Ground Hog Day ~ Winter Storm ~ Cards

Hi there everyone! Hope you made it through the winter storm.....wonder if Mr. Ground Hog saw this one coming. Well, I heard he saw his shadow, so does that mean we have 6 more weeks of winter or does it mean an early Spring....I don't know, guess we will have to take what comes down the pipe...right???

So following are some cards I made at Betty's last week....yeah I know, a little late in showing these off. 2 Valentine cards, 1 Birthday and 1 Sympathy card.

I really like this sympathy card....very pretty and easy to put together.

We inked the stamp with a new ink pen...I like how vibrant the colors are and what is really exciting is that we did not have to "Huff and Puff" on the stamp in order for it to ink the card stock.

This Valentine card was easy too. Betty usually has all the pieces to make the card in an envelope....she did most of the work. We just had to glue it, stamp it and piece it together.

This Birthday card, Betty stamped the cabin and trees and we colored in the image with copic markers. then we speckled it. She already had the embossed tree and hole cut out. We inked it with distress ink. Banner was a die cut and we stamped the Birthday on it.....simple, simple.

This card was more intricate....Betty stamped the dog and little girl on the scalloped circle and we colored them in with copic markers. Layered the papers then added the heart which was already stamped.

Tonight I made a Banana/strawberry, Chocolate pudding and graham cracker dessert. Maybe in about an hour or so, we will have a piece. Also made some cookies for Kylie, Banana, peanut butter and powdered oat meal mixed together, cut in squares and baked. She loves them, wags her tail as we give them to her.

UPDATE: On the Banana/Strawberry Chocolate Pudding & Graham Cracker Dessert. IT WAS FABULOUS!!!  And yes, I am yelling it was SOOOOOO good. I found it on Facebook. I will look for the recipe and link it to my next post (if I remember).

JP started work at 3:00 today and was home early, about 9pm. So we had dinner together. (which only happens on the weekends). It's only 11pm, seems weird, my evening is mucked up. Not used to this.

Well, time to close here and go downstairs for some card making. Been playing with my Flamingo and pineapple stamps. You have a good evening and keep looking up....better days are coming.
Cheers~Louise

Some Hospice Cards

Hi there everyone, how is your day going? Needless to say, this is kind of a lazy day for me. Just not feeling like doing anything special. Oh, I had a plan....like work on taxes today, but nope, not in the mood, actually not in the mood to do anything. So, here I am showing off some of the cards I made for my Hospice meeting yesterday. I put together 63 cards of various kinds. These were the highlights of my card collection to Hospice.

Here are a few Thinking of You cards....don't they just remind you of a bit of Spring. I picked up these two stamps at Micheal's for $1 a piece last week and this is the end result. Love those pink FLAMINGO'S Pelicans and the Pineapple is fun too. Makes for a nice colorful card. I think I shall work on some more cards with Pineapples and Pelicans Flamingo's for our next meeting, just cause, I like the way they look.

So in this next picture is my Tim Holtz stamp, a cupcake and candle......I think this shall be my go-to card when an unexpected birthday comes up and I need a card....quick!!!

             Here are my pelicans Flamingo's again, saying Thank You.....

In this picture is a winter card.....someone else made it and I just put the background on purple card stock and added the "Thank You so Much." I took the picture because I want to remember to make this for my next batch of cards.....very simple, snow flake embossing folder and a die-cut snowflake....I like the white on white effect, very eye catching.

In my next blog post I will show you the cards I made at Betty's house last week....yeah, I am a bit behind the 8 ball in posting on my blog, guess I am just taking a few blog breaks here and there.

Well, this will be a short one today, need to get dressed and take Kylie out for her walk today. It's our daily exercise together. It's not too cold out and the sidewalks are clear, until the next storm that is coming on Tuesday. At least the storms will be less and less cause SPRING is just about around the corner!!! Feels a little bet springy out there today.

Tonight's dinner will be roast beef in the 500 degree oven and baked potatoes, salad and beans. That will be it for me today. I need to shake off a few lbs. in the next few week......just cause.

You all have a great evening and keep looking up....better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louse

Garlic ~ Garlic ~ Garlic

Hi there everyone.....guess I have been "missing in action" again. I have noticed that a lot of blog friends have also taken time off from their blogs....guess we are all busy with life.

I have been doing pretty much the same thing every day. Cooking, dishes, making cards, computer stuff, working on income tax, staying warm, walking Kylie, shopping, Doctor appointments, etc. Oh, then there is sleeping and day dreaming about spring....yeah, I will be glad when this snow is gone. I have been feeling much better compared to last year this time....not suffering from hernia problems, looking back, I can see that all my sickness was related to the hernia.

