DOTTY DIVAS

Woo Hoo I have been selected to join the dottydivas DT ,jumping up and down here. This challenge blog will use Ads to jump start your creativity, its not just about layouts, but cards and OTP too. My first challenge is due soon so I hope you pop along and play too.

I won

Last month I won the DT choice over at outofthehat , so this month I am the scrapper in the spot light. This month the challenge was to do a monocramatic layout, with felt and a haberdashery item, here is my entry.

OOOO I am lovin using my glimmermist on chipboard.

Till next time

happy scrapping book

Watermelon Nectar with Lime Salt

Tyler Florence has so many great recipes for mixed drinks. In his new cookbook, Dinner at My Place, he has a whole chapter devoted to them. This recipe for watermelon nectar with lime salt caught my eye when I first received the book. It looks like the perfect mixed drink for summer, doesn't it?

Well, I finally found a small seedless watermelon at the grocery store. All I needed was the white tequila. Since we live in a dry county, I hardly ever get to the liquor store. I decided that I really needed a drink, so I piled the kids into the mini van and we went for a drive. I went through the drive-thru at the liquor store and bought some Jose Cuervo. The best part of it all was that my kids thought it was McDonald's or something. My two-year old was in the back seat screaming for french fries and my eight-year old was asking "Hey, where's my drink?". The guys inside the store were cracking up and I was too!! The whole thing just made my day.

Lime Salt:

2 tablespoons sea salt

zest of 1 lime

Drink:

1 small seedless watermelon

4 ounces white tequila *I bought Jose Cuervo*

2 ounces Simple Syrup

Splash of lime juice

1 lime, cut into wedges, for garnish

To prepare Lime Salt, using a mortar and pestle, combine salt and lime zest until the salt tkes on a bright green color. Set aside.

To prepare watermelon nectar, cut up watermelon flesh and place in a strainer lined with a clean kitchen towel over a bowl. Gather the corners of the towel and squeeze tightly to extract watermelon nectar. Measure 8 ounces; reserve remaining nectar for another use. Combine watermelon nectar, tequila, Simple Syrup, and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and pour drink through a strainer over ice in glasses. Garnish with lime wedges and Lime Salt.

Simple Syrup- combine 1 part water and 1 part sugar in a saucepan. Bring to boiling over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved(syrup is done when the mixture is clear and the surface is covered in bubbles). Remove from heat; cool in refrigerator until ready to use.

Serves 2-4

Time 8 minutes

Notes: You only need about 1/4 of a small seedless watermelon to get 8 ounces of nectar/juice.

I forgot to make the simple syrup ahead of time and then had to chill it in the freezer to try and rapidly cool it down. Next time, I would make the simple syrup well ahead of time. I only used 2 ounces of tequila to 8 ounces of watermelon nectar and 2 ounces of simple syrup. The drink was still REALLY STRONG. I can't imagine how strong the drink would be if you were to add the 4 ounces of white tequila that Tyler calls for in the recipe. The drink is beautiful, refreshing, and crisp. If you enjoy a strong drink, make this one!! Or, try it without the tequila. I think that would be great too!!

I am submitting this post to Tyler Florence Fridays. Click here to check out what everyone else is making this week.

exciting news

I have been chosen to be on the RW lazer cuts DT, am jumping up and down with excitment here.
Here is the link ill be back shortly with a new blinkie, they have such fun stuff not only chipboard but felt and acylic too, cant wait to get started.

With sadness....

After 12 months on the DT at Scraploot my time has come to an end, I have grown so much and tried out so many new techniques and ideas I am so grateful to Sue, Anthea and Sheree for the opportunity to be apart of their team.

Thanks girls

last weekend we went to Adam's 1st birthday, Addison surprised me by sitting still long enough to have his first face painting, how cute.
Larsen is finally sitting up, took a while but he can sit for about 20 mins now without grumbling, be back soon with some scrapbooking

Oreos N Cream Cake

Awhile back, I made the oreo chocolate chip cookies from Donna's site, My Tasty Treasures. Those cookies were absolutely delicious and we gobbled them up right away. My husband took some to work and everyone loved them. My mom took hers to work and had to share with everyone. Now it's 1 month later and imagine my surprise to find almost an entire package of oreos leftover in my pantry!! That never happens. I hid them so well..... I even hid them from myself : ) I wanted to make something else with them and I remembered that Donna had also made and posted this oreos n cream cake. Here is link for Donna's post on oreos n cream cake. If you are not familiar with Donna's blog, My Tasty Treasures, then you should head over there right now!! Donna has so many great recipes and she serves them up in a naughty, fun, adventurous way that will make you laugh!!

This cake was a huge hit. The whole family was on standby waiting for it to be finished. My daughter kept coming in from her friend's house to check and see if it was finished. The cake consists of two 9" chocolate cakes that are cut in half horizontally. There is a cream cheese filling that is spread between the layers. When the cake is assembled, it is covered in sweetened whipped cream, coated in oreo cookie crumbs and decorated with oreo cookies. (Donna's post shows the recipe step by step) The cake is suppose to sit in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before slicing and serving. I don't think we waited the full 20 minutes: ) It was really delicious!! My husband said it was something that could be served in a restaurant. We all went on and on praising the cake. It was the perfect indulgence for my super sweet tooth that I've been having. I will say that the cake is even better the next day after sitting in the refrigerator overnight. The presentation is also better the next day. You can get a very clean nice slice.

If you love all things chocolate you should make this cake!! It was really impressive and the whole family enjoyed it. The recipe can be found on Donna's post, link posted above. Thank you Donna for sharing the recipe!!

