Sometimes you just need a little laugh… this weekend is all about a chuckle…
Kevin MacPherson. Anyone who admires art knows this man’s name. Kevin is a down to earth nice guy as well as being a brilliant artist. My husband and I first met him in Maine, when his wife Wanda was painting in Rockland, in the pouring rain; she was set up in a doorway, out of the weather, but whoa… a trooper indeed! My dad walked over to see what the artist was painting, and recognized her name, then met Kevin and introduced us. My dad has his books and a DVD I do believe… I’ve read the books (click HERE to see books and DVD’s on Kevin’s website) and they are fantastic! The painting shown here is entitled AFTERNOON SPARKLE and is out of this world. I love the light, the water and the dash of orange’ish red on the sailboat. LOVE. IT.
Kevin can paint anything, and he does it with a sense of humor which I so admire! He was recently in Charleston, and he painted at waterfront park in the noonday heat. I couldn’t stay the entire time, but learned a few neat things from him in that short time. I just wish I SAW things the way he does. Colors, shapes, it was amazing! Check out Kevin’s website, it’s chock full of great info.
ENJOY! Catch you back here tomorrow!
This weeks cancer prevention tip… GREEN TEA. WHO KNEW IT COULD DO THIS MUCH? This information is from a fantastic article I read in Prevention magazine, “Edible Healing: Food Cures for Cancer “. An absolutely fantastic article and one that everyone should read. If you don’t subscribe to Prevention magazine, you may want to consider it. It’s inexpensive and provides so much useful information… click HERE to subscribe (this isn’t a paid advertisement… wish it was, but they have no idea who I am).
While researching for this post I ran across this neat glass mug with infuser by TEAVANA, it’s called “JOLI”. If interested HERE is the link… also sold at Amazon.com.
Green tea is rich in compounds called polyphenols, including catechins (and particularly EGCG), which reduce the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors. It’s also a powerful antioxidant and detoxifier (activating enzymes in the liver that eliminate toxins from the body), and it encourages cancer cell death. In the laboratory, it has even been shown to increase the effect of radiation on cancer cells.
Japanese green tea (sencha, gyokuro, matcha, etc.) contains more EGCG than common varieties of Chinese green tea, making it the most potent source on the market; look in Asian groceries and tea shops. Black and oolong teas, commonly used to produce popular tea blends such as Earl Grey, are less effective because they’ve been fermented, which destroys a large proportion of their polyphenols. Decaffeinated green teas, which retain the polyphenols despite the process of decaffeination, are also an option if you’re sensitive to caffeine.
How to Drink It: Sip 2 to 3 cups a day within an hour of brewing. Green tea must be steeped for at least 5 to 8 minutes–ideally 10–to release its catechins, but it loses its beneficial polyphenols after an hour or two.
OK mom, 2 treatments down and 10 to go… you can do it! Whoot whoot!
Catch you back here tomorrow…
What a sweet deal this is! Comfort and style you would think would come at a high price, but not MAJBY… My husband and I love furniture… We’ve bought a ton of it (probably literally) over the past years, however within the past few years we’ve decided that the more formal look wasn’t really our thing, and we’ve moved it on, we now have furniture that feels more like us, a down sofa that’s slipcovered in a natural twill, an antique pine farmhouse table, a wooden brickmakers coffee table (future post), and the list goes on… We’ve had numerous types of dining room chairs, none of them inexpensive and none of them were “just right” for the long haul… A few years ago we decided to use two Mitchell Gold wingbacks, also slipcovered in natural fabric as our dining room chairs. After all there are only two of us… Now if we have people over, a few occasional chairs would be nice… since two more wingbacks would be overpowering at this long narrow farmhouse table… In the winter we really use that dining room alot. We build fires in the winter (nothing better than watching the fireplace!). One night we were watching our favorite designer (Sarah Richardson… is there ANY house that woman can’t make right? It amazes me how she tears down walls, digs basements, changes entryways, and WHOA the difference it makes… although she has a mighty hefty budget AND a ton of workers… she can visualize like no one I’ve ever seen!). She was renovating a dining room in the house she bought and she had rather expensive furnishings, then it came to the chairs, she needed lots of them. (Click HERE to see) ENTER… THE MAJBY chair. We’re trying to remember how we figured out the chair name… I’m sure it was with the close assistance of our friend… GOOGLE. Anyway, saw that it came from IKEA. Closest Ikea to us is in Charlotte, NC. You can’t call and pay for it and then go pick it up, you can’t put it on hold not even for a minute, so a neighbor of ours was in Charlotte and picked them up for us (THANK YOU MARGARET!). We weren’t sure what to expect not seeing them in person, but for $79.99 YOU CANNOT BEAT THEM. They’re comfortable, great looking, and did I mention affordable? We use them as desk chairs until we need them for an occaisonal/dining room chair. So if by chance you are on the lookout for a sharp looking chair that is high on style and low on cost, check it out!
