You Will Get Diabetes

Cause I'm about to go all sweet and sappy on ya!

Normally I reserve Wednesdays for interviewing amazing and crafty people but today is my 3rd wedding anniversary so I thought I would let OMP and the world know how much he means to me. He truly is my soul mate. I can't imagine myself without him and look forward to everyday with him. He makes me laugh, smile and just feel better about life.

It seems the past couple of years for us has been filled with a lot of trials and tribulations but we have made it through together.

So, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go enjoy my anniversary dinner and my husband's company. There is no one else in the world I would rather be with.


I love you Mark, now and forever.

Tie One On Tuesday!

Now that day light savings time has taken effect and fall 2009 will soon be a memory it is time to turn our thoughts to that merriest times of the year – no I am not talking about Christmas, I am singing the praises of Hot Buttered Run Season!!! I have to admit – this is one of my all time favorite drinks bar none.

I am going to show you some variations on HBR’s as well as give you your own mix recipe for use or gifting this drink season.

Okay – first up is a little recipe that I gleaned out of the NY Times last fall. It is fairly labor intensive but it is worth it.

It is aptly titled: Hot Brown Buttered Rum.

Ingredients:

1 stick butter

16 oz. Dark Rum

2 vanilla beans (calls for Madagascar Beans but I “ain’t so fru fru”)

4 Tbls. loose English Breakfast tea

1. Butter into pan over med. heat. Scrape the vanilla beans seeds into the pan while butter is melting. Cook until butter turns brown (about 5 mins.). Butter should smell “nutty” – you know it ‘s done.

2. Pour Rum into large measuring cup. Add Butter mixture while still hot. Let stand 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge for at least 18 hours.

3. Next day put mixture into the freezer for 30 minutes.  Then strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Strain again through a coffee filter and sieve (it may take more then on filter as it will get gummed up). You have just made Rum infused Butter! Bottle up your bounty, it will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks if it last that long.

4. Prepare your Tea in the traditional way (i.e.: make a pot).

5. Pour yourself a cup of tea (about 4 oz.) and add 1 1/2 oz. of your rum butter. Stir and add 1 tps. Sugar. Garnish with nutmeg and enjoy!!

Here is another variation on the theme: Hot Buttered Cider (thanks Better Homes and Garden!!)

Ingredients:

8 cups apple cider

2 Tbls. Brown sugar

4 inches stick cinnamon

1 tsp. whole allspice

1 tsp. whole cloves

1 lemon peel cut into strips

2 Tbls. butter

2 oz. dark rum

1. Combine cider and brown sugar into saucepan. Tie cinnamon, cloves, all spice & lemon peel into cheese cloth, basically making a little spice baggie. Toss the spice bag into the cider mixture. Bring it to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for approx. 15 minutes – let the spices mingle with that cider! Remove the spice bag and discard.

2. Pour cider into mug and add a shot of rum. Top with approx. 1/2 tsp. of butter and serve with a cinnamon stick as a stirrer. 

So there you have it, a couple of different variations on a theme. For a traditional style HBR, here is a little Pedersen family recipe that has been handed down for just over two years or so now……. Homemade HBR batter!!

Ingredients:

1 pound DARK Brown sugar (I have found Molasses Brown sugar to be best)

1/2 Pound salted butter

1 tsp ground Cinnamon

1 tsp. ground Cloves

1 tsp. ground Nutmeg

1 tsp. Vanilla (extract is fine)

1 tsp. ground Cardamom

1. Cream butter in large bowl – like making a cake. Add brown sugar. Mix well. Add all other ingredients and mix up well.

2. Package up in tubs and refrigerate. Should keep for the season or in the freezer indefinitely.

To make yourself a drink, take a shot of dark rum and (depending on how sweet you want your drink) 1 to 2 tsp. of your batter and add it to a glass. Stir in hot water, top with some nutmeg and enjoy the creamy goodness!

