The Recipe Corner - Texas Caviar

4 cups cooked black-eyed peas, drained and cooled 
1 cup diced yellow onion 
1 cup diced red onion 
1 green or red bell pepper, diced 
(and add a few sliced jalapenos- to taste)
1 tablespoon minced garlic 
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning 
1/3 cup olive oil 
1/3 cup red wine vinegar 
1 teaspoon black pepper 

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. 
Chill in the refrigerator for 24 hours, stirring occasionally
Stir again before serving.

Recipe compliments of beachcomberscove.

Tuesday Tinker - beachcomberscove

beachcomberscove is a retired hippie in Corpus Christi who loves having the time to be a creating artist. She's inspired by the ocean and sky. A little bit of both seem to end up in her work.

Browse her shop.

Sunday Supplement - On Location with Our Next Tuesday Tinker

beachcomberscove lives on the Gulf coast of Texas. She has a little beach where she finds wonderful things to put in her jewelry. She is also 'Mother" to several parrots and Beep, a Zebra Finch.

The Recipe Corner - Sopa de Peña

I named this soup Sopa de Peña after the friend who gave me the recipe.

Take 4 large links of sausage (spicy is good) and slice into rounds. Saute them with sliced onion until light brown. Add a small can of sliced white potatoes, a can of diced green chilies, a small can of corn and about a quarter of a cup of your favorite salsa. Add a cup of water, bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes.  Serve with a nice crusty bread. Should feed 4.

This can also be made with elbow macaroni instead of the potatoes. Just use more water because the pasta will absorb a lot. Keep your eye on it and if the liquid gets low, add more. It is a soup after all.

This is just a basic recipe. One can add and subtract meat and veggies to taste.

Recipe compliments of AuntMartha.

Tuesday Tinker - chatnoirstudios

chatnoirstudios is a husband and wife team. He does paintings and cartoon pin-ups; she does's art dolls. She has been creating art since she had her first art show at the age of 5. Crayola never looked better on Grandma's dining room wallpaper. 

She's been making art dolls for several years now. Some are creations from mythology but there are also those who come straight from the Pet Shop of The Old Ones. For sale are hex cts, fluttercats, Spiders and Roaming Eyes.

Browse her shop.

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT - On location with our next Tuesday Tinker

chatnoirstudios sent us these photos to share. The first photo was taken while they were helping a customer. The second was from a Halloween party and the third was just to prove that al least one of them could appear in a normal picture. You may notice however, there seems to be hint of mischief in her eye.

The Recipe Corner - Basic Roasted Root Vegetables

We made something approximating this for dinner. It was yummy.

You need enough chopped root vegetables to fill a medium-sized mixing bowl, with a little room to stir.
1 head garlic
1/2 onion, chopped and sauteed
olive oil
a few splashes of white wine
salt and pepper to taste
herbs

Select roots to roast. In this particular instance, the vegetable culprits turned out to be potatoes, part of a celeriac bulb, a rutabaga, carrots, and half a very large fennel (yes, I know fennel is a modified stem and not a root, but fennel and roots tend to very congenial with each other). Other yummy roots include a variety of beets, parsnips, turnips, sunchokes, and um, any number of other vegetables that I'm not thinking of at the moment.

Once you have chopped your selected root vegetables, mix with all other ingredients, pour into a large baking dish, and roast for 50 minutes at 375-400. Stir sometime around 30 minutes. 


Recipe compliments of tofunutloaf.

Tuesday Tinker - stdesign

Esti is the sole proprietor of ST Design, a design studio she started in her Tel Aviv home in 2008.  She graduated from The School of Visual Arts with a BA in Advertising and Graphic Design. She's worked in online advertising in both NYC and Tel Aviv for about ten years. For the last few years she has lectured at the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design in Jerusalem.
In her studio Esti devotes her artistic energy to creating beautiful silk pillows.

Browse her shop.

Jerise - Lecture and Workshop

Our member Jerise was out on Long Island On December 1, giving a lecture on the history of cut paper designs at the Long Island Chapter of the Embroiderers Guild of America. Afterwards, she led a workshop so that the members could try out the technique for themselves.

Jerise with some of her cuts.

Demonstrating the technique.

Showing how to do corners.

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT - On location with our next Tuesday Tinker

stdesign is sharing these photos that she took of her two dogs and a night scene of the Reading Power Plant in her city, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Minnie, a Pettit Basset Griggon Vendeen, is in the first photo with the Mediterranean in the background, and Looli, a Lhasa Apso with flowers in her hair, is in the second.

The Recipe Corner - Santa's Little Helpers

There won't be any bailout for Santa this year, but when he needs a pick-me-up while delivering all those presents, this does the trick. Try leaving some out Christmas Eve and look forward to a nice morning!

Topping:
1/2c brown sugar
1tsp cinnamon 
2 level tbsp sour cream
1tbsp Kahlua or rum
1c coarsely chopped pecans

Dough:
1/2c butter, softened
1c brown sugar, packed
1 egg 
1tsp vanilla
2c flour
1/2tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt

Icing:
1/4c confectioner's sugar
1 1/2tsp water

Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Save some Kahlua for the chef.

Preheat oven to 375f. In medium mixing bowl cream butter and sugar together. Beat in egg and vanilla until fluffy. In a small mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add to butter mixture one half at a time, mixing until smooth.

Roll dough into roughly 2 dozen balls and place on cookie sheets. Make a wide shallow depression in each ball. Heap a small spoonful of topping on each cookie. Bake about 10-12 minutes until lightly browned.

Remove cookies from baking sheets to wire cooling racks. When completely cooled, mix confectioners sugar and water together and drizzle lightly over cookies.


Recipe compliments of zephi.

Tuesday Tinker - ClayCenter

ClayCenter moved to the United States from Holland, where she had her own ceramic studio. Besides showing her work at galleries and shows, she also taught both adult and children's ceramic classes. In her new home in Wisconsin, she discovered polymer clay and using the skills she learned from ceramics, she makes  wonderful creations.

Browse ClayCenter's Shop.

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT - On location with our next Tuesday Tinker

These are photographs were taken by ClayCenter who will be our featured member this coming Tuesday.

The Recipe Corner - Simply Beachy Ceviche

The best and easiest Ceviche recipe I've ever tasted. It's quick, easy and and disappears quickly. The habanero peppers make it spicy without giving it the distinctive flavor of jalapenos and it's great without hot peppers too. You can adjust any of the seasonings to suit your taste. 

2 lbs tilapia fillets or other firm white fish fillets, cubed
(can also use shrimp or scallops, its all good:)
8-10 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 habanero pepper, seeded and chopped

8-12 limes, freshly squeezed and strained to remove pulp,enough to 
cover fish

1 red onion, thinly sliced and rinsed

1. Combine all ingredients except red onion and mix well.
2. Place red onion on top and let it marinate in the refrigerator for 
at least 2-3 hours before serving.
3. Before serving, mix well and serve with lettuce, corn, avocado 
or other cold salad vegetables on the side.
(Use a juicer that squeezes the juice out of the limes, not one that will 
tear the membrane of the lime sections since this will make the lime 
juice bitter.)
Serves 6.


This recipe compliments of beachcomberscove.