The New Year 2023

 I have started off the New Year, not with resolutions, but with a “routine” that feels important and satisfying to me.  I like spending my time with God in the morning when I get up.  The Bible app works well for me in picking devotionals that are relevant to my life at the time.   Last year I completed the “Reading the Bible in One Year”. I enjoyed it - some days more than others to be honest - but am glad to go back to the shorter, more specific devotionals.  I also have started The Lipstick Gospel Devotional.  I love reading this since it is so down to earth and relevant to everyday life.  It also is what helps me have “real conversations” with God daily.  So my morning is spent getting closer to God and just having “talks”.  

The next part of my day is taking care of me physically.  I take my dogs for a walk in the mountains where I live.  This has been great for me and my dogs.  They are older boxers (8 years old each) and I am older myself.  We need this daily walk in nature.

When we get back from our walk, I need to have coffee and breakfast.  I also watch a little bit of a TV show I might have recorded or a series I am watching on Netflix.  

Then is the time to do my chores for the day.  I have decided to make a daily list of items that I will do.  I keep a bullet journal and this is going to keep me very organized this year.  

The next part of my day is to delve into my creative side.  I am doing photography, watercolor and acrylic painting, card making, etc.  After I have spent a few hours doing this, I then take the last couple hours of the afternoon to read some of a book I am currently reading before I start dinner.  

I am hoping that I can keep up this schedule for the entire 2023 fiscal year.  I believe this will be the best for me since I no longer have the work schedule that I had previously.  I am very happy that I am retired!!!

Happy New Year!  I hope this finds everyone beginning the New Year with a great plan to create your best life!

Harvest Skillet with Apples, Broccoli, and Butternut Squash

 In our neighborhood, we had a “Crafty Chefs” club that meets once a month.  We pick an ingredient that must be in the dish we make and then we bring all of the dishes over to a house.  We taste, socialize and just have a good time.  Someone always brings a drink associated with the ingredient and then there are always enough savory and sweet dishes.  It is always a treat!

This last month the ingredient was apples.  I made a savory dish called Harvest Skillet.

Ingredients

4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 T olive oil or reserved bacon grease

1 lb chicken, cut into bite sized pieces

1 sweet onion, diced

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced

1 head of broccoli, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces

4 closes garlic, minced

2 tsps rosemary

2 apples, diced

 1 cup apple cider

2 T whole grain mustard

2 T maple syrup

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat and set aside.  Add 1 T of olive to the skillet if the bacon was cooked ahead of time or use the bacon grease.  Add the chicken to the pan and cook until lightly golden brown, about 7 minutes.  Remove the chicken and set aside.

Add the onion, butternut squash and broccoli and cook until just tender, about 10 minutes, then add garlic, rosemary, and apples.  Cook about a minute.

Add the cider, bacon, chicken, mustard, maple syrup and salt and pepper.  Cook until the sauce thickens a bit.

Serve immediately.

Cheers

 Good Morning! 

It is a brisk 45 degrees here in the mountains of North Carolina.  I love this time of year!  The leaves are changing, the weather is cooler, it is fire pit season, it is cool getting out of a hot tub, etc.  There are so many reasons to be thankful for this time of year.  

Today I am highlighting a “Cheers” watercolor and ink painting that I did.  Every Friday our neighborhood has a get-together down by the lake.  People come when they remember, have time, are in the area, etc.  Typically people bring their favorite drink - either water, tea, coffee, and wine.  Dave and I always bring wine so was inspired to paint our glasses clinking together!

I hope you enjoy this painting!

Big Hugs, Meg

Colored Pencil Winter Scenes

 This week I have been learning how to use colored pencils to create winter scenes.  This was a class that I had purchased to learn this particular technique.  I never knew you could use a nail file to get loose bits of the colored pencil and then use either alcohol or gamsol with a cotton ball to move the color around.  I actually love the finished products.

First I gathered the supplies that I would need to make the 4 pictures that I will show below.  

SUPPLIES

Carson watercolor paper (140lb) 9x12 cut into 6 inch squares

Prismacolor colored pencils in shades of blue including lights, mediums and darks

Prismacolor colored pencils in white, black, and shades of gray

Gamsol

Filbert brush in size 4

Round brush in size 4

Masking paper

Dr Martin bleed proof white

Alcohol 

Gamsol

Cup of water

Sandy Allnock teaches the class.  She can be found on the Patreon Website. 

The first picture that we did was a wintery scene of birch trees.  I love using the masking paper to make the hills pop out and the bleed proof white has always been a favorite of mine when using watercolors.

The second picture that I made was a winter night with a large moon.  The trees are dark and casting a shadow and it is lightly snowing.  A mask was used for the moon and the landscape.  

The third picture was of a tree in the snow with a forest behind it.  I love this picture.  I want to paint it again and decorate the tree for Christmas.  I will post that pic when I have done it.