So, what have we learned here today? There are many ways to make different type drinks, but they all lead back to the start. Now if you will excuse me, I think I hear my kettle boiling. Until next time – Bottoms up!

 

The Suspense is Killing Me

I love a good thriller. Not Michael Jackson-although that was a great video. I'm talking about a good old fashion suspense thriller. Give me an old suspenseful movie any day of the week. There is something about watching an old movie in the fall when it's raining and you have a fire going that really captures the moment, so to speak.

One movie that I just recently saw over the weekend is Gaslight. It stars Ingrid Bergman (she won an Oscar for her role) and it was nominated for the best picture. It did win a Golden Globe in best picture. The story is of a detective trying find out why a paranoid schizophrenic is trying to drive his wife mad. The movie is based on a famous London play. I highly recommend this movie. Ingrid Bergman is beyond belief amazing

Everyone knows that Alfred Hitchcock is the king of psychological thriller. His plot twist and camera angles set him above most directors. Dial M for Murder is on of his best. The story centers around a man who finds out that his wife had an affair a year ago and now he wants to murder her. He doesn't want to commit the murder himself so he hires someone to do it for him. This is where the plot twist-I don't want to give away too much but it is an excellent thriller with the beautiful Grace Kelly playing the lead.

The final movie is on my top 10 list. Night of the Hunter starring Robert Mitchum is a classic cat and mouse game with thrills and turns but done in such a subtle way that you don't realize you are being taken for the suspenseful ride of your life. Mitchum plays an escape convict trying to track down $10,000.00 that his cellmate hid. Robert's character marries the man's widow, weasels his way into their lives and then hunts for the cash. The story of Cain and Able that the preacher tells (Love and Hate on his hands) sets an eerie undertone for the movie . It is shot beautifully. Unfortunately it did not do well at the box office and was the amazingly talented director, Charles Laughton's last movie. It was only till after Laughton's death that the movie was recognized for the cinematic genius it was and still is.

So these movies will make you a little leery about your neighbor, significant other or in my case my pups (I never trust a shifty eyed dog), don't let that keep you from curling up under a cozy blanket, put another log on the fire and enjoy an good suspenseful thrill. I bet you can solve the case before that pesky detective can. Until next time!

Scrappy Dog Sunday!

Today is Dia de los Muertos -it is a holiday to honor and celebrate those who have passed on. Although we are so happy to have a new little man in our lives (he is the funniest little guy ever) we still have a place in our heart for the original little man, our chunk, Kato. It has been some time since he has passed away but I swear sometimes I can hear the pitter patter of his little feet walking around downstairs. So today's Scrappy Dog Sunday is Kato. We miss you little man.

Kato was a tough old man! He lived to be almost 18!

Can you see why we called him chunk?

No matter what age he was, he loved to sleep in front of the heater during winter.

Oh, he looks like he's thinking about life and reflecting. He's really just scheming a way to get food from us.

This head was in his stomach. His second surgery. The first being a piece of a Kong toy.

He went through 3 surgeries, fathered 2 children and had to put up with me dressing him up-no wonder he was grouchy.

Kato, I miss you so much. The way you and OMP fought for bed space every night. Your barking when the wind blew. Eating everything that wasn't nailed down. You were a man's man. You took no crap and lived your life the way you wanted to. You were the Marlon Brando of the doggy world. I hope you are in doggy heaven, laying in the sun and eating as many doggy biscuits as your heart desires. Good night sweet prince. You will forever have a place in my heart and soul.

Feel Good Friday!

Thank you Bronwen for the picture. I'm not sure who's this little boy belongs to but the picture cracks me up. 

Another week in the can! I am ready for some Halloween fun. Yahoo! Let's get the festiviites started. Scary but cute costume-CHECK! Candy that only I will like incase we don't get any trick or treaters-CHECK! Scary places to go-CHECK!

If you are in the Portland Area and want some history mixed up with your haunting. Check out The Lone Fir Cemetery tours. For only a $5.00 donation you can take a brisk 45 minute walk and learn about the unsavory characters that make up Portland's history. I went last year and it was awesome!



