Taking The Long Way Home

For some reason the Cooking Devas have been talking to me a lot lately. Recipe ideas just fling themselves into my head out of nowhere, and there's nothing to do but write them down and then try them out. Last night I made the best Fettuccine Alfredo ever . No kidding. And totally vegan and healthy. This morning I tried out some oat scones made with quinoa flour. Another success! Then a salad stood up and yelled, "Make me! Make me!", so Rick is as the store getting what I need for that, as well as a savory variation on the scones that I want to try with a good "Carribbean" black bean soup that surfaced last week. Here are this morning's scones. Beautiful and tasty! This is crazy and amazing. A new channel for inspiration and creativity. And there's also a seedling of an idea for a book mixed in too. I know I've threatened that before, so don't hold your breath. I have no idea how to write a book. But I'll do some recipe sharing here once ...

The other day, before I had The Bike, I walked to the mailbox at the end of the road. There are lots of neighbors with barking dogs, and most of them are in fenced yards. But one family has a habit of getting puppies at regular intervals, letting them run loose for several months, and then putting them on a chain for the duration of their lives. These people have two chained dogs now, on opposite ends of the yard, with tiny, flimsy shelters and no sign of food or water. These dogs are mean, as you might expect, and lunge to the ends of their chains whenever someone passes by. There's a younger dog there too. He's a cute brown lab mix, under a year old, and he's been running loose for months. When I walk by, he runs after me, barking and bristling, but when I turn around he skitters off, afraid of me. The other day, the kid who lives there was in the yard, yelling at the dog to leave me alone, so I stopped and asked if the dog would bite me. His reply was, "He shouldn...

Before we headed out on the road with our trailer (getting close to two years ago now), we sold most of what we owned, and traded two smaller vehicles for one big-ass truck. It made sense at the time.  Back in Taos now, it makes much less sense. Rick uses the truck for work, in his growing Rent-a-Rick handyman business, so most of the time, I'm sort of stranded here at home, with nothing in walking distance except the mailbox, which is about a quarter mile away at the end of the road. I'm going a little stir crazy, but it's just not possible for us to buy me a car at this point, things being what they are and all. So the other day I started mumbling that I wanted to get a bike. Rick thinks it's a bad idea to ride around town, and he's probably right. But I can't be stuck here without wheels of some sort, and the dirt roads are too rough for roller skates. At dinner the other night with our friends Deborah and Thomas, I mentioned my bike idea, knowing they woul...

So busy today I can barely remember to breathe... A quick Daily Bling, and tomorrow I'll tell you about my BIKE! Moondrops

I've been craving a good vegan burger lately, but the frozen ones always leave me, uh, cold, and all the recipes I've tried have been not-quite-right in one way or another. But last night Inspiration struck in the form of a bowl of leftover quinoa... If you're not familiar with quinoa, it's a small, round super-grain. It has all the essential amino acids, making it a complete protein, it tastes good, and it cooks up much like rice, but in only about 15 minutes. It's pronounced keen-wah, not qwi-noah, which is a handy thing to know when you want to impress your friends with your new discovery, or ask for it in the grocery store. Buy it in bulk in most any natural foods section. Be sure to rinse it well before you cook it, or it will have a bitter taste. Use 2 cups water to one cup quinoa, bring it to a boil, cover, and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, or until all the moisture is absorbed. Easy! To make last night's Bean-Wah Burgers, I opened and rinsed a ca...

It's cold out there. Really cold. Too cold. Or maybe I'm just tired of cold. It snowed last night, but the sun's out this morning, at least trying to warm things up. Sun on snow is always a cheery sight anyway. It brings out the snow-diamonds and sparkles in a lovely, blinding way. I got a small order of new gemstones the other day, along with some terrific new chain nose pliers. My hands were really beginning to feel the strain of the cheap hobby tools I'd been using. These new beauties are a gift from the gods, and my hands are so grateful. I opened the box and set right to work, making earrings out of these amazing faceted quartz crystals. They sparkle like diamonds in the snow, and have a lovely, edgy, earthy glam that I just love. In the summer, when it's hot and we're all wishing for snow again, I'll wear some of these, and feel instantly cooler... AlchemyJewelryStudios.com

Oh, did you see that moon last night? As it slipped out from behind the Sangre de Cristo Mountains here in Taos, it took my breath away, and then, of course, inspired some killer earrings. Rummaging through my stash, I found a strand of dear little moonstones that just begged to be turned into some serious moonlight. If I don't sell these, I will be very happy to keep them... Moonstone Cluster Earrings

It is my humble opinion that one can never have too many earrings. I've been collecting them since about 1969, and well, I still need more. There are worse habits to have... Today's Daily Bling is three whoppingly beautiful pairs of earrings. I made them all yesterday, and present them for your pleasure today. I want to spread Earring Love all over the world. Enjoy! Cherry Blossom Chandeliers Moondrops Citrine Cascades These are all are available today at AlchemyJewelryStudios .

