Give Away!

Hello everyone! As I do not wear any of these pieces anymore, I am giving them away. So all you need to do is comment below to be in the drawing!

Shoe + Handbag Matching Not Required

Can I just say, I love that! I mean seriously, how cool is it to match your shoes and purse...NOT. Bahaha. Anway. I just thought I'd show some of my shoes and purses. No, I did not take these pics, but they are the same things I own, and where i got them. Even though I don't pay alot for most of these items, they are all still pretty cool!!!

Color

I cannot change the color or size of text in the body of my posts. Aarg. I am annoyed. Ideas anyone? There is still the option to change the size/color while I am typing this. And it applears that way to me now, but after I post it, it stays gray and of the "normal" size...

Perfect Potatoes Au Grautin Casserole

This is THEE BEST Potatoes Au Grautin ever. I made mine into a casserole by adding meat, and I suppose you could add whatever other veggies you wanted. Onion might be good too.

Anyway, as most of you who read this know, I RARELY follow a recipe exactly, so bear with me. If you wand the exact recipe, just comment below.

So here goes:

5 large russet potatoes, diced

1.5 lbs italian sausage

1 pt. heavy whipping cream

.5 c milk

2 T minced garlic

1/4 c flour

2 c grated cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Cook the Italian sausage until it's about half way done. Drain. Mix together whipping cream, milk, garlic, flour, and salt and pepper in a separate. Whisk until smooth. Coat the bottom of a 9"x13" baking dish with butter. Then put half the potatoes, half the sausage, and half the milk. Repeat. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 20 minutes. Top with cheese and bake another 5 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. mmm.

**note, be generous with the pepper, you'll regret it, if you don't. Especially if you like pepper and have fresh ground pepper....

Also, as I was typing this, you could probably make this a breakfast dish by substituting the milk mixture with eggs, and it would make a sort of quiche.

Hope you enjoyed this.

To Braid or Not to Braid

Recently, I like braids again. I don't think I've worn them since again. But since they seem to be popular again, in more subtle ways. I thought I'd give it a go. I am not sure if I like them on me. What do you think?

hummm

What to say what to say. I know, I know I post way more pictures than actual words...haha. This month has just been so crazy. It's weird not working. So many places I've applied and they either say that they're still reviewing the apps, or I leave messages and they never call back. . .

Too bad they're is no other church admin job needed. I love doing that. Oh well. There is always so many applicants filling out for the same job. I really need one ASAP because as it happens I have two trips to save for.

In August my sister is getting married in Hawaii. Which is mostly paid for, so that's good! It will be so much fun. I am making the jewelry, invitations, and probably much more. In September we are going with Shane's family to So Cal. Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Sea World, Universal Studios, etc. Fun!

I have alot to be grateful for. My wonderful family. This great church. Me being able to do keys on Easter with no major problems. Being able to see more family at the coast. And freinds from Hermiston coming to visit: I love you Megan and Darcie!

Last night I was watching "My Strange Addiction" on TLC. So crazy. People who eat toilet paper, laundry soap, comet, glass, frantically pull out their hair, pick scabs. So crazy and gross.

Anyway, I hope you are having a great Tuesday.

Cream Puffs

Yep, it's that simple. Buy some cream puffs. Melt some bittersweet chocolate. Ta-dah!

Open up the Sky

So if you've not heard of the worship band deluge, you MUST. Especially this song;-) LOVE IT.

Our beloved Father
Please come down and meet us
We are waiting on Your touch
Open up the heavens
Shower down Your presence
We respond to Your great love

We won’t be satisfied with anything ordinary
We won’t be satisfied at all

Open up the sky
Fall down like rain
We don’t want blessings
We want you
Open up the sky
Fall down like fire
We don’t want anything but you

Our beloved Jesus
We just want to see
You In the glory of Your light
Earthly things don’t matter
They just fade and shatter
When were touched by love divine

Here we go lets go to the throne
The place that we belong
Right into His arm

Make a Wish

Oh how I wish for alot right now. A job. An apartment. The sun. Etc. But sheesh, I have so much to be thankful for. A loving husband and family/famlies. The sun-lately. Food. Clothes. Shelter. Two vacations for the year. Disneyland and Hawaii;-) Being in PDX. Oh I have alot of wonderful things! And friends, how could I forget that!

Ripley's Believe it or Not!

So we took a trip this weekend. We went to Pacific City and Shane spoke at his grandparents church. He did such a great job. Also, we checked out the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. It was pretty cool. Here's a girl made of Good & Plenty candies;-)

Apple Crisp

So I didn't get a pic of them in the ramekins, or when they were done as they were gobbled up so suddenly. Here is the recipe.

