So, here are some pictures of said progress. Maybe it will inspire those of you who also have half-finished projects lying around. You CAN do it! Perhaps slowly, like me, but slow and steady wins the race... at least that's what I hear.
Best of luck as you finish those pesky projects that never seem to end. I'll be sure to keep you apprised on Avy's blankie.
As usual, Jack made the crust while I chopped up a variety of veggies. I've included a simple crust recipe from All Recipes. We prefer thin crust but feel free to substitute your favorite.
Spread pesto onto crust. Chop all toppings.
Add meat, veggies, and fruit. I especially liked the sweeter grape tomatoes with the fruit.
Place in oven for 20 minutes. Check the bottom of the crust for crispy-ness and voila! A beautiful and tasty pizza.
The combination possibilities are endless. Good luck!
These arrangements are so simple. Grab one main flower and throw in leaves, grasses, ferns, anything you can find popping up in your backyard or even along the side of the road.
When in doubt, go simple. If you have lots of one beautiful flower, like this next picture, simply throw them all in a plain vase or pitcher to make the flowers stand out.
Don't worry about making your arrangements perfect and static like FTD. Fun, loose, and wild is the way to go... at least with flowers. 
Peonies are a beautiful and full flower. They are abundant around Mother's Day and make arranging easy and quick. Below is a simple arrangement with only peonies and dianthus.
And of course, daffodils are the perfect spring flower. These bright beauties are perfect by themselves. If you decide to combine them with another plant like forsythia (which is blooming everywhere here in T-town), be sure to wash the stems to get rid of their sap. It is not friendly to other plants.
I hope these pictures have sparked some ideas. Now, go take a walk and explore the wide variety of spring plants and shrubs that will add the perfect flair to your arrangements. Be creative. Good luck and happy spring!
Ingredients:
Roll mixture into 1in. meatballs and place on a cooking sheet. Cook for 20 minutes.
Once the meatballs are done cooking, combine meatballs and a sauce of your choice in a large saucepan. I of course went with what we had in the cupboard which was a simple traditional spaghetti sauce (yes, from a can... *gasp*).
Let your meatballs simmer in the sauce for about 10-15 minutes.
This is very simple and if you are anything like me, you will feel so accomplished when it is complete.
Before you sew the front and back pieces together, cut 3-5 pieces of the same fabric (how many depends on how much you want them to overlap) that are the same length across as the front of the skirt (11in) and 3in. wide.
Fabric Measurements:
After all the hems are sewn, align and pin these scraps to the front of the skirt. Place the fabrics with right sides touching and with the bottom-hem side at the top (essentially upside down).
Sew the non-hemmed edge across the front of the skirt. Start with the bottom ruffle and work your way up. After each strip is sewn, remove pins and fold fabric over the seam so the seam is hidden underneath.
Once you have flipped each piece of fabric over onto itself, iron them down. You should have a piece of fabric that looks something like this...
After all scraps are sewn to the front of the skirt, measure 1in. from each edge and sew vertically down the entire skirt, over the top of all of your scraps. Forgot to get a picture of this before piecing it all together. You can kinda see the seam lines on the picture below however.
The rest, pretty much follows the original tutorial. You'll need to sew the front and back of the skirt with right sides facing each other, then fold over the top to make a pocket to feed the elastic through, and finally secure your elastic.
And voila! A cute tiered baby skirt to spruce up baby's wardrobe. I used the same fabric and appliqued a circle on a plain white onesie to make the outfit complete. With this basic idea you can go crazy with creativity and ruffle all sorts of old clothes. Good luck and happy sewing!
Instructions
Stitch along the edge of the original hem. The sides can get tricky. I always start on the outside seam, the one that shows the jean thread. This ensures that when you flip the pant leg right-side-out, the threads that stand out will align all the way down the leg.
Flip the material inside the leg. Iron the new hem down and presto, shorter pants, same old hem. (If having the excess on the inside bothers you, simply cut it off.)
I've included a picture of a wide hem as well. I find this hemming technique works best with wide hemmed jeans. It can be a bit trickier with the normal thin hems like the one above.
Estimated hem time is about 10 minutes so you can be in your jeans and feelin' good in no time. Good luck and happy hemming!
Last summer, Jack and I were surprised to find a ridiculous amount of planting pots available in stores but a severe lack of planting boxes, at least ones that didn't jump into the hundreds of dollars range. All I wanted was to plant some veggies on our porch and pretend we had our own secret garden.
After the four main boards are nailed together, attach the netting to the bottom of the box. This will help drain water, without draining dirt as well.
Next, attach the 2x2 blocks over the top of the netting, one toward each end and one in the middle. We did this mostly to keep it up off of the porch so there would be no rotting underneath from the drainage.
Now, a couple things to think about and adjust.Our box worked wonderfully for the summer but had a few issues as we neared the end of growing season.
Now to food...
While the rice is cooking and shrimp marinating, chop up your salsa ingredients. Make sure you peel the carrots first and then chop up the peels so the salsa doesn't feel heavy when it is mixed together. You could also use mango or your favorite fruit in place of orange. A citrus-tasting fruit is best. I added about 1 tbsp of lemon juice to my salsa, you can add to taste. I also sprinkled in a dash of garlic and pepper to taste.
Next, peel and wash your lettuce from the head. Head lettuce makes the best cups for eating. Our lettuce was just regular green leaf and it was harder to manage when we attempted to eat. Go ahead and lay your lettuce cups out so they are ready to fill once the shrimp is finished.
Mix cornstarch with garlic and pepper. Coat shrimp with mixture.
