we're all mad here!

a taste of summer in winter

Happy Valentine's Day!

I finally got to the grocery store! I know this sounds silly to some of you, but I've been sick for over two weeks, and with my car out sick too it's become a challenge to get there at all. One of the reasons I'm so excited is that I've been dying to make some Summer Risotto for Larry, and because I've really been missing my breakfast tomatoes & basil with olive oil. This is a recipe that I adapted from a 2002 issue of Organic Style - Johne Thorne's Italian rice Tossed with Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella. I think Summer Risotto is easier to remember, and since I've tweaked it to my own liking, I'm going to be a rebel and give it my own name.

SUMMER RISOTTO - serves 3

• 1 cup risotto rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbl. butter
• 1 tbl. fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tbl. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves - minced
• 1 small yellow onion - minced
• 7 fresh basil leaves
• 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. McCormick Monterry seasoning
• dash Lawry's garlic salt
• 1/2 container Sanitas or grape tomatoes - cut in half
• 3 spoonfuls pearl mozarella

1. Bring your 2 cups of water to a boil.
   +    1 cup risotto rice
   +    1 tbl. butter
2. Cover - reduce to simmer for 16 minutes
3. Add olive oil to a large saute pan & heat over med while you mince the garlic & onions
   +    garlic & onions
4. Saute until translucent & starting to brown 
5. Turn heat in saute pan down to low
   +    tomato halves 
   +    balsamic vinegar
6. At this point your risotto should be cooked - turn it into your saute pan & stir contents
7. Tear up the basil leaves & toss them in the pan
   +    garlic salt
   +    Monterry seasoning
8. Dish up and add a spoonful of the fresh mozarella pearls to each dish
9. Stir & fill yer belly!

 I've been busing sewing this amazing log cabin <3 pillow for CreateMixedMedia: 

I'll post the link and details of this fabu How To and Give Away as soon as I get them! Here's the loot one lucky reader will win:

The biggest, and best news for me is that I finally made a spot in my studio completely dedicated to painting, and creating mixed media. I'm getting ready to take Mindy Lacefield's Paint Your Story class soon, and I wanted to create a space where I could keep my paints out without worrying about them getting on my fabric. I found the cutest little conductor's stand down the street at the Maple Street Market - our towns nifty little antique store. It has a door on the front that opens up to shelves meant to hold sheet music, and it turns out it's exactly the right height to hold all my Liquitex paints. PLUS it's the perfect height so I don't have to hunch over and kill my back! {can you tell I'm excited?} So, for the rest of the week you can find me over by the window in my studio painting, and glueing away. What are you creating this week in your life?

NOW GO MAKE ART!

be nice

I came across this print on Pinterest yesterday, and it's had me thinking non-stop ever since:

One of the things my mother always hammered home to us as girls was to be nice to others. To treat others as we'd like to be treated in return. I took this VERY seriously as a child, and feel even stronger about it now that I am 40. What I still struggle with is why, if we want others to treat us nice, won't we be nice to ourselves first? This concept is one of the main points I've come away with since meeting Melody, and becoming a Brave Girl. You have to BE NICE to YOURSELF if you ever hope to live a full and happy life. And let's be honest, how are you REALLY going to be nice to others if you can't even manage it for yourself? It's hard sometimes, but I've found that the easiest way to be nice to myself is by doing the things I know I'm supposed to be doing. When I don't do the simple things I'm supposed to be doing every day: tidying up the house - doing laundry so everyone has clothes to wear - going grocery shopping - cooking diner - finding time for myself & my art - trying to meet my deadlines; I in turn get VERY hard on myself. I go off into that holding pattern of beating myself up until in the end I feel worse than I did when I started.

Now, the real excercise in being nice to ourselves comes when we CAN'T do the things we know we are supposed to. Say when we are ill or injured. Last week, I came down with a horrible cold, and was stuck on the couch for 4 days. During that time, all those things had to sit undone, but instead of beating myself up for not doing them, I tried to reassure my inner voice that it was okay to cut myself some slack. It was easy at first because I was way too sick to even care, but as I started to feel better I could hear that voice start to pipe up that things weren't getting done, and I was letting the family/myself/my commitments down. Now, Larry is amazing in these situations because he doesn't cut me slack unless it's truly deserved. He reminded me gently & then more urgently that if I didn't continue to rest I was just going to end up being sick three times as long. I knew in my heart he was right, but my brain kept insisting I needed to get it together. This is where I have to really work at shushing my inner critic, and go with what I know to be true ... and it does get easier with practice and repetition.

So ... be nice to each other, but most of all remember to be nice to yourself. 

NOW GO MAKE ART!