I Love Boxes

I don't know about you but I have had a love affair with boxes forever. That includes old suit cases. Small boxes always seem to carry a bit of mystery with them. Hmmm what can I do with this. At the last yard sale LW and I went to they through in a really cool and in perfect condition I might add Timex watch box. You know the heavy duty black box with the poof pillow lid?? Since it was free and I never turn down free treasures and in perfect condition I hauled it home with my other treasures.

Now I also have a large family of stuff bears I picked up for 3-4 dollars. The smallest are around 4 inches and the largest are nice good huggable size. One of the smallest ones is missing his left eye :c(
I thought I would put together a little just because gift for LW with the box and the bear.

I figured the poor guy must have lost his eye after all those years of being drug around by his heel. He has fur missing from his ears, back side, nose and little tuffs here and there. I'm thinking he's had some good kinda lovin in his little bear life :c)

I decoupaged the outside of the box and stuck on a few do dads. I used 8 of my 389 or so scrabble letters to spell out live - life. On the inside of the lid I printed out the little saying I have over on the right side of my blog. See it over there, it's under Road Directions It's always been one of my favorite reminders on the priorities in life. However I mantra says chocolate so I changed it to honey pot. Thinking a bear would rather have honey. I know I would if I were a bear. :c)

All in all I had a lot of fun making this little bear in a box for LW and I think he has taken a bit of a liking to it cuz it's taken up residency on his desk next to his coffee cup ;c)

I'm headed to bed with the new Somerset Holidays magazine. Oh so many wonderful ideas. Tomorrow I think we switch gears and cut a couple of jackets. Remember I'm the fool that agreed to pay for my antique tortilla table by making jackets and vest for Debbie to sell at her store!!!

Have a good evening or day Bloglandians friends depending on what part of the world you are in!! :c)

Nothing To Say and Getting No Where Fast

You got it!! I can't think of anything very interesting to talk about. I'm spinning my wheels at home. Can't seem to get any one project finished. You know those times when you just get going in a project only to have to quit to go somewhere or change gears :c{ When we first moved here, LW use to get frustrated when he couldn't get the things done on his to do lists. Perfectly normal for a newly retired type A engineer ;c} It was back then I told him I thought he needed to set the goal for each day to just get one thing done. (And if it didn't get done no worries just make it tomorrow's goal) Our new mantra has work perfectly. I haven't even been able to get that done and my level of frustration is getting up there. And to add to my frustration, I have all these great and creative ideas swimming around in my head waiting for a chance to get out :c}

So I have decided that the next 2 days are strictly stay at home and work on projects days!!! I'm not even going to put mascara on. That will guarantee me never leaving the house :c} Can you imagine the old people and young kids I would scare if they saw that site?? "Look Momma how come that lady doesn't have any eye lashes (or eye brows)"!!!!! Now we can't have that can we?? :c}

So my Bloglandian friends I'm off to do battle with my tools in one hand and a coke in the other. I'll check in with some pictures of my progress. Don't tell LW but his "one thing a day" goal for tomorrow is putting up the old bench soon to be a shelf in my little crafting corner ;c}

Have a good day or evening Bloglandians depending on what part of the world you are in. Yikes no pictures tonight, better see what I can do about that :c} Here are a few pictures of our friend Debbie's lodge and retreat in Coatepec Mexico. This is where we went on vacation last month. Her retreat is on an old coffee bean plantation in the cloud forests of the state of Veracruz.

Chiles En Nogada

Mazatlan is basically a tourist city. And for us the "Season" runs from the end October till the end of April. There are a lot of visitors mostly Mexican Nationals that will take their summer vacation here. So for many businesses they can be busy until Aug-Oct. Come August and people start to get real worried wondering if they can hold on till the first of November. The answer for many businesses especially restaurants is to close for a couple of months and head out on their own family vacations.

Our good friends Toni and Luci own a wonderful B&B along with a Awesome restaurant: "Te Amo Luci" (I Love Lucy just like the old TV show) they call it a Taquaria and More. Taquarias are little family own neighborhood restaurants that serve just basic Mexican food. Ah but Luci does nothing "just basic" Luci is a genius in the kitchen, she can make boiling water taste exquisite :c}. Well they decided that they would close for a couple of months to do some remodeling during the sloooow months.

