Butternut Squash and Apples

This one's for my friend Fern. I got her all jazzed up about the raisins, only to see they are not in the recipe. I do strongly beieve that I added some sweet, plump raisins to the mix though. It's been awhile, but this is a Thanksgiving fave. enjoy!


Butternut Squash and Apples


2 # butternut or buttercup squash
½ C brown sugar
¼ C margarine; melted
1 T flour
1 t salt
½ t mace (can use cinnamon or nutmeg)
2 baking apples; core, peel and slice

Preheat oven to 350°. Halve, seed and skin squash, slice in ½” slices. Stir together remaining ingredients, except apples.
Arrange squash in ungreased baking dish, cover with apples and pour sugar/spice mixture on top.
Cover and bake 1 hour.

10 Lesson Grandma Taught Me

1. Women can be strong, independent and self reliant

2. Presentation is everything

3. There's a way to save almost any recipe gone wrong

4. A pint's a pound, the world around

5. Faith = Strength

6. Hug each other. A lot

7. Rolling dough is an art

8. Pennies make dimes and dimes make dollars

9. Everyone's a little Irish

10. Nothing beats a good Manhattan

Tech and Spanish

Seems there's no limit to the integration of technology in education. It amazes me every day. My kids no longer lugging textbooks in backpacks heavier than they, emailing term papers to avoid the penalty of missing a deadline, the ability to contact a teacher at anytime, from anywhere. the world is such a global place and so much smaller for them than my generation. I find it fascinating. Sometimes a little sad, but still it amazes me.

The mystery of far off lands, the wonder of other cultures, the dream of someday experiencing a whole other way of life is minimized to some degree. They see it, interact with it and almost touch it daily. It has fostered tolerance and understanding, broadened horizons and contributed to a generation a little more concerned about the fate of the world outside their neighborhood. All in all, a good thing. Perhaps their new frontier will take them beyond the earth's atmosphere.

What prompted this little comparison of generations and look a the affects that phone, laptop or ipod has had on life. Well,this for one. The daughter of a friend, looking for blog followers, all in the name of a good grade in Spanish class. Sharing the ways of the Spanish language, as if I had a command of the English grammar that I should. I Do however, look forward to a brush up on my rusty Spanish and the art of verb conjugation.

So stop by and read up on occasion. Maybe even follow a new, young face on the blogging frontier. Who knows, you just might learn something at learnspanishandspeakit.blogspot.com

The New Season

By the title, many of you may think I am referring to the mid season replacement shows on TV. If so, you don't know me very well. I am not much of a TV watcher. However, the Olympics do have me poaching the couch more than usual, and boy am I glad for the new laptop. Hoe did we watch tv and sports for so many years without the ability to tweet about them?



Well, enough of that. the New Season is, as usual, all about the creative. Once again, my "Studio Open House" is upon us. On Saturday, March 6th, I will be opening my home to all my customers, providing them with drinks and nosh, laughing, chatting and best of all, displaying my new treasures. It took several years and plenty of prodding from friends, but through the years has become a staple of my selling season. A chance for my loyal customers to get pampered and be the first to see my new creations before the show season begins. Though in my early years, this felt self serving, I was finally convinced to host this event and have come to love it. The ability to socialize and enjoy my customers in a relaxed setting where i can display my appreciation without the stress and chaos of a show is quite enjoyable.

So, if you're in the Chicago area, please stop by. I'll have a wine glass ready and trust me, the spinach dip can hold it's own. If that's not enough to entice you, there will be a great display of jewelry/trinket boxes (and a few other goodies) by my good friend Glassdiane and some great jewelry pouches, felted items and other handsewn goodies by my lovely and talented SIL, Ohsewhannah

3 Years!

Yes, Yes, yes, I am remiss on my blog posts of late. I admit it. Often I have great ideas and no time to type. It's been a nutty year and until they perfect cloning, you will have to put up with me, faults and all.
So, in keeping with my harried and chaotic life, comes a last minute, seat of my pants, no time to plan but glad I caught it in time sale.

Today is my 3 year etsyversary. Yep, 3 glorious years as a member of the etsy community. I have made friends, gained customers, learned more than I could have imagined and found a place that just feels like home. So, here ya go. I may not have a show schedule or an Open House ready to go as we head into February next week, but this one I caught just in time.

Black Friday

Oh, the shame of almost 2 months without a blog entry. As I hang my head in shame, I remind myself not to wonder why I have no followers. I give them nothing to read. No need to do the math there. absolute zero is absolute zero. ha!

So, as I sit here, coffee in hand, tummy still full from the fabulous feast, I gaze out at the rising sun and think, why? why, oh why am I awake? If I had planned to mingle amongst the crazies at Best Buy or walmart or some other soul sucking retailer, I wouldn't have been able to drag my tryptophaned ass to the shower much less out the door. As it is, I have nowhere to go and a goal of creating jewelry and some Christmas spirit from the comfort of my slippers and robe and yes, I am awake at 5am!

I am rationalizing this insane phenomena as a subconscious need to please my customers by promoting my Black Friday sale. I have painstakingly adjusted all 190+ shop items to reflect free shipping. Yep, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Joyous Ramadan, Solstice Greetings, whatever it is you choose to celebrate, I honor you with merriment and free stuff. Free shipping, free gifts on orders over $100 and discounts on qualifying orders. Woot for you.
So, GO....now. Run.... grab those slippers, pour a cup of coffee and grab the mouse. Stake your claim in the virtual line of shoppers hunting for the great deals. Just do it from the comfort of your couch.


and remember............BUY HANDMADE.................always

Recovery Time

Seems to be my motto lately. As I sit here like a sloth, recovering form a wedding that went to late in the night last night. I have to say, it was one of the most fun weddings I have attended in some time. The bride was gorgeous (aren't they all) and the crowd a real treat. Dinner was not only delicious but entertaining. Watching 80% of the guests try to figure out what that huge head of roasted garlic on their plates was, it was even better to watch them figure out just what to do with it. I do have to say, watching that much perfectly delicious sweetness go to waste on cleared plates was a sin. Foodies everywhere sighed a universal cringe at such shameful waste of what I like to call, liquid gold.
That Hussyfest was something else. Took me a good week to recover from all the laughter and good times. I'm not sure my boys (all 3 of them) will ever recover from such an unprecedented level of estrogen in this house. There is definitely great truth to the laughter is the best medicine mantra though. My lack of stress for more than a week afterwards was savored every second. I do believe doctors should prescribe a hussyfest for every woman once a year.
My life is slowly returning to normal. More and more days working every week, bitch work piling up, fighting for time to do the things I love, being a mom and a wife 24/7, and looking long into the not so distant future and preparing to find a less stressful way to approach the holidays. The weather is cooling, the pool has closed, the garden is bare, the flowers are saying and I know n my core it's a handful of days before a frost hits.

I'm NOT ready. Not sure i ever will be.