RAW, Chocolate, and Some Freaky Animals

I made the most amazing Hot fudge sauce from One Perfect Bite.   Let's Just say it was So good I had to throw out the rest.  It reminded me of  the Sex and the City episode when Miranda  threw chocolate cake in the garbage, so she would stop eating it,  then took it back out and ate it again.  THAT is how good this chocolate sauce is! 

photos via Buzzfeed.com

Lastly, this is my RAW 5 submission.   The funny part is I had a few special orders last week ....Most rings and I did not take ONE picture of them before mailing!  Crazy talk I know!

What I Cooked Yesterday!

 Two things I loved yesterday. 

 One is Tuscan White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup from For the Love of Cooking , but  I added a generous pinch of  cumin and oregano for some extra flavor.   I  accompanied  the soup with Garlic bread ( because clearly I had  not eaten enough garlic in the soup!) and a salad.

 

AND  Two is a cute picture I saw on Facebook yesterday.  I collect pictures of cute animals for  my daughter and put them on her Ipod!  I think she will love this one.

 askerix of the Independents via FreakingNews.com

Looking Cute Even If You Can't Cook

Even if you Can't cook...  You can look cute in the kitchen!  Apron Queen on Etsy has wonderful aprons that look as cute as Anthropologie's,  but with a better price tag.   I love them all !



via Apron Queen





Anthropologie





Anthropologie





Apron Queen

 If you decide to look good AND cook here is a pierogi  recipe that I tried and loved from Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness !
LOVE IT!

Ps.  Taking a break from making Jewelry--Don't Judge!

Some Things to Warm You Up!

It has been unusually cold this year in Alabama we have had snow on Christmas and this was what I saw this morning! It really is wonderful to have an actual winter this year where you have to put on a  cute jacket to keep warm! 

I love this jacket and have it!   Is it a cape? Is it a jacket? The answer is YES!   I am a bit goofy this morning.  It probably is lack of sleep.




I stumbled upon this wonderful Etsy shop where the quilts are colorful and cozy. They are an updated version of grandmas quilt!

I am  addicted to this website For the Love of Cooking.  I have told you this before I know!  Pasta e Fagioli is another wonderful soup I have tried.  I made a few changes to the recipe to make it more healthy. I did not add the sausage but I did add some zucchini and extra spinach. It was lovely and tasty!

photo from the blog For the Love of Cooking.



I hope these ideas help warm you up this Tuesday!



There will be Jewelry posted today in my Shop ! I will show you  some pictures here later. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Four things

1.  First thanks so much I love you all and value all the support brought my way!  Really it has brought me such peace.

2.  There will be a spectacular shop update in all my shops today.

3.  Third  this is a kick ass recipe for dinner rolls from my ever loving haunt http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2010/11/herb-dinner-rolls.html


******Herb Dinner Rolls*******


•1 cup of water

•2 tbsp of butter, softened

•1 egg (hold under warm water before breaking it)

•3 1/4 cup of bread flour

•2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

•1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

•1 tsp dried oregano

•1/4 cup of sugar

•1 tsp salt

•3 tsp regular active dry yeast

Place all dough ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed. Select the dough cycle and press start. Once the bread machine stops (it was one and a half hours on my machine). Grease a cookie sheet. Divide dough into 15 pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Brush with butter then cover with a cloth.

Let the dough rise in a warm place 30 to 4o minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy.

 
 
maybe something you could whip up for Christmas or just because!  
I am crushing on this blog.   There I said it! 
 
 
4.   I was featured on another blog and it was nice to see so thanks to her! 
http://hivennn.blogspot.com/2010/11/etsy-feature-gaia-metal-studio.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Hivennn+%28hivennn%29
 
 
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Holiday weekend!
 
 
Kathleen xxoo

Roasted Acorn Squash with Grain and Warm Spice Salad

First off check out the bike giveaway at the bottom of the page.  It is only going on till the 17th of this month so snap to it!  click on the link and it will tell you how to put your own button on your website to register.   I love the idea of being able to cart all over with massive amounts of flea market finds, children, and or groceries! 

