Yummy Dressed up Wedge Salad

Lettuce Wedge
Thin slices of red or green onions
Diced Avocado
Blue Cheese Dressing

Optional extras:
- Caramelized mushrooms & onions
- Finely diced left over steak or bacon bits

Myas party

Mya had a great Bday party. We are happy to have so many wonderful friends in her, and our, lives.

still behind, but catching up!

We all got better from our colds/sinus infections in time to celebrate Myas 7th Bday and Finish her science project AND get taxes done! I managed to get new items to Karma, a GREAT Hair Salon in Saline MI where I sell some of my work. I have yet to catch up on posting new items to Etsy... Getting ready for Myas Bday party on Sat for her friends to come over. Then life should return to its normal level of slightly more manageable chaos. I have been cooking a lot and am making mental notes of recipes to type/post.

Oh & did I mention that Mya finished Basketball. She got a basket in her last game - SO proud. She is still in Dance and starts Soccer soon. THE FUN NEVER ENDS!

Aiden is sitting up now and eating cereal. He doesn't crawl yet, but he gets where he wants to be! Dragging, rolling.... He is a MOVER & a SHAKER.

Super behind!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ..............

No I DON'T have  a Super Behind! I need time to workout on that! - I AM super behind in..... Everything: life, laundry, cooking, dishes, blogs, creating, photographing, cleaning, posting items, projects, working out, planning a Bday party for Mya...

As if I weren't behind enough. We all had the flu 2 weeks ago, were better a week then had/have cold all this week. Just trying to do some laundry & dishes today - the piles are EXPLODING!

I will share a yummy recipe I found online. It went great with the Roasted chicken I had Joe grab at the store....


http://www.mydailymoment.com/recipes/holiday_butternut_squash_and_pecan_gratin.php

Butternut Squash and Pecan Gratin

Created by The MDM Team, Saturday, 27 October 2007

You butternut skip out on this scrumptious squash dish. A creamy, dreamy casserole, the squash and pecan gratin is chock full of goodness. Infused with rich flavors, it's one of those recipes you'll prepare time and time again.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided use 
3/4 cup pecans 
3 lb. butternut squash 
2 tsp. olive oil 
1 cup yellow onions, finely chopped 
2 garlic cloves, finely minced 
1 cup heavy cream 
1 cup milk 
1 tsp. kosher salt 
3/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper 
4 oz. fresh mild goat cheese 
2 tbsp. Italian parsley, chopped

Methods/steps

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Generously grease a 2-quart casserole dish with one tbsp. of butter and set aside.
Spread pecans on a baking sheet and toast in oven for 5-7 minutes, or until fragrant and deepened in color. Set aside to cool and chop coarsely.
To make a whole squash easier to cut, pierce in several places with a paring knife.
Microwave at high for 2 minutes, then rotate and repeat.
Remove from the oven and set aside 5 minutes.
Cut the ends off of the squash, then cut into large chunks, seed, peel and slice 1/4 in. thick.
Heat remaining butter with 2 tsp. oil in a deep 12 in. skillet or Dutch oven on medium heat.
When sizzling, add onion and sauté 5 minutes until lightly browned.
Add garlic and sauté 1 minute.
Add cream, milk, salt and pepper, bring to a simmer.
Add squash and simmer gently 5 minutes, stir in pecans.
Transfer half of the squash mixture to prepared pan and dot with half of the goat cheese.
Spoon remaining squash mixture on top and dot with remaining goat cheese.
Place on a sturdy baking sheet and bake 45 minutes or until squash is very tender and cream is almost absorbed.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with parsley.
Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
There are plenty of easy ways to add a nutritional punch to your food. Check out our guide to slipping more fruits and vegetables into your diet with these meal ideas.

Rejuvenate Reuse Recycle - NEW Section in my Etsy store

Check back often, I am having a blast making a ton, can't keep up with photos/posting....
Pendants, Rings, Earrings, more Hair Items, Sets.....

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArdentDesigns?section_id=5757006

Raspberry Vinegrette

Raspberry Vinegrette

1/2 C Rasberry Vinager
1/2 C Olive Oil
1/2 C Peanut oil (or Walnut)
1/2 C Maple Syrup
1 T Dijan Mustard
1 T Tarragon
1 t sea salt

Goes great on greens w/ blue cheese & walnuts & dried cherries or fresh red pears

Pa Pas Valentines Day gift

Mya & Aiden and I made this for Joe for Valentines Day. It is fused glass cut into the shape of a heart with gold mica for the prints and text. The purple side has Mya's hand print & name, the red side has Aiden's feet and name. It just came out of the kiln, but I think we will end up putting it in a square frame.