On another note, I haven't been doing a lot of cooking or baking lately. Last fall I got a job at LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics. I worked there at Christmas and just started back up last week. If you are not familiar with them, you should check out this site. All of the products are natural, great for the environment and handmade in Canada. There are so many great products, such as solid shampoo bars, bath bombs, bubble bars, shower jellies, massage bars, handmade soaps and face masks. In fact, I will be having a giveaway coming up soon!!

I have also spent a lot of time glued to my TV set watching all the specials on Michael Jackson. I realize there are many people who are tired of hearing about him and I can understand that. However, I'm not one of those people. Michael reminds me of so many great memories, but mostly of my childhood.

In 1982, for Christmas, my parents bought me a cassette player and Michael Jackson's Thriller cassette. I opened it up on Christmas Eve and was instantly in love. I played it over and over again. My grandpa and my parents even enjoyed it. Michael was the beginning of my love for music.

Later on that year, the small town newspaper issued a free color poster of Michael Jackson in the newspaper. My girlfriends and I hung our first poster in our bedrooms that year. Thinking of this now makes me realize that Michael really did break the color-barriers in the early 1980's. It certainly wasn't common for 4 little white girls, living in small-town Ohio, to have a poster of a young black man hanging on their wall. But, he was Michael Jackson, and everyone loved him. We kissed his poster every night before we went to bed.

Michael Jackson was really starting to catch on that year. My third grade class had an entire day devoted to Michael. We got to watch the "Making of the Thriller video" and then we watched the actual video over and over again. Everyone spent the day doing the moonwalk and trying to dance like Michael. In fact, we still laugh about our art teacher trying to do the moonwalk. That year in school we wore our Thriller shirts, carried our Thriller purses, wore a white glove and tried to dance like Michael.

In 1983, I turned eight years old, and for some reason I will always remember that year. I was turning into a big girl, riding my bike, decorating my own room, listening to my own music, and gaining my independence. Michael Jackson will always be a part of my childhood and I'm thankful for that. It was a privilege to grow up with his music and his legacy. I will remember him through the eyes of a child forever.

Dr. Tyler's Chicken Meatball and Tortellini Soup

I could use a comforting bowl of this soup right now. I have been having so many issues with my computer lately. Is anyone else getting the error message "operation aborted"? It seems that I can't visit some of my favorite blogs. This makes me frustrated for so many reasons!! This morning I wanted to make Donna's Oreo Cake, but I can't get onto her blog!! I love seeing what everyone is making and I want to stay updated with your blogs. Can anyone let me know if they have a fix to this? Or, are there people out there going crazy, just like me? If so, I'd like to offer you a bowl of this soup.

I chose to make this soup simply because I am working on cleaning out my freezer and pantry. I had these sweet little heart shaped ravioli in my freezer. Naturally, I was saving them for a "special occasion". Apparently, I never found the right "special occasion". I decided that anything using a Tyler recipe was special enough and I dug them out for this recipe. Why, oh, why do I always save things for a "special" occasion?

This soup was a little on the labor intensive side. Tyler give you the option of using 4 links of apple-chicken sausage or using the equivalent in ground chicken. I can tell you that you should totally opt for the ground chicken! The sausage I bought was hard to remove from the casing and was not soft or easy to crumble and mold into a meatball. Once my meatballs were formed, it dawned on me that I was very nevous about making meatballs with poultry. Because I am a very paranoid person, I was sure to overcook them. The rest of the soup was very easy to throw together. I thought the final outcome was very tasty and I thought the chicken meatball was a very original idea. The soup was adorable with those little heart shaped raviolis floating around. I like the light apple flavor of the soup and the meatball gave a wonderful flavor to the broth. I think the novelty of it all was lost on my husband. He liked the soup, but declared that the meatballs in the soup didn't count as meat. Does anyone else have a husband who has to have a huge amount of meat at every meal? It literally drives me crazy. Can you tell I'm in a wonderful mood today?

Chicken Meatballs

4 links organic chicken-apple sausage or equivalent ground chicken meat

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (2 slices fresh white bread ground up)

1/2 cup whole milk

1 egg

2 tbsp. chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano, plus 2 tbsp. for sprinkling

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Soup

EVOO

3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

4 fresh thyme sprigs

2 large carrots, cut into circles

1 medium onion, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

kosher salt

2 quarts reduced-sodium chicken broth

4 black peppercorns

2 tbsps. chopped fresh italian flat-leaf parsley

1 bay leaf

1 pound fresh refrigerated or frozen cheese tortellini, thawed **I used ravioli**

1/4 cup finely chopped italian flat-leaf parsley

grated parmigiano

fresh parlsey sprigs, for garnish

1 crusty French baguette **I served this with my pretzel rolls**

Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare meatballs by combining loose ground chicken meat (discard casings, if using sausages), bread crumbs, milk, egg, parsley, and the 1/4 cup parmigiano in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then mix until fully combined. Using a small ice cream scoop, make balls and set on a roasting tray. Drizzle lightly with oil and sprinkle with the 2 tbsps. Parmigiano. Roast in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and caramelized.

While the meatballs are roasting, prepare the soup. Set a large stockpot over medium heat. Add a 2-count of oil, the garlic, and thyme. Gently saute until frgrant, about 2 minutes. Add carrot, onion, and celery. Season with salt and cook for 5-7 minutes. Pour in chicken broth and add peppercorns, the 2 tbsps. parsley, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.

Once meatballs are cooked, scrape them into the pot of chicken soup and add tortellini/ravioli. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes to allow the flavors to come together. Remove peppercorns and bay leaf. Season with sal tand pepper and serve in shallow bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and grated parmigiano. Garnish each bowl with a parsley sprig and serve with some torn pieces of crusty bread/pretzel rolls.

I am submitting this recipe to Tyler Florence Fridays for this Friday's roundup. Head on over there Friday evening and see what everyone else cooked up this week!!