Secondly this recipe is lovely and light.  Vegetarian.  Simple.   I copied and pasted the recipe for you but here is the link to the site as well.  maybe you will fall in love with something as well!

 I still have been procrastinating doing my pictures.  Please send me some lovely, ambitious thoughts today I need them.  The weather changed cold and I guess the thought of leaving my warm nest isn't  particularly attractive.


Roasted Acorn Squash with Grain and Warm Spice Salad

1 acorn squash, cut in half and seeds scooped out


1/4 cup wheatberries*

1/4 cup couscous*

1 cup torn, packed spinach

1/4 cup golden raisins

2 TB pine nuts

1/4 cup finely diced red onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 carrot, finely shredded

2 TB lemon juice

2 TB apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 TB olive oil

1 TB honey

1/4 tsp. each: cinnamon, cumin

1/8 tsp. each: cloves, curry powder, turmeric

salt and pepper to taste

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place squash, cut side up, on a baking sheet or in a glass dish. sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dot with a little butter on the inside. Bake 30-35 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife.

2.Meanwhile, cook grains according to package directions.

3.Place spinach in a large bowl and set aside.

4.Toss together the raisins, pine nuts, onion, garlic, and carrot in another bowl, set aside.

5.Whisk together the lemon juice through the spices in a small bowl and set aside.

6.When the grains are done cooking, drain if necessary and toss immediately with spinach, causing it to wilt slightly. Add in the raisin mixture and dressing, tossing well to combine. Spoon into squash halves and enjoy!




* These are just the grains I happened to have on hand. And in fact, the couscous was a harvest grain blend. Feel free to use whatever grains you like or keep handy. Even a mix of lentils and wild rice would be nice!

Baklava and Jewelry! yay

I tried this tonight and OH MY GOD!   It was really good.    I found a new site that I have been hooked on http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/  so far everything I have made has been pretty amazing.  Take a look around.


Baklava

Ingredients:


4 cups walnuts (chopped)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 cup butter (melted)

1 pound phyllo pastry (thawed)

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick cinnamon

2 inch slice lemon peel

2 inch slice orange peel

3/4 cup honey



Directions:

1. Mix the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

2. Brush the bottom of a 9X13 inch pan with butter.

3. Brush butter onto the top of a sheet of the phyllo dough and place the sheet into the pan. Repeat until there are 8 sheets in the pan.

4. Sprinkle 1/3 of the walnut mixture onto the phyllo in the pan.

5. Brush butter onto the top of a sheet of the phyllo dough and place the sheet into the pan. Repeat until there are 2 sheets on top of the nut mixture.

6. Sprinkle 1/3 of the walnut mixture onto the phyllo in the pan.

7. Brush butter onto the top of a sheet of the phyllo dough and place the sheet into the pan. Repeat until there are 2 sheets on top of the nut mixture.

8. Sprinkle 1/3 of the walnut mixture onto the phyllo in the pan.

9. Brush butter onto the top of a sheet of the phyllo dough and place the sheet into the pan. Repeat until there are 8 sheets on top of the nut mixture.

10. Slice the baklava with a sharp knife.

11. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown on top, about 25-35 minutes.

12. Bring the water, sugar, cinnamon, lemon and orange to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

13. Add the honey and simmer for 2 minutes.

14. Remove the cinnamon, and peals from the syrup.

15. Pour the syrup over the baklava when it comes out of the oven.

16. Let the baklava cool for a few hours.
 
 
New Jewelry-
Some new things that have not made it to the shop yet, but they should be in there tomorrow.   There are a few more pieces and I will post them tomorrow. 
 
 
 

Some rings that are sculptural wire (Fingers look so sexy up close!)  It looks like I have chicken skin.

Snowflake Necklace

                                                                                     Snowflake Earrings

Chicken Pot Pie

So I have had an amazing week in  jewelry.  I have sold a few pieces from my new shop.   I have received a few special orders and a wonderful man called me to make something special for his bride of 30 years!  So very sweet indeed.


