Grape Leaves

One of my favorite dishes is stuffed grape leaves. Here's a quick recipe.



1 cup brown rice

1/4 cup pistachio's-crushed

3/4 cup olive oil

2 cups chopped onions1 tea. salt

1 tea. allspice

1 tea. cinnamon

1/2 cup mint leaves

1/4 cup dill

juice of half a lemon

grape leaves



Cook the rice and add all the ingredients except grape leaves. Fill leaves with mixture and roll as you would for a stuffed cabbage or any stuffed food - leaving room on each side to fold the leaves. Refrigerate. Enjoy!

Happy 2014!

It was a cold, and quiet day in Michigan. The storms from Minnesota are headed into the Great Lakes region with the promise of 2-6" of snow. I spotted this redbud leaf that looked like it was preparing for a long winter's nap.

Waiting for Santa

While I was baking cookies and scones early this morning, Lily was looking out on the snow covered ground.The Christmas lights were on and the world was still. She looked so cute cuddled on the chair. This is her Christmas portrait. 

Christmas Wreath

This wreath started as a Dollar Store special grapevine wreath. I spray painted the vines gold and then added leftover artificial greenery - over spraying the wreath. Greenery became "goldery". With the addition of some white sprigs and metallic fabric, the wreath has a holiday feeling.

Advent Calender

My friend Mary sent me this wonderful calender filled with treats and inspiration from the Vermont Chocolate Company. Each day, during the month of December, you open a small "window" on the calender that's filled with chocolate candy and biblical text about the nativity. It's a great way to countdown to Christmas.

If you look closely in the bottom right corner of the photo you will see Lily's nose checking out the calender. Had a hard time taking the photo without her in it. She does have a sweet tooth and can't have chocolate.

Art for Kitchen

I created this piece of art on plywood for my cousin's kitchen. Hope she likes it!

Puppy Looks So Sweet

Lily is looking at me so innocently. She's actually pleading for me to open the door so she run after a squirrel.

Giant Grasshopper

I have had surgery and was out of commission for a while. Here's a photo I took of a very large grasshopper on an eggplant. WOW!

Swirl Painting

Saw a similar painting on the "Steven and Chris" design show based in Toronto, Canada. The original was placed on a table and used as a prop - never featured on the show. It always caught my eye so I decided to paint my own version. Now, I just need to make a frame for it.

Cotton Twine Box

Watching "Racheal Ray" show the other day when Nate Berkus was on promoting his new home accessory line at Target and saw a cute little box wrapped in jute string. After scouring my home, the best I could come up with was cotton twine to replicate Nate's box. Looks cute. I even added some binding at the top and a few buttons for decoration.