Whatever path of action you find that brings good and happiness to all,

follow this way like the MOON in the path of the STARS.

Joy comes not through possession or ownership but through a wise and loving heart.

Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a great tree in the midst of them all.

Heart Shaped Bird Treats

Over February recess me and the kids made these very cute bird treats, so we could hang them on the trees outside.

I got the idea from one of the library books we rented from our local library. The book is called " Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf" by Lois Ehlert.

All you need to do is use a cookie cutter to cut a heart shape out of a slice of bread.

Brush the heart shaped piece of bread with egg white and cover with wild bird seed. Use a pencil to poke a hole in the top so you can string it with ribbon or yarn once it has dried.

Place it on a plate to dry, then hang out on a tree and later you can watch all kinds of pretty birds come to snack on the treat.

Soba And Tofu In Ginger and Broth

This is another delicious recipe I tried two times already. This vegan recipe came from my "Body and Soul" magazine. It has a very gingery flavor, with a slightly spicy taste. You'll also have some left overs too. I found the left overs are even more flavorful, even though it's very good on the same night you make it. I find many soups enhance in flavor when they are stored for more than a day in the refrigerator.

Ingredients;

1 bunch of scallions (6 scallions), whites and greens separated, greens cut into 2 inch lengths and thinly sliced lengthwise

1 ounce ginger, peeled and sliced

2 garlic cloves smashed

Canola oil, for the grill pan

1 package extra firm tofu, drained and pressed

Course sea salt and ground black pepper

2 teaspoons soy sauce, plus more for seasoning

6 oz soba noodles

1 bunch baby bok choy, trimmed and sliced thinly

4 oz snow peas

1 red serrano chile, thinly sliced crosswise

1 tsp fresh sesame seeds, for garnish

In a medium sauce pan, combine scallion whites, ginger, garlic and 8 cups of water; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a grill pan over medium high heat; lightly oil the pan. Slice tofu in half; season with salt and pepper. Add tofu to grill and cook, turning all sides, about 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool. cut into small cubes.

Strain aromatics from the broth with a slotted spoon.; discard solids.

Bring broth to a boil; add soy sauce and soba. Cook soba 1 minute until dente. Add bok choy, snow peas, and chile. Cook until veggies are tender-crisp. Add more soy sauce if desired. To serve, place noodles in bowl with broth; top with tofu, scallion greens, and sesame seeds.

Abstract Painting

This is a painting that I did while attending art in college. It was one of my projects. I ended up getting this one framed and hanging it.

Clam Painting

Here's another painting by me that I found in my basement the other day.
I painted this during a time when I really enjoyed visiting the ocean and beach combing.

Words have the power to destroy or heal.

When words are both true and kind they can change the world.

Happy Birthday To My Little Girl

Today is My little girl's birthday! She's 8 years old. It seems like just a year ago that she was born.

She has a very busy day today. Her day will start off with 1/2 day of school(She lucked out that they only had a half a day today). They will celebrate both Valentine's day ands I'll also send in cupcakes for all of her friends to celebrate her birthday.

Later I'm going to pick her up and bring her for a pedicure at this cute children's spa. Then we'll head out to the library to get some books.

When we get home I'll make her favorite dinner and she'll get her gift from us( an Ipod ). They ask for big things young now.

Tomorrow will be her big birthday party with her girlfriends. Needless to say she's so excited about this weekend and her party.

Happy Birthday Ivy!!!!!!

Another Celestial Oil Painting

A few weeks ago I started this oil for my son, because he kept asking me if I could paint him a spaceship or a rocket ship. I finally finished this composition for him tonight. Here is is. It's still wet, so I snapped the shot with it still on my easel.

I have enough paintings to keep me busy for another month or two.

It's just so relaxing and meditative to go up into the attic room of my house, put on a great CD and get lost in my painting while enjoying some great music. I haven't done that in a long time and I realized tonight, how much I missed doing this.

Kiwi Rolls

Kiwi is both a sweet and tart fruit and provides a high amount of vitamins.

It's only 108 calories and it also contains fiber, potassium, vitamin C and E.

Last week while looking through my latest "Body and Soul" magazine I came across two recipes and tried them both. Needless to say they were both very unique and very delicious.

