A Bookworm Creates

Two blog posts in one week...I know, right?  Part One I've decided to take on a new challenge: marketing myself.  To be exact marketing what I create in order to sell some of the physical products.  Check out the FB and Etsy links in the navigation bar on the right.  I've linked everything together.  It made sense.  Maybe it'll make me actually post on Recipe Thursdays.  Create more and post the how to's and what nots.  Here's hoping that when subbing picks up I don't let things falter.  Here's hoping that this Etsy shop reboot has better results than the first time. Yes, I create.  I create a lot.  I suspect that I have a little bit of ADD.  Yarn. Jewelry. Food.  And now polymer clay.  Oh, and the lesson plans, but that is a bit stagnant as teacher position hunting isn't going very well.   It is October, but I still have to pay the bills.  I'm also feeling like I'm just typing for myself.  It's fine.  It really is.  Everybody needs

My Mama's Chicken and Dumplin's A partial photo tutorial (because sometimes I'm lazy). 1. Gather ingredients 2. Cook the chicken. This might take a while. When finished cooking remove chicken from the pot. Tear or chop. Add chicken bullion or poultry seasoning (best option) to the broth. 3. Mix the dry ingredients together for the dumplings. Slowly add the canned chicken broth or 2 cups of broth from the cooking pot after the chicken is cooked and removed from the pot. Mix well. It should be the consistency of a biscuit dough.   4. Flour the board, counter, or whatever surfaces that you'll be using. Flour your rolling pin too. 5. Dump your dough on the board, knead a little to cost with flour. Make certain that there is enough for still on the board. Roll flat and about an 1/8th an inch thick; it will of up while cooking. Cut into strips about 1.5 inches thick and either square or rectangular in length. 6. Make certain that the p

One Pot Wonders! My turn to cook dinner rolled around again and I had been searching Pinterest for ideas. No...don't groan. This is NOT Pinterest inspired. This is a one dish meal and a variation on a standby classic. I wanted to limit the carbs and have something that would travel and reheat well for my sub job tomorrow. I call this: I forgot to grab the broccoli before the picture. One Pot Wonder Ingredients: Boneless chicken breasts (used 3) Chopped broccoli (1 bag, but Dad requested more afterwards) 1 smoked sausage Pasta of choice (penne) Sauce of choice (Alfredo) Directions: 1. Start the pasta water. Get it boiling. 2. Cut up the smoked sausage. We tend to pick it out of the meal so I cut the rounds in half. 3. Cut up the chicken into chunks. 4. Cook. The smoked sausage is already cooked, but cooking both brings out the flavor. Stir occasionally. 5. While this is cooking, cook the pasta. 6. About 6 minutes before the pasta is done add the broc

Okay, maybe it is not really a collage as much as a bunch of scrapbook and cardstock paper laid out and taped to fit in a 12x12 frame. My favorite. I like this frame. It's an easy change frame where the glass pops out. (It's more stable than it appears.) That means you can create what ever design you want, insert a real collage, or your child's artwork! The bigger, wider, or longer the frame means more that can be done with it. The simplicity of the frame (black plastic) means that it will go with almost anything. Nobody will notice the tiny edging of plastic because they'll be looking at what ever it is you put inside it. I also like that all three of my designs fits in side between the glass and the backing. I wouldn't do more than 5 pieces though. Anyway, layout your papers, pictures, ticket stubs, programs, etc beforehand to make certain that it will fit neatly. Tape it down where the tape does not show. Maybe a thin layer of mod podge or puzzle glue,

A friend asked me, "So, what happened to last week's blog?"  fabric, diy snaps, and snap tool It failed. Simple as that. By now it is quite apparent that I don't like posting the failures. That doesn't mean that I won't try again and I still have to figure out what to do with the fabric...bet that got somebody's attention.   What did I attempt? Another round for the pinterest chronicles: the Bina multi-purpose wrap. I think my gray knit will become a skirt. Or a shirt. Or a pillow...anybody else see where I'm going with this? For tonight there is the pleasure of a double post. This one and the one that follows, although posting makes things backwards. (After writing note: I wrote them both on my kindle, posted them in edit mode in the blogger, and posted them once I had the photos downloaded onto my laptop. I decided to post them in reverse order.) Mom and Dad had seconds! Pinterest, it's what's for dinner. Just

