Mosaic Art

 

• Decide on a picture ahead of time, create on the spot, or have an abstract picture.
• Use scraps of construction paper, tear construction paper pieces into all shapes and sizes, or cut even pieces.
• Pour glue over area, smear glue with finger, or paint glue on with a brush.
• Take a straw and suck air in order to pick up pieces of the paper and then "let go" over glue on picture.
• The straw adds a little more excitement and is a great oral motor activity.
• Finger paint blue sky for balloon picture and cotton ball dab white paint for clouds.

Dinner for Six

Variation of Raspberry Rickey

Muddled Raspberries

Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice

Sliced Nectarines

Vodka

St. Germaine

Club Soda

-A little odd the night of but amazing the next day when the fruit tastes fused together, perhaps a good recipe to make ahead when short on time.

Onion, Thyme, & Goat Cheese Tart

Butter

Onions

Garlic

Thyme

Puff Pastry

Goat Cheese

Salt

Pepper

The tarts were a big hit and were easy to make.

Coffee-Braised Pot Roast w/ Caramelized Onions

Beef

Onions

Salt

Pepper

Thyme

Garlic

Coffee

Balsamic Vinegar

I went a little onion crazy without realizing it until I started cooking.  There were also string beans paired with this meal.  Another item would have been a welcomed addition to the menu.  Dessert was ice cream with Milano cookies and hot fudge.  

L'Oiseau

Another dinner party. Another napkin fold.  This is my 2nd napkin fold that I have learned this year.  Two down, three more to go, that much closer to achieving one of my New Year's goals.  This particular napkin fold was named by some as the Bishop's Hat but I decided that was no name for a folded piece of art on the table so I have renamed it L'Oiseau meaning bird in French.  The top point of the napkin array which is folded over made me think of bird's beak.  It is supposed to be standing straight up, which does then make it look more like a bishop's hat. 

My color theme was red and yellow.  This should not come as a huge surprise because when you combine the two you get... orange!

The back of the napkin fold also looks nice.  It makes me want to put something in the middle.  And of course if we used the back of the fold as the front, we would have to come up with a new name.  The folds have a palm tree-esque feeling. 

The Beauty of a Hairstyle

My husband always appreciated when girls were skilled in arranging their hair in various styles.  Well I have been experimenting and as a result have learned a few new hairstyles in the past three years. 

As I was looking through a magazine with one of my kiddos at work (we were making a collage), I came across the above advertisement and fell in love with her hair.  I recently taught myself to do the height on the top of my head. I have yet to master how to make such a thick side swoop and make it stay, and I would prefer the collection of hair in the back to be lower.  However, when I do give myself the height, the only way I can cover up the bobby pins is by pinning the rest of the hair high up.  I will need to play a little.  Once it is mastered, the next romantic dinner out with the husband or the next ball, which ever comes first, this will be my coiffure. 

A Word About Love

Love does not grow or become grand suddenly or appear on its own, but demands time and constant nurturing.

A Word About Love

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna



The Beauty of Lemon

Lemon freshens the air and the mood.  Placing a used lemon slice or rind into the sink disposal adds a crisp lemon scent into the room. 

-Tips from Bottom Line's Household Magic

The Beauty of Oil & Vinegar

Today's dinner was inspired by the following:

Fig Wine Chicken:
1. Chicken Breast
2. Shallots
3. Burgundy Wine
4. Fig Balsamic Vinegar
5. Olive Oil
6. Salt
7. Pepper

Potato Carrot Medley:
1. Carrots
2. Shallots
3. Yams
4. Sweet Potatoes
5. Red Potatoes
6. Rosemary Olive Oil
7. Salt
8. Pepper

Cucumber & Tomato Salad

The Beauty of a Gift

Thankfully, the airport these days has enough different kinds of stores that one could find various arts and craft supplies if needed.  Well I needed and found some nice masking tape, colored paper, a glue stick and a marker.  Challenge of the project was... NO SCISSORS. Challenge overcome!

The gift was for my husband, a living social deal for bartending classes.  His dream is to someday have a fashionable, fully stocked bar in our home.  When that day does occur we will have an educated bartender.

The Beauty of Moisturizer

I was sitting next to my cousin on the couch during a little girl talk session.  She had on a nice skirt that ended a little above the knee.  There were three of us on this two seater couch, so we were a little close.  While I was gesticulating during my boisterous speech I was all of a sudden dumbstruck when my hand fell on her knee.  It was the smoothest, softest skin! As I exclaimed my awe she told me that as a teenager she read that French girls applied moisturizer after every shower while the skin was still wet.  Since she was 17 years old she has followed this ritual and BOY has it payed off!

I'm not 17 but there is always hope.  What would life be without hope? So, I haven't missed a shower without post moisturization in two weeks now.  However, I'm adding an extra step with various exfoliants duing the shower.  Here are some of the products I've been trialing:

So far my favorite are the First Pressed Olive Oil and the Johnson's Baby Oil.

Pascha Preparations - Egg Dying

Egg dying was a time for my sister and I to get creative.  Every year we would try to think of a new medium to use and new patterns or ideas to draw.  This year I attempted embossing on eggs for a second time.  The first time didn't really count because I didn't have the right sized stamps.  This year I did have the right sized stamps but it was probably my last time embossing eggs.  It takes too long and as I usually dye eggs on Saturday afternoon before Pascha, fatigue is at a high.  I do however like the brush markers on stamps.  However, this year I was already tired from the embossing and the failed attempts that I didn't really try with the stamping.  I foresee next year as being a good year for egg dying and stamping. 

Pascha Preparations - Kulich

As in many households, kulich making is a female tradition.  Although I do remember my brother helping when I was very little, more to lick dough off his hands. But that was long ago.  For many years my sister and I helped my mother. Then the three of us did it together, and slowly it gravitated to my sister and I doing it.  Eventually my sister met the love of her life, got married and moved away.  Life shifted and my mother and I made kulichi together.  Well life shifted yet again when I met the love of my life, moved away and now I make the kulichi myself.  This is my second Easter as a married woman and I would like to commend my husband for making kulichi with me last year.  However, this year I realized that he had a lot on his plate being the choir conductor and a student, so I decided since I've had so many years of practice I could do it all on my own.  Although my dough did not rise as much as I would have liked, this year was a success.  And really, the dough didn't rise all the way because I have yet to nurture the virtue of patience.  Had I given it more time I'm sure the dough would have grown exponentially.  The first round rose wonderfully. I skipped the second rising.

My mother always put the paste on the napkin for the kulich. That was one part I was never allowed to do.  Last year was my first Pascha away from home and I forgot to put the sprinkles on the edge.  I cried when I realized it was too late.  You may think that is a little excessive over sprinkles, but tradition is important.  Tradition is what makes life feel a little more meaningful at times.  My husband told me it was okay because he didn't like sprinkles anyway.  This year I remembered.  I think he likes sprinkles this year.  Only my mother always did a thicker and thinner line.  My sister this year lined her edges with tiny flowers.  I think next year I may try both.

The selecting of flowers and a color scheme for the top of each kulich was always exciting. Although I tend to gravitate to orange and yellows; some odd kick I've been on since I got engaged.  The moment I was proposed to it was like a pregnant woman with a craving. Only instead of food, I craved a color. My whole life had to be orange.  I apologize to my bridesmaids for having to wear orange dresses.  I did love the color though and it looked great in photos. So anyways, my kulichi are now feeling the residual trickle from my orange craze.