a BIG new step!

So... after much odgeda (sp? it's more a sound than a word...) after much... anxiety/nervousness/confusion/etc... I finally figured out how I plan on posting my photos on Etsy. Like, the regular old photo photo's. Not the fancy schmancy specialty mats that were up there already. So it's becoming a photo shop FINALLY. I only put up 8 actual PHOTOS today, but I have another 8 ready to go. It's a process to get them up, so I'm gonna spread the wealth a little bit.



So they're up there as ACEO - Art Collecting Cards essentially. $0.75 each, and then there's some listings for the standard size prints. Hopefully I'll quickly get up the "Photo" listings for standard size photos and a listing for greeting cards, then people can look at the photos, and order the size/type they want - without doing the whole custom order thing (which is great, because customers don't seem to be SUPER psyched about having to do everything custom-wise).

With any luck, I'll get the other 8 photos for "April's Pathways Series" up and the other ones up and you'll all decide that they're awesome and you need some 8x10's for your house. :-P

Doughnut Day!

So today's "Misadventure" is sadly not truly mine :(.

It normally would be, but Hubby and I didn't go to my parents for Easter this year, so we missed

DOUGHNUT DAY!

(the 2nd best day of the year in my opinion... following Zimmer Day - another family holiday)  

However, Sister was kind enough to pass along picture messages all day of the progression of the donuts. The story goes that my Grandma makes these German doughnuts for Easter every year, and all the girls get together and make doughnuts.

(there were boys this year, because all the girl grand kids are either big enough to not be home, or too little to be trusted, but I'm thinking this isn't the best idea, because knowledge of the fabulousness of doughnuts on doughnut day is getting out among our male population... which is significantly larger than our female population. Which could easily lead to no doughnuts on Easter...) 

It used to truly need to be a group activity in order to beat the dough for 30 minutes!! But now that there's Kitchenaid, it's a little easier :-P

And before you get TOO excited... 

No. 

You don't get a "Misadventures" and a "What's for Dinner" on the same day. 

This is, in my opinion, still a secret family recipe :0D.

So first, you mix all the doughnut batter for a LONG time, and then let it rise

 Until it nearly spills out the bowl!

Then you cut the dough into doughnuts and put them to sleep for a while...

This is part of the reason the little kiddo's must stay away from Gramma's... 

no touching the table and NO PEEKING!!  

They need their rest if they're going to be as delicious as they are. 

And one must be QUIET when the doughnuts are rising 

(mostly because where there is noise, there is fun, and where there is fun, there is motion, and where there is motion, there is FLAT DOUGHNUTS... noooooooooooooooo)

Here is Cousin (#12) learning the way of the doughnut. 

In order to EAT a doughnut on Doughnut Day (when they are BEST) 

one must WORK for it. 

This is about when Sister became a crazy "German Lady" 

wandering the kitchen in an apron with a spatula, threatening to smack any hands that came too close to an undeserved doughnut.

"NEIN!! Go Away! No Doughnuts for you!" :-D

These... are the fried doughnuts as they finished Doughnut Day

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Deliciousness.

And THIS is what they look like when you eat them. 

Rolled in granulated sugar... delicious, sugary air. 

And I'll tell you, I loved being "included" in Doughnut Day, but not so much on the 

"THESE WERE THE BEST DOUGHNUTS EVER!!" 

comments I got on my cell phone and facebook. 

I might scream if someone tells me once more about  

how good 

these fabulous doughnuts that I didn't get to eat any of. 

As it is... I might be heading to the store to find the ingredients this week... :-P

Success! Kind of...

I did it. I finally finished the little set of baby booty AWESOME CHUCKS! And they are SO stinkin adorable!  One problem. They're too tiny. I used a size 2 needle, and they came out 2.75" long. Hard Core Premie sizes there people. 5-7 lb baby. Baby in question? Came OUT 7+. LAST MONTH. So... if anyone out there knows of a premie... these are for sale. :-P Etsy me. :-P In the mean time, I'm off to find some slightly larger needles to try again. At least twice. But aren't they CUTE?!?!?!?

Philippino Menudo

So I was at my Gourmet Club Planning Meeting the other day, and we are doing an "Asian" meal this month. I REALLY love my Filipino food, and we will be making my "Filipino Mama's" recipe for Pancit Bihon (and I'm so psyched) but I brought up my FAVORITE Filipino dish... Menudo, and I got a lot of icky faces, and people who had DEFINITELY not eaten what I had. Apparently, Mexican's have a dish called Menudo as well - and it has all sorts of nasty ingredients in it. Fish and intestine and other gross stuff. Well, Filipino Menudo is SUPPOSED to have liver in it, but my "Mama" hates liver, so she doesn't put it in hers. Maybe that's why I like it so much :-P

So in honor of Gourmet Club, and the misgivings about Menudo, here is the recipe as I was best able to copy it down from an "Intuitive Cook."

(not my picture... I stole it from the internets. Sorry!)

Philippino Menudo!

1 Can Chick Peas

1 Can Tomato Paste (to thicken if necessary)

2 cans tomato sauce

7 Bright Leaf Red Hot Dogs, Sliced

1 Cup Raisins

2 Red/Yellow Peppers Sliced

1 Onion Sliced

2-3 Potatoes, diced

4+ Garlic cloves, crushed

3 cups pork, cubed

1 tbsp brown sugar

1.5? Cups Toyomansi (Pilipino soy sauce with calamansi – sour fruit juice)

1.5 cups peas and carrots (frozen is fine)

1.      Fry potatoes slightly to cook and hold shape

2.      Marinate Pork bits in Toyomansi for 5-10 minutes

3.      Put pork and marinade in cold pot and bring to boil. Cook until pork is cooked.

4.      Reserve pork and marinade in separate bowl

5.      Sauté garlic and onion in olive oil until garlic is browned and onion is transparent.

6.      Re introduce pork, strained from juices & cook

7.      Add marinade back with peas and carrots and bring back to a simmer for 5-10 minutes

8.      Add chick peas, tomato sauce, hot dogs, raisins, brown sugar, and peppers. Mix well and let simmer until peppers are tender

9.      Gently add cooked potatoes and stir.

Serve with White Rice                                                     Yield: 6 servings

Just some FYI's - You can probably use any type of hot dogs... the "bright leaf red hot dogs" are my "Mama"'s favorite.  Toyomansi is available in oriental markets, but if you don't want to buy it (it comes in a pretty big bottle) you can PROBABLY substitute some lemon juice with your regular soy-sauce. TheFilipino's use toyomansi on a lot of things as an "added" soy sauce. For instance, they don't COOK Pancit with it, but they do add some right when they eat it, like we'd add soy sauce to chinese food, or lemon juice to sea food.
 

My Etsy Adventures this week!

So I knew that after last week, I had to SOMETHING with my Etsy-Adventures. So I got the blog all blinged out with links to my Picasa galleries and instructions on how to buy marvelous stuff from me! (note the new pages to your right :-P) And I made sure that all my artwork was listed as "Fine Art" so people MIGHT actually SEE it when they search now?  (Here's hoping at least).

I also investigated the Alchemy archives and bid on a few people's requests. It was enlightening to see what people were asking for. I sometimes wish I could actually be focused enough to really hone in on one medium... but what fun is that? I suppose you need to be famous before you can be really successful at things that are all over the place... like these celebrities who have fragrance collections, and reality celebrities who went from tabloid news to fashion designers somehow.

Either way, I DID get a new posting up. My Military Thank You Cards! (also available with any artwork found in the Picasa Gallery)

Isn't it marvelous!?! :-P

So check out my gallery, and let me know what you think. 

Which art piece is your favorite?