My Black Friday...

I love Halloween time.

I wish I had an all white house,

just so I could decorate with black for Halloween.

www.sweetpaul.typepad.com

Last year I painted a pumpkin and

woke up one morning to a mess on my front porch.

Who knew pumpkins needed to breath?

I love the black on this pumpkin.

It looks so ethereal.

I also look forward to Sweet Paul's on line magazine,

check it out here,

www.sweetpaul.typepad.com

A cute pop up book,

check out the video here,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGehXwzI-4c

unknown source, but it might be from sweet paul magazine last year
Black Apples and one shiny red one.

Don't they look tempting?

country living magazine

and I have no idea 

why I have a thing for black crow's at Halloween time,

but I love these little jars.

What a great way to make use of
jars that I would normally throw away.
On a side note,
I pretty much throw everything away.
My sister on the other hand, keeps everything!
She is Mary and I am Martha of the Bible.
I envy her.
I want to be a Mary.
My Grandmother on my Dad's side,
never threw anything away.
She had a small, chain link fence surrounding her back yard,
and she would hang everything that you would
normally throw away,
on this fence.
It drove me crazy.
I would love to have some of those old jars today.

Happy Friday early,
Petie

Artichoke Heaven

I die...

as Rachel Zoe says

and gone to heaven

for my new no bake artichoke recipe

this is to easy not to try...

pie ranch photos

NO FUSS EASY BAKED ARTICHOKES

Preheat oven to 425

1 whole artichoke rinsed and trimmed ( as you can tell I skipped the trimming)

lots of chopped garlic

juice from one half lemon

2 T olive oil 

1/2 tsp sea salt 

3 T broth or water

2 squares of heavy-duty aluminum foil

Spread artichoke petals open

Between the petals, squeeze lemon juice, drizzle olive oil, broth and garlic

Sprinkle top of artichoke with sea salt

Tightly double wrap and seal the artichoke with the foil

Bake for 60 to 90 minutes depending on the size of the artichoke

Remove from oven and let cool before unwrapping (good luck with this one, the smell in my house was so intoxicating that we couldn't wait to tear that sucker open. I now have a burnt tongue)

Because I rarely follow a recipe, below are my changes I made:

The recipe called for 2 cloves of garlic, quartered.  I used fresh garlic that I chopped in my food processor and I used a lot of garlic.  Probably, 1 to 2 Tablespoons of chopped garlic.

I mixed the chopped garlic, PIZZA PEPPERS, and lots of olive oil together.  Then drizzled this mixture on top and on the sides of the artichoke. Followed by squeezing the lemon and pouring the chicken broth on top of the artichoke.

I used the large artichokes and they took the full 90 minutes to bake.

Pizza peppers were my addition to this recipe because I think they make everything taste better.

If you try this recipe, I am not responsible for your burnt tongue.

Enjoy!

Petie

Conversations with a Dwarf

Me:   I got an email the other day with info for a dwarf get together in the city?
       Would you like to go?

Dwarf:    Ummmm, NO.

Me:    Why not?  It might be fun.  Hanging out with your people.

Dwarf:   Ummmm, I hang out with tall people.

Me:    You don't have to stop hanging out with tall people, it might be fun to get to know other dwarfs and what their lives are like.

Dwarf:    (Her look is actually throwing knives at me) I have a life and I don't need to know what they do in their lives.  Short people freak me out.

Me:   ?????????



The dwarf was being interviewed for the school newspaper to get the ins and outs of what its like to be different and this is what she text me.

 Dwarf:    I am being interviewed right now, what kind of dwarf am I, and how do you spell it?

 Me:    Special    S.P.E.C.I.A.L

Dwarf:   MOM!!!!!!!!

Petie

Mr. John's Stuffed Bell Peppers

My I am to lazy to remove the foil pic of stuffed bell peppers

I have no idea who Mr. John is.

This summer on a trip to Costco,

I bought a bag of red bell peppers.

After a few days of sitting in the frig ( the bell peppers not me)

and not wanting them to go to waste,

I searched for a recipe on the internet for

stuffed bell peppers.

I don't think my Mother ever made stuffed bell peppers.

I found two recipes I thought sounded good.

Mr. John's SBP recipe is the first recipe I tried.

I haven't tried the other one because this recipe is so good and easy.

The other day,

My Dad brought me bell peppers and olive oil.

Thanks Dad, I was out of olive oil.

I love it when my Dad brings me groceries.

Something I am going to miss when he is gone.

Seeing how my Mom loves for me to cook dinner for her

(truth be told, she loves cooked dinners from anybody,

 she would love to be done with cooking),

I decided to cook SBP for her.

(She just did a little dance in her kitchen, 

she is so excited at the thought of not cooking.)

The only thing I did different to the recipe was add some cheese,

but you don't have to.  My family loves cheese. I also used red

bell peppers. I think they are sweeter. And one more thing,

I didn't use as much parsley,

in fact, I might have skipped that all together.

I promise,

I didn't change anything else.

Except,

I might have added more garlic.

We love garlic.

Mr. John's Stuffed Bell Peppers

  

Ingredients

·        6 green bell peppers, tops cut away and seeds removed

·        2 tablespoons vegetable oil

·        1 cup finely chopped yellow onions

·        1/2 cup finely chopped green bell peppers

·        1/2 pound ground beef

·        1/2 pound ground pork

·        1 tablespoon minced garlic

·        1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

·        3/4 teaspoon salt

·        1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

·        Pinch red pepper flakes

·        2 cups cooked long or medium-grain white rice

·        8 ounces tomato sauce

·        Water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling water, parboil the peppers until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and dry on paper towels.

In a large saute pan or skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and chopped bell peppers and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the beef, pork, garlic, parsley, salt, black pepper, and pepper flakes. Cook until the meat is browned, stirring with a heavy wooden spoon to break up the lumps, about 6 minutes. Add the rice and tomato sauce and stir well. Remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning, to taste.

Pour enough water into a baking dish to just cover the bottom, about 1/8-inch deep. Stuff the bell peppers with the rice mixture and place in the baking dish. Bake until the peppers are very tender and the filling is heated through, 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Petie

a Monday quote

Happy Monday,

Petie

They say...

that laughter is good for the Soul...

Good thing I am looking out for your Soul...

Click on the box  below,

and it will take you to a funny post on 

bonjouring in France..

bonne journee,

Petie

Its Monday...

Petie