Let's Be Friends

Wow...I am honoured and very pleased to receive the following
"Let's be Friends Award", which was awarded to me by two fabulous bloggers, and friends, Swapna at Crafts and Cooking, and Kirstie at Bonhomie Jewelry. Thank you both so much! It is a wonderful feeling to know that I am counted among these two fine ladies as their friend, and that they enjoy my little blog. This award states that...

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

So now I am supposed to send this award to eight more of my friends. Mmmm, there are so many of you that I consider friends, and I hope I will not offend anyone if I miss you out this time. However I must choose, so here goes:

Nancy at Nanjodogz
Deb at Sweetwater Designs
Elaine at ChatElaine Jewellery
Ruthie at Rose Works Jewelry
Joanna at Unique You
Altered Events and My Gypsy Goods
Deb at Stroll through Storyland
Reeni at Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice
Five o'clock Somewhere
Anna at A Rose by Name
Judy at More than Sew So
Periwinkle Studio
Nicole at Beadwright

Oh dear, as you see I chose more than 8, and I could go on and on, because there are so many more of you that I enjoy connecting with, and reading your fine blogs, laughing along with you or enjoying your art and creative skills!

Stay tuned, tomorrow I am featuring a very talented and creative person here on my blog! Pin It

Awarded and tagged!

I have been awarded and tagged!! First of all Kirstie at Bonhomie Jewelry awarded me with the Lemonade Award! Thankyou Kirstie! I always enjoy visiting Kirsties' blog, as she seems so full of sunshine. Her metal jewelry designs have a modern, yet organic feel and are very beautiful. This award is given to bloggers with positive attitudes, the ability to look on the bright side.........those who turn life's lemons into lemonade.

The rules are (should you choose to accept this gracious award): 1. Put the logo on your blog. 2. Nominate 10 blogs which show great attitude or gratitude!!! 3. Be sure to link your nominees with your post. 4. Let them know they received the award by leaving a comment on their blog. 5. Share the love and link this post to the person that gave you the award. Many of the nominees for this award are fairly new reads for me, and I am enjoying them all. There are also a couple that I have been following for awhile as well. So here goes:

Art and Interior-fabulous interior design

Coloraddiction- Lampwork bead artist

Five O'Clock Somewhere- Jewelry designs and horses!

Crafts and Cooking- From India,

Kitchen Retro- Lots of laughs here!!

Dirty Pretty Things to Ponder-Fashion, design, art, home,celebrity & gossip

Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice-After visiting this blog, you'll be starvin'!

Judiths Bead Lounge-lampwork bead artist

Originals by Terri-jewelry designer

Retro: Kimmer-wonderful blog, all about the 60's

Then I was tagged by Nancy at Indie Sista's....
Apparently the basic rules for tagging are simple rules: Mention the person who tagged you and link the person, post the rules in your blog, write 7 random things about yourself, tag seven people at the end of your post and link to them and let each person know they've been tagged.
Seven Random things about me:
1. I am short..5'2", but I wish I was taller!

2. I have naturally curly hair, which I usually blow dry straight almost every day.

3. I make my bed every day.

4. When I travel to new places, I love to find the unknown out of the way spots.

5. I have eaten Prairie Oysters...once! (search on google if you don't know what these are!)

6. I enjoy red wine.

7. Summer is my favorite season.

So now these people are it!

ChatElaine Jewelry

Alteredevents

HeathensHearth LizzyT Tallis Designs The Copper Cauldron Karooart Designs

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Domestic Diva Martha Stewart

Todays Martha Stewarts' episode was devoted to blogs and blogging! Check out Marthas blog, she has some great tips on her blog for all bloggers! I was lucky enough to get the "heads up", from Dashery Jewelry, when I stopped by her blog this morning to drop my entrecard. So for some of you, you may still be able to catch the episode. What did I learn from watching? Well, your blog may get more attention if you have great pictures...especially if they are of cute animals, or if you have a great recipe for something sweet, or if you blog about the presidential candidates and the upcoming election, or if you are really great about blogging about celebrities...a la Perez Hilton! I love Martha, being the diva of all things domestic that she is, and I love her feature, "Cookie of the Day" ...not that I eat the cookies every day, but I do like the recipes and print them off for future use. The pictures of those cookies always look so darn good, you can probably gain weight just from looking at them! So with regards to what I learned today from watching Martha, I am going to share my recipe for something yummy and sweet, Chocolate Mousse Flan. I made this last week for my daughters' and husbands' birthday celebration and it got rave reviews! Maybe tomorrow I will post a photo of my cat! (But don't hold your breath for any political blogging from yours truly!!)

Chocolate Mousse Flan

1 cup flour

2 tbsp icing sugar

1 oz square of semisweet chocolate

1/2 cup butter at room temp.

1/3 cup whipping cream

5 x 1oz squares of semisweet chocolate

2 tbsp butter

2 eggs separated

1/4 cup white sugar

Coarsely grated or shaved chocolate

Combine flour, icing sugar and 1 oz of chocolate. Cream in 1/2 cup butter until smooth and well mixed...like shortbread dough. Form dough into a ball and then press into the sides and bottom of a 9 and 1/2 inch flan pan with removable sides. Chill for 1 hour, and then bake at 425 F for 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Bring whipping cream to a boil and add the 5 squares of chocolate and 2 tbsp of butter. Turn heat low and stir until chocolate is melted. DO NOT BOIL! Blend in egg yolks, stirring constantly, and remove from heat. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat egg whites until frothy and then add white sugar. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg white mixture into chocolate mixture and pour into crust. Chill. Sprinkle on grated chocolate, and serve with whipped cream on the side.

Enjoy!

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