only if you're a cat lover

Sebastian just makes me smile when he starts to play.

He has no finesse.

He was a stray who was so hungry and ragged looking when he picked our house to beg at.

I think word got out in the cat world that this lady was easy pickens.

She already had two cats so there was some cat food around to share.

He was tenacious enough and sweet and had the cutest face that he won me over.

I waited a month to see if he was house worthy, and he kept getting into fights and would be there the next morning with new scraps.  We took him down to the vet, for all his shots and "fixins" and the vet said' this can't hurt as bad as getting into fights all the time'.

When he plays we are never really sure if he will give us a good bite or not.  He hasn't totally lost that street cat mentality. It took awhile for us to train him not to bite, his nickname used to be "snapper". Now we call him Cabot.  From Mr. French and the Family Affairs days of television.

 He is a good guard cat.  When ever he hears a noise that is not usual, he gets down, starts growling  and walks around finding the source, like he is going to "kick their butt". 

I am getting his picture framed to put into the Artlink exhibition of Animal Images.  He is certainly gallery worthy.

A Vera Bag

Recently I was given this Vera Brandly shopping tote with a gift inside it.

I hadn't even known that Vera had come out with this line but I absolutely love it. 

It's made of that vinyl material and so beautiful!

Sunflower Card

Here are the tools it took to make this sunflower card.

The Quickstick is a new one that I just purchased.  It worked really well.

The one end has a poker that can be pulled out to be used separately.  One end is pointed and the other is similar to a scraper.

The top of the Quickstick can be twisted to have a little bit of tacky substance emerge that aids in picking up (in my case) rhinestones, buttons, punched paper, etc.  It helped immensely with the rhinestones and the placement of them.  I would recommend one of these. It was $6.99.

The stamps I used:

The stem is Stamps by Judith

The Leaves and Flower are from Outlines

The great pot is from Endless Creations

and the saying is from Studio G

I embossed the white paper with my Cuttlebug

and used Tombow and Marvy Markers to color.

I love the foam tape, it is an item I don't like to run out of. 

Corner cupboard treasures

I was putting away some items in my corner cupboard and saw these treasures that I had not pull out for a while.

I was at a gift store in Indianapolis and saw these little hand blown hearts of many different colors.

I just had to have them.  They had so many to choose from.

The green glass is Lake Erie Sea Glass from a vacation near Cleveland.  I am always facinated by it.

These are butter pats.  They are a great thing to collect because there are so many designs and usually they cost no more than $10.00.  The hunt is always the most fun.  Here is a nice history about butter pats. 

Logo

I put together this logo for a friend who is the head of the Allen County Water and Sewer District.  They will use it for letterhead, business cards, door logo maybe even the wall. 

Three

Last Friday night our (great) nieces and nephew came to visit for a while.

Bedtime came and it took a while to fall asleep but they finally made it.

Sleeping children are so sweet to look at. 

Too Cute

I had to get a new flash drive for the digital imaging class.  I found this guy at Office Depot and he was too cute for words.  I even loved his little USB tag on the chain.  He can hold 4 GB's.

Cookies-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

I took an oatmeal cookie recipe and added my own twist to it.

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip

3/4 melted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cloves

3 cups quick cooking oatmeal

1/2 bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix thoroughly melted butter, sugars, egg, water and vanilla.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

Spray cookie pans with canola oil.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 1 inch apart onto baking sheet.  Bake 13 minutes, let cool 1 minute and take off and put on cooling rack.  Store in tightly covered container.  ~ Approximately 5 dozen cookies.

The family gave the recipe a thumbs up.

Sam took the crumbs, put them in a bowl with ice cream and chocolate syrup. 

Relief on Tag Board

In my 3D Design class the assignment is to choose a picture and do a relief of it.

Here are my tools.  A self sealing cutting mat, a bone folder, an 18 inch metal ruler with cork on the back, pencil and exacto knife.

The relief has to cover the whole length of the tag board.  I chose this parrot because I decided I could use dimension with his tail feather and wings.

I am partially done and don't think it looks bad for my first try. 

Later I will share the finished product. 

I shot these by my front window, natural lighting makes such a difference!

(Later on this evening)

No more natural lighting, but here is my finished product. 

It turned out ok-at least no pencil lines are showing.  That was very important. 

We will see what she says about it. 

