiful packaging and variety of cookies. Here are just a few...



  The rest of our gathering was spent enjoying catching up on everyone's news of the past year.  We again are supporting P:ear this year with donations of a full cookie basket and several bags of socks, sweatshirts, hats and scarves.

 Happy Holidays Everyone and soon cookies will be showing up at YOUR door!
~ Come Gather Around The Cookie Table!

~ MJ
Copyright 2010 MJ's Table Talk

Make and Take, December 12, 2010

Dec. 2010 Make and Take

Our favor was the Arizona only state signature bag!

Friday was a fun filled day at Poh's as we stocked our refrigerators for the holidays!  We made spiced nuts, Parmesan and rosemary pin wheels, and a festive layered cream cheese/pesto/sun dried tomato dip!  After whipping these up, we enjoyed a tasty and indulgent lunch of the famous Harry & David Chicken Pie that Oprah made famous...  I think I moaned through the whole experience as it is everything Oprah said it to be! Our monthly adventure ended with a goodie bag from Trader Joe's Arizona and a ribbon poinsettia, beautiful!  Thank you Poh for a wonderful day amidst all your moving!

 Our spiced pumpkin pecans!

 Jean discovered a darling treat for an underground Make and Take!

Poh scored one of the hard to get H&D Chicken Pies...It was out of this world!

~ MJ
Copyright 2010 MJ's Table Talk

Field Trip, December 5, 2010

Cookies and Quilt Block Exchange at the Pineneedle!




The Pine Needle in Lake Oswego had a wonderful event yesterday.  My sister in-law and her mom joined me at the annual cookie and quilt block exchange.  We each brought 3dz cookies and 5 identical blocks of our own design using a common fabric.  We left with 5 different and darling blocks and a variety of 3 dozen cookies!  Geri made it even more fun by handing out quilter's candy for birthday's closest to her's...I won one of the lovely bundles.  Pam, the party girl, showed off all the original blocks that were made before we did the blind draw for our 5 to keep.  A fun event and now to make a beautiful runner from the blocks I brought home!


 
~ MJ
Copyright 2010 MJ's Table Talk