Tuesday, August 28, 2007

It's Tuesday, time for a new recipe!

This is an awesome summer salad, very refreshing and quite easy.

Salad dressing recipe:
1 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp oil
3/4 cup water
basil to taste

Mix all the ingredients well. You can increase or decrease the sugar for sweetness.

lettuce (I use is Spring Mix)
1 large can Mandarin oranges (can be substituted for pineapple, apples or raisins)
1-2 cups of Caramelized almonds
Scallions (if desired)

Almonds-melt sugar in a fry pan and stir almonds until coated, let cool on aluminum foil, then separate.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Summer Fun


Yesterday on a whim we decided to go to the park with the kids. Nicholas stripped down to his shorts and had a blast running through the sprinklers. Here is a photo I took of him,don't you just love the rainbow?

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Cutting away!

Wow, it has been a long day. I spent the entire day cutting kits and so far I have cut 1 new 8x8 layout kit and re-cut 6 older 12x12 layout kits today. I must say I am tired but excited with the end result. So, I think it is time to call it quits for tonight.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Delicious!

Here is a quick and delicious breakfast recipe.

Finnish Baked Pancake (Kropsu)

Makes 2 to 3 servings

3 tbsp butter or margarine
2 to 3 eggs (more eggs give a more custard-like consistency)
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup flour

For Serving: Syrup, crushed strawberries, crushed raspberries, blueberry pie filling or create your own topping of you favorite fresh fruit.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the butter or margarine in a heave 9-10 inch cast-iron skillet or heavy glass pan (lightweight pans will burn the bottom of pancake) in the oven until butter is melted.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the sugar and salt. Add the milk alternately with the flour, mixing well after each addition.

3. Pour the batter into the hot butter in the pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

4. Cut into wedges and serve with your choice of toppings.

I usually make a blueberry syrup and serve it with the pancake.

Happy Tuesday!


Wow! It has been a very busy weekend. We went away to New Hampshire this weekend and the resort where we stay celebrated Halloween. So we decorated our house, got some candy and dressed the kids. Nicholas decided to be a cowboy, he looked so cute in his chaps and hat. My mum stayed behind to give the candy away while I took Nicholas trick-or-treating. When we came back my mum had only 3 pieces of candy left, but before she was able to close down a group of about 30 kids came to the house looking for candy. Thinking quickly I gave her Matthew's bucket of candy and as the crowd dwindled so did the candy (Matthew had only 1 piece of candy left in his bucket). I felt so bad that I took him in the golf cart and drove him around to collect more candy (he ended up with half a bucket). Everyone was happy in the end.

Being in the Halloween mood I have been working on some Halloween projects, a 12x12 layout, and 2 mini books. Here is a photo of a book I did a couple of months ago, I am going to be re cutting these kits for Disney so if anyone is interested you can send an email and let me know.


On another note, I have just finished decorating all the pages for the Leather Album and I am really happy with the way they came out. Also, I just got word that my classes for Disney are just about sold out. Yippee!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Happy Birthday Babcia!


Well today is my grandmother's 81st birthday. So we all got together for a little Chinese food and cake.
Although she is 81 today, I must tell you that she has more energy in her little finger than I have in my whole body. She has never had a drivers license so she walks everywhere, whether it is grocery shopping, visiting friends or going to the beach.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, we always go fruit picking. Well, I refuse to take my grandmother apple picking any more. She insists on climbing the apple trees to get the reddest and ripest apples and when the workers catch her and tell her to get down, she pretends she either doesn't hear them or that she doesn't speak English. It is quite embarrassing to say the least.

Here is a photo of Nicholas (my youngest) all dressed up for the party. Dont' you just love toddlers (lol)!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Tomatoes are coming!

So right now our tomatoes are in full force. I think I have about 30 or so that are ready to eat. So I am rolling up my sleeves and pulling out all of my tomatoe recipes. So here is another family favorite.

Grilled Eggplant, Tomato and Feta Stacks

3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp minced fresh rosemary leaves
salt and freshly ground black paper
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium eggplant (1 pound)
2 medium tomatoes (3/4 pound)
1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled

Prepare the grill so that the temperature is hot.

Whisk together the vinegar, rosemary, and salt and pepper, to taste. Slowly whisk in the olive oil.

Peel the eggplant and cut crosswise into 1/3-inch slices (12 slices total). Cut the tomatoes crosswide into 1/3-inch slices (8 slices total). Place the vegetables on a tray and brush generously with the dressing.

Grill the eggplant until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side, brushing with more of the dressing.

