Terrific Tuesday - What the Heck?

I don't do much on Tuesday so I thought I'd ramble a bit on What the Heck? today.

I hate how nail polish stays on my toes for a month or more and lasts on my fingers for only a few days, if that. I mean, I know I don't do much with my toes, but come on!

I'm not quite sure why I keep getting spam for nursing homes in my town. Are they trying to tell me something? And after all, I live in the middle of nowhere, we are lucky to have a Post office and a Gas station. No grocery in our whole town, no full liquor store and NO NURSING HOME! Spammers.

Business Flash: Tim over at Handmadeology made a board to encourage Pinterest Socialization and spreading of the Handmade Movement. Read about how you can join in on the fun here http://www.handmadeology.com/the-pinterest-creative-connection-favorite-pin-632012/

I was very upset about mosquitoes earlier this year. Having been bit multiple times and suffering so. Their venom is like fire ant to me, but itchy not burning. I wondered why they exist, as they only seem to spread disease and suffering. So I did some research. Apparently they are very critical at the bottom of the food chain. Darn. Now what about slugs?

This has been fun. I'm going to have to think of more What the Hecks next Tuesday and share. Leave yours on my post if you like and I'll spread it around.

Life on Mars - Just another Manic Monday

I've been so behind on my posting lately. I really should keep you all up on my latest adventures. I guess I've just been busy with....drum roll please..

a. extra sales (money - thank you)
b. baby sitting (money for Poppy - thank you)
c. finally finishing the bathroom
d. getting the garden planted

I love to garden, didn't know if you got that. So far the garden is doing great, other than that the slugs really like lettuce and cucumber sprouts. They didn't make it. Next year I'll make copper rings for the cucumbers and plant the lettuce in pots. Although slugs will climb the pots too I think. Once the garden gets big, I'll post pics of it. I think I cursed mine last year by posting early pics.

This year I added junk to the soil, put down more landscape fabric, and bordered the garden on one side with potted herbs and the other with corn (no corn sprouts yet, and I saw ants trying to carry away some of the seed ) I'm thinking the corn will act as a fence if it grows and it runs East to West so won't block the sun on the garden.

My Marvel comic Bow tie made it to the front page of Wanelo this week, but I think it got pulled, because maybe they were afraid it wasn't legal? But it is legit to use and resell this licensed fabric. Anyhow, I got a lot of views and a few sales too. Wanelo seems to be a good spot to post too.

We had a power outage this week, and I got an offer to go to the store during it. It turned out not to be the best trip I've ever been on. It was a little more intense than I expect. But I made it home safely.

I almost finished the bathroom this week. Just need to paint the ceiling and finish a bit more trim. It looks finished, but I want baseboards that I didn't get up yet. I'll make a post on what I did, because I did very different shower walls, I think you'll like to hear about. You can try it too, because I think they are awesome and they are NOT tile.


Oh yeah. I won these awesome vintage Dr Scholls exercize sandals. I'm hoping I can wear them on my pitifully flat feet. I used to love them. I bought them because I just love the shoes with print fabric wrap ties, and I thought I could easily alter these. I may just use them as is though. They are so cute.

That's all I care to share this week. Hope you have a good one, and I'm hoping for a little less excitement in my life this one myself.

What's Cooking - Dolmas (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

Love stuffed grape leaves, but afraid they'll be too much work? They are way easier that I imagined, and I am a lazy cook. Give them a try, at least once, and I think you'll be back for more.

You can make dolmas with canned leaves, but picking and blanching leaves is pretty easy too. Spring is the best time to harvest grape leaves. They are more tender and less "blighted". I've been waiting for them to get just the right size, and now is the time. The following recipe is for 60, an ambitious amount, but they can be frozen and reheated. I picked 36 leaves, a good amount for us. I didn't want to take leaves from my neighbors side.

To prepare the leaves yourself, pick healthy leaves in the spring. They should be about the size of your outspread hand. If your hands are small, like mine, maybe a little bigger. I had my water boiling and ready to go, the fresher, the better.

Wash the leaves and blanch them for about 3 seconds in boiling salted water. I did them in batches of three and kept them flat. Placing three in a deep pan and turning the three over to finish the boil. I had a large bowl of cold water ready to dunk the leaves to stop the cooking.

After all were blanched, I placed them in a plastic zip bag with a little lemon juice. You can easily freeze them like this if you like. They can also be rolled in batches and put up in jars, but you have to be careful to add enough lemon juice to prevent botulism.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill or 2 T dry dill weed
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
2 quarts chicken broth (water is OK if you want vegan)
3/4 cup fresh (bottled OK too) lemon juice, divided
60 grape leaves, drained and rinsed
hot water as needed
1 cup olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, saute the rice, onion, dill,
and mint for about 5 minutes, or until onion is soft. Pour in 1 quart of
broth, or water. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, or
until rice is almost cooked. Stir in 1/2 of lemon juice and remove from
heat.
2. Take one leaf, shiny side down, and place 1 teaspoon of the rice
mixture at the bottom (stem) end of the leaf. Fold both sides of the leaf
towards the center, roll up from the broad bottom to the top, and place
into a 4-quart pot. Repeat with all leaves, leaving no gaps as leaves are
placed in pot (to prevent from opening while cooking). Sprinkle with
remaining lemon juice and with olive oil.
3. Pour chicken broth, or water over all to cover grape leaves. Cover pot and
simmer for about 1 hour (do not boil, because this will make the stuffing
burst out of the leaves). Remove from heat, remove cover and let cool
for 1/2 hour. Transfer to serving dish and serve. I prefer mine chilled.

Poppy's May 2012 Giveaway Winner

Due to an underwhelming response(who knew so many people wanted to pay full price for my stuff), I was being lazy and didn't draw til now :P Random.org says Marie is the winner of the $25 gift certificate

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/PoppysWickedGarden/4252468/25_Dollar_Gift_Certificate_for_Poppys_Wicked_Garden/Gift_Certificates.


I promise I didn't cheat just because I love Marie :) Congrats my love..... I have been very busy buying handmade for the handmade challenge but I haven't had a chance to write reviews. I will review goodies on this Wednesday..xoxo