Ahhhh, Winter!

It's winter and everything that goes with it could be good or bad. I choose good. It's white (but cold) and can give one a sense of peace. God knows when you wake up in the early morning after a good snow it is really really quite and peaceful. You know even things not so pretty on a normal day to day basis appears to be beautiful. Let's not yet think about what it's going to be like when it starts to melt. Ick! By the way I took this photo when I went snow shoeing. It was beautiful!

I know I haven't posted anything new for some time but it has been a busy time. I've been selling more than ever on my Etsy site http://www.artsielady.etsy.com. Now, I have a marketing department (me), a billing department (yup, that would be me again), a collection department (damn skippy, pay up! me again), customer service department (did I say "service"??) and a shipping department. If you could hear me you would hear me change my voice a la the Exorcist for each task depending on my mood. I do have a production department as well but that person has been AWOL. Sheesh.

Another thing that kept me away for a short while was a visit by my high school friend. I haven't seen her since just after high school and trust me people, that was a long time ago. She was in town for business and we spent as much time as possible together. It was very cool we didn't miss a beat. It was like we never had time separate us. She and her co-worker Corinne live in Waianae Hawaii. Go Sea Riders! So you can imagine the weather shock to their systems! June (my classmate) refused to even look at the snow coming down all the while screaming "no, I'm not looking I have to get home tomorrow". June....did you think that was going to stop the snow. I took pleasure in their experience here in Bend. The weather (uh huh, it was cold!) the festive holiday lights in the Old Downtown the eh hem.......gambling! Here in Oregon we have the pleasure of Indian Casinos, however none are close by. HOWEVER, most taverns have Vegas style gambling machines. We had a blast! Did we win?? I'm not sayin'.

Man, gotta tell you it brought me back to da good ol' days in Waianae. We did get a chance to catch up about a lot of my classmates. What they're up to, kids, where they live and what they're doing. Very coolamis!!! I expect we'll be planning a trip back home to Hawaii and NO tourist stuff...that's for the tourist. For sure we'll be staying with June and her husband and ohhhhh I can smell the ocean and feel the warmth of the sun now. Locals rock!

That brings me to it ain't warm here and more snow is a comin'!!! So for all of you out there who are dealing with the cold weather. Snuggle up by the fireplace with your better half (I imagine that could be your best friend....the dog silly) hahaha and have yourself a nice mug of hot buttered rum. Mmmmmmm Yummy! Here's a recipe.

Oh, and by the way if you need a cool mug for that hot buttered rum that is beautifully handcrafted, go to http://www.etsymudteam.craft-sense.com. You may find something you just have to have!!

Hot Buttered Rum


Batter

1/2 C unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
1 1/3 C firmly packed brown sugar
1 Pint vanilla ice cream, softened
1 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cardamom
1/2 t vanilla

Coctail (per serving)

2 T frozen batter
3/4 C boiling water
1 1/4 ounces rum (2 T plus 1 1/2 t)
1 Pat butter


To make batter: Combine butter, brown sugar, ice cream, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla with electric mixer to create a smooth batter. Pour mixture into a plastic container with lid and seal. Place in the freezer.

To make cocktail:For each cocktail, place 2 T of the frozen batter in a mug and add 3/4 cup of boiling water. Add rum and stir until the batter is melted. Garnish with pat of butter and a pinch of mace. ENJOY!!!

This is a heads up for my upcoming sale in my Etsy shop. Now I know there isn't a ton of items in the shop but what better time to sell out and start with a new crop of work?? I would have been creating more work but I'm still working on my fish order. I know I know, you're tired of hearing about my fish. Well, how do you think I feel about making all those fish? Yeah, you got it. Now, I'm not ungrateful about getting this order but I am sooooo sick of them at this point!

Let's get to the nitty gritty of this post. I want to SELL OUT! Really. Not just to get sales, I really want to start fresh this coming year. So help me make this happen. If not I just may go crazy with the hammer and break every remaining piece. Heyyyyyyyy, that would be a great video. No no, I take that back. I don't want to do a video...I want it O.U.T. out!