So let's say that you have decided to stay home and want to make some last minute decorations. Look no farther my friends than Craftster's new videos. You can find them in several places around the internet and if you look real close, you can see a familiar face.

I LOVE this little monster by melissastanley727. Her stitching is crazy!

Allsorts  has the cutest blog . I can spend hours over there looking at some many different ideas, stitching, and pictures. It's just all around greatness. I think I might want to be her when I grow up. If you want some truly awesome Halloween ideas, check out her Halloween Blog

Hopefully these things will keep you out of trouble for the next week. If I know you guys like I think I do, I should be expecting phone calls from the police or other mothers around town telling me to come pick you up.Troublemakers!

Happy Halloween!

Dias de los Muertos

So the final October Halloween collection really has to do with October 31st through November 2nd. For those of you unfamiliar with Dias de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. It is a Mexican celebration and holiday honoring those who have passed on. We celebrate it at our house every year, leaving food and drink and presents for our loved ones who have passed . We light candles and have sugar skulls to decorate alters for our dearly departed.

We have a huge collection of Dias de los Muertos icons. These are just a few pieces that are our favorites or that are unusual.

I'm not sure where these came from or what they are actually called. If someone out there knows the history,
I would love to find out more. They each have little coffins that pop up and have people in them. The yellow one represents a chupacabra, the middle one is a wedding and the orange is a Halloween scene. If you look very closely, you can see witches in the trees.

These are also pop ups. The purple car is actually a space ship with little aliens.

One more set of pop ups. They are both caskets with people that pop up.

We also collect Day of the Dead skulls. Since OMP is a drummer, this is perfect for him and the three dogs represent our three puppers.

I love these guys hanging out in a tree getting drunk with the puppy barking at them.

Another skull music scene with the Lady of Guadalupe behind them.

Don't forget your special loved ones this weekend. Pour yourself a drink and bake up some  Pan de Muerto to celebrate their visit and the memories that you shared with them. Here's wishing you a happy Halloween and a joyous Dias de los Muertos.

Alexz and the land of misfits

When I first saw Alexz's work I was totally blown away and then when I got to know her better I realized that she is a sassy, sweet and just down right adorable young lady(I can say that cause I'm old). First off, she loves Tim Burton, so you know she has taste but when I found out she also loves Meatloaf, well I just about died! How awesome is that? Let's find out more about her obsessions with misfits, Tim and Meatloaf.

Tell me a little bit about yourself
Hmm...Do you remember that part in Beetlejuice where Lydia says "live people ignore the strange and unusual. I, myself, am strange and unusual." That pretty much sums me up. Okay, so I am not nearly as depressed and dark as Lydia but I am really kind of strange! Simply put, I am a 23-year-old girl who grew up in Ontario, Oregon and I am just stepping foot into the real world. I grew up in this tiny town as somewhat of a misfit. Listening to Meat Loaf records and watching old re-runs of The Munsters and The Addams Family were how I spent my days as a child; thus the personality shaping began! I became a little goth girl with a love for all things cute and creepy! I think the wholesome values of those 50s/60s shows rubbed off on me though, because I am such a goody-goody, yet I love Halloween and all creepy stuff. I guess I am a walking contradiction! Anyways, I just recently finished up a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology at Western Oregon University and I am about 3/4's of they way through an art degree. Right now I am living back in Ontario with my parents -yup- I am a boomerang child! There seems to be a lot of those kids these days! But my plans are to save up some money this year by working and then move back over to the Portland area and pursue a career in stop-motion animation.

