Valentine's Day 2011

I'm enjoying a day home, we are out of school for 2 Mondays in February, one for Lincoln's Birthday, and the other is for Washington's Birthday, or President's Day. Either way, I'm home and happy!

My sweetheart Larry is at work. He's feeling much better, has been keeping his weight down, and his energy level is s-l-o-w-ly increasing, bless his heart! This year we will celebrate 35 years married, and I'm glad to have such a love. Our celebration of Valentine's Day will include home cooking, my really thick spaghetti sauce is his favorite, so it's cooking as I type.

Pokey's Really Thick Spaghetti Sauce
I'm not a real measuring person on this recipe, so do as you wish...

in a skillet, brown and stir until cooked and crumbly:

• 1-2 pounds ground beef
• 1 pound Italian sweet sausage, casings removed
• 2 coarsely chopped white onions
• 3-5 stalks chopped celery (I've even added 1 chopped carrot, chopped zucchini, or 1 diced bell pepper)
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon each basil flakes, and oregano

Add all to a large pot. For the sauce ingredients, add all this to the pot:

• 2- 14 ounce cans stewed tomatoes (I crush these in my hands, removing peels and tough tops)
• 2 or 3- 14 ounce cans mushrooms (because we love 'em)
• 2- 24 ounce jars Newman's Own Sockarooni Sauce
  
• more garlic powder, oregano, and basil
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• sometimes I add 4 ounces sliced pepperoni

Cook all to blend the flavors. Serve with a green salad, cooked spaghetti noodles, and garlic bread. The leftovers are great to pack for lunches....

I recently won a sweet mug rug from The Adventures of the Empress of the Universe. You should go meet this gal, she has some serious talent at making these mug rugs, and mine is beautiful! The heart at the top of the post is from this one, too. Always nice to meet a new blogging friend.

I was hoping to work on a finish or two, but that new roll of Amy Butler was calling my name, so here goes....

And because I want to join in a couple more giveaways in the quilting community, go check these out:

• Stash Resolution has a 6 fat quarter bundle of "Delilah". The deadline to enter is Wednesday, February 16, at midnight EST.

• Thearica of Pigtales and Quilts is having a sponsored giveaway from the Quilt Depot. A nice blue shopping bag of goodies is the prize, come see. Date giveaway is 02/20 at noon EST.
• Edited to add: Sew Fun Quilts has a one day giveaway: Red charm squares for Valentine's Day, I'm in for red!
  

That's it for now, I think I'll go back to stitching!