I have a bunch of new items in my Baubles By Hand jewelry shop on ETSY. Let me know what you think.

Etsy Buy Handmade BaublesByHand

All things Fall

I got to carve pumpkins last night. Yay! It was so much fun, and I think it was the first time I'd done it since I was a kid. The Affleck family (Kelly, Daryl, Charlie, and Clara) let me tag along to pick out the gourds and then back to the house for carving.

My first reaction to the goopy, stringy innards was - SAVE THE SEEDS!!! Hah, leave it to me to turn any holiday tradition into a "food thing". It was so funny watching 2 year old Clara get totally slimy in the bowl of seeds. She came very close to dunking her head in the bowl!

I think my interpretation of a friendly vampire o'lantern turned out great. The seeds were pretty good too. I might even have to get another pumpkin so The Count, that is what I am calling him, isn't lonely on my front porch.

Cook's Journal

Ok, this is a really simple recipe for potatoes. It is probably nothing new, but I made them as a side for dinner tonight with broiled Tilapia and they were AWESOME! I love cooking without a plan. I find some of my favorite meals happen when I think "I have nothing here to eat!". So as I was looking around for something to make with the fish I defrosted days ago (and didn't feel like making) I found a bag of little redskin potatoes I'd forgotten about. Fish cooks pretty quickly so I didn't want to wait for my typical roasted potatoes. Here is what I came up with...

5 little redskin potatoes

• Wash and Quarter
• Placed in a pot large enough for all the quarters to be touching the bottom of the pan, but not a lot of extra room.

Vegetable stock, just to cover potatoes (I used about 3/4 to 1 cup)
1 tsp. kosher salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
2 tbsp. dried chives (if using fresh add when reducing liquids at the end)
1 large clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Cook on high until liquid is at a rolling boil. Cover and turn down to medium-medium high for 10-15 min until potatoes are fork tender. Remove lid, turn down to medium, and let the liquid reduce (about 5 min). I finished with 1/2 tbsp. of unsalted butter to finish the gravy created by the vegetable stock reduction. I hope you try these they were yummy!

What are you doing Sunday, October 11th?

Come to the EtsyRain.com Handmade Arts Show!

When: Sunday, October 11th
10am -4pm

Where: St. Edwards State Park - Grand Dining Hall

Why: Because this is a great show featuring the unique items of 30 local artisans and crafters, that's why!

Also grab a goodie from our bake sale benefiting VSA Arts of Washington.

Check out etsyRAIN.com for more information!

Yarn Over

So I finally gave in and picked up a needle. I wasn't sure if I should start with knitting or crocheting, but I decided that since crocheting involved only one needle that would be a better place to start. But, then the question became which needle and which yarn? I just made an educated guess because the sales person at Michael's Craft Store wasn't terribly helpful. Luckily I guessed right. I figured that I could learn some of the basics online so I went searching for a tutorial. I found quite a few on YouTube, but that only got me so far. Then last Wednesday I met some fellow EtsyRain members at a local mall for dinner and crafting. Thankfully I had the opportunity to consult a crochet master! If it weren't for Cindy of Original Cyn Studios I'd still be crocheting a sad single chain - a very long, very sad single chain. Now I am going back and forth like a pro. Ha!

Next, I change colors...To Be Continued.