Not a new picture... or one I took... but a little tribute to Christmas past...

Happy Winter Solstice! Just watched my Golden Retriever do the splits outside on the ice.... I told her the good news is that we are now heading towards summer!  I think she swore at me but I can't be sure...

Lantern Love....

Another image from our trip to MacPhearson House...

MacPhearson House

Fancy Shawl Dancer Ornament ~ a gift from my mom a few years back...

Day 17 ~ Garlic Roasting Day! All this yummy garlic is waiting to be roasted for Christmas gifts.  Looking for how I roast it??  Super easy, check out my post HERE:  http://www.thehippiemoose.com/2013/04/mmmmm-garlic.html

Old fashioned keys at The MacPherson House....(gotta love homeschooling field-trips!)

Hot Oatmeal bread just out of the oven...

The Kissing Ball, a  Christmas tradition...


Read more about the origin of this decoration HERE
OR make your own!!  Directions HERE

The Cat in the Box....

Day 12 ~ Feather Christmas Wreath (by Becky Maracle ~ feathersmith)

Spinning Wheel ~

Native Renaissance Art Gallery

December Photo Project ~ December 8, 2013
Cat in a Pantry

December Photo Project ~ December 7th

Buried Tee pee!  Time to build a fire in there!

December Photo Project ~ December 6th  #DPP2013

Our outhouse... cold but pretty.

December Photo Project ~ December 4, 2013

Sunset in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, ON

I love the December Photo Project!  It's a great kick in the butt to get shooting and posting, so here I go....

This summer I  gave myself a tattoo.  This is a first for me as I usually only inflict pain on others.  I find it's more fun that way.  All my other tattoo's were done by other artists.  It's a work in progress as I don't exactly know how I want it to look when it's all done... I know, crazy.  It's like permanent doodling.


This was phase 1.  And no your eyes aren't needing an adjustment.. I decided to go with a brown ink instead of black... I was going for more of a henna look.

Phase 2.  Added more behind the ankle.

I have over 10 tattoo's and I have to say the top of my foot was pretty high on the list for wanting to launch a brick through a window in terms of pain.  The only other one that came close was my wedding ring.  So if you are considering a tattoo on the top of your foot... I would recommend pre-adviling.  Just sayin'.

Some of my other work from this summer...


Bear paw on Beaut!

Bear paws on Beaut's mom!

Jamie's Rasta Lion!


The tribal wave.

2 paddles I designed and inked.


There have been so much more... but I'm pretty bad at remembering to take pictures.  I will post more as I find more/do more!

Today was Chili Sauce day. It's not a favorite day for my family but it's one of those necessary days every year.  Tomorrow is Chili Sauce Day Take 2.  Also not popular.

This morning I dragged my faithful family to the farm down the road to pick roma tomatoes.  We picked 1 bushel... well three of us did, the other one wandered around looking for bugs and avoiding any manual labour.

Said bug hunter redeemed himself by spending an hour chopping onions, peppers, and helping me skin what seemed like a million little red lava bombs.

All for this....

Here's how to make your own!

Steph's Chili Sauce (adapted from Cindy's!)
6 onions chopped
1/2 bushel tomatoes
3 green peppers chopped
3 red peppers chopped
4 cups vinegar
2 cups white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
8 gloves garlic, smashed
1/4 cup pickling spice

I always blanch my tomatoes and remove the skin.  Then I dump it all into a huge stock pot, bring it to a boil, reduce and simmer until you have about 1/2 left. (a few hours).  Can it in jars.  We eat it all winter with nacho chips, or sometimes it's my base for pasta!  Love it!!

It's that time of year again... the time where I look at the mountain of zucchini on my table and wonder... "Why do I do this to myself every year??"

Oh well. Time to suck it up and deal with it.  If you are in the same predicament here are a few ways I'm using them up this year...

1. Zucchini Bread ~ the ol' stand by!
 I do some with chocolate chips and some without.

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup walnuts (optional) OR
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
Beat eggs, oil vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl.  Add flour mixture to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in zucchini, nuts, and chocolate (whichever you plan to use). Pour batter into pans. Bake 45-60 min or until a tester comes out clean from the center of the loaf. Cool in pans on rack for 20 min. Remove from pan and cool.  (For the record... the loaf on the left I tried to get out of the pan while it was WAY too hot still... cooling it is actually important.)

I usually double the recipe to do 4 loaves and give some away.