Heat 2-3 tbsp of oil in a pan. Make sure the pan is hot before placing in the shrimp. If it sizzles, you are on the right track.
Cook shrimp about 2 minutes on each side. There should be a beautiful golden brown coating when you flip them over. So exciting!
Now comes my favorite part! Dress your plate. The rice should be finished by this point. Scoop a spoonful of rice into each cup, followed by a salsa, and then top each with two golden shrimp.
These can be a bit messy, but they look so beautiful on the plate that I think it is worth the hassle. If you aren't going for beauty you can always chop up the lettuce and make these into shrimp tacos. Happy cooking!This isn't one of my typical postings but I figured it fit the "arts" category of this blog because of the musical interest. I wrote this article for Milligan and our local paper to announce a conference session being given by my violin professor, Dr. Kellie Brown. I thought this story was pretty neat and definitely worth sharing. Enjoy.
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Dr. Kellie Brown, chair of the Milligan College music department, will present her research on orchestras in concentration camps at the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Conference in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, March 17.
Brown’s session is titled “Alma Rosé and the Women’s Orchestra at Auschwitz: Lessons for Our Students on Tolerance and the Triumph of the Human Spirit.” Her research focuses on Alma Rosé, a woman whose music brought a glimpse of beauty and hope to hundreds of Auschwitz prisoners and even saved the lives of some of the musicians.
“The study of those who have gone before us and made their indelible mark on history, especially if it was through great personal sacrifice, is a worthy pursuit,” said Brown. “I think any time that type of subject can be part of an ensemble's curriculum where students can learn more than just the notes, it is beneficial.”
Alma Rosé was the niece of the composer Gustav Mahler and the daughter of renowned violinist Arnold Rosé who founded the Rosé String Quartet. Alma was a successful violinist with a charmed life, but all that changed in 1938 when the Nazis took control of Austria, her homeland. Alma’s Jewish heritage made her a Nazi target, and she was eventually arrested and sent to Auschwitz in July 1943.
Despite all of the horrors associated with Auschwitz, Alma soon discovered the camp’s orchestra. Her fame and her family’s reputation made Alma the ideal candidate to conduct the women’s orchestra, which was, at the time, a mere rag-tag of women prisoners. Alma’s arrival ignited the orchestra’s success and respect, and it quickly grew to 50 members. Not only did orchestra members find hope through the music, but their value among the SS guards gave Alma the leverage to insist members were treated with decency. In this way, Alma was able to save these women’s lives through music.
Brown’s interest in this topic was a long time in the making. Sparked by a novel about a Jewish violinist living in WWII Germany, Brown quickly became interested in the lives of famous musicians during the Holocaust. After watching the movie, “Playing for Time,” which tells the story of the women’s orchestra in Auschwitz, Brown began her research on the life of Alma Rosé.
Brown’s lecture will provide the historical details about Alma Rosé and the Women’s Orchestra at Auschwitz. She will discuss the importance of incorporating this topic into the orchestra curriculum. In November 2009, Brown’s article, “Remembering Alma Rosé and the Women’s Orchestra at Auschwitz,” was published in American String Teacher.
Brown serves as director of the strings program and conductor of the Milligan College Orchestra. She is a frequent clinician and performer, and serves as the assistant conductor of the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra and assistant concertmaster for the Symphony of the Mountains.
In addition, she has written numerous compositions, arrangements and articles. In 2005 her first book, “An Annotated Bibliography of Musical Fiction,” was published by Edwin Mellen Press. Brown has studied at Furman University, East Tennessee State University and Appalachian State University and holds a bachelor’s degree in music education, a master’s degree in violin performance, and a doctoral degree in higher education administration, with an emphasis in music administration.
The ASTA National Conference is held yearly to benefit string teachers, students and performers. The conference provides opportunities to learn the latest teaching techniques and gain important information that will benefit students. The ASTA conference is the premier place to enhance skills and knowledge through sessions on pedagogy, string literature, college curriculum and more. Other topics on which Brown has presented in the past include “Incorporating the Elective Student in the College String Curriculum” and “Technology for the String Teacher.”
For more information, contact the Milligan College music department at 423.461.8723 or music@milligan.edu.
You only have to let it simmer until the veggies are soft but the flavors are better if you let it simmer longer, plus cooking it longer makes your house smell fabulous!
I also made this herb quick bread from allrecipes.com to go with the soup. It was quick (which is what I needed) but had an interesting texture. I added rosemary, garlic, and thyme in mine and it paired well with the soup.
Good luck and happy cooking!
Today was the first workshop of spring out at Aunt Willie's Wildflowers. Twelve women from a local gardening club donned their boots and made the trek out to the farm for a bird's nest workshop (pictures on website).
I went out to the farm yesterday to help Linda clean up the homeplace and make a few arrangements. We were so excited to be back outside working with the flowers. Yes, you heard right, flowers already! East Tennessee has had quite a few warm days making many of the flowers at Aunt Willies bloom early. This morning was sunny and with all the colorful flowers, I just had to take a few pictures to share with you all.
I couldn't believe how many arrangements we were able to make from the early bloomers. Small, white pitchers made the spring colors pop. Don't worry about not having much green filler to add to your arrangements, simple and loose combinations work well with these vibrant spring flowers.
These three pitchers in the window are my favorite arrangement location at the farm. We always have one stem of whatever is blooming in each pitcher. The simplicity of this arrangement against the beautiful landscape outside the window always makes a statement.
So, for those of you with a few bulbs popping out of the ground, grab your favorite jars or pitchers, cut a few stems, and bring some glorious spring into your home.
