EtsyBloggers BlogCarnival: November

Our EtsyBloggers Team Blog Carnival Host this time is: ME!


I chose two topics for my fellow team members that are close to my heart, and as such, I am going to answer BOTH!

1. November is National Novel Writing Month. As a blogger, have you ever though of crossing over and writing a book? Have you ever tried NaNoWriMo? Win or lose, tell us about your experience!

I discovered NaNoWriMo in 2007, and in both 2007 & 2008 I tried writing, but life was just too busy and I didn't complete either novel; in 2007, I wrote 4,274 words, and in 2008 I wrote only 1,692 words.  The following years were so busy I didn't even try, and this year is no different.  However, the rest of my family are all super gung-ho about it every year!  Even though we miss the first few days of November due to an annual trip, they all buckle down and writewritewrite!  Last year, our daughter Esme finished a really great story and one of the NaNo sponsors published it for her!  We all got to read her story in book-format; it was so exciting!  This year, they're all hoping to win and get a published copy...


2. November is also National Diabetes Month. Do you have diabetes or has your life ever been touched by it? Please share any stories you have...

About a decade ago, I was told I was pre-diabetic, and aside from telling me to lose weight - something I had been told at every doctor visit since my early teens - nothing else happened.  My doctor didn't make a big deal about it, and although my step-father had been a diabetic since age 17 and I knew the problems that could arise from diabetes, I didn't do anything about it.  I felt I didn't need to worry about it until I was older.

In 2007, after a few years of not seeing a doctor due to a lack of insurance, I went back to the doctor to find a solution to the problem I was having with irregular periods and infertility.  This time, I was told I was diabetic, Type II.  Well, now I had an explanation for my lethargy, as well as my infertility, and thankfully, it was easily controlled with metformin.  Then I was without insurance again, and my father was also diagnosed with Type II diabetes.  Things did not go so smoothly for him.  His blood glucose numbers were sky high, and he suffered many complications, including a forced early retirement because he could no longer work.


Then my step-father had an accident.  He blacked out from low blood glucose, fell & hit his head, then died after 3 days without ever waking up again.  He was 57 years old.  I decided that if I didn't want the same kinds of problems as my dad & step-dad - and if I couldn't get insurance so I could take the drugs - then I needed to take precautions to get my numbers down the hard way: diet & exercise.  So after a ton of research and a lot of playing with my diet while carefully tracking my blood glucose reactions, I cut my carbs way back, lost 50 pounds, and now have A1C levels back in the pre-diabetic range.  I can eat more carbs now, and still keep my blood glucose levels ok, but I am still trying to lose more weight.

I wish so much that when I was first diagnosed, that my doctor had warned me more forcefully about the problems that having diabetes can cause.  I wish that I had realized it on my own sooner, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20.  However, another saying tells us to learn from others' mistakes.  So if YOU are in the pre-diabetic range, or if you know someone who is, DO something; SAY something.  Don't just figure it'll be ok, you can work on it later... Talk to your doctor about cutting back your carbs, changing your diet somehow, exercising more, so you can lose weight and get your A1C levels down.

Here are some websites that offer information and community:

• DiabeticConnect
• TuDiabetes
• American Diabetes Association

Head over to the EtsyBloggers team blog for all the other EtsyBloggers' links!

EtsyBloggers BlogCarnival: Favorite Summer Recipes

Our EtsyBloggers Team Blog Carnival this time is: What is your favorite summer recipe? Please share with us!

I've answered this one before; I *love* sharing my favorite summer recipes!  My absolute favorite special summer meal is Pepper Steak, Salt Potatoes, and Corn on the Cob, and I love the summertime sweets, Pfijit and Clementine Cake... 

As many families do, we cook out a lot in the summer, and usually it's hot dogs or whatever meat was on sale, and we eat a lot of tossed salads, especially when it's hot.  Marshmallows are a staple, usually roasted, and just last week, Jacqueline introduced us all to dough boys.  It is SO easy and SO tasty!  I wish I had taken some pics of it, but truthfully, I was too busy stuffing my face; so many thanks to Krista at The Nourishing Apron for this great shot!


We used crescent rolls, but many people use biscuit dough, and yes, those refrigerator tubes work just fine if you don't want to make your own dough.  There are SO many variations, but basically you wrap the dough around your stick, making sure to pinch the ends so it stays stuck on, then rotate it over hot coals until it's browned nicely on the outside.