Potatoes Just simply potatoes. <-this inspiration.="" is="" my="" p=""> Fresh out of the oven.                                   This is the my result. -> There is quite a difference between the two, but this is what happens when you are given limited instructions (I could only find the ingredients). My oven was busy with the broccoli and chicken bread (previous post - tonight's part 1) so I thought I'd do some stove top cooking and then put it in the oven. The desired results might not have occurred, but they were good regardless. Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter Garlic (I used garlic powder) 2 cups Chicken broth (enough to cover the potatoes) New potatoes (I used 2 cans, drained) The steps: 1. Bring butter, garlic, and broth to a boil 2. Add potatoes and let cook 3. Remove liquid (save it...it's flavored broth. Use it to make soup or something. Nothing raw was cooked in it.) 4

As I wait impatiently for the latest installation of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries ( www.lizziebennet.com is the official website) web series (we are in literary climax mode and it is driving me crazy waiting for the posts) I thought that I would post this blog that I had written last night on my kindle and was able to copy and paste before getting on the laptop for the recommended pics.  Oh, it's up....false alarm...anyway, The LBD is a you tube web series using Pride and Prejudice as its primary focus.  It centers around 24 year old grad student, Lizzie Bennet, and her 2 sisters (Jane and Lydia - Mary is a cousin and Kitty is a...cat).  It's awesome. And so was the most recent video.  Of course, my closest friends know how I am about Pride and Prejudice . Regardless, here is what I wrote last night.  Late last night.  There might be typos... Yes I'm well aware what this horrible day is: Valentine's day. I think there is actually a St. Right before that...I digress.  

Unlike the next post, I really will post about both adventures.  So, spoiler for the Cake Pop Pan Adventures.  Sorry.  I know I really should post both the good and the bad, but on the off chance that my favorite hermit decides to investigate, I really don't what him to be an indirect witness to my cooking disasters.  BUT this, this is workable.  I like waffles.  They are under appreciated in this house mostly because of 1. we did not have a waffle iron until Christmas (and the parents won't again when I finally get to move out) and 2. pancakes are easier to make (according to my mom).  That did not stop me for trying to convince the parental units to get a waffle iron for about as long as my absence from my blog.  I also have to admit that Pinterest did not help matters.  That picture of cinnamon roll waffles makes me wonder what else is possible if I just look for it.   Regardless.  My very own waffle iron.    My second waffle. (The instructions

Isn't it pretty?  I joined the cult of cake pop makers, only I didn't want to have to take the forty million steps that traditional cake pops have in making them and I wasn't too fond of the texture on the inside. Some day I'll learn about taking short cuts (as evidenced in my Coke Cake post).  BUT my first recipe was not for cake.  I made...MINI CORN DOGS!  Yum right.  The only questionable thing in that whole thing was the hot dogs.  So first I made the cornbread.  Simple, right?  We are in the south. Cornmeal, buttermilk (from the previously made Coke Cake - you'll eventually get to it.  It's next.), some oil, milk...I don't remember.  I usually just ask my mom and she'll tell me.  But, I really can make it.  Have the recipe somewhere, but that's the thing, each family has their own cornbread recipe.  Use that.       I th en filled up the c ups using a pancake pen.  Really che ap at Walmart.  Make s ure

First: The History MANY years ago my friend, Jackie, insisted on going to Cracker Barrel for our yearly excursion to Jackson.  Either I was living at Martin at the time and we drove down for school clothes shopping or she came down here, either way...we went shopping and then out to eat.  That year it was Cracker Barrel.  Jackie loves her deserts.  Always orders it. She recommended their Coke Cake.  She probably said something along the lines of, 'It's like crack.'  (Not that she's ever done crack, she just meant addictive.)  OMG it was!  I decidedly ate too much that day.  About a year ago, another friend, one of the many Megans that are in my friends and acquaintances lists, had a wedding shower and guess what was the desert.  Yep, Coke Cake.  I almost wanted to sneak into the kitchen and take the huge pan home with me, but I didn't.  I was having too much fun with former co-workers.  But that cake stood out in my mind.  I wanted that cake.  I craved that ca

Well, it's been a while.  A long while.  Don't look at me that way.  I'll catch up.  I've just been...busy...making things, geocaching, substitute teaching. Some things I can talk about, some I can't.  Here's the first: Geocaching. What do I say about it?  It's awesome.  Go to geocaching.com to find out more.  Seriously.  Why are you reading this?  Everything past this point is old stuff.  Go. Go. Pictures?  Okay, fine.  Here are some pictures.  Not too many because my first attempt kind of...well, this isn't my first attempt at this particular post.  First ever geocache! This one was tricky. Golf Course They were watching me. :)   Mural near the train station downtown