Manicotti and Stitching Inspiration

Soon I will stitch! It has been quite awhile now, but all the crazy busy times have ended for awhile. Now it's time for being 'semi-busy'.

Friday was my last day of work for awhile, and it's our summer break. Hurrah! We worked especially late this summer and we're starting again in early August but nonetheless it's grand to have a break.

Earlier this month we celebrated my husband's birthday, our son's birthday, our son-in-law's birthday, and our son's college graduation. Yesterday we celebrated my mom's 79th birthday. We had a great time at my brother and sister-in-law's house celebrating! I brought the manicotti:








Manicotti Recipe
Makes one 9 X 13 pan of Manicotti

One box of Manicotti

Sauce:
1 lb ground beef
1 jar of marinara sauce (or make your own)
one garlic clove, minced
oregano

Cook ground beef, add the other ingredients and simmer.

Manicotti Filling:
1 egg
16 ozs ricotta cheese
6 ozs parmesan cheese
8 ozs mozzarella cheese, shredded (place some aside for the top of the dish)
garlic powder
fresh parsley flakes, a few tablespoons
sweet basil, one tablespoon

Cook the noodles so they're not overly soft for easy stuffing. Stuff the noodles with the cheese filling.

Place 1/2 the sauce in a greased 9 X 13 pan, place the stuffed noodles on top, and cover with remaining sauce and the remaining mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Enjoy!

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And now for some stitching inspiration:

This piece is called Fantastic Fall Bouquet, and it's designed by Barbara Baatz. (I got this photo of it long ago from a blog, saved it to my computer, but I don't have the stitcher's name and website. If you know the person, please do let me know. For the time being, I just must say thanks to the stitcher of this fine piece!):

 

I've always loved it, and I finally acquired it sometime back into my stitching pattern stash. I had to purchase it off ebay, as it's out of print and hard to find. It was so worth the hassle! Perhaps I can get started on it sometime soon, but then again free time does fly by quickly. Are there any patterns you are excited to begin soon?

Thanks for stopping by today!