The Quest for Best (gluten free)

So, I'm over at my boyfriend's (John) parent's house for three weeks. A kind of get-to-know-you-better time, as a week at Christmas only did so much. 

Anyhow, tonight, we made GF spaghetti, from squash, and GF Cheese Bread. As many of you may already know, doing Gluten Free is hard sometimes, though it's definitely gotten WAY better since I started (about 6 years ago). Baked goods, however, are still dry for the most part and there is a continual journey to advance our meals, to make them imitate the originals as best we can.

With that being said, squash was not what I first thought of for spaghetti. But Nancy (John's mother) wanted to try it out, so I said "Why not?". Below are the pictures of the bread and squash in several stages, plus the finished product,

Hope you enjoy. :D

Cheese Bread 

As it is pictured in the book.

After it was halfway done (looks like mashed potatoes to me)

Right before it went into the oven

The finished product!

It was really buttery.

Seemed like it'd be better served without cheese and at breakfast with jam.

Spaghetti Squash

Right it came out of the oven

Scraping it out, spaghetti style!

The finished meal!

No squash taste, just meat, but nothing like the original.

All in all, a good meal though. 

I'd rate the squash and bread a 5/10. 

The spaghetti sauce a 9/10! Nancy outdid herself. 

Sugar Sweet

(Picture by my littlest sister, Canice. She did it herself.)

You know those settings - like above -  or food that just calls to your inner elegance? The ones where you feel refined and ritzy just by owning it? Yeah, those. I love them so much!!! 

Recently, my sister, Kathleen, found a few of those cute foods at Harris Teeter. I just HAD to share them with you. 

Peanut Butter

(evidently it's crunchy...PB or chocolate bits?)

Oreo

(it's Oreo, need I say more?)

(left to right)

Chocolate Mousse and Mascarpone

(Moose won!)

Chocolate Oreo

(we're getting into the REALLY fancy now)

Last one...

Super Fancy

(I couldn't decide if I'd eat it with a fork and knife, or just stuff my face)

Chocolate Mocha Mousse

And that's it. Hope your mouth watered as much as mine did. :D

The Weeds of Life (ie: my crazy month)

As my title might suggest, this past month of May has been nothing short of mindbogglingly crazy. I never knew just how busy a teacher's day could get at the close of the school year. And I thought it was tough when I was a student.

Pshhhh!

That's nothing, Babes!

Between the testing, grading, and getting things ready for next year....it's a wonder any of us were able to remember to breath. And I only had a part-time job. I can't imagine what it was like for all the other teachers! Not that I regret taking this job. On the contrary, I love it (hectic bustle and all)! The children are such a joy. They remind me to stop and appreciate the smaller things in life. Plus, seeing them grow through the year is a thing of beauty.

My Kindergartner graduated to First Grade. Which, for whatever reason, made me feel old. Tehe! I'm a silly duckie, no?

I also finished my May picture for the Picture-A-Month challenge. We were both supposed to do a Medieval Castle. I got it in a day late, but I like how it turned out, nonetheless.

My Picture

Scrub's Picture (I love how it's Panoramic)

This month (June) we're doing friendship/personal Shield Crests. I'm doing hers and she's doing mine. If I've time, I'm gonna redo my April picture, so the trees turn out better.

Well, that's it for me right now. I'll try and be more regular during the summer.

April Art Challenge

So, here's the pieces my friend, Scrub456, and I worked on this month. The challenge was to draw a scene or character from our favorite book.

Mine: Tolkien's The Hobbit
Passage: "Farewell! O Elvenking!" said Gandalf. "Merry be the green-wood, while the world is yet young! And merry be all your folk!"
"Farewell! O Gandalf!" said the king. "May you ever appear when you are most needed and least expected! The oftener you appear in my halls the better shall I be pleased!"
"I beg of you," said Bilbo stammering and standing on one foot, "to accept this gift!" and he brought out a necklace of silver and pearls that Dain had given him at their parting. 
"In what way have I earned such a gift. O hobbit?" said the king.
"Well, er, I thought, don't you know," said Bilbo rather confused, "that, er, some little return should be made for your, er, hospitality. I mean even a burglar has his feelings. I have drunk much of your wine and eaten much of your bread."
"I will take your gift, O Bilbo the Magnificent!" said the king gravely. "And I name you elf-friend and blessed. May your shadow never grow less (or stealing would be too easy)! Farewell!"
Then the elves turned toward the Forest, and Bilbo started on his long road home.