Sorry for the poor quality snapshots, I took them on the dining room table quick so I could post tonight, or it may never happen as it will quickly fall to the bottom of my long list of things to think about....

Myas 1st Acrylic Painting (at 6 yrs & 10 mths old)

Well this was a long fun adventure... I worked with Mya (note, I have no painting skills...)
I tried to show her the concepts of different textures, blending colors....
She did most of this painting herself. I helped smooth edges & outlines of the more complicated components for her to color in... (wings, wands, bodies...), but in general I tried to have her do as much of it as possible. Also, she controlled all choices of colors and did the more simple components completely alone (sky, bushes, mushrooms, flowers, butterflies....). She did most of the grass with brushes and toothpicks, but got "sick of it so I had to finish a section. The bush was her idea and I taught her how to make it reds in addition to greens with a textured brush.

I am so excited that we were able to enjoy this activity together. Normally she is "done" with a project after minutes. It is neat to see her at an age with an attention span that if I say "are you sure you're done? or would you like to learn how to make the grass look more real by making a pattern with a toothpick" - that she will say "Show me" instead of "no this is good, I'm done" : )  The sunset colors in the sky were her idea after she painted it all 1 plain flat color blue and I showed her on another piece of paper how to blend shades of blues and whites to create a more realistic sky.... It was a blast, even if it did take us way longer (weeks) than I expected.

In the end, CREDIT must go to Aunt Cindy for the facial features. She is a professional artist and we just felt that neither of us could draw mouths or eyes that didn't ruin the whole thing... so Cindy was kind enough to paint very simple features to compliment the rest of Mya's piece - THANKS CINDY

Super spins on Pizza!

CRUST:

Normally I keep my freezer stocked with Greek flat bread (also called pocketless pita). You can get it anywhere, but I have found the best price in a yummy thick soft option at Sam’s Club. They are perfect to pull out of the freezer, toss toppings on & pop in the oven at 400 for personal pizzas on Friday nights. I generally get giant pepperoni from the deli when Boars Head is on sale, it freezes wonderfully as well. (I also use the bread to toast w/ soup, dip in hummus…)

Anyway, since we made traditional pizzas Friday night, I was out of the flat bread Saturday so the photos you see this time are traditional pizza crust (yikes! lucky I found yeast in my fridge!)

Anyway, we made 3 variations this weekend:

PESTO, CARAMELIZED ONIONS, MUSHROOMS & GOAT CHEESE


PREPARATION:
 
-        Warm a couple Tablespoons of Olive Oil in a non stick pan

-        Thinly slice 2 onions

-        Put them in the pan on Medium heat & stir from time to time until caramelized

-        Add a package of diced mushroom and a package of diced portabella mushrooms

-        Cook down a few minutes to reduce juices from mushrooms

 

You can use store bought PESTO, but if you would like to make your own, here is how I did it, just throw these things in a food processor to make a paste.

-        Basil leaves

-        Sun dried tomatoes (if I have them)

-        Pine nuts or walnuts or pecans

-        Olive oil

-        Normally I put parmesan in my pesto, but not always if I know I am putting it on pizza that will have cheese as a topping anyway… 

ASSEMBLY:

-        Mix Pesto with a teaspoon or so of balsamic vinegar

-        Spread pesto/vinegar mixture onto crust

-        Spread the onions & mushrooms that you caramelized evenly over the pizza

-        Sprinkle Goat cheese on the pizza (fresh Mozzarella would go well if you don’t like/have Goat Cheese)

-        Bake at 400

-        (if you have it) garnish with chopped fresh basil

This pizza is great hot, but was also wonderful the next day cold!

Too tired to type the other recipes tonight, so more to come later this week!

Joe's Luminary Lamp with his Photographs - Progress Update

Joe has made SIGNIFICANT progress on his Luminary Lamp project this week. He had this vision of using his photographs to make lamps. He has tried a few options and believes he has come up with the one he wants to move forward with. He did tests this week with the prints on the lamps and they look great. Now we are on to the final step of integrating handmade paper to frame the image and we will have one beautiful finished piece! Can’t wait, but in the meantime, here is a picture of his prototype. It looks so nice whether the light is on or off, I can just see the final product in my head and it is wonderful!