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Friday, December 4, 2009

COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS CRAFTING!

Well a freezing winter morning to you there! Nice to see you drop in. Its weird weather day here in the Galveston County, Texas area. Woke up to the warmest temps we are gonna have all day- 43 degrees! Its supposed to drop dramatically and start snowing within a couple of hours. Its already snowing about 35-40 miles north of here... Crazy! So I'm bundled up in my insulated hunting garb and I will be happy to turn on my oven and warm my house while I cook LOL!

OMG... I have GOT to tell you what my darling hubby did yesterday! He went out to hang fliers for me yesterday around town... and got pulled over by a STATE trooper! He got a no-seatbelt ticket, but here's the funny part. He gave the cop a flyer for the sale!!! Are you kidding me? Seriously, you did WHAT? LOL... I was shocked and amuzed at the same time! The cop took 2... said he was gonna give his wife one and hang one at the station! OMG... no way! It was insane!

Ok, sewing... yesterday I was bookin and a cookin on my sewing! It was great. All the crafts I got done yesterday include- 2 quilted wall hangings/baby quilts, 10 sets of potholders, a quilted Rudolph baby book, a quilt I have been working on for awhile (NOT my BFF's quilt), 2 scrub tops, 4 tote bags and all the accessories, 10 cell phone pouches, and 6 gift baskets. LOL! Told you I was in overload!

I want to take a personal moment and tell you about my health. I have had a bunch of emails asking about it, so I am gonna tell you. I have had health problems since the age of 5. Hospitals have known me by first name for many years now. I was assaulted at 17 and had my daughter as a result. That is the year they found my cancer. Then I had my son and he battled meningitis when he was 10 months old. He had a seizure and during that, he had 2 strokes. We almost lost him and now that is why he has autism and other developmental problems. Then the next month in January 1997 I was almost killed in a car accident. I have problems and handicaps from that. I had another son in 1998, which passed away when he was six months old. I've had lots of chemo and in 2001 I had a total hysterectomy which finally put me in remission from that. But the chemo damaged my kidneys very badly and contributed to AVN (Avascular necrosis) disease. Sept. 2007, they found a cancerous lump in my left breast. I had a lumpectomy and 8 weeks of followup radiation treatment and am in remission AGAIN. They then found out I also had DJD (degenerative joint disease). A fall this past summer off a tractor messed up my left hip and now they are looking to replace that within the next 2 years... my right shoulder to follow as its starting to show signs too. Basically my bones are dying cause of the AVN and the rest are crumbling out from under me due to the DJD. I've also had diabetes most of my life too. Oh did I mention I am only 33? But don't pity me... I refuse to let it get me down... I have too much to live for, so I fight the good fight each day for those I love! So if I mention about not feeling well, NOW you know why.

Ok, enough gloom and doom... back to the fun stuff LOL! I sat up last night (yes this blog is ALWAYS on my mind now LOL) and tried to figure out which craft and recipe to share with you next. In my search for my recipe, it was also about what I wanted to make for dinner tonight. Today I'm going asian- my favorite cuisine LOL! The craft today involves edibles too... who doesn't love CANDY?? YUMMY!!

Craft Idea for the Day: Candy bouquets!

Candy bouquets are so easy and quite cheap to make! Especially when you recycle items for it. Look how pretty this is:

Ok let's make a bouquet... Take an empty veggie or fruit can and cover it in wrapping paper or scrapbook paper. (Make sure the can is washed and dried and no sharp egdes). Put about 1/3 to 1/2 the can of rocks (I steal them from my driveway LOL) in the can for weight. (Don't want it tumping over!) Put a piece of styrofoam on top of the rocks. (I use one of those blocks of floral "wet" foam- the green one. I normally get 2 out of the rectangle piece.) Now hot glue some candy, whatever kind you want to use, to some wooden bamboo skewers. Take some fake flowers and the candy sticks and arrange them in the foam. Weave a piece of garland around and in the sticks to fill the space and make it sparkle and hide the sticks. There you have it... That's it! I normally use the funsize bar candies, which cost me about $2.50 and I can get about 2 bouquets out of the bag; then the foam for about $1.77 and again get 2 out of it; a piece of scrapbook paper (cut in half) .59c; skewers cost me $1 for 100 at wal-mart and I normally use 12 per bouquet; and 1 garland and 1 fake flowers for $1 each at the Dollar tree. So it costs me about $4.53 to make one bouquet. Not bad huh? And pretty... and like I said WHO doesn't like candy??

Hungry from reading yet? LOL... I am. Tonight's feast includes homemade Hot & Sour soup and Pork Lo Mein. YUM! Now on the pork lo mein, you can also use chicken or beef... whatever you prefer. Cook up some noodles, add some stir fry veggies and some bottled sauce and your fried meat that you cook in a skillet with a little bit of sesame oil. Now the soup is a little more work but well worth it. Tastes just like the one in my local restaurant LOL!

Hot & Sour Soup

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced very thin
3 green onions, chopped
2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoon cornstarch
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 (8 ounce) package firm tofu, cubed
1 (8 ounce) can sliced bamboo, drained
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
5-6 shakes of habanero sauce
1/4 cup button or baby bella sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup wood-ear mushrooms
1/2 cup pork tenderloin, thinly cut into strips
1 egg

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the red bell pepper and green onions and saute for 5 minutes. Then, add the 2 cups water, broth and soy sauce, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes.

2. In a separate medium bowl, combine the vinegar, red pepper flakes, ground black pepper, cornstarch, 4 tablespoons water, habanero sauce, ginger, and sesame oil. Add this to the soup and continue to simmer for 5 more minutes, or until soup becomes thick and bubbly.

3. Mix in the tofu, bamboo, mushrooms, and cooked pork, and continue cooking 10 minutes, or until heated through. Turn off the heat.

4. Finally, in a small bowl, break your egg and whisk/scramble it. Slowly pour into your soup (make sure the soup is NOT boiling as your egg will break up easily). Serve and enjoy!

There you go... an Asian meal for your family. I hope you enjoy. I'm off to do more sewing and watch for the snow! See you tomorrow- HUGS!!

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