Evelyn's "Friend" Charlie Donnelly in A Single Thread

End of Day Quilt Block

On this St. Patrick's Day, I thought we'd honor Evelyn's "friend" Charlie Donnelly, the Irishman.  At the end of the day, Charlie was always there for Evelyn.  

If you're interested in making an Irish block to represent Charlie, McCalls Quilting has twelve free block patterns as part of their Ireland Quilt Block of the Month:  
http://www.mccallsquilting.com/mccallsquilting/articles/Free_Ireland_Quilt_Block_of_the_Month_Patterns  

And if you'd like to make Charlie's famous Butterscotch Macadamia Nut Cookies, read on:

From the author, Marie Bostwick:  "Many of you have written to me in search of the recipe for Charlie’s famous Butterscotch Macadamia Nut Cookies from A SINGLE THREAD.  Imagine how sheepish I felt writing back to tell you that there was no such recipe and that I’d just invented the name because they sounded good.

"In fact, I felt so sheepish about it that I finally got into the kitchen and created

the recipe myself.  And so, at long last and after much trial and error, here it is - 
chewy but with a little crunch and loaded with rich, creamy butterscotch flavor. 
Delicious!  I think Charlie would approve."

Charlie Donnelly’s Famous Butterscotch Macadamia Nut Cookies

1 (5.5 oz) package Werther’s Original Hard Candies (about 30 pieces)
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 stick butter, softened
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg

3 oz. dry roasted macadamia nuts, chopped

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2.  Unwrap the candies and place into a heavy-duty zipper top plastic bag.
Using a rolling pin, hit the bag to break up the candies, then use the rolling pin
to go over the pieces, breaking them into small, pebble-sized bits. Set aside.

3.  Combine flour, salt, and baking soda into a small bowl and set aside.

4.  Using mixer, cream butter together with sugars, then add vanilla and egg.
Mix until smooth. Add in the flour mixture in thirds, beating after each addition until well combined. The dough will be fairly stiff.

5.  Mix the nuts and the broken candies into the cookie dough, using a wooden spoon to blend the nuts and candy evenly through the dough.

6.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and drop rounded teaspoons
of cookie dough onto cookie sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until golden
brown. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool for at least 2 minutes
before moving from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

Makes 2 ½ dozen cookies.

Don't forget to check out Members' Blogs to read what members have written about the Quilters' Book Club and to see the blocks they've made to go with books.

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post:

http://www.starwoodquilter.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-setting-of-single-thread-by-marie.html