Be careful over flames, because it can burn quick and still be raw inside.  Of course, be careful with your *self* around the fire, and let it cool some before you eat it!

And do try some of the variations!  You can dip the dough in cinnamon & sugar before wrapping it around the stick (chocolate croissant anyone?); if you can pull it off the stick in one piece, you can fill the hollow with a string cheese stick, let it melt a bit, and dip in marinara sauce; you can fill the hollow with chocolate chips (or another favorite meltable) or pie filling; or you can do what I did, roast your hot dog over the fire til it's almost done, then wrap your dough around it and cook it til the dough it done!  I meant to tuck some cheese in, but got impatient and ate the cheese while roasting my dog. Hehehe...

What's your favorite summer recipe?  Let me know then head over to the EtsyBloggers team blog for all the other EtsyBloggers' faves!

EtsyBloggers BlogCarnival: April Fool!

Cindy at Devine Designs Jewelry gives us the topic April Fool's Day: Do you participate? Tell us about a joke you played on someone, or if one has been played on you. What do you think about this "day"?

Here at Faerie Gardens, we take April Fool's Day very seriously.

The kids dress in their dorkiest cutest clothes...

Lia, 2009
...and we serve a silly fancy dinner...

Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Mixed Veggies, and Colorful Cupcakes
(Click for recipes! ~_^)
...and deceptive delicious desserts...

Click here for recipe!

...and everyone is usually pretty happy by the end of the meal!

The kids, 2008
This year should be no different.  Perhaps a decadent coco-berry pie and berry soda coolers? Or maybe some dirt cookies?  Definitely a fun game at dinner...  ~_^

How about you?  What are you planning?  Check out the other Carnival posts for more ideas!

EtsyBloggers BlogCarnival: Winter

Linda at PruittHandcrafts says: Write something about you/your family's winter experiences. Let's see if you can make the "cold" come thru your writing!


Winter in central NY is not easy, especially in our neck of the woods.  We're in that magic belt of land that gets hit with storms moving across NY south of Lake Ontario, as well as any of the lake effect storms hitting the area.  Seriously, you can drive less than 1/2 a mile in any direction and they will not have as much snow as we do.  It's crazy, and I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't experience it every year for the past 6 years!


This is Jacqueline at the foot of our driveway (she's 5' 2" for size reference); that snow bank is a good 2 feet over our mailbox.  Down the street?  The snowbanks aren't even up to the mailboxes.  Just take a look at the ones in my last photo from around the corner...

But even though we get a lot of snow, and spend a lot of time either shoveling, or inside consuming copious quantities of cocoa (that's fun to say), we do have fun out there!  Especially the kids...


So how about you?  I'd love to see pics of your area in the winter and hear about your experiences.  And if you want to see more too, just head over to Linda's blog for all the other EtsyBloggers' links!

BlogCarnival: Inspiration

PatchFirstShop asks us: What item are you working on?? What is your inspiration for this piece??

Ever since our trip to Tennessee (and our stay at the Holiday Inn Express) I've become obsessed with cinnamon buns... also with gingerbread and all other manners of tasty "seasonal" food, and it's been influencing and inspiring my polymer clay creations lately:


Click to see full size!
In fact, I just had to run out and buy more clay because I have an idea for more tasty treats I want to make!  ^-^  I can't wait to show them to you!

BlogCarnival: Horror Movies

MysticWynd asks us: Tell us about your top 3 favorite horror movies. What is it about them that scares you?

The girls and I have a Halloween tradition of watching all kinds of old horror movies and horrible B movies all month long.  We have so many favorites and try to rotate the ones we rent each year.  We started with the classics, like Cat People, Frankenstein, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, which the girls found more funny than scary; then we added some more recent films (that are SUPPOSED to be laughed: Beetlejuice and Young Frankenstein.  Recently we've added some *really* scary movies that make us clutch each other close and scream out loud; last night's Paranormal Activity left us scared to go to the bathroom alone!

But *my* top three horror movies...  I have to say my absolute favorite of all time is The Creature from the Black Lagoon.  I don't know why for sure.  Maybe because he really is just in love with the girl.  Maybe because of the underwater scenes.  Maybe because I saw it with my mom in 3D when I was just a kid.  Who know!  But it has a very special place in my heart.

