Two of my favorite quick breads ... butternut squash and lemon herb. Butternut Squash Bread 1 (2-pound) butternut squash 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 large/jumbo eggs 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon allspice 1/4 teaspoon ginger 1/2 cup pecans, chopped Cut squash in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Place cut side down in a shallow pan; add water to depth of 1/2 inch. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour or until tender; drain. Scoop out pulp; mash. Discard shell. Measure 1 3/4 cups pulp; reserve any remaining pulp for other uses. Beat butter, gradually adding sugar; beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices; add to butter mixture alternately with squash, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in pecans. Spoon batter into greased & floured (or sugared) 9x5x3 inch loafpan and bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Or bake in 4 small loaf pans for 50 minutes/mini loaf pans 40 minutes.) Cool in pan(s) on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan(s), and let cool completely on wire rack. ~adapted from Southern Living _________________________________________________________ Lemon Herb Tea Bread 3/4 cup milk 1 tablespoon chopped fresh lemon balm 1 tablespoon chopped fresh lemon thyme 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 2 large eggs 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind Lemon Glaze Combine first 3 ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 15 minutes until cool. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Combine flour and next 2 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix at low speed after each addition until blended. Stir in lemon rind. Pour batter into a greased and sugared or floured 9-x5-x3-inch loafpan. Bake at 325° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely. Drizzle Lemon Glaze over bread. LEMON GLAZE: Combine 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a small bowl; stir until smooth. Note: I make this recipe using 3 mini loaf pans. Bake for 48-50 minutes. You can also substitute lemon balm for the lemon thyme.

Not quilt related, but wanted to pass on my experience with two Homegoods bathroom waste baskets that I reluctantly purchased for my new home. The wastebaskets are a woven wicker look in shades of gray. The "wicker" is some sort of plastic, but the baskets are attractive. I purchased two different styles. One is a rounded basket. If I put the basket up to my nose, I get a slight hint of what I am about to describe. However, the rectangular style basket smells much stronger! That basket, or I should say it was a whole group of the baskets that alerted me to the smell when I was walking down the store isle. The smell is hard to describe. Perhaps like a strong cleaning odor such as Fabulouso, but much worse! Smelling the item also made my throat tingle. Like there is a chemical. I know nearby shoppers thought that I was crazy because I was sniffing everything!!! I purchased the rounded basket and decided to pass on the rectangular basket until... I went back the next day. 😁 The baskets still smelled the same, but I thought if I brought it home the smell would dissipate. It's been almost a week, and the smell is better. I do not notice unless I sniff up close. So the waste baskets are made in Vietnam. The tag is fancy, saying things like "hand crafted unique pieces for your home by local artisans" and "inspired by rich traditions, colors that flaunt vibrant color and exotic culture". "Now you can have a bit of this magnificent (or scent) in your own home". Nothing about the smell. Lol P.S. - I once bought two old sailing flags off of eBay and they both smelled like they were stored in an oil warehouse. My father was in the oil business so I knew that smell well. I di throw them in the washing machine and dryer. The smell dissipated.

htracey, I could have written your original post! *I* could live with the normal patina of marble. But knowing how my husband is, there's no way it will end up with a normal patina in our particular house. Too many times, on our current dark (antique brown) granite, do I find dried on food or spills, whether it be from boiled shrimp or crawfish (we're in Louisiana) or drippings from a messy sandwich from him or apple juice, gatorade, soup, etc. from one of our kids that he or they didn't wipe up. Not only that, but my daughter loves to draw and color at our island. I can't stop our everyday lives because of our countertop choice. If I was there to wipe things up EVERY TIME everyone ate, it'd be fine. But that's not real life. So, I'm now looking at granite and quartzite and even quartz. I'm changing my focus. But I'm not going to get something that's pretending to be something it's not. In other words, I can't get something that is trying to be marble but isn't really marble. So I'm looking at other white stones with gray in them (and maybe other shades as well) but that have a slightly different look to them. Maybe you should look at it that way also? Having said that, Bianco Romano is a lovely granite. White Macaubus is a gorgeous quartzite. I've never seen the Madre Perla (above) locally but it looks lovely too!

red eared-You did the right thing w/the turtle! That blind turtle of my mom's is going to outlive her, that is too much of a commitment for me, without any payoff, as far as I am concerned! I would love to see pics of your house. Post them here if you want! hoosier-Thanks! I guess since this is going to be our home for a loooong time, I feel I want everything perfect. Also, this is the first(and maybe the last) house that is not only a home, but a way of expressing ourselves. I never used to be "into" interior decorating, landscaping, etc. I mean, I could appreciate a beautifully appointed room or a pretty plant, but now I am actually interested in learning more about them both. While I just said I feel more comfortable in a slighly messy (lived in) house, I also appreciate going to someone's house and seeing that a "mood" has been created and effort has been put into bringing it all together. I am worried about having my beautiful spanish dining set handed down from my parents, gorgeous art on the walls, well thought out window treatments and then have something simple and basic as baseboards detract. But yes, yes, I know...no one is noticing! Except maybe a Gardenwebber. Not sure I would let any of you in my home! Haha, I kid, I kid!