Artsy Farmgirls & Homemade Wine

Last night was the 3rd monthly get-together of our local herd of "MaryJane" style farmgirls (at my house). A new gal, Michelle, joined us and she is extremely productive in crafting, building things, refinishing antiques, home improvements, fabric arts etc. She brought show & tell goodies and taught us the basic elements of rug hooking. I served veggies, dip and quick & easy cranberry cookies (see recipe below).

My friend, Anita, out did herself with 'offerings'...she had made homemade soap this past week AND she also made each of us a small split oak basket for 3 gift bars of her luxurious soap. In addition, she also brought homemade Currant wine and 3 varieties of delicious cream cheese spread (for crackers). The cream cheese was courtesy of Anita's milk cow, 'Matilda'. There was bacon & onion, dill & chive and sweetened cranberry. The last one kind of tasted like strawberry cheesecake. YUM.

Normally, we bring something to work on (needle arts, scrapbooking, sketching, mending etc), but last night we mostly gabbed and got to know Michelle. I was tickled to have found a very old woolen hooked rug on eBay and it matches a primitive puppy (a pattern I created awhile back). I'd like to learn how to do either wool needlepoint or rug hooking. I showed off my vintage jars, all dolled up with retro style decals and glitter; I gave one of the gals a decal'd lid for an old lid-less coffee jar of her's. The 'how-to' of dressing up old jars can be found in last fall's edition of MaryJane's Farmgirl online magazine, The Cluck.

Getting together with girlfriends in each other's homes (taking turns at hosting) is such fun. It is easy to think 'we' are too busy, but making the time for such healthy fellowship, it is SO worth it. Good friends are a deep well of inspiration, encouragement and vitamin F (aka FUN).

Shery's Quick Cranberry Cookies
1 white cake mix, 1 stick + 2 Tablespoons of melted butter, 2 eggs, 1 Cup dried cranberries, 1/2 Cup crushed walnuts (optional). Combine ingredients, drop spoonfuls on lightly greased cookie sheet, bake at 350 degree for about 10 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

These EASY cookies were a hit at Christmastime. But, I added 2 more tablespoons of butter to the basic 'cake mix cookie' recipe and this version is now Perfect - just the right amount of gooey softness inside, crispy on the outside...and buttery goodness!