I have an addiction I'd like to address...

Yes, it's true. I have an addiction-broccoli. I'm not just talkin about any ol' broccoli either. I'm talking about roasted broccoli. Yes, I said roasted. I know you probably think I'm crazy but you have to try it before you write me off on this one. I love this broccoli so much that if I had time to paint all of the things I love, a picture of roasted broccoli would be on the top of that list. Now let me tell you having a love addiction to broccoli has it's advantages and it's disadvantages. First off it's a low calorie snack-or if you're like me a low calorie meal. Secondly, it's so easy to make. It taste absolutely wonderful and your kids will love it. The down fall; well it will probably give you gas. :)

Fiber is good for the soul though so eat up!!

Let me share this recipe I use and then make a batch of your own and tell me how it turned out!

Here's what ya need:

Broccoli

olive oil

minced garlic

salt and pepper

lemon juice

fresh or grated parmesan cheese

First off preheat the oven to 450

Cut up a crown or two (or four! ) into medium size florets

I like to then grab a plastic grocery bag and toss the broccoli with 2 tbls of olive oil and a tablespoon or so of minced garlic.

lay the broccoli out on a cookie sheet and add (sea) salt and pepper to your liking

roast in the oven for 20-25 min. Set the timer-timing is important!

pull out of the oven and sprinkle with lemon juice and grated parmesan cheese. Fresh cheese is good but the dry parmesan is just as good. If you use fresh parmesan cheese set it back in the oven for 1-2 min so the cheese melts on top of the broccoli.

Timing is the key here! You want your broccoli to be crunch on the ends but soft all the way through the stalk. If you leave it in for too long you will burn it. I usually start watching it about 20 min in and sometime I've left it in for up to 30 min depending on how much broccoli I've used.

I promise you if you don't love broccoli after this, well you can slap me 50 times with a wet paint brush!

Painting my first pieces in the studio

Last night was the first night in my studio and I came home in tears. I have the place set up so it's "baby friendly", but the baby wasn't being "studio friendly" last night. She screamed the entire time. I get it-she's out of her element, but somehow she had me convinced that this wasn't going to work out, and that being an Artist with a studio wouldn't fit into my busy life that already includes being a wife, a mother to three, and a daycare provider. I told my husband it was a wast of time and I was crazy to think I could do everything I'm doing. Thankfully he nipped that negativity in the bud and made me go back up there tonight with out the baby.

I need my painting time just like some people need their chocolate or cigarettes. If I go to long with out it I start having withdraws-I get cranky and I don't feel like myself. I need to express myself on my canvas, even if I feel like what comes out isn't that great, it needed to get out so I can make room for something greater down the road. Funny how that works :)

So here's what I came up with tonight. I rather like this studio time after all!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland!!

"Winter Wonderland" 2010 Ink


The snow is about to hit as we await anxiously our first winter snow of the season. I honestly can't wait to see it so I can get out there and get some of those fantastic snow pictures. It was after all one of my best snow pictures of last year that prompted me to paint my "Snow Tracks In Kansas" painting that was purchased by the Mayor of Topeka at the Southwind Gallery Kansas 150th show. I'm really hoping to get some more like that, of some different scenery though something that I can paint fresh, everything has potential, especially with snow.



Even in winter an isolated patch of snow has a special quality.
Andy Goldsworthy

"Snow Tracks in Kansas" 2011
Kansas 150th at Southwind Gallery

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse....

~Christmas Mice Cookies~

My favorite holiday cookies have always been the Oreo Christmas Mice that I started making about 10 years ago. I have no idea where I got the idea, (I would gladly give credit where credit is due) but they are always a hit no matter where I take them.

These cute little things are so easy to make, much easier now since Oreo came out with a white chocolate covered cookie, before I used to have to dip the Oreo's in white chocolate myself. Here's a list of what you will need:

Oreo cookies dipped in white chocolate-make them yourself or buy at the store
Hershey Kisses (the head)
maraschino cherries with the stem (this will be the body and tail)
slivered almonds (the ears)
red frosting or writing gel
chocolate candy coating or melted semisweet chips
cupcake papers (optional)

First things first, open all the hershey kisses to have them ready, then drain and dry the cherries, if you skip these steps the wet cherries will have a hard time sticking to the chocolate, and as fast as the chocolate dries unwrapping the kisses after you dip the cherries might take too long.

You can do this one at a time or in a conveyor belt fashion-Dip the cherries in the melted chocolate candy coating and place it right away on the Oreo towards the back half, with the tail facing towards the back.

Next place a Hersheys kiss right in front of the chocolate covered cherry and tip the "nose" up just a little

Add two sliced almonds behind the kiss as ears, if your chocolate has dried dip the bottoms in leftover chocolate to use as a past to hold the ears in.

Finally all you have left to do is the eyes, using some red frosting, or red gel (beware of the gel it doesn't dry well), add two beady little eyes right above the nose, and your finished! I like to place these inside cupcake papers to give them their own little house :)



Get ready for the ohhh's and ahhhh's they are going to be a hit!

Today's Therapy-Chocolate!!!

So today we decided to make some Christmas candy. Oh yeah, you cant go wrong with that! Pretzel candies=Such an easy thing to do. It really is simple and hardly takes any time. You start off with Rolo's or Hershey Kisses, we used both and pretzels.
1st you unwrap the candy then stick it on top of the pretzels:
you then bake it for 3-5 minutes on 350, after it comes out of the oven top it with an m&m and your finished.

I stuck mine in the freezer for a few minutes to harden them up, the kids loved them and it literally took us less than 10 minutes to make!

Try them with white Hershey's for a different taste (with a cherry on top!)

Art from the Heart

If you have ever thought that art only comes from a brush and canvas let me show you something different. Today my daycare kids and I put together some home-made art, or Art from the Heart, we are on go mode for the holidays. So I got these really cute ideas from this site Pinterest. If you haven't heard of it you have to check it out, they have a really cool art section also. It's basically a place to "pin" all of the things your "interested" in, or things you want to try out on your own personal wall so you can refer back to them later, and then you can also check out your friends pins as well. Very useful let me tell you! Actually let me show you what we did! We made these cute little "Hand print snowmen ornaments." We first started out with painting the kids' hands: then I had the kids hold onto the ornament: and after they let it go, we let it dry and decorated it with eyes, nose, hats, scarves, etc.









They turned out really cute, put a ribbon on top and Ta-Da!

Pinterest Rules!