In the following pictures are some "cooking techniques" I learned. How I have always struggled with garlic....peeling, breaking a part and peeling again. Well, my world has changed. Take a whole garlic clove and place it in a container or jar and SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE!!!!! I forget where I learned this, might have been on Facebook.

And wa-la......your cloves have broken up and broken apart from each other, so much so, that the paper thin skins actually come off. This a picture of the cloves at the bottom of the container.

In this picture below, you can see how the clove broke apart....so ingenious, don't know why I never thought of this. Blue Apron always sends a whole clove of garlic in their boxes, even if the recipe calls for 3-6 cloves, you get one whole clove. So needless to say, I have lots of garlic in the refrigerator. AND I use lots of garlic in my meals. Also, added to my cooking utensils, is a new garlic press that minces and slices....paid $20 for it, but it sure works beautifully and will probably last the rest of my life..

In this picture is one of my Blue Apron recipes this past week. This was so yummy. "White Pizza with Baked Eggs and Arugula-Brussels Sprout Salad." The white sauce is 1/2 cup ricotta cheese, lemon zest, and the juice of 2 lemon wedges, a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper mixed together and spread on the pizza. The pizza was then topped with onions, sliced garlic and mozzarella. Bake the pizza for 10 minutes then add the eggs, bake till the eggs are done the pull out the pizza and add your salad and Brussel sprouts that were drizzled with lemon wedges, oil and salt and pepper. Yep, this was a 5 star pizza.

In this picture was our Sunday Dinner. "Roast Pork with Sauteed Spinach and Olive Smashed Potatoes." The pork was salt and peppered and browned on all sides then put in the oven for 20 minutes. The temp inside must be 145 degrees to be done. Potatoes were cooked then mashed, olives, sour cream and half the garlic chives and juice of 2 lemon wedges were added. The spinach was cooked in the pan that the pork was cooked in till wilted and the lemon zest added. Yep, another 5 star meal.

The third meal was "Chicken Meatballs and Creamy Polenta with Tomato Sugo & Lacinato Kale." Love the polenta which is just "corn meal" added to boiling water, add some butter, salt and pepper to taste. I have at times added minced garlic and Parmesan cheese for an extra touch. The meat balls were made with breadcrumbs, spice, half the Parmesan cheese and garlic. Mix together then fried till brown. The kale and rest of the garlic was added and cooked down. Tomatoes added and salt and pepper added. (I do watch the salt and pepper and do not add as much as the recipe calls for), So the meatballs, kale and tomatoes are added on top of the polenta and topped with Parmesan cheese. Yep, another 5 star recipe.

I have been busy making cards....in my next post, I will put some cards up that I have been working on. My Hospice meeting is this Friday, so I have been busy making Valentine and St. Patrick cards along with Birthday, Thank You and Thinking of you cards.

I found a few cute stamps at Michael's...a flamingo and a pineapple.....so yeah, I will take pictures of those cards for sure, they turned out really cute.

Well, I guess I will close here for now, I need to get downstairs and make a few more cards to finish up the Hospice cards for Friday's meeting.

Have a great day and keep looking up...Cheers ~ Louise

Angel Lush Dessert

Here is a picture of the wonderful "Angel Lush" dessert I made for the Pot Blessing at church....
MMMMMMM........feast your eyes...such a fancy looking dessert fit for a King and Queen!!! I am thinking there aren't alot of calories either, so you can eat all you want.....hahahaha!!!! The recipe is following the second picture. So be sure to try it sometime, you will be amazed at how easy it is to make and also amazed that you can make such a beautiful cake that everyone will enjoy!!!!! This dessert is, and will be #1 on my list of desserts to make for party's, pot blessings and whatever comes up.

ANGEL LUSH with Pineapple

1 can (20 oz.) DOLE Crushed Pineapple, undrained
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Wipped Topping
1 pkg. (10 oz.) round angel food cake, cut into 3 layers.
Seasonal Berries, (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, rasberries)

MIX pineapple and dry pudding mix in a medium bowl. Gently stir in whipped topping.

STACK cake layers on plate, spreading pudding mixture between layers and on top of cake.
REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until ready to serve. Garnish with your favorite seasonal berries.

Serves 10 and takes 15 minutes to prep.

There you have it a wonderful dessert in minutes.

Enjoy and have a great day ~ Louise