Then I'd have to say Night of the Lepus.  Dr. McCoy, from Star Trek is in it.  And giant bunnies.  Giant blood-thirsty bunnies.  No seriously!  It's really not funny at all.  It's really quite scary...  Or maybe it's all in my head how scary it is... I dunno, but I'll find out soon.  The DVD just arrived from NetFlix today...

Finally, I'm going to have to add the movie from last night.  Paranormal Activity.  (Sorry, no link, too scary for me to find a good one right now. Hehehe.  Go here and look for yourself... (omg they have a PA2 coming out!  >.<))  It was kinda dragging at the beginning.  Not a lot going on through most of the movie either.  But near the end it gets freaky, and the girls and I were yelling at the screen, and when the end happened, we screamed and held each other.  Not only were we scared to go into the dark bathroom alone afterward, but I know I had trouble getting to sleep!

How about you?  What Halloween movies do you like to watch again & again?  Scary or not, let me know!

ETA: Here's the link to the Paranormal Activity trailer. *shiver* And Paranormal Activity 2 looks just as scary...

BlogCarnival: Kindergarten?

Sandy@PunkyJane.com gives us the topic: 1) School time! What is your favorite memory from kindergarten or taking your kids to kindergarten?

I could come up with some glib answer about the one memory I have from Kindergarten: making butter from heavy cream in a little margarine tubs that we passed around the circle and each shook a little, but truthfully I don't remember much more than that.

So how about my memories of taking my kids to kindergarten?  Um... well... the kids are unschooled, (I wrote about what that is here.), and even if they weren't, I came into the picture after Lia, our youngest, would have been first grade.

I am a substitute teacher though, and have spent many hours in Kindergarten classrooms, as an assistant and as the teacher.  My feelings are ambivalent about it though.  I love being with the little kids.  I love playing with them.  I love getting hugs from them.  I love their creativity and enthusiasm for everything!  But I do not like how they are treated in the name of Education.

One of my first experiences in a Kindergarten classroom was in an inclusion room, where several of the students were special education students, with autism or Down syndrome, and others were just average students.  The children had made leprechauns for Parent Night, that had the arms & legs glued onto the body, but some weren't glued on in the appropriate location.  But instead of leaving them as the children had made them, or working with the child while they were doing it to help them get it "right" (according to the teacher), we were pulling the arms & legs off and gluing them back on in the right places; so they'd all look nice in the hall when the parents came.

In other classrooms and schools, the teachers weren't so discrete about making the children do things RIGHT.  They made a big huge deal about getting the kids to draw people that looked right, and getting things colored in the appropriate colors.  I can understand if it's part of a lesson, knowing that pumpkins are orange and apples are red, but when they're just drawing in their daily journal?  If you can say, oh how creative!  What color are pickles really?  And get a correct response, why make them do it over if they've decided pink was the color of the day?

And why on earth do they need to have homework!?  Yes, several of the Kindergarten classrooms I am in have their students carrying a folder home with "work" they didn't complete, expecting it to come back the next day, punishing the child when it doesn't.

These are children.  They should be following their own interests, learning by curiosity and play, not being forced to sit still and do worksheets and homework.

I know, I've gone off on a tirade, and will climb down off my soapbox now.  I only hope more people will take a closer look at their children's *education* and question if there isn't a better way....

BlogCarnival: Ruby Reds

DizzyDragonflies gives us the topic: July's birthstone is the ruby; blog about the color red or rubies.

This is my birthstone! I have always wanted one, and did for a while, but sadly had to sell it when I was short on cash once... Anyway, I thought I'd take the time to show some of my favorite ruby-red items in our EtsyBloggers Team members' shops!

Here are some beautiful necklaces...

from left ro right:
Ruby In The Sky With Pearls Necklace
Aqua Sea Glass Ruby Pendant Necklace
Rainbow Unity Necklace with Gemstones

...and here are some other pieces of jewelry...

from left ro right:
Ruby - Red Cat Face Lampwork Glass Bead Sterling Silver Earrings
Candy apple red wire wrapped ring with silver custom made in any size
Red Ruby Quartz Wire Wrapped Silver Earwire Earrings

How about some patriotic pieces for the 4th?

from left ro right:
Red and Blue Shabby Chic Flower Embellies
Christmas in July - Whimsical Red Star Ornament with Silver Painted Polka-dots
Mini Key Fob

And of course, here are my favorite red things from my own shop!

from left ro right:
Miniature Bottle of Wine
Red Dragon
Rabbit in a Red Scarf

Banners created with fd's Flickr Toys

BlogCarnival: May 21st

SweetSallysSoaps gives us the topic: Show me your all time favorite piece of art and why you find it inspiring.