For opening night Luci fixed her incredible Chiles en Nogadas. These are poblamo chiles stuff with anywhere from 10 - 40 ingredients, some are meats, apples, raisins, and on and on. Then they are covered in a delicious white sauce made with walnuts and served with fresh pomegranate seeds and cilantro. This dish legend says came from the city of Puebla in the state of Puebla. Which is about 30miles from Mexico City. The dish was created to honor the Mexican flag Red, White and Green. Traditionally it is served only in the fall and through the holidays. For many it's the traditional meal served on Independence day. When the announcement goes out that Luci is serving these the whole town turns out!! Reservations are always a good idea :c} Luci being a true Mexican cook (chef to me) has yet to ever run out of chiles so that's not the reason But there are only so many chairs and tables and NO BODY is willing to give up their seat :c}

There must be a bazillion different recipes, every one's family has their own and of course theirs is the best. I looked around and found this one. It should be fairly easy to follow if you would like to try and make them.

I'm off to read a bit more of my new Somerset Studio have a good day or evening my Bloglandian friends depending on what part of the world you are in :c}

Chiles En Nogada

Ingredients:
For the filling:
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 Tablespoons lard or vegetable oil
1 medium apple, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 medium pear, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 ounces blanched almonds, slivered
2 ounces raisins, soaked until soft, then drained
1 stick cinnamon
salt and pepper to tasteFor the chiles:
8 large poblano chiles, prepared for stuffing (See Note)
4 eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
Oil for fryingFor the sauce:
1 quart unsweetened heavy cream
4 ounces walnut meat, soaked in milk, drained and choppedFor the garnish:
2 pomegranates, peeled and separated into seeds
4 sprigs parsley, leaves only, chopped fine Preparation:
After preparing chiles as described in the note below, pat them dry and set them aside while you make the filling. The batter will not adhere to them properly if the chiles are not dry.
Melt the lard or oil in a large skillet; saute beef, pork, garlic, onion, apple, pear, almonds, raisins and cinnamon stick until the meat has lost its pink color. Remove the cinnamon stick, add salt and pepper to taste and allow the filling to cool to room temperature. When cool, fill the chiles, dividing the mixture evenly.
You will have fluffier and more uniform coating if you make the egg batter and fry the chiles in two batches. Beat two of the egg whites al punto de turron - that is, until they stand up in peaks, stiff but not dry. Lightly beat two yolks and half the salt together; fold them gently into the beaten egg whites. Dip each of four filled chiles into the mixture, turning them gently to coat evenly. Place each one immediately into a large skillet with hot oil. Fry them until golden on the bottom side (lift gently with a spatula to check) then turn and fry on the other side. Repeat this process with the rest of the chiles and the other two eggs. Remove and drain on paper towels before placing on serving dish.
Put the cream and the walnuts in a blender or food processor and puree untill smooth. Pour over the chiles, and decorate with pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley.
NOTE: The chiles are prepared for stuffing by roasting over a gas flame or under a broiler until charred all over. They are then placed in a plastic bag for 10-15 minutes. Peel by rubbing them gently, using rubber gloves, under a stream of running water. (Stems are not removed, but can be trimmed beforehand if very long.) After the chiles have been roasted and cleaned, make a lengthwise slit up one side of each and carefully remove the seed sac and any loose seeds. Avoid over-handling the chiles.

Today Is My Birthday :c}

Yep it certainly is. Eunice Ross's first born entered the world 53 years ago!! So to celebrate today, LW and Mike (a friend visiting) and I are headed to some of the most quiet & relaxed beaches anywhere :c} I'm looking forward to stuffing myself with peal and eat shrimp and awesome shrimp ceviche. Will write more and have pictures later :c}

Have a good day or evening dear Bloglandians depending on what part of the world you live in. :c}

Birthday Present Finished....Finally

I'm sure you have all had those simple little projects that just seem to morph into giant productions before you are finished. Yes?? :c} It was only going to take a couple of evening to put together Helena's 'Name Tags" Ha well you know how it goes. A little of this a bit of that "oh I wonder what would happen if.." "Eeeuuu that is not what I was going for" So a couple of night turned into a bit more. But I do have to say I really like the way it turned out :c} Helena seemed to be very pleased also. Well I think so, she said she was going to hang it in her room, instead of the laundry room :c} Which would be okay in some circumstances but here our laundry rooms are out side, usually with only a protective shelf over the washer and drier.

If you can kinda remember each tag was a letter in HELENA's name. Then I made each tag portray an item that's name began with the letter. With the catch that the word had to be in Spanish. I'm mean how rude to use English on a gift for one of my dearest Mexican friends!! Somethings I came up with started with the same first letter in either language.