Mini Apple Crisps

from Apple Crisp by Pat and Gina Neely

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 30-40 minutes Level: easy Servings: 8

Filling:

• 5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, chopped small
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the filling:

Mix all the ingredients together. Place into 7 to 8-ounce ramekins.

For the topping:

Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in large bowl. Blend the butter into the mixture until it forms pea size lumps. Stir in pecans and sprinkle over filling.

Bake crisps for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

A Walk with Allecia

Burnside

I know there are not many pictures, but here's what I did get. I didn't wanna seem all weird taking pics of homeless people. Hahah. But it was great to be able to minister to them!

Fun with colour

Hoyt Arbetorum

These were all taken yesterday! I was so excited for the sun!!!

Mexican Chocolate Pots De Creme

For those who want an exact recipe, I've got it. But for those like me. You'll just need some chocolate and butter. Melt that together in a double boiler pan. Meanwhile dust the ramekins with butter and cinnamon. In another bowl whisk together eggs, granulated sugar and flour. Gradually add the chocolate mixture.
Fill each ramekin about 2/3 full and generously dust with more cinnamon. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until the top cracks. Serve with whipped cream! I love making dessert for the family!

Random

Quarters that I added to our Disneyland fund! Who knew I had $28 dollars worth!!!
Jake talking to his gf on Shane's phone.
Daitin and Jeremiah helping us clean the bathroom before leaving Hermiston. Good job, guys! Thanks;-)
Megan and I on our last Sunday at LFC.
Spring nail polish colors!

Allecia helped with these!

Finally, I was able to sit down and make some jewelry. It's been over a month with all the moving, packing and job hunting. But at least I can still make a few bucks here and there doing something I like. This time my wonderful sister in law, Allecia, was able to do it with me. It's nice getting crafty with friends. All of these items are found here. Under the "New Bling" album. All you have to do is comment on the picture and say you want it, in order to buy it!

Well, that was the end of my Sunday. Sometimes my posts get out of order.

As for today I had a nice lunch at Olive Garden with my Grandparents, who were visiting for the weekend from Bend. And now I get to have dinner;-) And make some molten lava cakes for dessert for everyone!

More from Yesterday

We had some cake at this place yesterday. Expensive, but good! Triple chocolate cake. Yummo!

The Three Musketeers and their walk downtown

Great day for a walk!

Past Few Days

Here is some pictures from the last few days. This is an orchid I got, thanks to Paula Guffy at church. It's pretty. Yeah, I am a sucker for flowers.
Even though they are more of a nuisance, I did miss dandelions while in Hermiston.
I thought these twisted tree branches were cool, kinda gnarly looking!
I thought this was rather erie.
Monkey tree. Look out.
And my wonderful husband, graciously carrying the groceries for dessert, home from the store. Later on, the bag broke;-(
I thought these flowers were pretty, and of course, I love the orton-ish effect.
And Ya Hala, was great, as usual!!! And thanks to the lovely Kim Simmons, we were blessed with wonderful company. You are welcome here anytime.

"John's Potato Soup"

I'm finally posting it. I know most of you like this potato soup that I make. The recipe is from our cousins back in Iowa, and it was named John's because my dad liked it so well;-) So thank you Deb!!!

I am sorry, but I almost never measure anything-and it's pretty hard to actually mess up on soup so most measurements are rough.

Serves about six.

Ingredients:

6-8 large potatoes, diced

1.5 bags baby carrots, cut in half

one medium onion, chopped

6-8 strips of bacon cooked and chopped

2 beef or chicken bullion cubes

3 cups milk

1/2 stick butter

1/2 block velveeta cheese

2 tsp. minced garlic

Instructions:

Place carrots in large pot and bring to boil. Cook about half way, then add the potatoes, onion, and bullion cubes.

Meanwhile, in a smaller saucepan heat butter, milk, garlic and velveeta cheese until it forms a nice, creamy broth. (About 8-10 minutes over med heat)

Drain the veggies until there's about 1/3 of the water/broth left. Add bacon, and milk mixture and heat on med for about 5 minutes. Stir and enjoy.

Contact Me

Well obviously, since you are reading this, you know how to contact me via blog. I named this Art & Soul, because I love art and also this is a small window into my soul;-)

Also, you can email me at mariatebeck@gmail.com.

And here is my facebook page.

If you are interested in buying jewelry, here is the facebook page for that.

Also If you'd like to email Bittersweet Bling (the jewelry) you may do so at bittersweetbling@yahoo.com

And my husband's page is here.