Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large slow cooker or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, black olives, green olives, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing mix, and cook in a slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a pot on the stove. To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with sour cream, cheese, green onions and jalapenos.
This is one of my favorite "oldies" and I have seen it a gazillion times. Wanted so badly to sing along, but that would have been rude!
The gorgeous chandelier in the front lobby is not original to the structure, but none the less, fantastic and of the period. 
Other details:
Just a few of us that attended:
The plan afterwards was to go to Rudy's next door to Curves and he agreed to stay open for us. However, when we got back, it was dark and locked, so we ended up at another Mexican restaurant in downtown Grayslake.
This is a digital image of the inside of a poppy that she printed on fabric and then quilted. Amazing!!
This picture doesn't do this justice. The cat is all thread and she used 38 different colors on him! It literally felt like you could pet him. Can you see what he was looking for next to the pumpkin on the left hand side???
This won a huge award at Houston. It is called "Three Sisters". It features two other art quilters that Annette is friends with from Australia and Canada. All three ladies worked on it and it is to depict their ages, spring, summer and fall.
Annette uses hand dyed velvet in many of her quilts. The dimension makes them look like real roses.
My mouth was agape for much of the meeting.
This all reminds me of something that was given to me a few years ago:
We had 7 people join the church. We are small, but every week, we see new signs of growth. I love my family!
I made a peach french toast casserole and a cream cheese coffee cake for breakfast.
Kathy brought Taco Soup for lunch.
and Celia brought dessert. We are usually so full, and today was no exception.
At least 4 of us in the group have spaces large enough to set up work tables, ironing boards and cutting tables. I am grateful for the creative space I have in the basement. The only thing is, it was a warmish day and the can lights produce a lot of heat, so we were all sweating!
Elaine made the ruler bag and the X bag. I didn't get a picture of either finished product.
Diane makes these adorable Library bags. I asked her if I could get a picture of her bag with her in it and this how she interpreted my request!!
Kathy made the ruler bag to match her "big bag" and wanted the straps to match the binding on the big bag. She had a rather frustrating day and didn't get to finish, but I declare the bag lovely, none the less!
Tracy doesn't do machine work, but is finishing a commissioned piece, so after finishing the hand quilting on it she set out to make the binding.
Celia also made the ruler bag and got into her bag!
Deb is working on a bag that the group made several years ago, prior to our joining. It is rather complicated and is like a making a mini quilt. I have made this bag, but because of the poor workmanship on it (I was a newbie) it is now relegated to being my workout bag. I am planning on making it again and I love the half square triangles. She bought all of these squares on E-bay.
What did I do, you ask? Well, Tracy has commissioned me to make her a big bag and she brought the material. I sandwiched it and started quilting it, but am using metallic thread, so it is very tedious. I have about 1/2 of it quilted and then took a break and made this little thread catcher for Celia. An early Christmas gift. I made a few mistakes, but now I know what not to do the next time I make one.
That's an entire sheet of cobwebs at the top of the window....icky!!!
I promptly got out my swifter to nab it....it's gray, meaning that it's been there for a looooong time! Guess I need to look up more when I clean.
Vera, Dana, Celia and I went to the Northern Quilt guild's biannual quilt show this afternoon. So much eye candy and they a couple of stations for hands on activities. One of the things they do is make baby quilts for Good Shepherd Hospital. Dana and Vera colored blocks for this project.
My sister-in-law, brother-in-law and mother-in-law came this weekend for a visit. We had an all day crop at church and Dana and I spent the day immersed in paper crafts, stamps and ink. I am working on my project 365 and am terribly behind. This "week of" header was the best of my creativity for the day! I love the two swirls! The black one I cut on my Cricut. I did get quite a bit done today, but am still behind.
Recently, our neighbors took their kids to Apple Holler in Wisconsin and they had a little kiddie hay ride pulled by a riding lawnmower. Aaron came home and decided that for his oldest daughter's birthday party, he would make something similar. Isn't it the cutest?
The only thing I know about this one is that it was made by my great-grandmother. It is super scrappy and some of the seams are coming apart. Maybe made in early 1900's or late 1800's? The horrible thing about these old quilts is that they weren't labeled, so we know very little about the makers.
Since the quilt appraiser was at our guild meeting, I was interested in looking at the quilts that I own that are considered antiques. The one pictured was made by my grandmother. She is the reason that my sister and I quilt. She used all scraps and only made one quilt with new fabric, which is hanging at the farm and for which she got grand champion at the Illinois State Fair. I know now that the blue and white quilts were made around the 1920's during the Temperance movement. That would make sense since my grandmother was born in 1894 and would have been in her late 20's and mid 30's in that time. Unfortunately, there is much staining on it and the blue in the inner blocks is discoloring. I am itching to hear more about it and will get it appraised sometime.
My manager, Raeann hired me to make a baby quilt for her niece's baby. It has been a month long process and I finished it today, label and all. I found the fabric on a sale day and was inspired by the nautical colors to call it "Ahoy, Baby!" Thankfully, the baby was born on Friday, the 30th, so it was right on time.
This is Sawyer, the first to arrive. We walked around for a while and then he was rubbing his eyes so I put him in a swing where he fell asleep for the entire hour. His mom says at home he screams every time she puts him in a swing.
This is Matthew. We didn't interact at all because he came in his car seat and he slept the entire time. He woke up right when Patti walked in after the service to nurse him.
This is James, the busy, busy boy. He rolled around on the floor for the longest time and played with some toys that Tricia brought. When he got fussy and started rubbing his eyes, I picked him up and we rocked. He fell asleep and every time I tried to lay him down (only because my arms were completely numb) he fussed. So, we bonded....very hard for me!!
My friend Pat, who checks in during the service to make sure all is in control stopped by and this is what she found. Me and the boys hanging out....
I noticed how they were dressed like casual Friday in corporate America. James in his khakis and oxford button down shirt.....
Sawyer in his wide whale cords and plaid button down shirt. So cute!!!