Hers: C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew

Passage: "Then two wonders happened at the same moment. One was that the voice was suddenly joined by other voices; more voices than you could possibly count. They were in harmony with it, but far higher up the scale: cold, tingling, silvery voices. The second wonder was that the blackness overhead, all at once, was blazing with stars. They didn’t come out gently one by one, as they do on a summer evening. One moment there had been nothing but darkness; next moment a thousand, thousand points of light leaped out – single stars, constellations, and planets, brighter and bigger than any in our world. There were no clouds. The new stars and the new voices began at exactly the same time. If you had seen and heard it, as Digory did, you would have felt quite certain that it was the stars themselves which were singing, and that it was the First Voice, the deep one, which had made them appear and made them sing."

May's challenge for both of us is to draw a castle and landscape. :D

26, going on....18??

So I'm now 26.

Gah! Can't believe it. Neither can my little stuents. When they all found out I was turning 26....man, you should've seen their faces. Mouthes dropped, eyes widened, and the general consequences was "You don't look that old!" (Gee, thanks guys, 26 is now old...tehe!). Anyhow, I asked them how old I did look to them (I know, I know, curiosity killed the cat, but I had'ta know). Can you guess what they said???

I somehow look, according to them, between the ages of 18-24. 

Gawwww!!!! *melts* Aren't they the sweetest? Just wait 'til I'm 50! I'll, evidently, look five years younger. Bonus! :D

For my presents, my family got me an assortment (some of which are still coming). 

1) A twelve pack case of Mike's Hard Lemonde - should I be taking a hint that I need to loosen up a bit more?

2) The five books I was missing from the Manga series, From Far Away - Seriously, if you're into Manga, and have not read this series yet, Do. So. Now. It is,by far, the best manga series I've ever read. A tad short (14 books), but totally worth it. 

3) A Loki pillowcase - this was a crank gift. They teased me mercilessly about how my boyfriend would be jealous, and so on. All in good fun, of course. Silly billies. :D

And that's it. Not sure what else they've got coming for me. Part of me hopes it's a rare TV series I saw one time, and have never found again. I don't remember what it's called, but it's about Jane being a detective in the 1990's and Tarzan being...well...Tarzan. He's been raised by apes, in Africa, but his evil uncle has brought him to NY, cause all the inheritance goes to Tarzan (or something like that...it's been a while since I watched it, truthfully). So, yeah, I kinda hope it's that series that is coming in the mail. :D

Here are a few pictures from my B-day party at home.

Singing 'Happy Birthday'

Blowing out the candles, while trying not to laugh (because Kathleen made a joke)

Gourmet style servings (so teeny, weeny)

The piece de resistance itself

March Art Challenge

Hi all.

So, in my most recent post. I talked about my art challenge with Scrub456. I just wanted to keep you in the loop of things with that. So, each month, at the end, I'll post a little blog of the new picture we've each done. I'll also include what the new challenge is.

March

My Picture

Challenge: Draw a Library

Her Picture

Challenge: Draw a flower garden

Next month's challenge is to draw a scene, or character, or scenery from our favorite book.

A Thousand Words

A Thousand Words

Okay, let's see, so I started drawing when I was around four years old. Granted, it was basically scribbles and such, but I count it. It didn't hurt that my Mum was also an artist, and a really good one at that. I grew up with her doing all sorts of pictures on the side. It really inspired me. I wanted to be just like her (she also is the one who inspired me to write). 