If you get a chance, check out my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com – catch you back here tomorrow!
Sometimes you need a quick and satisfying breakfast, not something that takes too long… it’s nice to be able to grab something and head out the door! These muffins are good alone, or paired with a fruit smoothie or a greek yogurt, mmmmm. They are filled with good things BUT they don’t taste “healthy”. The good thing about this recipe is that you can put whatever fruit you like in it… I made it pretty much as the recipe indicated. I used greek yogurt because it’s what I had (which boosts the protein a weee bit), I didn’t have wheat germ so I just added more flax. Next time I’ll probably use dried apricots or cherries instead of pineapple since the pineapple is so sweet… fresh blueberries would also be good! We eat some and freeze some, they’re great heated in the microwave for a few seconds!
YIELD: 18 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)
Ingredients
Cooking spray
1 cup whole wheat flour (about 4 3/4 ounces)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
1 cup regular oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon wheat bran
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2)
1 large egg
1 cup chopped pitted dates
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped dried pineapple
3 tablespoons ground flaxseed (about 2 tablespoons whole)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Place 18 muffin cups liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray.
Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flours and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine yogurt, banana, and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in dates, walnuts, and pineapple. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly with flaxseed. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.
Charlotte Moore, Toronto, Cooking Light
JULY 2007
Check out my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com – catch you back here tomorrow!
Well tomorrow is Memorial Day, I guess that makes today Memorial Day Eve, doesn’t it? Whether you’re out gathering your grilling supplies, getting ready for friends or family to come over or just enjoying a nice quiet day off please take a few moments tomorrow (or any time!) to remember all men and women who have died for our freedom. If we all can fit in a few minutes of reflection to remember those who stood up for this country that would be a tremendous honor.
As Lee Greenwood said:
And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free, and I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me and I’ll proudly stand next to him to defend her still today, ‘cuz there ain’t no doubt I love this land, god bless the USA.
ENJOY your Memorial Day! Catch you back here tomorrow! If you get a chance visit my photo blog at http://almostdailypoic.wordpress.com !
It’s funny when you look at this picture. If this were anywhere else on earth it would be deemed a catastrophe. But for some reason it just WORKS and works perfectly at Bowen’s Island seafood restaurant… (I guess that’s why it’s in so many magazines!) where the motto is something like YOU EITHER LIKE IT OR YOU DON’T… ha ha… no kidding. This isn’t where we ate this year, they built a new building, where you can still write on the walls, but it is a little more refined… no paint or anything, but it’s big and the food is delicious! I noticed since my last Bowen’s Island post that the link to their menu no longer works… hmmm. I’ll have to see what I can do about that! This is the building closest to the water (right on the water) where I believe they have parties, charity functions, as well as other functions. It’s very “Bowen’s”… unique, likeFolly Beach. Nothing dressy, but hey, the food is beyond fantastic and you see people there who have just woken up (quite possibly after a looooong winters nap?), dressed for church and everything in between. Someone sent me a comment asking if they serve oysters in months that don’t have an “R”. We were there in May and YEP, they were serving oysters. Another commenter mentioned that things have changed since that rule was in place long ago… who knew? Thanks to those of you who keep me up on things! Catch you back here tomorrow!
If you get a chance, check out my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !
The artist to watch today is Sue Stewart. Love her paintings. It amazes me how so many people can paint well and some people can paint so differently (in a good way!). You can recognize their style anywhere. Sue has a nice website, check it out www.suestewartpaintings.com! She’s got a diverse collection of subjects, I love that! After reading about her on her website I see that she has taken workshops with Kevin MacPherson, Charles Sovek, Kim English and Kenn Backhaus… Whoa! A pretty impressive list! Locally Sue shows her work at the Wells Gallery in Charleston, SC, stop in and check it out!