For a while, I had wanted to Dress Up my purse, but didn't know what I wanted to do. When Esme bleached her jeans, I decided to pop my purse in too. When it came out, I thought the pale blue and white looked like clouds in the sky. So I thought a winged bunny (my mascot) would be perfect! I opted to use acrylic paint and see how well it worked...

Once I got started painting, I decided to include all the things that are important to Who I Am. Of course there is the winged rabbit, which turned out to be a hare, flying over a cloud, which symbolizes my spirit overcoming struggles. Then there's the rainbow, universal symbol of hope; to me it also represents not just Gay Pride and Diversity, but also Creativity and Art. But it didn't feel *done* then; there was a big empty space under the rainbow that needed something.

It was about this time that I realized that Spiders were a totem of mine. Spiders embody the qualities of creativity and creation, magic and wisdom, communication and connections, intuition and inspiration. They remind us that we are weaving our own destinies and we need use our creativity to build the web of our lives. So I added a garden spider and her web, which I embroidered on, using a very fine iridescent thread, and in it I sewed a pentacle, which represents my pagan spirituality. (I had to go over it with some white paint because it was too hard to see...)

But still there was the emptiness under the rainbow. I didn't want to paint anymore; so I added a butterfly and it's path with Sharpie marker. Obviously butterflies represent change and transformation, beauty and freedom; I also added a little a more symbolism by creating it from a lemniscate, the infinity symbol, shaped into two hearts, which to me (and perhaps others) expresses infinite love: polyamory, and it's done in the colors of bi-pride: purple, pink, and blue.

Naturally, I added some sparkle to the whole thing! ^-^

BlogCarnival: Easter Tradition

RainyDayArt gives us the topic: Easter is April 4, what family traditions do you do for Easter?

Ever since we moved here, we've had a big Easter egg hunt with the kids. We fill nearly 100 plastic eggs with candy (sometimes coins), and before the kids wake up, Jacqueline wanders around our 3 acres to hide them all. As the kids get up, they have to find their baskets in the house, which usually have a few unwrapped candies (jelly beans) and things too big for eggs (a bigger chocolate bunny, some peeps, and webkinz this year).

Then when they're all up, they gather in the kitchen and we give them the low-down: how many eggs they each can find (used to be 25, now the packages of plastic eggs don't come with so many in them so it's down to 21 this year...), where they might be (in the woods, in the house...), etc.... Some years, we've given the younger girls a 5 to 10 minute head start; this year they all took off at once!


Some years, there has still been snow on the ground (as you can see in the photo above), and one year, the snow was so deep, we postponed it until June! XD (It was the earliest time we could find the time when the weather was nice enough!) This year was perfect for it! ^-^

BlogCarnival: Spring time is almost here!

Melissa gives us the topic: Spring time is almost here, do you have any special items in your shop to celebrate the season?

Well, I certainly do! These are my favorite of the things in my shop right now...



Soon I hope to have more!

Valentine's Day Traditions

Many of my followers may not realize that I am part of a blended family that is only a few years old. Jacqueline's kids - my gift-children, as they are the most precious gift I have ever received - moved in with me on August 1, 2005, and after a couple of years full of more changes, we have finally settled into some traditions that may not be customary, but they suit us all just fine.

One of those traditions is our Valentine's Day celebration. Most people would think Jacqueline & I should go off on some romantic date together, but we have plenty of other opportunities to do that. For us, it's about celebrating our family's love for each other and our joy at being together as a family.

We all make Valentines for each other and maybe even presents, then we have a Make-Your-Own-Heart-Shaped-Pizza Feast with all kinds of toppings to choose from. After chowing down and sharing Valentines, we have a night of gaming: last year was a Wii Bowling tounament, this year might be Bananagrams. It doesn't matter what we play, only that we're together.

~ ♥ ~ Valentine's Day 2009 ~ ♥ ~

BlogCarnival: Snowflakes

AliciaMae asks us to choose one of the following topics:

1. Snowflakes - your favorite way to make them or your favorite item on Etsy featuring them
2. Favorite winter time activity/how to keep kids occupied during snow days (indoors or outdoors)

Well, my very favorite way to make snowflakes is cutting them out of paper to hang from the ceiling and in the windows, which incidentally, is a great activity to keep your kids occupied on snow days! ^-^

Here are some our family made last year from coffee filters...