A New Semester

I am two weeks into the new semester.  Two art classes this time, Digital Design and 3-D Design.  I am really going to learn the ins and outs of Adobe Photoshop and also my DSLR Camera.  I have already learned about Camera Raw which was a totally foreign term to me.  I cannot use the auto setting on my camera now, but have to manually adjust my settings and then fix it in Photoshop.  I was getting frustrated because I cannot find enough light and we cannot use flash because it takes away from the shadows.  Then the light lit up above my head and BAZINGA-I can make it brighter in Photoshop.  I just have to wrap my mind around this and hope I become fast, because auto just does the thinking for you. 

The project for 3-D design that is due on Monday is taking a design and on the 2-D paper and cutting with an exacto knife and folding to make the design 3 Dimensional.  I will share pictures of that tomorrow.

This little bear is probably 16 years old.  As always in the process of organizing, cleaning and purging I found him.  My Mom made a whole bunch of these to sell somewhere and of course she let us choose a favorite.  I can see why I took this little guy as his fabric had little red hearts.  When I found him one of his arms were loose and bow tie was in disarray.  I fixed his arm and gave him a new bow tie.  The bathroom always has bright lights and I liked the reflection in the faucets.  It still wasn't bright enough so I adjusted it in photoshop.  He makes me smile. 

I love this plaque that was given to me by my niece and nephew brought from either England or Scotland.  I really enjoy things that are pottery and painted.  It is sitting where you can see it when you come in the front door. 

I made it brighter and used a filter to achieve the look I wanted.

New Recipe-Chicken Spinach Parmesan

This is the picture from the book, even though I had some spinach I didn't use it.  I wanted the family to eat it. This recipe was very tasty and so fast.  It was a great recipe to use for after work.

The recipe is for one chicken breast so just increase it by how many chicken breasts you have.  .

Chicken-spinach Parm

1 T. Olive Oil

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 T. Italian-seasoned bread crumbs

1 tsp Parmesan, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

1 small clove garlic, crushed

1/4 c marinara sauce

3 handfuls baby spinach leaves

Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.

As the oil is heating, pound the chicken to 1/2 inch thickness, then sprinkle with bread crumbs, cheese, salt and pepper, pressing so the crumbs stick.

Place in the pan with the garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes per side.

Top with hot marinara.  Add the spinach, turning frequently with tongs until it wilts (about 6 minutes.)

I also made whole wheat penne pasta and put marinara sauce on it too.  I then had some breadsticks and frozen peas. 

Book Review-Heaven is for Real

This book was a very quick and easy read, approximately 3 hours.  It was written by Todd Burpo who is a Wesleyan Church Pastor in Nebraska.  His son who was not quite 4 at the time had his appendix burst and then abcess.  The little boy, Colton was very, very sick by the time the doctors operated.  They were sceptical that he would even make it through the surgery.  At the time of the surgery both parents were in separate rooms, the mother talking on the phone and praying and the father, praying and raging at God.    Colton did make it through the surgery.  A few months later Colton started to reveal what happened to him while he was in surgery.  He went out of his body and met Jesus and many other people he had not met before.  He would describe what Heaven was like, what Jesus looked like and many other interesting facts.  He also revealed what his mother and father were doing while he was in surgery, something he could not have known and they had not shared.  There were many things in this book to make you think about.  I enjoyed it immensley.

Mandarin Orange Salad

I took this recipe to my sisters house for Christmas.  It had a nice flavor and was really easy to transport.
She asked me for the recipe, and I am happy to be of service.

Mandarin Orange Salad

1/4 cup sliced almonds toasted

1/4 head iceberg lettuce

1/4 head romaine lettuce

1 cup chopped celery

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 T. sugar

1/4 c. canola oil

1/8 tsp. red pepper sauce

1 T. parsley

11 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained

tear lettuce into bite size pieces, wash, dry and place into a plastic zip lock bag along with the celery. 

In a container place the onion powder, pepper, salt sugar, canola oil, red pepper sauce and parsley, cover tightly and shake.

Place the mandarine oranges in a separate container and the toasted almonds in a separate container.

5 minutes before serving put dressing, mandarin oranges and almonds in the bag and shake until coated.

Place in a serving bowl and serve immediately.   

Decoration organizing

The tree came down this weekend.

I bet many feel the same way-that it looks so bare.

