Cluck, Cluck

It was a busy time, but I was able to eek out a few minutes (or hours) to complete Susan Stringfellow's Poultry Recipe Challenge at the Taste of Serendipity Crop. These were the necessary ingredients:

A Pinch of Flour--use at least one flower
2 T. of Spices--measure out 2 T. of buttons (It's more than you think!)
Chicken--paper piece the chicken presented HERE!

These photos of our post-parade gumbo were perfect! After all, chicken is a primary ingredient of CHICKEN and andouille sausage gumbo. :)

My Lists (Collected)

Lists are my friends. I make them, I add to them, I check them off, and I rewrite them. I have lists for everything!

Do you have an endless assortment of lists in your purse, on your refrigerator, or laying around on the kitchen table or counter? If you're a list maker like me, you do! I love my lists, but wanted a way to keep them together...an attractive way if possible. With a little mini notebook/assignment pad I can write my daily/weekly to-do list, grocery list, etc. and not lose them to the depths of my purse or worse. When one list is done, I can tear it out and throw it away, but the others stay put. And with a little help from my scrapbook supplies, my List Keeper is an interesting piece of collage art as well!

My Emeril Live! Challenge

BAM! He’s done it again. On the strip in Las Vegas, at one of Emeril’s newest ventures, Lagasse’s Stadium, the famed chef has taken the average steak sandwich and kicked it up a notch. Known as the BAM’wich, it’s a mouthwatering 8 oz. of grilled prime sirloin on homemade herb focaccia, dressed with blue cheese slaw, balsamic braised red onions and Emeril’s steak sauce. YUM!



Your challenge is to make a BAM’wich as part of your layout design. Using at least 8 strips of patterned paper (each with a different design), layer them like a stacked sandwich. Tear or cut with deco scissors, space evenly or overlap, cut all the same or of varying lengths, pen-stitch or ink edges…anything goes, as long as the papers are horizontal (not vertical) and there are at least 8 different designs.

Then, just as the “holy trinity” of Cajun cuisine, bell pepper, onion, and celery make up the foundation for great Louisiana classics such as gumbo, jambalaya and étouffée, you will be required to use three of my favorite embellishments on your page: a tag, a ticket, and a journaling spot. You can use pre-made items or stamp, print, cut and make your own.

Additional embellishments are allowed, but each page must have 8 paper strips, a tag, a ticket, and a journaling spot.

Here is my page. I chose papers with colors that coordinated with those in my photo…the yellow, brown, orange, and green of the grass, with a bit of blue and white to compliment my son’s jersey. I tore one paper, cut others varying lengths and widths, and layered haphazardly underneath my photo, adding the tag, journaling spot, ticket along with a couple of leaf embellishments. The title was drawn in paint, then cut and glued directly to the picture. BAM! I love it!

Sweet Taste of Serendipity

Friday marks the start of The Sweet Taste of Serendipity online crop, a virtual crop with challenges and throw-downs inspired by The Food Network and our favorite food celebrities. As Rachel Ray would say...YUMMO! The fun and games, challenges and blue light specials will continue throughout the weekend. I wonder who will be crowned the next Top Chef?!

Typical Tuesday

This is what I do on Tuesdays. Along with a number of other moms whose son(s) attend(ed) Jesuit High School, I paint yard signs that are sold to the students/parents/grandparents of the school. The bluejay mascot is called "Jayson", and he comes in many different outfits/poses...band, cross country and track, wrestling, football, lacrosse, swimming, baseball, ROTC, golf, soccer, rugby, or diploma in hand wearing a graduation cap. It's a relaxing way to spend the day, and a great way to keep up with school gossip! :)

While I contemplated getting a cross-country Jayson for Christopher, I decided to go with the "all-purpose" pose instead.

Cute little fellow!

Map Envelopes

Make your own Map Envelope! Isn't this cool?! You enter an address or location and Google Maps finds it for you and inserts the image into an envelope template. Just print, cut out, and glue your custom envelope.



For this envelope, I didn't even need an address. I typed in Cafe Du Monde, New Orleans and there it was...making me hungry! The only thing cooler would be the capability to zoom in closer and smell the beignets. Oh well...technology has to catch up to my ideas! ;)

Best Biscotti

Ever since discovering this recipe for almond biscotti, I can't let a week (or half a week) go by without whipping up a batch. It is easy, uses ingredients that I have on hand, and doesn't break your teeth when you bite into them the next day. It makes a fair amount but disappears rather quickly in this house. Although I can't imagine a better taste, I might try dipping them in chocolate the next time I bake a batch.



Here is the recipe from Under A Blue Moon:

Almond Biscotti

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar + 1 Tbsp.
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped almonds
Milk (to brush over the top)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees farenheit.

Cream the butter and 1 cup of sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs slowly and mix well. Add the extracts.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in separate bowl (tip: use a whisk to combine).

Add flour mixture slowly to the butter/sugar mixture until combined. The dough will be sticky. Add the chopped almonds.

Using a spatula, spread the dough onto a baking pan that has been lined with either a Sil-Pat or a piece of greased foil. You can either make two narrower rectangles or one wider one. Once you have the general shape, wet your hands and smooth down the dough.

Brush with milk and sprinkle the reserved tablespoon of sugar over the top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and slide the Sil-Pat or foil, with the biscotti on it, onto a cooling rack. Turn the oven down to 300 degrees farenheit.

Cut biscotti into 1/2" wide strips and return, cut side down, to the baking pan (no Sil-Pat or foil needed at this stage). Bake for 10 minutes then flip over and bake for another 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool on the cookie sheet. Enjoy!

HOS Week 3

The House of Serendipity Week 3 challenge presented participants with a choice of two sketches on which to base their page. I chose the one below...



...and scrapped a photo of Brendan and his friends, gathered for a picture before one of his last Brother Martin dances.



Homecoming maybe? I'll have to ask him. (I don't even remember the name of the girl!) But his buds are Michael (with their friend Mia) and Josh (with girlfriend Sara). Wow...I know everyone but the girl that my son is taking to the dance!

POTD Puttered Out

I didn't even make it a month. Life just gets in the way of taking pictures sometimes! But that first week of photos made it onto a scrapbook page giving a glimpse into the first 7 days of the New Year:



This was also my House of Serendipity Week 2 Challenge entry. I chose the color red and worked it into parts of my page, namely the photo mats. Gathering the hodge-podge of lettering for the P, O, T, and D reminded me of how much fun it is to create these mixed up titles. They add so much interest to a page, especially when the title is so short.