I read a blip in Prevention magazine that said there was a 64% DECREASE IN THE RISK OF BREAST CANCER FROM EATING ONE BUTTON MUSHROOM DAILY! This should be front page news… Even if you don’t like mushrooms, it seems like there could be some way to sneak one into your day! Lucky for me, I DO like mushrooms, and after reading this I AM going to eat more of them!
It’s Thursday. My mom has her first chemo treatment today… I am praying things go well, my hope is that she’ll feel great and continue on without any problems… I’m going to dedicate the next 12 Thursdays to different bits of information that I’ve read to help prevent cancer. Pass them on; we all need a break from this ugly beast! OK mom, 1 down, 11 to go!
Catch you back here tomorrow, if you get a chance check out my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !
I remember the first time I saw one of Jane Ryan’s acrylic paintings… at Maine Cottage in Charleston, SC. Maine Cottage has since shuttered it’s doors, but the one painting that we saw years ago lives on in my mind. It was facinating… a very different woods scene. The painting in the post is from the artists website, it’s entitled LAST LEG. I like her work, it’s so different. Very refreshing. If you get a chance, check out her website. You will also notice a list of galleries, so I would check those out as well!
Whenever I make these cookies and take them somewhere, people go nuts! Seriously… These are too good, and when I give out the recipe, NO ONE can believe they’re “light”. This recipe is from Cooking Light magazine. Make no mistake, part of what makes them so light is the serving size (one). With 81 calories, 3 grams of fat, 1.4 gm saturated fat, and 0.5gm fiber you have to be careful to not eat more than one (or two), but if you exercise a lot and can burn off what you eat… by all means, have at it! I love the cookie dough (I’m aware of the safety issues… to me, the dough is worth risking my life for taking a wee bit of a risk… I’m happy to report that in my little world there is no calorie content in the dough UNTIL IT IS BAKED… (and if you believe that I have swamp land, I mean a deep water lot for sale, hee hee).
I do make a few modifications, ALTHOUGH they’re perfectly fine as the recipe indicates. Here are some of the changes I’ve made throughout the years.Leave out the brown sugar. OOPS… it happened once and I thought they turned out BETTER. But the difference between it being there and NOT being there is barely noticeable (therefore why waste the extra calories?).I use regular chocolate chips instead of mini. I didn’t care for the mini chips, they were, ahhhh, TOO MINI… I like a hefty bite of chocolate not a tiny smear where you THINK you may have just gotten chocolate (or maybe not)…I usually use walnuts and I don’t always toast them. One reason, I’m almost always in a hurry. Another reason, I forget about them until I smell them burning. Soooo, since nuts are good for you I use a generous amount, usually a few handfuls. Same with chocolate chips… I put a few handfuls… I buy good chocolate chips, free of allergy causing soy and other miscellaneous ingredients that takes away from the flavor of the chocolate. I also use dark chocolate chips…I usually (not always) make the cookies SMALLER. I like them bite size. No crumbs that way, boy do I have things figured out or what? You just have to watch them closely because they won’t always take as long to bake. I think you tend to eat less when you think, HAVE I JUST EATEN FIVE COOKIES? When in reality it was probably 2.5… a way I mess with myself, ha ha…Lastly, I use a Silpat cookie sheet liner instead of parchment, but either way it’ll work just fine! Give these a whirl, I do believe they’ll quickly become your favorite! Click HERE for the recipe from MyRecipes.com where you can easily print (as well as see the full info on nutritional info) or see below…
These easy drop cookies are crisp on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside. Chocolate minichips disperse better in the batter, but you can use regular chips.
YIELD: 3 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)
Ingredients
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring with a whisk; set aside.
Place sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg; beat until blended. Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in pecans and minichips. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.
Julianna Grimes and Ann Taylor Pittman, Cooking Light
DECEMBER 2007
Catch you back here tomorrow! If you get a chance, check out my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !
Bradley Hendershot. Nice guy… met him a few years ago on Monhegan Island. He does fabulous watercolors mainly of Pennsylvania, Maine and Maryland’s eastern shore. If you aren’t familiar with his work, check him out! He has a website with paintings, gallery information and upcoming exhibitions. Brad’s work reminds me of some of Andrew Wyeth’s work.
My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.
–Claude Monet
Catch you back here tomorrow! If you get a chance check out my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !
Quote from ArtQuotes.net; Image from TokyoRoomFinder.blogspot.com/
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