Cooked up a storm the other day.  You know one of those days where you cook up more than one meal.  One of my favorite ways to prepare my meat is to let it marinate.  What's so different about that?  Well I got hooked on Emeril's Essence and tweeked it a little bit and it is really a nice dry rub or everyday seasoning and you can control the salt.

Here is how I make my version!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2  tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme

Directions

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Mine has a little more of the herbs and black pepper.  The first time I used this was on Independence Day in 2010 and I used it on a couple of racks of ribs.  They sat in the dry rub for 24 hours and then I slow cooked them on indirect heat on the BBQ.  They were so awesome that everyone snapped them up and I was lucky to get one rib!  Really? 

I learned my lesson that day.  Now I make sure I stash away a few so that I don't miss out!

My friend Nikki loves this spice mixture that I keep her supplied every time that I make it!

Hope you give it a try!  Share your experience with this spice mixture or share your favorite recipe with us!

I feel like a grandma. Again.

My dear friend Nikki recently became a grandma.  Her beautiful granddaughter Kaylee made me melt and I just had to start making something.

I have been playing around learning how to make crochet animals, or Amigurumi.  So I found this great tutorial on YouTube and set out to make Kaylee a teddy bear.

Here are the results!  I think I did a pretty good job!   I am hooked!  What do you think?

If you want to learn more you can find the video tutorial here!

Roasted Radishes... Really!

I grew up eating radishes and I love them.  I know a lot of people don't.  The problem is that most of us only know of one thing to do with radishes.  Eat them the way they are.  Of course, we can always make radish roses but they can be kind of boring after awhile.

About a year ago, I saw a recipe in a magazine for roasted radish greens but what about the radishes themselves?  Well I did a search and low and behold I found a few recipes on places like Epicurious and Food Network for roasted radishes.

Of course, I had to give it a try.  I had three bunches of radishes and I am the only one eating them.

This is what I did.

2 bunches radishes, trimmed and washed, them quartered (or halved)
1 bag baby carrots
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
Salt & Pepper to taste

Toss altogether in a bowl and place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with pan spray.  Place in preheated oven at 400 degrees.  Roast until they are crisp tender and golden.  I roasted mine for about 30 minutes.

They are surprisingly good!  My husband Tony even enjoyed eating them!

BTW, you can also roast the greens!  So if you love greens of any kind, try keeping your fresh radish greens and roasting them for something different!

Pico De Gallo with Hearts of Palm......

You know when your fridge gets on the empty side and you have to try to make something with what's left.  Well I had a pint of golden yellow cherry tomatoes and some onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lemon juice.  I thought this would make a kind of pico but it would be different.  I was planning on using this as a side to dinner.  I also had a can of hearts of palm. They are sort of lemony and I thought they would go together well.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well it all went together.  Here is what I used:

1 can hearts of palm
1 pint of golden yellow cherry tomatoes (sub red cherry tomatoes)
1/2 white onion finely diced
1 jalapeno (ribs and seeds removed, finely diced)
1/3 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 lemon squeezed
Emeril's Essence
1 tbsp olive oil

Toss all together in a bowl and serve on the side.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how good it is with the hearts of palm!

Let me know what you think!

Stash busting.....

If you are a crafter, you can identify with having tons of craft supplies around the house.  Since I do all kinds of crafts such as crocheting, knitting, sewing, quilting, embroidery and kids crafts, I have a lot of stuff for making gifts.

Recently, my friend Nikki was given some really pretty decorative silver pieces.  Some of them have really decorative work either on or in the metal.  Now Nikki's home is basically black & white with some bits of color here and there.  I have a stash of black crochet cotton and saw a really pretty doily on pinterest.  I thought okay, I could make one or two of those for Nikki.

So here is the finished doily and I will be giving this to my dear friend Nikki.

Thanks Mom for teaching me so many things!

Well I haven't been here to post for quite awhile.  That doesn't mean I haven't been busy.  I have worked on several projects which I will share with you.

I am a pinterest.com junkie and of course there are tons of really beautiful needle crafts there and all over the internet.  I was inspired to do something when I found my mother's embroidery tin.  Full of supplies, added to my stash of felt, I got my inspiration from some really nice felt hearts that I found at this website:

http://indulgy.com/post/VLKCk2EHE1/lovely-embroidered-felt-hearts



Here are my hearts, they kept my hands busy and I really like the results.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos.  I haven't used my camera in at least a year and I really need to learn the settings all over again.  I also need to learn how to take better photos.  It was easy to do and made me remember watching my mother do embroidery.  I remember her teaching me and some of the beautiful stuff that she made.

Hope you like these as much as I do!