Best Non Traditional Turkey Recipe

Tis the season for holiday food. I love love love to cook and feed the masses. O.K. so here's the deal. My mom always made the best turkey and I now follow in her steps. This is not the most traditional recipe but it will almost surly be the best turkey and gravy you have ever had!! No kidding!! This year was the first time I have shared the recipe and I've decided to share this with you. I want to keep this recipe out there in honor of my mom Bernie Lindo of Makaha Hawaii. She's no longer around but if this recipe is....well....so is she. I call this Asian Turkey

Ingredients

Turkey
1 jar Black bean with garlic sauce (found in Asian market)
1 round onion
1 bunch green onion
1 bunch (about 5 stalks) lemon grass (must be fresh)
salt
2 T vinegar

Directions

rub the outside and the cavity of the turkey with salt and set aside
slice the round onion, green onion (into 1 inch strips). Pound the lemon grass with a mallet bottom to top to release the flavor and cut into 1 inch strips and mix it all into the black bean garlic sauce. Add vinegar into the mixture.
Stuff this mixture into the cavity of the turkey. Any residue left on your hands rub on the outside of the turkey.
Bake turkey as instructed for it's size.
Caution: This stuffing is not to be consumed!! It is just for flavor
Bonus: Take the drippings in your roasting pan and add water being careful not to dilute it too much. This is a highly flavorful dripping and will be dark brown due to the black beans. Mix some corn starch and water n a bowl and add to the boiling mixture to thicken. Use a wisk to insure a lump free gravy. You'll love this too!!

Really if you decide to try this recipe you will love it. Every year when I make this (even though I'm not with my family in Hawaii) I remember the family gathering and just having fun. For us that means giving each other what fors making fun of each other, laughing, joking, eating, drinking and basically enjoying the hell of each others company. So take time to enjoy life, family and friends because you know......we only get one time around and we better make it a good one!!! Peace :)

99 Bottles of Beer on the wall

" 99 bottle of beer on the wall 99 bottles of beeeeer.....Opps, I mean to sing 51 fishes swimming up a stream 51 fishes my dreammmmm....I roll em up and cut them out 51 fishes swimming up a stream....50 fishes swimming up a stream...50 fishes my dreammm......and on and on and on. Oy vey I'm gonna be seeing fishes up the yin yang. I'm currently working on my custom order wanting to finish early. What was I thinking??!!!!! So now my morning consist of reading the paper, watching the first news in the morning AND feeding the dogs. ALL AT ONE TIME!! I must be stuper women or sometin. All I know is that the sooner I finish this order the sooner life will be back to normal. Well, as normal as whatever normal is you know. So for now I will be awol until the fish are finish!!! Come back later to see if I've posted a picture of them.

Wildfire 2008

So Wildfire....that's the CGC (clay guild of the cascades) annual pottery sale here in Bend Oregon. This is the first year I've participated in this event and was unsure of what to do, how they set up here and so on. I decided I would share a booth with a friend of mine and we could both learn the the in and out of Wildfire.

Damn, talk about being intimidated!! The potters at the show are VERY good. Not only are they good but they have their set-up down to a fine art. Get it??? Fine Art. Ha! Really nice set up with shelving, tract lighting and some pedestals. We on the other hand had a.....table, no lights and boring! You can bet this is going to change next year.

From what I understand, the sales this year are not as good as years in the past. Of course that's because the economy sucks. However, I've got to say that sales exceeded what we all expected. So all in all it ended well. I actually sold 43 pieces on the first day of the sale and was very pleased. I don't know yet the number of pieces I sold on the second day but I did see two additional sales of my work in the first 30 minutes of the second day. Yeah, you can say I'm happy. My goal was to sell as much as possible to deplete my inventory so I can start on a whole new "crop" of my work.

So get this.....I also got a custom order for an additional 51 of my handbuilt fish (see picture above) for a local graphic design business. 51!!!! Holy %@!!! The finish date is December 18,2008. Breath in, breath out.

Lesson learned...does there always have to be a lesson learned??? No, not really. What I do know is that when I finally jumped in to do this show/sale for the weekend....it ended up with some fun time, meeting other artist, a custom order and the drive to STEP UP MY GAME!!!