And here are a few of my faves from Etsy...

Clockwise from upper left:
Winter Fairy Cat, Golden Flakes, Sugared Snowflake Soap, Sparkly Snowflake Necklace

How about you?

BlogCarnival: Favorite Gift

LindaB asked us, "What was your favorite gift received? Was it handmade?"

And the first thing that jumped to mind was a gift I asked for one year as a small child: a big blue bear, as big as me. You see, I had memories of this wonderful stuffed animal, as big as me, that I had as a toddler, that had disappeared, and I just wanted it replaced. So all I asked for, over & over that year, was a big blue bear. My parents must have thought I sounded like a broken record.

I was so happy on Christmas morning to find a fluffy stuffed bear in baby blue. It was not as big as me, but it was pretty big compared to my other stuffed animals. Sadly, when Spring came, I left him outside, it rained, and my mom threw him away. I was mad at mom for a long time for that, but years later, while rummaging through old photos, I came across one of me as a toddler carrying a big-as-me, bright blue BUNNY...

Yep, all along I had been trying to replace that big blue bunny, but had gotten it wrong in my head somehow... Yet all these years later, I still remember that my parents got me that great big blue bear, and even though it wasn't the right color blue or quite as big as I had remembered, it was still the softest prettiest bear, and the best present, I ever had...

Check out other EtsyBloggers answers at LindaB's blog!

BlogCarnival: Holiday Movies & Specials

The holiday season will soon be here - what's your favorite holiday movie or special? Why?

I used to love cuddling on the sofa with a lap cat watching holiday movies and TV specials. Today it's not the same. I used to get so excited when this would come on the TV:



But now, you can DVR it, buy the DVD (have some), search it up on YouTube (hee, I think I did that...), get it shipped from NetFlix (do this every year)... and watch those things any old time.

But I *still* have favorites! Of course I can't limit it to just one, I love too many! So here's my top ten...

10. The Little Drummer Boy - My favorite song as a child made into a TV special... awesome!
9. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Who doesn't love this?
8. Frosty the Snowman - I still say *Messy, messy, messy* in that voice... XD
7. A Charlie Brown Christmas - The ending still makes me tear up...
6. Miracle on 34th Street - Not just tearing up with this one, bawling...
5. Will Vinton's Clay-mation Christmas - Full of awesome holiday music!
4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - This was a favorite of both my mom and me, we can even recite lines! Hee!
3. The Little Princess - Not really a Christmas movie per se, but one that always gives me the Christmas spirit...
2. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus - This is actually a book I read every year, and I haven't seen the special since it aired in the 80s, but it's still a favorite.

And my number one, lovelovelove this special, is John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together. The songs are *my* Christmas Carols and without them it's just not Christmas. I wish they'd put out a DVD, so I could buy it already!

I can't wait to read about everyone else's favorites! How about you?

Blog Carnival: Sept 25th

The theme of this week's Blog Carnival is to Show Our Face, to let others know the artist behind the work. Since you can see who I am just by clicking on my 365 tag, I decided to have the lovely and talented Jacqueline Parks interview me! Enjoy!

Artist's Interview with Diana "Bunnykissd" Bukowski of Faerie Garden Fancies
Interviewed by Jacqueline Parks

1. When did you first get interested in art?
I don't remember ever being without crayons and paper and pencils and scissors and glue and tape...

2. What are some of the earliest art experiences that you remember?
Making paper doll chains with my grandmother, creating drawings to go with songs I heard on the radio, drawing with Ed Emberley's books, using the Barbie Fashion Plates to make textured drawings...

3. Who influenced you as a child/teen to become an artist?
My grandparents, my grandmother was always showing me how to do something neat with paper, and my grandfather was the first to ever really critique my drawings...

4. How does being an artist influence the other parts of your life?
There was a time, a long time ago, when I had my first apartment, when I would buy flowers from the grocery store, and steal toilet paper from work. I still don't handle my money as well as one would expect a "grown-up" to, and I tend to be absent-minded and distracted by things most people just don't notice: a particularly vibrant leaf on the ground, a bird in a tree, an interesting cloud... I'm also finding that I'd rather not work at a *real* job anymore...