2. Zucchini Stuffing with Cheddar ~

4 slices of bread cubed
1/4 cup melted butter
2 cups cubed zucchini
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup corn (I use frozen)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs beaten
salt and pepper
1/4 cup milk
2 cups shredded Cheddar

Toss the bread in a greased 9x13 dish, toss with the melted butter. Add the zucchini, onion, garlic and corn. Toss lightly. Mix the eggs, salt, pepper, and milk together and pour over the bread mixture.  Top with the cheese.  Bake covered at 350 for 30 min. Uncover for 10 more min.

It's pretty much like a stuffing with zucchini... I loved it.


Some other ideas that look AMAZING...

http://www.closetcooking.com/2013/07/25-zucchini-recipes.html

It's fry bread season again and after this past weekend I'm might be in need of an intervention.  The problem stems from my complex network of people who will inform me of frybread being made, and also deliver to me wherever I am.  One such "dealer" being my own husband.  I believe they call this ENABLING.  If you have never had Fry Bread... just say no.  It just takes one.

Don't know what Fry Bread is?  Wikipedia can help you:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frybread

Don't know what Fry Bread looks like? I can help you...

It's exactly like it sounds... deep fried bread.
It's also the base for the famous Indian Taco.  (My husbands personal favorite)  Seen here:


Don't know where to get one?  Well, this is what you do.  You search Pow Wow Trail.  Find one in your area.  Go.
If you are having trouble thinking because the images above are SO distracting then click this link and pick your country: Pow Wow Trail CANADA and USA

I can't make it any easier for you people. But please, practice responsible Fry Breading.

A few Guidelines I think you might need:

1. Know when to say when.  You still have to fit your butt back in your car to get home.
2. Cutting in line will get you killed.
3. If a lady named Theresa (a.k.a. Black Eyed T) is taking your order you can actually order a lip gloss and nail polish at the same time.  Kill two birds with one stone.

Happy Pow Wowing!!

Was at a Jack & Jill tonight here on the Rez and danced to an amazing song called "Look at This" by A Tribe Called Red.  Had to look them up! They actually have their first album available for FREE download!  Get it here:  A Tribe Called Red Download HERE




I'm loving this album!

If you would like to hear it check it out.... (it's just audio)

This is one of my more popular creations.  Here is a short How To on how to make this cake!  Enjoy.

Bake 2 chocolate cake layers.

I like this one:  

2 cups white sugar 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs 1 cup milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup boiling water

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two nine inch round pans.
2.	In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
3.	Bake 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make a hot fudge sauce.

1 cup (250 mL) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can (300 mL) Regular or Low Fat Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter or margarine
2 tbsp (30 mL) water
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

Preparation:

I have ants.... at least I did.

A few days ago I put out cotton balls on my kitchen counter with a mixture of water, borax, and sugar.  I have to tell you, I haven't seen an ant in DAYS!  SO HAPPY! And it cost almost nothing to make.  I already use borax in my laundry as a deodorizer because I don't use fabric softener. 


Here is a video of  Greg the Gardner with the instructions on how to make it.  I didn't put it in a spray bottle. I just soaked cotton balls in the solution and places them on little lids where I had problem areas.  Every morning I re-soaked the cotton.  It TOTALLY WORKED. 

Happy Anniversary to me, Happy Anniversary to me, happy anniversary... you get the idea.

The dreads are another year old.


Still loving them.  (And the dude beside them!)

For everyday I use tea tree oil shampoo OR my new exciting Cedar Shampoo by Spirit Earth Holistics.  It smells AMAZING.

I still use the same concoction to deep clean them: 

I'm pretty sure what you think I'm talking about... is NOT what I'm talking about.

My mending pile was HUGE.  Meaning all the articles of clothing that had rips, holes, wear, blow-outs.  So today I spent the day fixing everything.  It took most of the day but I'm done.  And I feel awesome.  I can't explain it, but there is this huge weight lifted! 

Here are just SOME of the jeans I fixed today:


Here are my thoughts on the matter... whether you care to hear them or not.  I think the reason that mending is such a pain in the rump-roast is that there is no creativity to it.  It's just taking old crap and giving it a little extra time before it hits the rag pile.

BUT getting that pile out of the way clears the way for creativity... doing something new.  Making something cool, something that didn't exist before.  SO.  I'm excited because I can see the bottom of my mending basket. There are a few items left that need some specialized attention, but for the most part I'm moving into a more creative sewing time.  At least until someone blows out their knee or their crotch again.  "sigh"

Had some garlic to use up...  Wrapped it in some foil with a drizzle of olive oil.  Baked for about an hour at 350 degrees.