Arrange 4 stacks of vegetables, start with the eggplant, add a slice of tomato, then add some crumbled cheese. Repeat.n Drizzle with more of the dressing. Enjoy!

On the

Monday, August 13, 2007

New Classes!

I will be teaching in Orlando in a couple of weeks and I wanted to share a couple of sneek peaks.

The first class that I will be teaching is a "School Days" mini album using the new "Recess" line from Basic Grey.



The second class will be a "Mickey" 12 x 12 double page layout using "Scarlets letter" from Basic Grey.



Finally the last class that I will be teaching (I'm super excited about this one) is a Disney leather 8x8 album and shadow box, it will be using the new black leather "Biography case 101" from Cosmo Cricket. The outside of the case will be decorated as well as 4 double 8x8 pages and the cover page. The shadow box can hold all of your Disney memorablia that you have collected from your trip.

Here is a sneek peak of the from of the case.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

What a show!


Well, last night I took my almost 8 yr old son to see Justin Timberlake in concert. I have to tell you that I was not looking forward to going. Well, am I glad I went. The show started off with Good Charlotte and they were great, very personal with the fans. Justin put on a fantastic show, Timberland made a special apperance and he sang a couple of songs with Justin. The band members and back up singers were all part of the show dancing along with the other dancers. We both had a great time although Matthew did say it was a bit too loud (Justin Timberlake said that it was one of the loudest crowds he has ever heard). Here is a photo of Matthew after the show last night.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Summer Corn Soup

This past weekend when we were driving home from Pennsylvania we were surrounded by corn fields. We could literally open the car window and pick an ear of corn. We found this little stand right next to a corn field, where you put the money in a fishing box and take as much corn as you want. So I bought 12 ears of corn and today I am planning on making one of my favorite soups. The recipe is below and I recommend that you garnish it with sour cream, tomatoes and basil, it really makes a big difference in the way the soup tastes. Yummy! If you have a favorite recipe, I would love to hear about it.

Summer Corn Soup
Serves six

5 to 6 large ears sweet corn, shucked, silks removed
Kosher salt
3 Tbs. oil or unsalted butter, or a combination
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 cup diced celery
1 medium red potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 to 4 sprigs of fresh marjoram leaves, stripped and chopped
Freshly ground pepper
Pinch of cayenne
1/4 cup sour cream, for garnish
1/2 cup finely diced fresh tomatoes, for garnish
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil, for garnish


Cut the kernels off the ears of corn by starting to cut halfway down the ear and slicing to the bottom, rotating the ears as you go; don't try to cut too close to the base of the kernels, Turn the ear over and repeat to remove all the kernels. You'll need 3 1/2 to 4 cups of kernels for the soup.

Stand one cob on end in a pie plate or other shallow dish and use the back edge of the knife to scrape the cobs and extract as much "milk" and solids as you can. Set this raw corn puree aside.

Break the cobs in half and put them in a heave 4-quart pot. Add 6 cups water and 1 tsp. salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Discard the cobs. Pour the liquid into a bowl and set a side.

Set the pot back over medium-high heat and add the oil or butter (or both). When it's hot, add the onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium, add the celery, sprinkle with salt,and stir. Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, 5 to 6 minute; don't let them color (if they start to brown before softening, reduce the heat). Add the potatoes, marjoram, black pepper (about six turns of the grinder), and cayenne and stir to distribute the seasonings. Add the corn stock. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, cover, lower the heat to medium low, and simmer until the vegetables are tender enough to puree, 20 to 30 minutes. Add most of the corn kernels, reserving about 1 cup. Simmer gently for another 10 minutes. Puree the soup in batches in a blender (be careful to fill the blender no more than one-third full, vent the lid, and hold a towel over the lid while you turn it on). Put the pureed soup back in the pot. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or pepper if necessary. Add the reserved corn kernels and corn "milk", and simmer just long enough to take the raw edge off the corn, about 5 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature, garnished with a small dollop of sour cream and the tomatoes and basil.

Enjoy!

Busy Weekend!

I just got home Sunday night from Camp Hill, PA. I was there with Dream Events, teaching and Lynette and I had our booth as well (Tres Chic Kits). I must say that both were a huge success, all the classes sold out as well as most of our kits. So our next adventure is at the Contemporary in Disney in about 4 weeks.

Yesterday we were all up early, my mum got married yesterday morning at 10:00 am it was so quaint only our immediate family was there and then we all went out to lunch down on the waterfront. It was such an emotional and beautiful day for all of us.