My Mum and I

I kept up with it until I was eight. At that time, well, to put it nicely, I gave a picture I'd worked extremely hard on to a family friend. He must've been sixteen at the time. He thanked me profusely and I walked away with pride for my work in my heart. Unfortunately, I happened to walk in on him and a few of his friends later on that same day, making fun of that same picture. Sufficed to say, unkind things were said about it (they had no idea I was in the room, otherwise they'd have never said them...they were young, not cruel). Anyhow, I was devastated and stopped drawing until I was fourteen. I just couldn't get those words out of my head.

The reason I gave myself another chance was twofold. First, I still loved drawing. I was just afraid to restart it. Afraid people would mock my work again. (Hey, I was a fourteen, confidence was not something I had in spades) Second, I had an art teacher for about three months. She volunteered at the school I went to and taught a small art class for those few months. In that time, she kept telling me I had talent and that I was one of the best students in the class. 

Nothing came of it.

She didn't let it go and, finally, asked me, point blank, why I was so reluctant to do this. I caved and told her my story, minus any names. We both went to the same church, so she knew the boys. I didn't want to blacken her perception of them, so I left out the names. 

She gently sat me down and told me....and I'll never forget this...

"Don't let them hold you back from your dreams. Just do it. You're not going to be great, at first, but you will get it, eventually. Never give up."

Cliche? 

Oh, totally.

But it meant the entire world to me. 

At this point, my father had died only the year before (so a couple months back) and my whole family was readjusting to life without him. I was the eldest, so I had to grow up fast and emotionally support, not only my Mum, but all my five younger siblings. I, literally, had no one to really boost ME up. 

And here was someone doing just that.

How could I say "no" to her plea?

I didn't.

I started up drawing again. 

But trying to imitate my Mum's artwork just wouldn't pan out. My Mum has this natural talent of looking at a photo and drawing it in pencil or paint so that it looks exactly like the photo. It's a Gift of God. One which I could not duplicate. No matter how hard I tried. 

My Mum's Artwork

I nearly gave up after a year. I just couldn't get it to work for me.

But then something wonderful happened.

I discovered anime! 

Yep, you heard me right. Anime. That Japanese art. I fell in love, head over heels, and never looked back. The sharp edges, the exaggerated eyes, the way the whole setup went, I couldn't get enough. I did have a bit of a problem with how immodest they made the women and girls. They flaunted their "assets" for the world to see,. I felt it degraded the females into (forgive my crude language) sex objects for guys. I didn't want my artwork to be that. 

So, I made my clothing more like that which I wore (or close to it). 

Now, I was NOT an overnight success in this field (autonomy is NOT my forte). Not by a long shot. For a good year, I could only do faces. Nothing else. Then, I started tracing pictures I liked. From there, I bought books, looked at YouTube videos (those helped the most). Mostly....and I know this is going to sound like an annoying alarm blaring over and over again, because it's been said so much...I just practiced. 

Early works (I'm not saying they were horrible, just not as good as now)

A lot.

That probably helped the most (practicing, that is). 

True, I didn't get to do said practicing all that much. I was still in school, and ill. It wasn't until, probably, 2007-2010 that I really got to practice a ton. And then, I didn't get good enough to post them online until 2014 (I'm very self-conscious). 

My artwork now

This year, an online friend of mine (Scrub456) and I decided to challenge each other to a picture a month. We'd both heard of, and seen, other people doing it. We talked about it and agreed to try it ourselves, as out New Years Resolution for 2016. 

So, each month, we PM each other a prompt. We have that month to draw and scan in said prompt. Thus far, I have done three (third one's not posted yet). Below are January and February from both of us. I hope you enjoy them. Let me know, please. 

Comments would mean the world to me. 

Next issue...not sure yet. Maybe a funny family story. I've quite a few. Yeah, I'll do a few of those. They're the best! Until then, may the force be with you (totally a Star Wars fan!).

January Picture

My Prompt: Draw something wintry; outside looking in or inside looking out. 

Her Prompt: Draw a outside winter picture. Bonus points if it has a Christmas caroler or owl.

February Picture

Both Our Prompts: Draw something for Valentine's Day

Mine

Hers