Summertime Fun!

 

It's almost June & our Mermaid Teachers are busy preparing for a summer of fun!

We have classes for beginners, artists, children, & quilters at all levels. 

Since our Friday Night Fever nights are so popular, we have some Breakfast Clubs scheduled this summer. 

You can come, have a full breakfast, & sew all morning under our ceiling fans.

Our Jolly Jingle Workshop is coming up July 23, 24, 25. 

Watch for details, but you can expect to get a head start on some amazing Christmas projects!

The Mermaid's FINtastic Summer Retreat will be July 26, 27, 28. 

You can come, relax, & let us take care of your meals from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday & Saturday, then Sunday till 2.

We had such fun last winter, we're ready to do it all again to get out of the heat.

Go to http://calicomermaid.com/, & click on classes to see the Class Calendar.

If you click on Newsletter, you'll see pics of most of the class samples.

Come see us this summer!

Heart of the Valley Shop Hop 2013

Well, we survived our very first official Shop Hop! I haven't posted for a while because I've been trying to get caught up, both at the shop & at school. 

It's countdown time to the end of the school year.

What a great weekend we all had!

Many thanks to our amazing staff, customers & new quilty friends. 

Thank you to everyone who came to the Hop. We hope to see you all back next year.

 Here are a few highlights from the weekend, but everything happened so fast & crazy, I had trouble keeping up! I'm so grateful to everyone who helped us. We couldn't have survived without you!

 

 
They were checking out the label on the back of a hanging quilt during a quiet moment.

 The mermaid pics were quite a hit! We all need to release our inner mermaid once in a while.

My sister, Rotha, & I rarely have a chance to have a picture taken with just the 2 of us. We're usually busy running around in circles, so we thought this was a perfect opportunity.

 Stafford's Chocolates made these amazing chocolates just for us! 

Dark & light chocolate quilt Blocks & chocolate scissors. So cute!

 

Our shop prize was won by Cathy Pietro from Raisin City.

Here you can see the shop all set for action. See the Iris Festival Challenges? Gorgeous.

Thanks again for partying with us. We'll see you next year!

Banana Pineapple Coconut Bread

We're in the midst of our first Heart of the Valley Shop Hop, & I've had lots of requests for my Banana Pineapple Coconut Bread recipe.
Here you go!
I started here: Grandmama's Hawaiian Nut Bread
and then I made some changes:
I used 4 ripe bananas for each batch
a whole large can of crushed pineapple (Dole has a lot more flavor than off-brands)
I left out the nuts, but I think I'd add chopped macadamias if I wasn't feeding hundreds of shop hoppers  ;)
I lined the pans with foil, then lifted the loaves out, wrapped each loaf in the foil & then put them in a zip freezer bag in the freezer as soon as they were cool. They sliced nicely when frozen.
By making a batch or two each evening, I was able to make enough for the whole crowd days ahead & kept them in the freezer till the Shop Hop.
Enjoy!
Here it is as I made it:

Banana Pineapple Coconut Bread

Dry Ingredients

• 3 cups plain flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup shredded coconut

Wet Ingredients

• 3 whisked eggs
• 4 mashed bananas
• 1-1/2 cups vegetable or canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons coconut extract
• 16 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

Instructions

1.    In large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

2.    In separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients.

3.    Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir with a spatula just until moistened.

4.    Pour into 2 greased and floured 5x9 inch loaf pans.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Lift out with the foil & cool on wire rack, wrap & freeze. Makes 2 loaves.

Iris Challenge 2013 - winners announced!

Well! It's that time of year again! It's time for the Iris Festival Challenges!

Check out these amazing works of iris art.

We had 8 entries this year - not as many as last year, but just look at the workmanship & creativity.

edited: The winners are now listed. The judges had a terrible time choosing, so we have 2 First Place winners & 2 Second Place winners!

Congratulations to all!

2nd Place tie - Darlene Parker

2nd Place tie - Gail Cosart

First Place tie - Suzanne Kistler

First Place tie - Becky Haley

 Many thanks to our judges from the Porterville Chamber of Commerce. 

Their task was even harder this year & we appreciate their help very much.

What a busy week!

...so Friday night was a big night for us at Calico Mermaid.

Priscilla Girard was our featured artist for Porterville's Downtown Art Walk, & then on top of that, it was our Friday Night Fever sewing dinner party till midnight!

 

 Priscilla makes the most amazing wearables, heavy with lovely embellishing. Her work doesn't show up well in my quickly snapped pictures, but EVERYTHING sparkles.

 

 Her work is gorgeous, & so imaginative, inside & out!

Then the partiers had a great time, too.

 Linda happened to be having a birthday,

so she brought these beautiful cakes. 

They were delicious!

(ummm...not that I had a piece of

 BOTH or anything like that...)

 

It was a wonderful evening. I spent most of it preparing for our Birthday Party the next morning on Saturday, though, so I only have a few pics. 

I'll tell you all about the party next time.
Right now I have to go start packing for Best of the Valley Quilt Show this weekend!

It was a TON o' FUN!

No Friday Night Fever in May - we'll be swamped with the Shop Hop!

Come see us then!

 

http://heartofthevalleyshophop.com/