I used a lot of ideas from a Guy Fieri recipe I saw on Food Network earlier in the week, but really, this is not much like it. I used beef, onion, carrot, turnip, beef broth, red wine, seasonings and cream in the stew. I cooked mashed potatoes separately and served them together like above. Phil prefers his stew poured over the potatoes like caramel sauce over ice cream.
I found the recipe on the internet. Here is how it went, more or less: Saute lots of vegetables together. (I used mushrooms, red and yellow peppers, garlic). Add one can chicken broth, 1 cup diced potatoes, 1 cup shredded carrots. Let them cook for a bit. Then add 1 can cream style corn, 1 can evaporated milk, and 1 can salmon. Stir in and let them simmer for 15 minutes. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, dill weed and red pepper flakes. I sprinkled bacon on top. There was hardly any left!
A little more of my artwork...Days 8 and 10 in my art journal.
I realize my blog is often more of a site to show what I've been making lately. I ran across a blog encouraging artists to link together and share what they are working on. That is the (fake) button on my sidebar (Creative Every Day 2012). It's just encouragement to do something almost every day and share it. 
It was delicious! I spooned mine over a scoop of rice, but it didn't really need it. It was spicy (curry) and had a little bite to it (cayenne). Hubby loved it! The best part was it was easy - chopping onions was the most time consuming part. I think it may have taken 30 minutes from start to finish. I suppose my house will smell like curry for a week...
Even though it was 38 degrees when we decided to go for a walk today, the sun was shining and it looked like a nice day. It was 41 by the time we got into town, and 44 a little later. We walked around Capital Lake, the whole boardwalk at Percival Landing, and back again. Phil thinks it was about 3 miles and we did it in about an hour.
We weren't the only ones out admiring the view - this woman was getting ready to paint the scene I photographed above. I wish I had the confidence to paint at an easel in a public place! 
You know how I collect cigar boxes? Well, I found these two cigar "tins". They look like an old metal cd case, but not quite as square. I don't know what I'll do with these two - but I HAD to have them. A piece of future art I think. They must have held very very skinny cigars!
This is my January book I mentioned yesterday. I am just loading it up with anything artsy that comes my way this month. It is already a treasure of information and reference material.
I made tabs to separate the actual classes and tutorials. 
Have a cookie!
FORGOTTEN COOKIES
The above cookies look just like mine (only mine are not so perfectly cut)...but I have experimented recently and find they don't have to be baked in a pan - you can roll them out and use cookie cutters too, like this ...
The last batch I made, I cut into "fingers" like this, sprinkled extra sugar on top, and they were "THE BEST"... I haven't dipped them in chocolate yet -- I'm sure it's great, but they don't really need it.
I found the recipe in a cookbook my sister gave me. I still remember my delight as I smelled them baking, then tasted them - so easy! I knew they would be my favorite from then on. 
Its fun to revisit the things you've forgotten about. Above is my "Merry Christmas" banner from a few years ago, that I made with 13 other ladies. There are 13 other families with this exact same banner in their homes this holiday. I made the "Y" in Merry for all. I hung it over the doorway into my kitchen. First time there.
I took this one for Walker - this is his countdown nutcracker. He's not home to enjoy it yet, but I can keep him posted...All this decorating was hard work and I switched gears to try this new "diet" cake mix I read about recently.
You mix one box of cake mix with 12 oz diet soda. no eggs. no oil. just mix it up and bake as directed on the box.
Looks normal.
smells chocolatey
Taste - pretty good! They are rather delicate and tend to crumble when you eat them. Best eaten with a fork maybe. Phil ate two them and found them "delicious". I put a little tiny bit of icing ontop. Tonight we might have it with ice cream - so much for diet. You could make spice cake with ginger ale; yellow cake with sprite; any combination that sounds good to you. I got my idea from "Hungry girl".
Its nice to have a high fiber, low fat, vegetarian dinner, so close to Thanksgiving -- Helps to justify the party to come!
We dusted, vacuumed, sprayed spiders, polished furniture, windexed all the glass. ahhhh...
...and the final result. It feels so much better. See our cat going to her favorite sitting spot? Now its all cozy for the winter months.
And for dinner tonight, I made Taco-chicken soup. It was good! I made cornbread too, from Jiffy Mix. Is there any better cornbread muffins than from jiffy mix? 
A new recipe (follows). Basically, mashed potatoes with 2 eggs and some cheese beat in, and salmon from a can stirred in at the last minute. Then baked until cooked and golden. My recipe was supposed to serve 4, but there is not enough left over for one. I will make it again.
Why I don't like to cook - what a mess! I did clean as I went along, but I used so many pots and utensils it was incredible! Worth it though I think. I made a nice salad with chopped salami and feta cheese on top to go with the casserole. Very good and really pretty easy.
These Fall leaves compliment my outfit perfectly.
And some slower to turn leaves...very bright.
The book is a true story, written by a homeless man in the San Francisco Bay area wandering around and living hand to mouth when he notices a big flock of wild parrots (mostly escaped, but some born since in the wild). He develops an interest in them, and he feeds them and takes care of them when they are sick or injured. Most of the book is his observations, with his story of being homeless in the background. Eventually someone gives him a computer and he finds a way to write about it. A documentary was also filmed about it later. I didn't know if it would hold my interest, but it has. There was a chapter at the end with all his thoughts about destiny and the universe that I kind of skimmed over, but all in all, it was an interesting read.
I also steamed the other celery root (diced) with a baking potato (diced). Then I put it through my food mill and stirred in some butter, milk, garlic, and parsley. I didn't get a photo, but it was EVEN better than the candy recipe! I don't think Phil knows it wasn't just mashed potatoes, but I could tell the delicious difference. I hope we get more this week. Otherwise, I may just have to buy some celery root separately this week!
Today I babysat Wyatt, and I had to get this photo of Tori's new earrings! The other one was blue. One of her little friends gave this to her.
And we took Wyatt out for a little walk. He LOVED sitting in the stroller, kicking his legs, all scrunched down watching the scenery go by.