The fourth picture that I made is my least favorite.  It is a path in the woods in a very snowy area.  I am not sure why I like it the least but I just like the previous pictures better.  Let me know what you think.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my creations.

Hugs, Meg

Apple Cobbler

 My husband and I went to Apple Hill Orchard in Morganton (near our house) and picked apples last weekend.  The apples that were available now are Arlet Gala.  We picked a basket full of them. 

They are so good and fresh.  I love having fresh apples around to either cook with or just eat.  Apple Hill Orchard has 19 varieties of apples, all with a different picking time.  The apples are:  Gingergold, Premier Honeycrisp, Gala, Arlet, Honeycrisp, Empire, Mitsubishi, Jonaprince, Early Fuji, Jonagold, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Cameo, Stayman Winesap, Red Rome, Evercrisp, Fuji, Granny Smith and Goldrush.  This will be the first year that I will be able to go pick some of each variety.

Las night I made an apple cobbler from a mix of the two varieties that I picked.  The recipe was adapted from the recipe I found on Once Upon a Chef.  

APPLE COBBLER

6 large baking apples - peeled and slice - (3 Arlet and 3 Gala is what I used)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

7 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter, cut into small chunks

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat over to 375 degrees.

Make the apple pie filling - In a large bowl, combine the apples, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.  Toss until the apples are evenly coated.

Make the biscuit topping - In a medium bowl combine the 1 1/2 cups of flour, 6 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Whisk to combine. Add the pieces of cold butter.  With a pastry cutter, work the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the buttermilk.  Stir until just combined.

Assemble and bake the apple cobbler - Transfer the apple mixture to an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.  Using a large spoon, dollop the biscuit batter over the apples, allowing the filling to show through in spots.  Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of sugar over the batter.

Bake the cobbler for 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. 

Let the cobbler cool for 15 to 20 minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream, if desired.

Hope you enjoy!

Hugs, Meg

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

 It has been a while since I was able to post to this blog.  Well, I am now retired and I have decided to re-energize this blog.  I will be traveling, cooking and doing art more and wanted/needed a place to post everything.  Facebook just doesn’t appear to be the right place for me to post, so I am moving over to this blog and will be, hopefully, posting more consistently.

My first current post will be a Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie recipe that I developed.  I hope others will enjoy it as much as my husband and neighbors have.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

1 package Pillsbury Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb

2 1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

Zest of one orange

1/4 cup heavy cream

Sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Put one crust into pie pan.  Line the inside of the dough with parchment paper completely covering the dough.  Fill the pie plate with dried beans.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Remove the pie pan from the oven, removing the parchment and beans.  Let the pie crust cool while you prepare the filling.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, flour, and zest together. Pour the mixture into the pie pan.  Cut the remaining pie crust into strips and lattice over the pie.  Brush the top with heavy cream and then sprinkle some sugar over the brushed crust.

Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temp to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes longer.

Remove from oven and enjoy with a big spoonful of vanilla ice cream.

Big Hugs, Meg

Dark and Stormy

I went to Nashville, TN for work in April 2018.  One of the nights they had a reception at ACME Feed and Seed, which by the way is a great place to go on the waterfront.  One of the drink specials that they had that night was called a dark and stormy.  I took a picture of the drinks so that I could try to recreate this.  When I go back to Raleigh, my husband and I went out to dinner at Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar.  I asked for a Dark and Stormy drink and they said they could make it.  Well, it was nothing like the one I had in Nashville.  In fact, I am surprised that I could even get the entire drink down over the course of dinner.

Next I went to the ABC store in Raleigh, because that is what NC has.  Wish there was competition in NC for alcohol, but alas, there is not.  Alcohol is highly regulated in this state.  So I tried to find smoked rum.  Well, after 10 minutes of looking, I finally asked one of the guys working there.  He told me that they didn’t have smoked rum, and he had never heard of it, but all dark rum is inherently smoky because of the way it is distilled, etc.  Long story short, he showed me a few dark rums that he said other customers really liked.  Some of these were way out of my price range just to make a drink that I had in Nashville.  I finally picked a rum that I thought was a good deal, had a great name, and he had recommended.  I picked Plantation Artisanal Rum that is double aged and dark.  It has a really great flavor if you are looking for a dark rum.

The other ingredient that goes into a Dark and Stormy is Ginger Beer.  Now probably the reason I love this drink so much is that I love the taste of ginger.  Ginger Beer isn’t always easy to find, but Trader Joe’s has a great Ginger Beer.  It isn’t expensive and tastes great!

The third ingredient is bitters.  I do not have a picture of the bottle, but you can get bitters in any grocery store.  You must have this ingredient for this drink.  It really rounds out the flavor. 


Recipe:

Tall glass 3/4 filled with ice
5 dashes of bitters
2 shots of Rum
Fill the remainder of the glass with ginger beer