Pearls

Hello friends,

I just wanted to stop and take a second to profess my love for pearls.

My goodness,

I love them.

I remember always wanting pearls as a little girl. 

The first ones I owned came on a beautiful bracelet my friend gifted to me at my bridal shower.

And then my mother bought me a pearl necklace for my wedding day.

But now, I know how to make my own pieces with pearls!

 They add the perfect touch to whatever look you're going for.

Jeans?  Yes please!  A nice blouse and pearls will complete the outfit.

Summer dress!  Yes!

And on a date, ooooooooo.  Can you imagine?

Some of the greatest joys of designing jewelry is seeing it actually being worn by someone!

I love each of these pieces, and you'll find them at my shop!

nonsense & whimsy

Also, come check out the nonsense & whimsy facebook page, there are periodic coupons codes and all of the new pieces are found there :)

Have a lovely Sunday!

Ta ta!

-Becka

Artichoke Pasta Bowl

Ever prepared and cooked an artichoke before?  This new recipe published over at Cook, Clean, Craft shows detailed images of how to steam your artichoke.  And how to make a yummy pasta to go inside!

Narelle is featuring Me, Me, Me posts the whole month of May.  This specialty is something I make for "Me"!

Artichoke Pasta Bowl here.

piggies

A while ago my family took a trip to a local farm.  I'm so grateful for the folks who keep it all nice and clean and visitor friendly.  They don't charge you anything to walk around and visit with the animals.  And the little general store on the side sells candy sticks and toy animals for really cheap.

It was a great day.

Hello Mr. Cow.

Hiya, Mr. Turkey.  Sorry about news.

And hello there Monsieur.

Madam.  

I'm digging the inner beauty.

And...

sheep can't jump can they?

Can they?

Oh, okay good.  He just wanted to stand up and intimidate me for a while.

And now, how about those piggies?

Hey there momma, I'd just like to tell you,

"I am thankful for all you do."

And I think nursing one child is tough.  Look at that little guy on the right!

hehe.

And that little bum poking out on the left there.

Man, if I didn't know any better, I'd be jealous.  But who knows?  Maybe these guys are destined to be pets?

Yeah, I'll console my little heart by imagining great things for this litter.

-Becka

Beets Divine

Alright, I'll be honest.  Ever since I joined CSA, I have been completely stumped about what to do with my fresh beets.  I tried them in a few different recipes (including beet soup and beet-beans) but I just couldn't get them right.  

For the most part, I considered them to taste just like dirt.  A few times I pawned them off on a some unsuspecting friends but a few more times I "accidently" just let them go bad in my fridge.

I feel a little guilty about it, too.

But, finally, I made a dish that I love!  I tried it again last night and it turned out just divine!

So here is the recipe.  It's real simple.  You only need 3 ingredients:

1/2 lb of diced chicken

4-5 medium sized fresh beets, tops included

Olive oil
Salt to taste

The beets take about an hour to cook in the oven, so you should start preparing the beets at least an hour before dinner time.  Preheat the oven to 350.

First wash them and get all the big chunks of dirt off.

I like to peel my beets, so they don't seem hairy ;)

Make sure you rest them on something that won't get stained.

My paper towel turned pink instantly.

You can cook them first and peel off the skins later, 

but I think peeling them first is less messy. 

After they are peeled, chop off the tops and tips of each beet.

Set your beets in a glass dish (or in tin foil) and coat them with olive oil so they'll roast up nicely.

Here is an image of how you can fold beets up into tin foil:  here.

I sprinkled the beets with salt and put them in the oven at 350 for about 1 hour or until I could slip a knife in easily.  They should be soft like baked potatoes.

Whle the beets are roasting, I cut up the green tops:

I stored them in the fridge until my beets were done roasting.

Right before the beets are ready to come out of the oven, you can stir-fry some meet in some more olive oil.

1/2lb of meat is plenty for me and I cooked it until it was light brown.

Then I added the beet tops and more olive oil so that they were completely coated in the oil.

It looks like there is a lot green beet tops, but they cook down quite a bit.  They take a good ten minutes to saute, stirring constantly.  You want them nice and soft before you serve them.

After the beets were completely roasted, I cut them up in the glass dish.

The roasting helps dampen the earthy flavor and bring out the sweetness in the beets.  

I tossed the red beet chunks in with the greens and chicken and salted the dish to taste.  It was sooooooo good! 

 I just love the flavor of the chicken with the beets and it made a perfect side dish to compliment my pasta-in-artichoke bowl. 

I am so happy I have a beet dish that I love now!  

No more will I be letting those beets go bad in the fridge!

-CK

Farewell Card; Free Printable

I needed a going-away card this weekend.  I needed something generic, something subtle and sweet and something I could write a personal note inside of.  I googled "farewell card" looking for a printable but I didn't find anything.

...

so I made one.

And you are more than welcome to have a copy.

Just print it on cardstock, cut on the solid, gray line and fold on the dotted.

"farewell",

CK

Have you seen these?

(link on amazon)

I remember the first time I saw these guys.  I was sitting in the huge foyer in my high school at lunch time.  Someone from the second floor began blowing bubbles.  They were small and they were many.  One of them floated on down by my group of friends as we sat on the floor.  My red headed and be-freckled friend reached out her hand,

"Aw, a little bubble!"

And it landed on her hand. 

And it stayed.

And then she pinched it with her fingers and it didn't just disappear, it popped into a tiny piece of plasticky stuff.

"Uhhhh.... ew?"

Turns out they aren't ew.  They are actually really neat.  These bubbles are catchable.  They are plastic (as far as I can tell).  You blow them and there is a brief moment where you can still see the rainbow in their reflection, and then they sort of dry and become catchable.  You can hold a whole bunch at once.

They last a long time, and you can blow and blow and blow and they just keep coming.  

The photo and link from above is to where you can purchase them on Amazon, but I've seen them at the dollar store for ... a dollar.

And when you are done you can pick up the residuey pieces (they stick together), and rub them between your fingers, throw them away.  

I thought this would be a lovely prank for the college folk.  When unsuspecting victim is away from their home, break in and blow a vile of these babies.  As long as you leave them be, there should be foot tall bubble ocean when they return home.

"That's right!

This'll teach you for egging my car!

I'm filling your house with bubbles!

So bite me!"

My daughter loves them.

I love them.

My daughter actually gets confused when regular bubbles pop ;)

-Becka

Not fair.

This is me and Mr. Junkfood.  Although we may look like enemies, we actually hang out a lot.  

Unfortunately.

I've come up with a solution.  It's called the "Clean Teeth and Hydrated Plan for Staying Healthy".  Basically, I find it a nuisance to go and brush my teeth random times throughout the day.  After meals is enough.  Also, I have a horrible relationship with glasses of water.  I know I should drink them, but it's just plain not fun.  So my solution to junk food:

Every time I eat something I probably shouldn't, I have to drink a glass of water and brush my teeth.

(ya right that's gonna happen...)

I figure these punishments will give me good clean teeth (if I don't overbrush them, which is another incentive to not eat what I shouldn't), and help me get the water I should be drinking every day.

Ta Da!  Problem solved!

Or is it?

How on earth am I supposed to resist another when the first informs me that I make everything lovely?  

"Aww!  Thanks!  

Now what does the next one say?"

-Becka

Spring Green

I came across this amazing light green cut and polished bead and I couldn't help but buying a few strands.

(This last picture doesn't do the beads justice.  They are so pretty in person.)

And here are a few other pieces that show off the season!

Everything above can be found over at the shop nonsense & whimsy.

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Spring!

-Becka