But it is nice to get the floor swept and things all cleaned up.

I found these great decoration organizers, called Snapware. 

I have a small container like this and it was so handy that when I found these at K-mart I snatched up all they had, which was 4.

It has these cardboard dividers that you can make into smaller or bigger dividers.

Each container has two layers that snap together.

Then it has a lid that snaps on with a handle for easy carrying. 

They worked as well as I thought they would. 

memories

My Dad would have been 87 today.

He has been gone almost 17 years and I can't picture him as an elderly person.

As you can tell he had a great laugh, and I really miss that.

Happy Birfday Dad.

We're thinking of you.

Two More Recipes

More recipes from The Men's Health Big Book of Food and Nutrition.
Banana-Blueberry Smoothie

3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

1/4 cup 1% milk

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 banana

2 tsp vanilla whey powder protein

6 ice cubes

1. combine ricotta, milk, blueberries, banana and protein powder in a blender.

2. Then add, ice and puree until smooth.

I have had this the past two mornings and just love it.  It's nice and smooth and thick but not too sweet. 

Canoodling Turkey Soup

4 oz. whole wheat noodles

1 T. canola oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 tsp. dried sage

1 lb ground turkey breast

32 oz. fat free chicken broth

4 cups water

1 T. balsamic vinegar

salt to taste

6 oz. baby spinach leaves.

pepper to taste

1.  Cook the noodles according to the package directions.  Drain and set aside.

2. Meanwhile in a pot over medium heat, warm the oil.

3.Add the onion, carrot, and the celery along with the sage to the pot.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften.

4. Add the turkey, cook breaking up the turkey with the back of the spoon, until the turkey is no longer pink.

5.  Add the broth, water, vinegar and salt.  Simmer for about 5 minutes or until hot.  Do not boil. 

6.  Stir in the spinach and noodles.

7. Remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes.

Serves 6

I had first used low sodium chicken broth and had to add salt anyways.  I do not like the dish to be bland and with the turkey breast it was.    After the salt was added this had a really nice, and tasty broth.  

I hope you try and like these! [

How many

Can you see.

They like to join us watching tv.

The excitement is just too much.

Meat Loaf tonight

The Mens Health cookbook offered a meatloaf recipe that was fantastic.  I didn't take a picture because it looked like any other meatloaf.  Here is the recipe though:

Mom's Meatloaf

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 T. lemon juice

1 tsp. mustard powder

2 pounds lean ground beef

2-3 slices of whole grain bread pulled into tiny pieces

3/4 tsp onion powder

1 egg

1.  preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. cover the inside bottom and sides of a 9 X 13 pan with foil

3. In a small bowl. mix together the ketchup, brown sugar, lemon juice and mustard powder.  Set aside.

4. In a large bowl mix together the ground beef, bread, onion, egg and 1/2 of the ketchup mixture.

Dump into the prepared pan and mound like a loaf.  Bake for 1 hour.

5.  Coat the top with the remaining ketchup mixture and bake for 10 additional minutes.

The texture was really smooth. I don't know if it had anything to do with the lemon juice, because I have never used it in meatloaf, but I would definitely use this recipe again. 

Along with it we had the previous nights muffins, a baked potato and a salad with peas, carrots, celery and a little shredded cheese.  A nice comfortable meal.   





Oatmeal Muffins

It was back to work today after 11 heavenly days off.  I came home to make supper, with 3 hungry men wondering what it was going to be.  One thing this year I wanted to do was make more thoughtful, healthier meals, so here is what I came up with.

Chicken Thighs and Legs with the skin removed and with Shake and Bake on each.

Baked in a foil lined 9 X 15 pan.

Frozen Peas (my favorite)

multigrain pasta bowties with a little butter and garlic pepper seasoning

oatmeal muffins

I thought I would share this recipe.

It turned out really well and is just slightly sweet.

Oatmeal Muffins

1 cup quick oats

1 cup buttermilk (I always keep the dried buttermilk on hand)

1 egg

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup white flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup craisins (any dried fruit will do that you have on hand)

Made 15 muffins

Mix all ingredients and spoon into muffin papers 2/3 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

If you try these let me know what you think.

Happy New Year

A new start.

Wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous New Year.

The baby stamp is Baby Jane from Sweet Stamps.

A front came through today and it is now windy and cold.  There were even tiny little white caps on the pond.