Another great way to celebrate St Patrick’s Day…  I have to admit – this is one of my favorites!  

• 1 1/2 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 3 cups miniature marshmallows or 32 large
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons white creme de cacao
• 1/4 cup green creme de menthe
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• Few drops green food coloring, if wanted Semi-sweet chocolate or extra cookie crumbs for garnish

 

Preheat oven to 350.

Crush cookies and mix with butter.  Press crumbs into artists at Heart pie plate.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Cool.  Combine marshmallows and milk in saucepan over low heat. Cook and stir until melted.  Cool.  Add liqueurs, and gently fold marshmallow mixture into whipped cream. Add food coloring, if wanted . Pour filling into prepared shell, and top with shaved chocolate or cookie crumbs, if desired. Freeze until 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 1-9 inch pie.

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup raisins, if desired
3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions
1 Heat oven to 375ºF. Spray Artists At Heart stoneware baker.
2 Cut butter into flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl, using pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in raisins and just enough buttermilk so dough leaves side of bowl.
3 Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead 2 minutes or until smooth. Shape into round loaf, about 6 1/2 inches in diameter. Place in baking dish. Cut an X shape about 1/2 inch deep through loaf with floured knife. Bake 35-45 minutes until golden brown. Brush with butter or margarine, softened, if desired. You can serve your fresh hot bread on a handmade wooden Celtic trivet.

These recipes are from noted sources. Hope you like them.

Apple Pie

8 ServingsPrep: 20 min. Bake: 50 min.             

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

6 to 7 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)

1 tablespoon butter

1 egg white

Additional sugar

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the sugars, flour and spices; set aside. In

a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar mixture; toss

to coat.

 

Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom crust; trim pastry even with edge.

Fill with apple mixture; dot with butter. Roll out remaining pastry

to fit top of pie. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges.

Cut slits in pastry.

Beat egg white until foamy; brush over pastry. Sprinkle with sugar.

Cover edges loosely with foil.

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 20-25 minutes

© Taste of Home 2014

Mom’s Pumpkin Pie

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

3 eggs

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
In a large bowl, combine eggs, egg yolk, white sugar and brown sugar. Add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Gradually stir in milk and cream. Stir in pumpkin. Pour filling into pie shell.
Bake for ten minutes in preheated oven. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake for an additional 40 to 45 minutes, or until filling is set.

© 2014 Allrecipes.com

Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie
Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings        

Hands-on: 10 Minutes

Total: 4 Hours, 10 Minutes

Ingredients

1/2 (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

Utterly

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 teaspoons bourbon*

1 1/2 cups pecan halves

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Fit piecrust into a 10-inch cast-iron skillet; sprinkle piecrust with powdered sugar.
2. Whisk eggs in a large bowl until foamy; whisk in brown sugar and next 6 ingredients. Pour mixture into piecrust, and top with pecan halves.
3. Bake at 325° for 30 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 300°, and bake 30 more minutes. Turn oven off, and let pie stand in oven, with door closed, 3 hours.

*Vanilla extract may be substituted.

Southern Living Oct 2011

 

 

 

The dragon is a popular symbol of power and wisdom.

According to Trevor Mendham of Dragonorama, “Dragons were an important part of Celtic lore. The Celts were highly attuned to the land and dragons were believed to influence the land…. Areas frequented by dragons were believed to possess special power.”

Read Original Here: Celtic Dragons : Mythical Power Source http://www.fantasy-ireland.com/Celtic-dragons.html#ixzz39XmLiOY0
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Share Alike

Purchase this Celtic Dragon Pendant on Artfire at http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/9813465

In case you haven’t noticed, we LOVE a theme!  And this month we have two!  Blueberries and Ancient Egypt. 

Blueberries are in season, of course, and with all the recent rain, even the blueberry bushes in our overgrown garden are producing some lovely berries this summer.

Normally we would be heading off to the Blueberry Festival in Bethlehem the third weekend in July, but this year we have a happy family celebration that weekend.  Not to

fear though, we will be going to the Blueberry Festival in Chincoteague, VA the following weekend!

This will be our very first “away” show and to celebrate, we are making a vacation of it.  We are hoping to see the annual pony swim and auction and looking forward to a great festival and wonderful week.

