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Cyber Monday

*Cyber Monday Special... use coupon code - FREESHIPPING in my Etsy store for free domestic shipping*

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Meatless Monday Recipe

Since Thanksgiving is this week, I've decied to post an easy dessert that is a favorite of ours.

Cannoli Pie

15oz part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Creme de Cacao
Egg Beaters, equivalent of 2 eggs
2 tbs sugar
3 tbs mini chocolate chips
1/8 tsp salt
1 chocolate graham cracker pie crust

Combine first 6 ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth. Pour into pie crust and bake in a pre-heated oven at 300F for one hour. Cool at room temperature then chill. Garnish with whipped topping, chocolate chips, and cherries.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Art Venture

Last Art Venture of the year - Saturday, November 19th downtown Racine 6-9pm. New gallery exhibits, music & dance, artist demonstrations, culinary arts, FREE admission to the Racine Art Museum, and author, Bead & Button magazine editor, & Swarovski ambassador Anna Elizabeth Draeger will be at Funky Hannah's Beads & Art showcasing her work and book signing.

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Last day to vote!

Today is the last day to vote...please head on over to our team blog to see all the entries from the wonderfully talented artists in this team and get your vote in!
My entry, Lemon Twist, is #11 for the November Etsy Beadweavers Challenge (EBWC), Totally Twisted.
I decided to finally take on a new spiral technique to create the single twisted ribbon left of center. On the right I used one of my favorite corkscrew spirals doubled. As one may notice, I have a preference for asymmetric designs and rarely like things that are perfect, even, or common. In the center I've bead embroidered 2 cat's eyes glass cabochons. I originally designed this piece to have the bottom yellow teardrop suspended from two tiny twisted spiral ropes with a grey cat's eye glass bead centered between. I stitched it all together and it looked way to "busy" to me so last night I cut them off and re-stitched the two cabochons directly to one another for a cleaner look.
Yellow is one of my least favorite colors & I seem to mostly gravitate towards black, purple, and green, so I thought I would attempt something outside my comfort zone. I fell in love with the soft, buttery Delicas as soon as I saw them and knew they would be the shade of yellow I'd work with. You can see more pictures of this necklace in the actual listing HERE.
This piece took longer to complete than expected, the new spiral was for me very fiddly; awkward to hold and insert a needle into, but I do love the finished look and will do a smaller piece using that spiral soon. I much prefer the basic twisted spiral rope (as seen in my last necklace, Blue); I can almost do it with my eyes closed and find it very meditative to stitch.

Meatless Monday Recipe

So I must admit, I haven't tried this recipe yet, I am making it for dinner tomorrow night. I will post a comment afterwards to let you know how it was. It sounds good. Not sure where I found it, but it has been adapted.

Broccoli Manicotti

2 tsp EVOO
14 manicotti tubes
4 cups broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
2/3 cup Vanilla Rice Milk
4 tbs EVOO (for brushing)
1 cup ricotta cheese
6 tbs grated parmesan
pinch nutmeg
salt & pepper
1 jar Prego mushroom sauce (or any marinara)

Preheat over to 375F. Lightly brush 9x13 pan with EVOO. Bring large saucepan of water to a boil, add EVOO to water, simmer manicotti uncovered 6-7 minutes. Steam broccoli for 10 minutes. Drain pasta & rinse in cold water. Drain broccoli & cool, then blend until smooth. Place breadcrumbs in a bowl, add milk & oil, stir until softened. Add ricotta, broccoli, nutmeg, & 4 tbs parmesan. Season with salt & pepper. Pour sauce in baking pan. Pipe cheese mixture into tubes, then lay in sauce. Brush tops with EVOO & sprinkle with remaining parmesan. Bake 25-30 minutes.
*Edited to add my thoughts after making/eating...
This dish was a little bland in my opinion, but very filling. It said it served four, but I think if served with soup/bread/salad it could serve 6-10. I would further tweak this recipe by adding a generous 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes, oregano, and sweet basil and maybe 1/2 cup less breadcrumbs and would switch the plain breadcrumbs to Italian ones. I would also swap out the parmesan for mozzarella.

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Meatless Monday Recipe

OK so technically it is Tuesday, but only by a few minutes!

This recipe has been adapted from an old Vegetarian cookbook, although I'm not sure which one, since any recipe that is really good and used regularly gets printed out on a piece of paper and thrown into my recipe folder. This delicious pairing of beans and pasta is a complete protein.

Chickpea & Rosemary Soup

2 tbs EVOO
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tbs rosemary
2 - 14 1/2oz cans diced tomatoes
2 - 15 1/2oz cans chickpeas, rinsed, 1 can mashed
6 cups water
1 tsp salt
8oz ditalini pasta

In large pot over medium heat warm olive oil. Add garlic and rosemary, stir and cook 2 minutes. Add tomatoes with liquid, chickpeas, 6 cups water, and salt, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add pasta and cook 10 minutes more.

Sneak Peek

In store soon...

I'm currently finishing a pair of Christmas earrings, pictures up later in the week.

3 gorgeous stones acquired over the weekend, will be working with soon...

Sneak Peek

In store soon...

I'm currently finishing a bead embroidered brooch and a beadwoven ring.

And my latest treasury...

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