This is a favorite of mine I thought I would share.  I also do not  put the pie crust (yes I use pre made shhhh!) on the top of mine.  I cut the pie crust  into  squares, brush them with olive oil, butter, or whatever I have on hand and bake them in the oven.  I just found over time the crust falls into the pot pie and get completely soggy.  Sorry if you like it that way, but I tend to toss it.   Another option is garlic toast (toasted Italian bread rubbed with a clove of garlic---saves on the calories also!).

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on

3 tablespoons olive oil

Pinch of salt

Freshly ground black pepper

5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

2 chicken bouillon cubes

4 tablespoons 4

2 medium  yellow onions, chopped

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 cups medium-diced carrots

1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups)

1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
 
 
   
Directions:


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into cubes you should have 4 to 6 cups.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot  melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions and parsley. Mix well.

Broccoli and Cheese Soup

I posted the other day about the blog  For the love of cooking and her site full of recipes and goodness.  I love to cook but really not a fan of trying to figure out what to make.  Making the same things the same way gets boring so I have been pouring myself over this site and my printer is on over drive!  I will be trying some things here and there from that site so I will keep you posted on some of my favorites when I can. 


The broccoli cheese soup........is Yum and if you are a fan of that soup you really will love it! 

Photo by For the love of Cooking Blog

Lets just be honest its hard to go wrong with cheese!




I have a few earrings that will be posted today and thankful most of my started projects are coming to a completion.

Hi there!

I haven't posted much due to the redo on my workshop with some new tool additions.  I am having such  happy thoughts of adding a rolling mill and making room for it.  I also added a drill press and a work table that is something to behold.  I will post more pics when the mill and drill press arrive.  I have also been getting a totally handmade shop together with banners, goals, and a few pieces that were commissioned.  All are in the process of being finished.   I will have the new shop on the side of my blog and a few staples in sterling silver in the shop to start for the holidays.    I know fully stocking it might be impossible this year with my late opening.  That is OK though.  You  can never rush a good thing.  This time last year I was thinking about opening a shop of assembled jewelry and now I have two shops and one on the way! 

I did want to post today about a wonderful food blog that I just found.  Maybe you have seen it or tried her recipes.  The Spanish rice was something I loved.  I did do a twist on it for myself loving cilantro and green olives.  Green olives give Spanish rice a wonderful flavor.  If you haven't tried it yet.  You really need to.  Cilantro you just cannot get dried.  The taste isn't the same and being fresh you get such an alive wonderful taste.  I copied the link to her blog.  I spent an hour (I should have been working shh don't tell!)  on that site eyeing up some soups, because my favorite time of year is here!

Fall the colors, the sharp sting of the wind, the crunch of the leaves, the rainbow of colors of leaves falling like snow when the wind blows,  everyone getting that bit of pep back they lost in the heat........can you tell I am in love with this season?

OK well I am happy to be back and really feel my creativity flowing and hopefully soon I can share more with you!


here is the recipe in all its glory.  Remember to try it with some olives and cilantro (make sure you cook the olives in the rice not just throw them in -- I like to half them or chop them up to spread out the flavor)

http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2010/02/mexican-tomato-rice-and-beans.html

I also made these and they were delish as well
http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2010/09/shredded-beef-and-cheddar-baked-flautas.html

This week has been a bit frustrating because of my thumb and the realization that most movements stretch the skin between your thumb and pointer finger.  I have restorted to taping my thumb to my finger to eliminate accidently causing more harm.         Sigh.....

Inserting something pretty for a mood lift.......

Much better!

   On a brighter note I have been drawing up a storm  some new ideas and buying wonderful cabs for new rings.  Shopping really does take your mind off the pain....Shhh its what I tell myself !  

I will be taking it easy one more week  then I will be posting Pictures of crafted jewelry and maybe a painting.  I have a few paintings  that im working on, but  I am just waiting for them to speak to me to see what direction they want to take.  

Tomorrow I am posting the most amazing meatloaf recipe on my blog.  Most people say....   Meatloaf really?  I say yes and  it really is quite tasty, tender and will change your mind on meatloaf if you do not have fond childhood memories of it.  Try anything and everything once.  Then once more to make sure!   See you tomorrow.

 Hope you had a creative day!