In preparation for the festival, we have been busy making berry bowls and blueberry jewelry.  We even have a great recipe for blueberry cobbler for you!

On the party front, we have been focused on projects based on Ancient Egypt – including mummies, hieroglyphic writing and of course, jewelry.  We want to thank the wonderful management and staff at KinderCare on 17^th street in Allentown for inviting us to create with their children.  The kids were super and made so many creative and fun projects!  We will be posting pics and some instructions for anyone who wants to try the projects themselves.

Orange Sodalite

Our beautiful stone of the month is Orange Sodalite. Sodalite is found all over the world, but this orange-infused variety comes from Brazil. It is named after its sodium content. It was discovered in Greenland about 200 years ago but didn’t become popular until Princess Patricia, on a trip to Ontario, chose it for the interior decoration of Marlborough House in England. Since then, its color has been called Princess Blue.

Sodalite has many helpful properties for its wearer. It encourages idealism and is good for meditation. It unites logic and intuition, as well as encouraging cooperation among group members.

Sodalite is also said to aid the mind by eliminating mental confusion and encouraging rational thought. It brings about emotional balance and calms panic. It enhances self-esteem and self-acceptance.

Physically, sodalite balances metabolism and boosts the immune system. It helps with insomnia, fever, blood pressure and throat ailments.

So once again, our stone of the month is not only beautiful, but also helpful and healthful in many ways.

You can purchase this necklace at http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/product_view/9533650. (copy and paste the url into your browser)

 

From the Whitehall Chamber of Commerce:

If you are looking for a Fun Way to Shop for your Mom   or Any Special Lady in your life,   make sure to Stop by our   MOTHER’S DAY “CASH MOB” TUESDAY, MAY 6 from 4:00-7:00 p.m.   Vendors will be selling unique items  Refreshments Served  FREE Gift Wrapping Items available for purchase from:  ARTISTS AT HEART  BOB’S FLOWER SHOP  SWEET & SAVORY GOURMET GIFT STORE   LOCATION:  Whitehall CHAMBER OFFICE at the Lehigh Valley Mall 4:00-7:00 P.M. For More Information:  610-432-4130 exec@waccpa.org

As you are no doubt aware, Chinese years are associated with animals, but you may not know how this tradition started.  Many, many years ago on New Year’s Eve, the Buddha called together the animals and twelve of them attended. To reward them, the Buddha named a year after each one.  The Buddha decided to give human beings born in those years some of the attributes of the animals associated with the year. For example, people  born in horse years like 2014 are said to be cheerful, skillful with money, perceptive, witty, talented and dextrous.

The Chinese calendar is quite different from the Western calendar we use.  The Chinese is based on two cycles—the zodiac with its twelve parts  (the animals) and the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and  earth.  The combination of these two cycles means a particular year such as this one, the year of wood and the horse, comes around every 60 years.

The animals who showed up on that New Year’s Eve so long ago represent the different years in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese horoscope was developed around these animals and elements to describe humans’ personalities.   Here is what the year you were born in the Chinese calendar says about you:

The rat is said to be quick-witted, smart, charming and persuasive.  The ox is described as patient, kind, stubborn and conservative. The tiger is authoritative emotional, courageous and intense, while the rabbit is popular, compassionate, and sincere.  The dragon is said to be energetic, fearless, warm and charismatic, the snake, charming, both outgoing and introverted, generous and smart. Then there is  the sheep, mild-mannered, shy, kind and peace-loving, and the monkey, fun, energetic and active. The rooster is independent, practical, hard-working and alert.  The dog is patient, diligent, generous, faithful and kind, and, finally, the pig is said to be loving, tolerant, honest and self-indulgent.

Yin and yang also affect the astrology of China by assigning these opposing forces—the yin to odd years and the yang to even ones.  Yin is said to be symbolize the earth, female, dark, and passive, and yang the heaven, light, active and male.

This year, as you celebrate the year of the wooden horse, you can appreciate how it came to be named that, and maybe look at your own personality and those of your friends and family in terms of the Chinese zodiac.  To help you celebrate, my next post will be a tried and true recipe for wontons  just like my grandma would have made had she been Chinese.