Amazing Archeology Discovery

My husband found this terrific site for an archeological discovery of a hoard of Anglo Saxon Gold in Staffordshire here. I found the pictures to be very inspirational for me as an artist and jewelry maker. Here are a few of them from the site They are all from the portable antiquities' photostream, and are copyrighted by individual artists as listed on that site.

Gold scabbard boss with inlaid garnets

Press quality photo

Finds number NLM 675

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

Gold hilt fitting with inlaid garnets

Press quality photo

Finds number NLM 449

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

Recipes from the Holidays

We had a truly amazingly edible Holiday this year. I have never cooked so much delicious food in my life in such a short amount of time. I was so pleased by the culinary success, that I decided to go ahead and document all the old and new recipes I used so that next year I won't have to try to remember them all and hunt them down again.

Roast Turkey

1 Turkey or Turkey Breast
2 tsp salt
2 tsp white pepper
2 tsp dried, powdered savory
2 tsp dried, powdered sage
½ cup (1 stick) butter melted
2 juicy pears (Comice or bartlett work well) cored and sliced
1 large, sweet, yellow onion, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
garlic cloves (optional)
1 lemon, quartered (optional)
springs of fresh herbs (optional)

For Turkey: Position rack at lowest shelf of the overn and preheat overn to 375°. Remove Giblets and neck and rinse turkey inside and out and pat dry. Combine salt, pepper, savory, sage, and metled butter and cover outside and inside of the turkey with the mixture. Stuff a few of the lemon wedges, garlic cloves and fresh herbs inside the turkey cavities for flavor. Tie turkey legs together to preserve shape. On bottom of large roasting pan arrange celery, onion, and pear slices. Place turkey on roasting rack on top of pears and vegetables. Cover pan and roast for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350° and roast for 11/2 hours or until a thermometer inserted into the breast or thigh reaches 175° . Check turkey every 30 minutes for temperature. If you prefer a crispy skin, uncover the turkey for the last 30 minutes of cooking. Allow Turkey to rest for 30 minutes before carving. Meanwhile, remove pears and vegetables from underneath turkey. Reserve 1 cup of pears and vegetables for gravy and transfer the rest to the serving platter. Place carved turkey atop pears and vegetables and garnish with lemon wedges andfresh herbs.

For Gravy: Rinse Turkey neck and add to 1 can chicken broth. Simmer on stove until the turkey is cooked. Remove meat from neck and discard bone. Strain pan juices from roasted turkey and add to broth. Pureé the saved cup of pears and vegetables to liquid and add to the gravy broth. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Simmer on stove until very warm but not boiling. To thicked mix a 1-2 tsp corn starch, rice flour, or regular flour with water until you have a thick milk cosistancy. Add the flour/starch mixture to the gravy slowly while stirring constantly and simmering until it thickens.

This recipe was adapted from a November 1990 Bon Appétit

Prociutto and Pear Stuffing

3 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 oz thinly sliced prociutto, cut into ribbons
2 cups celery , diced
2 cups yellow, sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh sage, minced
2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
2 tsp fresh thyme, minced
6-8 cups bread cubes or croutons.
2 ripe pears (Comice or bartlett work well) cored and sliced
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsely
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9 by 13 inch baking dish lightly with cooking spray. Heat one tsp of oilve oil in skillet and sauteé the prociutto over medium heat about 5 minutes until crispy. Drain on a paper towel. Wipe out the pan and heat the remaining 2 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, onions, celery and cook, stirring until softened (about 6-8 minutes). Add sage, thyme, and rosemary and cook for one minute. Remove from heat and transfer to baking pan. Add bead cubes, pears, and parsley and prociutto and stirr gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the top of the stuffing begins to crisp (around 25 -30 minutes more).

This recipe was adapted from a November 2006 EatingWell.

Cranberry Citrus Sauce

1/2 small orange unpeeled
1 ¼ cups orange juice
1 cup sugar
1 tblsp and 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 12 oz bag cranberries

Finely grind the orange ina food processor. Combine orange juice, sugar and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add ground orange and cranberries and cook untilt he berries begin to pop, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Refridgerate for 30 minutes before serving.

This recipe was adapted from a November 1990 Bon Appétit. This sauce added to a cup of greek yogurt makes a fantastic breakfast.