Kiwi rolls are one of the recipes I tried. If you want to try something healthy, refreshing, and tasty with hardly any fat at all, then I suggest you try this recipe.

Ingredients;

1 /12 oz thin rice noodles

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves

4 tbs honey

1 tbs lime juice

1/8 tsp chili powder

8 round rice paper wrappers

4 kiwifruit peeled, sliced in half lengthwise,

then thinly sliced crosswise

1/3 cup of peanuts, coarsely chopped



Make noodles according to the directions on the package. Drain and rinse under cold water; pat dry with paper towels. In a medium bowl, toss noodles, mint and 1 tbs of honey together.

For the dipping sauce, whisk together remaining 3 tbs honey, lime juice, chili powder and 1 tbs water in a small bowl. Set aside.

For each roll, soak the wrapper in a bowl of warm water until softened, usually 30 seconds. Lift out and transfer to work surface. Lay 1/8 of sliced kiwi, 1/8 noodles, and 1/8 peanuts at one end of the wrapper. Fold ends in and roll tightly to enclose filling. keep repeating until all 8 wraps are filled.

Cover with damp paper towel until ready to serve. Halve rolls and serve with dipping sauce.

Remembering My Mom's Birthday

Today would have been my mom's birthday. She would be turning 79 years old.

I wanted to dedicate this post and pretty photo for a day that use to be very special to me, and the memories of when our family use to have birthday parties for my mom. On the day of her birthday, I remember me and her rushing over to Etna's Italian bakery, so we could pick up her favorite birthday cake, a rum cake. I hated the taste of rum cake, but made sure she had one every year to make her happy.

She loved having her birthday parties and became very excited when her birthday was approaching. It never bothered her that she was getting older. She didn't care at all. I really looked up to her for her carefree and cheery attitude about aging. I remember asking her, "doesn't it bother to to get older?" and she use to respond by saying "who cares, the only thing I'm happy about is feeling good and being happy." I wish I were more like that.

Happy birthday mom!

Gypsy Cold Care Tea

For the past week me and most have my family have been fighting colds.
Every time I get a cold, I run out to my local grocery store to pick up a box of "Gypsy Cold Care" tea by "Traditional Medicinal". I swear buy it, because it seems to shorten the duration of my cold and makes it less severe.
I've also purchased many other teas from this line, which seem to help the ailment I've had at that time.
Where I live I buy "Traditional Medicinal" tea at the grocery store I frequent. It's called Wegmans and their health section is AMAZING! It's called "Nature's Market". I'm so fortunate that they have this section there, because this is where I do most of the food shopping for myself. It saves me from having to run to a health food store after shopping for my family. If your grocery store doesn't carry this line of tea, then you can find it at most health food centers.
I highly recommend "Traditional Medicinal" tea for most any ailment your looking to treat. I feel it's saved me from having to go to the doctors a few times.

The way to bring peace on earth is to learn to make our own lives peaceful.

Sun & Moon Watercolor

During the late 90's, while working with the 3 year old room at a daycare center, I created this poster for the art center. I've had it stored in my basement and came across it today. Unfortunately, I put clear sticky paper over it back then.
On the underneath corner of the painting, there's a monarch butterfly I also painted on a different piece of paper. I cut it out and stuck it on the poster to create a collage. I blocked the butterfly out of this shot while taking it.

No one outside ourselves can rule us inwardly. When we know this, we become free.

Honey Broiled Grapefruit

With cold season here, it's important to take vitamin C and eat citrus fruits regularly. Citrus fruits are loaded with antioxidants and high amounts of vitamin C.
Here's an easy recipe for grapefruit that I got out of the "Real Simple" magazine.

Ingredients;
1 grapefruit, halved ( I like the ruby red)
Honey

Spread the grapefruit halves with honey and place under the broiler until browned in spots.
I usually eat grapefruit halves for snacks and since I'm not a big fan of sugar on my grapefruit, I decided to try this honey grapefruit recipe (I love honey, especially on whole grain toast for breakfast). It tasted really good and not to mention really healthy .

Wine Label Watercolor By Me For My Hubby's Homemade Wine

In 2oo5 my hubby started making homemade wine in our basement. He asked me to create a wine label for him just for the heck of it. This is the watercolor I painted in 2005. He printed them out and stuck them onto his Chilean red.