You do such amazing work-what's your favorite piece and why
Wow, thank you! It is hard for me to pick a favorite, because it seems like I go through phases of working on certain types of mediums and projects and that moment, I LOVE them! I made a little steampunk skeleton a couple of nights ago, and I am really loving it lately. I have been getting requests for him left and right and commissioned work is always a huge excitement for me since I am broke and college loan payments are arriving in the mail. He is made completely of junk! I save everything I own that is salvageable, because I know I will be able to use it eventually. This piece is particularly special to me because I rarely make 3-dimensional work and he turned out so well for just being constructed from things I have found lying around the house or in the streets. Not to mention, he combines all my favorite things: goth, steampunk, Halloween and skeletons! So I guess for the moment, he is my favorite piece!

 Who/What inspires you
I come from a family of black sheep who are all extremely creative. My dad is an incredible artist! Our tastes are completely different but his work and talents never cease to amaze me. My mother reads more than anybody I have ever known and she is so incredibly smart. Both my parents inspire me everyday and I owe all my success to them. They encouraged me to be whoever and whatever I wanted to be. My brother is the same way and also very smart and creative, and he supports everything I do. I really look up to him. My family is huge to me and are one of the biggest pieces for my creative inspiration. I also have a boyfriend who has introduced me to so many new things and he encourages me in every way he can. I can't thank him enough for all the ways he inspires me and how much he embraces my quirkiness.

I obviously have GREAT influence from Tim Burton. The first Burton Film I ever saw was Edward Scissorhands and it had a profound effect on me; I fell in love with Edward and his vulnerability. I also grew up on Disney and developed an almost-obsessive fascination with Walt Disney. His drive and willingness to try anything astounds me and I think he is probably one of the most incredible people to ever live. And then I can't leave out Meat Loaf. I know that sounds so weird, but I grew up on his music and I just love the guy to death. He is so intense and passionate that he inspires me to pursue my own dreams with the same vigor he has.

Any advice for fellow crafters?
Well, I am still so young and making tons of mistakes myself but I can tell you that I have already experienced tons of rejection and I have been knocked down plenty of times in my artistic endeavors. But you have to just get back up and keep pursuing your dreams. I spent my first three years of college working towards my art degree and while Western has a good art program and some amazing students and art teachers alike, it is definitely a more traditional curriculum there. My skeletons and zombies were not appreciated and I ended up crying almost everyday because of a comment made by my teachers. But you just have to keep going at it and not succumb to what other people want you to do or be- and that goes for everything in art and life in general. I live in such a small conservative town, I spent a lot my years being what everybody else wanted me to be. But now that I fully embrace the strange, little weirdo I have always been, I have never been happier! You just have to be who you want and let that inspire your creativity.

What does the future hold for you?
I really have no idea where I will go, or who I will become, and that feels awesome! I will admit, I have been experiencing a lot of anxiety over my future since graduating college but at the same time, it is strangely exhilarting. I feel like I can go anywhere or be anything. My dream would be to become the next Tim Burton- or marry him. Either way my future would be set. Ha! Just kidding. In all seriousness, I really love stop-motion film and would love to end up in a career with that. But when it comes down to it, my main goal in life is just to make sure I end up in a creative career where I can reach people with my art- even if it just a small handful of people. I want others to know that is okay to be odd and a misfit. Tim Burton and Meat Loaf taught me that and I want to do the same for others like me who feel like they don't fit in anywhere.

Bonus Questions:
If you could be one Tim Burton character-who would it be?
Oh gosh, that is a tough question! Tim Burton's movies seem to always have a theme where the main characters are all completely misunderstood and do not fit into their surroundings. Jack Skellington, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Bloom, etc. They are all so misconstrued and unappreciated. And I think that is because they are all emulating Tim Burton himself as he feels, and that is essentially why I relate to and admire him so much. So I feel like all of them! But I guess if I had to choose just one character it would be Edward Scissorhands. He is so shy and sensitive which is my personality to a tee. That is kind of strange to think about though, because I have a huge crush on him!


You can check out more of Alexz's work on her flickr account and watch out for her etsy to open up soon. I really hope that she remembers this little interview when she's famous and I hope that when she wins her first oscar for her stop motion animation that I'm mentioned in the thank you's. What? A girl can wish can't she?