On the back side of each tag I put a much simpler depiction of the word and wrote the word out in both Spanish and English.

LW had an old piece of 1/2 board that he cut down for me. I pounded some old rusty nails in and covered the heads with buttons. Used a nice piece of cording to hang it with and then of course added just a bit of fluff just for Helena. Then I made a cute little drawstring to Wrap" the letters in. She can use it later to put little "thangs" in :c}

All in all I really had fun making it and I think with a few modifications the idea would work for any number of things ;c}

Ookie Dokie time to go get ready for dinner. We are meeting one of our "couple friends" for dinner at a new restaurant in Centro Historico. It's my birthday dinner as this year my birthday falls on election day ;c}

Have a good evening or day my bloglandian friends depending on what part of the world you are in :c}

Yard Sale and Early Birthday Gift

We went to a great yard sale this morning. One of the reason is because it was at one of the bed and breakfast in town. That means I don't feel like a vulture savaging someones lovelies that had to be left behind. I know I have said it before that most yard sales here happen because circumstances changed and someone must return to the Northern Land. :c{ I really have no idea where Moe and Dorthy find all these jun...treasures, it seems to me they have a yard sale a couple of times a year. But boy all I have to say is Dorthy sure knows how to set prices to move her stuff fast. I never paid more then a dollar for anything!!:c} Everything was marked in dollars for our Spanish impaired expats, but most of us payed in pesos. The exchange rate right now is $13mp (Mexican peso) to $1 dollar. But to keep things easy Dorthy was using the simple $10 mp to $1 rate Soooooo for each dollar I spent it cost me 70 cents :c} Want to see my hall??

The crystal decanter isn't lead crystal but it's nice and heavy and catches the light, 70cents :c} So was the hand blown blue one with a crystal stopper :c} There is a meter of really pretty material. an old candle stick (I've been looking for one I can make a hat stand out of) and a lovely vintage gravy boat. The cheese dome is also cut crystal,the little pitcher is cobalt glass, and the fan and little black watch box were free. Oh and what about the embroidered bell pull, and vintage shadow box??

Now the Birthday gift. One of our friends, Mike is here looking at property to buy. When he came down this time he brought 2 years of the old Victoria magazines I bought on eBay and had sent to him. See the "Mule system" at work :c} Ha I think it's only far cuz he's the one that introduced me to eBay!! Along with my magazines he had a Birthday present from he and his partner Kell. A gift bag full of Chinese embroidery squares they bought on a trip to China. And if that wasn't enough they had put all these vintage hand tatting and embroidered doilies :c} See the one that says bread isn't that too cool??!!

All and All I think I had a really good day :c} All kinds of new fodder to create with!! Have a good day or evening my Bloglandian friends depending on what part of the world you are in :c}

Happy Halloween

Halloween is really a US import that really hasn't taken to big of a hold here. Kids will get dressed in costumes often bought at the store. You really don't see the all out costume making marathons, huge parties or trick or treating that goes on in the US. For Mexico the 1st and 2nd of November are the church holidays which are celebrated. On the first the souls of the innocents are honored. Those babies and children that have died. On the 2nd the adults are honored. Graves are visited and alters are created at home. Here death is just another step in life so that it doesn't have the fear and stigma it does in Anglo cultures. Skeleton figures are created to look and do what their live bodies would do. In fact a Mexican artist "José Guadalupe Posada created a famous print of a figure that he called "La Calavera de la Catrina" ("calavera of the female dandy"), as a parody of a Mexican upper class female. Posada's striking image of a costumed female with a skeleton face has become associated with the Day of the Dead, and Catrina figures often are a prominent part of modern Day of the Dead observances." Catrinas are now created out of all kinds of mediums and are collected. I enjoy the Catrinas that are made out of the common red clay and painted. They come in all sizes from 1/4 inch to many feet tall. I have only a few. Here are two of them. The third on is an angel made out of papermache. So then riddle me this how can an angel be a skeleton?? :c} Okay so I'm thinking there must be some kind of hob-goblin living in the camera or these Catrina's really didn't want their pictures taken today. Oh heck just pretend you are looking through spiderwebs :c}

Tomorrow LW and I will hit town with the camera and bring back pictures of some of the alters that are made to honor the dead family members.

Okay all you little Bloglandian goblins stay safe and don't eat all those Smarties at once!! :c}