5. What is your current favorite medium to work in and why?
I don't really have a favorite at the moment. I've always loved colored pencils, but can't ever get them to work like other people can; so I've been practicing with them. Also, I like the looks people get with markers, yet again, they never worth that way for me; so more practice there. I'm also practicing with watercolors too, which is similar to my favorite thing to do which is water my acrylics down a bunch, but it acts different on paper than it does on the poly clay; so more practice! And yes, polymer clay is always fun to play with...

6. Who is currently influencing your artistic direction?
A whole bunch of really talented folks on dA: thegirlinthebigbox, mandarinmoon, valentinacrespo, odins-girl, darklingwoods, lilmidnight, colorfulblossom, iceandsnow, marina-b, ALWAYS esme123, just about ALL my friends, and of course people like Suzi Blu and the Godess Leonie and Vanessa Valencia at A Fanciful Twist.. omg I really could go on forever!

7. Show us one of your current favorite pieces and tell us why you like it in particular?

I really like this piece because I went back to my beginnings and got inspiration from Ed Emberley, which was fun, and it's cute (almost kawaii), yet the moon is so pretty...

8. What is one medium that you have never worked in that you would like to try?
gouache

9. What advice can you give to aspiring artists?
Never say never. Don't say you can't. Don't listen to people who tell you you can't. Have you seen Picasso or Pollack's work? Don't expect perfection; it's art, not a photo. And of course, practice, practice, practice.

10. What direction do you see your art moving in in the next five years?
More collage just for myself, more sketching and drawing on the fly, and most importantly, I'd like to see it be my primary source of income...

BlogCarnival: Tasty Tuesday Edition!

Well I am a little too late to add this to the carnival, but I was so excited to see the topic come up! I have no idea why I didn't post this sooner!

Your favorite food. What is it and why? If it's something you make please share the recipe.
Now if you read my blog, I do a Tasty Tuesday post pretty frequently with some of my favorite recipes. I love food, all different kinds, and choosing just one favorite is impossible. But lately it's been salads, wraps, and pizza featuring Buffalo BBQ chicken with blue cheese ranch dressing. Here's how we do it:

Buffalo BBQ Chicken Fritters

• Cook some frozen chicken strips (We buy Kirkwood frozen Crispy Chicken Strips, which are kinda like this.) as directed on the package.
• Meanwhile put some of your favorite BBQ sauce (mine is Kansas City style lately) into a plastic storage container (make sure it seals good!), add some Frank's Red Hot sauce (as much or as little as you like) and a bunch of fresh ground black pepper. No need to mix!
• When your chicken is done, pop it in the container and add a little more of the sauces to the top. Then shakeshakeshake... shakeshakeshake... shake your booty! Oh sorry... carried away! ^-^
• VOILÀ! Chicken is done! From here you can pop it into a wrap, or cut it into smaller chunks for pizza or salad topping!

Blue Cheese-Ranch Dressing

• Pick your favorite ranch dressing: Mine varies from week to week: sometimes is all about the bacon ranch, sometimes it's got to be Hidden Valley, other times I want a cheesy ranch...
• Pick your favorite crumbly blue cheese: some have a very strong bitter taste, others are quite mild. We found a brand we liked (buttermilk blue cheese), but the stores aren't carrying it now; Kraft is a milder version of that which suits us fine.
• Mix them together to taste! Now you can top your salad, wrap, or use as a pizza sauce!

You can see more posted over at Stormy Designs!

Friday Favorite!

Yeah, I am big on the alliteration; so sue me... Today's topic is my favorite summer recipe, and while this is more of a whole meal, I'll include the recipes for everything, and you'll get more than just one! ^-^

First off is what my family always called Pepper Steak. We never had it any other way; so there was no confusion until the Chinese Buffets started growing in popularity around here; and their pepper steak features, of course, green peppers. So now we call it by the whole recipe name:

Chuck Wagon Pepper Steak

• 1 round bone arm chuck roast or boneless arm roast, cut 2-inches thick (about 3 pounds)
• 2 teaspoon(s) unseasoned tenderizer
• 2 tablespoon(s) instant minced onion
• 2 teaspoon(s) thyme
• 1 teaspoon(s) marjoram
• 1 bay leaf, crushed
• 1 cup(s) wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup(s) olive oil or salad oil
• 3 tablespoon(s) lemon juice
• 1/4 cup(s) peppercorns, coarsely crushed or 2 tbsp cracked pepper

1. Sprinkle meat on both sides, no salt, with tenderizer; pierce both sides with fork, place in shallow baking pan.
2. Mix other ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Pour over and around meat, let stand at room temperature for 1-2 hours, turning every half-hour.
4. When ready to grill, remove meat, pound half-crushed peppercorns into each side.
5. Cook 15 minutes each side or less.

