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Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Recipe Corner - Veggie Sandwich

For this recipe you need to gather a favorite vegetable or two. It is a bit unusual but excellent. By itself it makes a great lunch; combined with a good soup it makes a big meal.




Good bread
Avocado
A crisp vegetable or two
Goat cheese
Mustard or pesto or BBQ sauce (or whatever)


For each sandwich use two slices of good bread, toasted. Slice or mash 1/2 avocado; layer or spread onto one piece of toast. Slice your favorite crisp vegetable and layer that on top of the avocado. Add goat cheese and then the sauce of your choice. Add second slice of toast and enjoy.

From tofunutloaf


Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tuesday Tinker - tofunutloaf

Tofu Nutloaf lives in the Republic of Urbana and specializes in creating robots with unusual views of the universe and reality. She also makes block prints and cards featuring  Cephalopoda such as squid and octopi.

The following quote is from her profile on her Etsy store. "Tofu Nutloaf comes up with the best, most interesting theories in the known universe. Whether they ultimately turn out to be a reflection of reality is of no concern."

Tofu is also fond of strange vegetables and is apt to mention them at random intervals on facebook.


Monday, October 25, 2010

Friday, October 22, 2010

The making of ...: Freethinkers Team on Etsy

The making of ...: Freethinkers Team on Etsy: "Freethinkers is a team of open-minded, free-thinking, non-judgemental individuals on Etsy. Actually, it's a great team to be in, with friendly, talented and helpful members and I'm very glad I found them. In this post I would like to share with you some of their beautiful creations."

Thank you for your blog post Dwyr.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Recipe Corner - Apple Dump Cake

This is easy and yummy.



2 cans apple pie filling
2 sticks butter (melted)
1 cup sugar
1/2 tspcinnamon
1 white or yellow cake mix (dry)
Pecans for topping

Combine pie filling, sugar and cinnamon.
Pour into a 9" X 13° Baking dish.
Top with dry cake mix.
Sprinkle with additional sugar if desired.
Pour melted butter all over top to evenly distribute.
Sprinkle on pecans.
Bake at 400° For about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
You can tell When it is done.
Top will be golden brown and the dish will be bubbly all over.

VARIATION
Substitute cherry pie filling for apples.
Eliminate the cinnamon and add a can of well drained, crushed pineapple.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Tuesday Tinker - melfitz

Today's featured Freethinker is melfitz, a gal who lives in Michigan. She loves fashion and the garments she makes are a reflection of her own enthusiasm and appreciation for personal style. Her favorite matterials are wool and natural fiber blends.

For more information click here to go to melfitz's shop.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

The Recipe Corner - Beachcomber Seafood Chowder

This isn’t a real recipe because a friend from Maine just told me how to do it while we were in the pool in water aerobics. Couldn’t exactly write it down, but its easy & tasty.





Dice one medium red potato. Place in saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Here you can add salt, pepper, onion, garlic, bacon bits, thyme, whatever you like. 

Before potatoes are done lay a fish filet (or 2) on top and continue to simmer. After a few minutes you can add crab meat, shrimp, scallops, clams, any other seafood you like or have on hand. 



When the seafood is about done, I stir in 1 can of evaporated milk (with 1/2 can water) and 1 can of cream-style corn. You can add you own “heat” to taste. I add some creole seasoning, red & green tabasco, and some finely cut jalapenos A teaspoon of sugar or splenda is a nice touch, also. 


Simmer the whole thing a little longer just to blend all the flavors together. Its great with oyster crackers & a little more Tabasco.


From Beachcomberscove.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Tuesday Tinker - ArabesqueArtsByDarcy

Darcy started cutting paper with both scissors and an art knife many years ago. Then she moved to Taiwan where she taught English, learned Chinese and was exposed to many fine examples of the Chinese art of  paper cutting.


After moving  back to the United States in 1989,  she settled in Illinois working as a librarian.  While there, about four years ago, Darcy started to play with polymer clay and opened her Etsy Shop. About a year ago she also started to do off loom beading.


Click here to see more of Darcy's work.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

FROM ME, DAVY LETTERCAT - THE FREETHINKERS TRAVEL KITTY

i wrote a letter to ann - texstyletextures -  because ... well here's a copy and the letter she wrote back. yes, i know we are living in the same house but she does go to work and i do nap quite a bit during the day.

'lo tex,
i was looking at all the photos you have on flickr with gretchen in them and i didn't see one of me. its 'cause i'm not a doggie isn't it.. i've tried to be a good kitty so could you take at least one of me. maybe you could even send it to aunt martha so she could put it on the team blog. maybe you might even tell her how much help i've been in the sewing room and how i helped you in the garden.... well, maybe that last is pushing it, but if you didn't want to write a lot you could give her a list of some of the things we've done together and she'd write it up. don't tell her i told you this but if you don't tell her something she might just make something up and there's no telling how that will turn out. just saying....
your friend, 
davy

Dear Davy

So sorry you didn't find any pics of you and Gretchen. Don't know what happened to them. But you and I know that Gretchen liked you just fine. Rmember the time I came home from work and found her tasting you? That was fun, wasn't it?

Thanks so much for keeping me company in the sewing room. I think you enjoyed riding on the thread spools. And I know the Indian Princess was happy to have company too.



Remember the day I found you climbing the vines on the ceresus cactus. You had a great adventure in the jungle didn't you. I did get a little bothered by the Tarzan yells though.





How about the day when I came home and found you playing dress up in my shoe closet? Just a little embarrassing.


Anyway I am glad you came to stay with me and I am sure that you and Pinky will have great fun in Texas. Enjoy the flight.

Ann

and now i'm off to texas. bye bye mississippi. i sure had a lot of fun.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The Recipe Corner - Forest Fruit with Basil

Our first recipe is a very simple one. It's a basic mushroom dish that can can be eaten by itself or combined with other dishes such as rice pilaf or as an addition to stew. I usually use wild mushrooms such as Wine Caps but, unless you know what you're doing, you are better off using fresh mushrooms from the store.

Stropharia rugosoannulata "Wine Cap"


Olive oil
Butter
3/4 Cup Red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 Cup dried Basil
1 1/2 Cup chopped mushrooms

In a non-stick pan, warm a tablespoon each of olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add to that the red onion, the garlic, and the dried basil. Sauté for about 2 minutes. Now add  the mushrooms and sauté until onions are transparent and just starting to brown.  You may need to add a bit more oil. 

Serve hot or add to any other dish you are making. If you make up a large batch, you can be freeze some of it and then have them on hand as needed.

From AuntMartha.