Whole Wheat Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups white pastry flour,
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons very cold butter
6-7 tablespoons of ice water

Mix flour with salt in a medium bowl or food processor. Add cold butter and cut in using a pastry blender, or pulse in food processor. Add 6 to 7 tablespoons ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough forms into a ball. Gather up and pat into a disc. If possible, cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes before rolling out. When ready to use, divide dough in two, roll each dough ball out on a lightly floured surface into a 10-inch circle. You can also roll out inside a floured 2.5 gallon plastic bag, which makes it very easy to transfer to the pan. Trim the edges and crimp for a decorative crust. Makes two delicious 9-inch pie shells.

This recipe was adapted from a Whole Foods recipe from their website.

Turkey Pot Pie

2 cups cups cooked turkey,
1 tblsp flour
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced yellow sweet onion
1/2 cup sliced celery
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup snap green beans in small pieces
¼ cup butter
1 8oz can cream of mushroom soup (I use Amy’s organic)
1/2 tsp savory
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp milk
2 9-inch pie crusts

Preheat oven to 350°. Toss turkey in a bowl with the flour. In a skillet melt the butter and then sauteé the garlic for a minute. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and green beans and sauteé until just softened. Add the cream of mushroom soup, turkey cubes, savory, thyme, salt and pepper. Mix thouroughly, then remove from heat and set aside. Roll out the bottom pastry and fill the pie pan. Add the turkey and vegetable filling. Roll out the second crust and place over the top of the filling, crimping the edges. Cut several vents in the top crust to allow steam to escape. Brush the top crust with the milk. Bake at 350°for 45 minutes until lightly browned. Allow the pie to rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

This recipe was adapted from a recipe by Betsy Barnes

Gingerbread Cookie/Pancake Mix

Mix Ingedients:
3 ½ cups all purpose flour,
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice

For Cookies:
½ cup softened butter
¾ cup molasses
1 lightly beaten egg

Add all of the mix to a large mixing bowl and stir well. Add the butter, molasses and egg and mix until well blended. Cover and refridgerate one hour. Preheat oven to 350°. Roll dough to 1/4” thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and transfer to a lined, or lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes.

For Pancakes:
¾ cup milk
1 egg
2 tblsp canola oil
2 tblsp molasses
1 ½ tsp baking powder

In a medium bowl combine the milk,egg, oil and molasses. Blend in 1 1/3 cups of the gingerbread mix and extra baking powder. Mix until moistened but slightly lumpy. Cook on lightly greaded griddle over med-low heat. Watch closely, they will burn easily.

These wonderful recipes came as a gift from Steve and Dawn Hemphill.

And another Blog Feature

So today I am featured on a really pretty blog by jennyndesigns which you can find here.

I spent last night working on Rosary Necklaces for the women at my bible study, because I have to deliver them today. I'm really happy with the way they are coming out. Here is a picture. I'm trying to package them up so I can deliver them today.

I really need to get some masks finished today also. I have about 6 that just need decorative painting and I need to form some new ones as well.

Fingers crossed that I get something done ;)

Another Etsy Treasury

Well, I am in another Etsy treasury made by my Etsy freind stockannette. You can find the original here. All of these items were chosen from a group of people called the Sneak Attack Team. This is one of the coolest things I have seen on Etsy. It is a group of sellers who get together and find shops that are just starting out, and then they all go at one time and each buy something from a single shop to encourage that shop. I found them by accident, but once I found them I knew that I had found a home. For more information about the Sneak Attack Team follow this link.

Anyway, I got a couple of rosaries done today for the ladies in my bible study, and the Hubby and I hunted the wild Christmas tree, but other than that it was not a very productive day.

Sigh...

Featured on Jewelry by Tara

Hey friends,

I have been featured at http://www.jewelrybytarabiz.blogspot.com/. Tara's blog is lovely, as is her shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/jewelrybytara.

I'm somewhat stuck in the fix and promote my shop blues. It seeps like I am so busy actually trying to make masks that the constant time it take to do all the work to make the Etsy shop work well is just exhausting. I also don't really know if it is looking good enough that I can advertise it, or if I should. Anyway, it is really difficult to navigate my way through these choices and try and find a good balance of time spent.

In other news I'm trying to finish up three Anglican rosaries today for my lovely ladies at church and then work on forming a bunch of masks. I finally cast the skull mask in plaster and now I just have to clean the mold to see if it will work. Too much to do, but still having fun.