The rest of the meal is also cookout fare, at least for us: Corn on the cob and salt potatoes. I understand, that outside of our area, salt potatoes are something of a rarity, so I'll get real specific with this recipe; although here we can just buy a bag complete with the perfect potatoes and portioned salt.

Salt Potatoes

• 4 pounds new potatoes (find the smallest potatoes you can, the smaller the better IMHO)
• 1 1/2 cups salt (should be about a pound, some people say rock salt, some say fine salt, some say sea salt, I say it doesn't matter, but the water should be saturated with it)
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted (more or less to your preference)

1. Wash the potatoes and set aside. Fill a large pot with water and set over heat; stir in salt until it no longer dissolves and settles on the bottom. Place potatoes in the pot and continue to bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain; cover to keep hot.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a small pan over medium high heat, or in microwave. Serve immediately poured over potatoes. (If you're going to eat the potatoes hot this step is unnecessary as the butter will melt right away anyway.)
NOTE: These are even better cold out of the fridge the next day, and they make AWESOME fried potatoes!

Grilled Corn on the Cob

• Corn on the cob
• water
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Clean up your ears a bit; take the dryer leaves off an some of the silk, just for appearance sake. Then soak in water overnight. We usually fill the sink and soak them there if you don't have a big enough pot.
2. Get your coals or grill hot, then place the ears - husk and all - over the fire. Some put them right on the coals, others on the grill like the steak, it's your preference.
3. Turn the ears occasionally until the husks are blackened all around, about 15 - 20 minutes.
4. Remove from the grill and let sit for 5 minutes. Be careful when removing husks and silk not to burn yourself!
5. Add butter, salt & pepper, and enjoy!

BlogCarnival: Summer Edition!

The school year here is winding down. Yesterday I subbed a half a day for a 6th grade teacher who sadly missed out on half a day of the 6th Grade Kickball Tournament. Apparently it's going all week long! The temperature is consistently in the high 60s if not 10-20 degrees higher now, and the weather is mostly sunny. These are the days we live for: grilling everything, having the windows and doors open, heading up to Flat Rock to swim (if the water's warm enough!) or just hang out on the rocks, watching the birds and bugs, dressing in hardly a thing...

For me the very best days are the ones when we all pile in the car and head to the lake, swimsuits on, picnic lunch packed: sketch book, colored pencils, and reading book included! When we get there, we choose a spot and spread out a big blanket. The kids run off to swim & explore (they're old enough now to do that without direct supervision!) and Jacqueline and I lie down and read or sketch or take pictures, just enjoying the sun and lake and the grass and birds... *le sigh*

How about you?

Blogger Carnival: Art Vs. Craft

Art vs. Craft: Is it an issue / non-issue and how do you feel about the argument?

First let me state that I didn't know there was any kind of a debate here. The only problems I've found is when asked to label my blog or art work: Is it art? Is it craft? I dunno... It is what it is.

However, when trying to define it, my first thought is that if your selling it or displaying it in a museum or art gallery, then it's art, but crafting is something you do with your kids; it brings to mind construction paper, white glue, tempera paints, and popsicle sticks. When discussing it with my 15 year old daughter, though, she brought up a good point: Art is personal - you do it for yourself - while a craft is something you do with other people as a group activity.

But what about all those *Craftsmen* I wonder... Furniture builders and architects, who don't really work with other people, still call what they do a craft. But I know a lot of scrapbookers who would take offense if you called what they did crafting.

After checking the internet for the definitions and to see what others are saying, I am even more confused. Art is usually defined as human efforts to reproduce the world around them according to aesthetic principles, while craft is usually the skill used to create the art. Some arguments say craft is closed-ended, cookie-cutter, follow-a-recipe type of creating, while art is open-ended, creative, do-what-you-want creating.

It's all very confusing to me, and I really don't think it matters, but what I do think is important is that the sites that want you to categorize your art/craft should clearly define what *they* mean by the terms, so when *I* want to list with them, I know which to choose!