I'm just learning that Facebook is a great little marketing tool. Duh! I learn slowly sometimes... I've started posting a single piece of jewelry there each day, and so far, that very piece gets sold. Every day. Pretty good averages, so I think I'll keep doing it. I also think "triangulation" is important when trying to get the word out about something. Think about it. Bridges are commonly built from triangles braced against each other, because that's the strongest way to do it. Triangulating in business can be as simple as posting the same thing on Facebook, and a blog, and in an email. Adding another blog site like BlogHer, and other social media like Twitter won't hurt the triangulation. Because we're not literally depending on a three sided structure for support, there's no limit to the number of "sides" used. The main thing is to use at least three. For some reason, that's where the magic starts. I'll keep playing with t...

Every so often I'll tromp through the snow to the storage shed behind the house, and rummage around in a box or two, looking for treasures. I recently rediscovered some gemstones I'd bought in Tucson a few years ago, not knowing what I'd do with them. Sometimes it takes a while for a thing to make its destiny known, and yesterday, a strand of lovely faceted, translucent aquamarines spoke to me, loud and clear. They were ready to become jewelry. I used up every single one, and kept a pair of swing earrings for myself. Today I'll head back to the shed, hoping to unearth more forgotten buried treasures. And next year, I may have to get myself back to Tucson! AlchemyJewelryStudios.com

By yesterday afternoon, most people in Taos had their gas service restored. Snow had been lightly falling all day, and as the sun went low over the mesa, a lovely sense of calm seemed to fall across town. Our own backyard was just beautiful. The light and long shadows and dramatic sky hinted at some sort of breakthrough. Maybe I'm imagining things, but then that's how some of the best things get started--in our imaginations.

Slowly, but somewhat surely, gas is being restored to homes and businesses in Taos . Some of our friends have warm houses again, while others are still waiting, not too patiently at this point. This is day 6 of this crisis, and most Americans are not accustomed to going without. Especially not going without something so basic as heat. Rumors and conjectures are beginning to surface. Conspiracy theories are mumbled by some, and shouted by others. People are getting angrier by the day, not just because they have no heat, but because there are no clear answers as to why this happened, and what will be done to insure that it doesn't happen again. Even after all the gas service is restored, and people's lives get back to normal, I have a feeling this will not be over for a very long time. There will be investigations, accusations, and probably legal steps taken. This mess seems to be getting messier, even as it's being cleaned up. It has a lot of us thinking about our depen...

Stuff going on, bills to pay, can't talk about it... sorry! I'm offering a 20% discount on all Tiaras, Necklaces, and Hairpins at Alchemy Jewelry Studios . Only till Tuesday at noon, Mountain Time! The discount will be given as a PayPal refund when I process your order. Normally, you have to be on my mailing list to get the deals, but today is different. Have fun!

It's a cloudy morning in Taos. Looks like snow, and there's still no gas. Probably not till Monday at the soonest. This whole thing is really starting to wear on people. We're still fine here at home. We have two fires burning this morning, in the wood stove, and in the little kiva fireplace in the dining room. I love this room. Might camp out here all day and knit. It's that kind of day. Three friends came over to shower yesterday, and we expect them back today. Small comforts, as simple as a hot shower, can mean a lot. We also delivered three space heaters to friends who thought they didn't need them. Turns out they did. Keeping from freezing with inadequate heat is a lot different from keeping warm. I want my friends to be warm. So, another weird, sort of off balance day. That's all I got. Just checking in. Think I'll make some soup.

I'm having trouble concentrating long enough to write a decent blog entry. Taos is in the midst of a total natural gas outage, which has left much of the town without heat, cooking facilities, and hot water. To make it worse, outside temps are mostly below freezing. People are using electric space heaters, but are still cold in their own homes. All of the extra energy use is putting the power grid in danger, and we're all being extra conservative with our consumption. It's scary, and even dangerous, and the general "vibe" in town is edgy, anxious, and even fearful. Still, in a situation like this, Taos is a good place to be. We're fortunate to have electric everything in our house, and wood heat to keep us warm. We're pretty much unaffected by the gas outage, but we still feel what's going on "out there". Listening to the radio, I'm as proud as ever of our little town, and the folks who live here. Most people are taking it in stride as ...