hooked rug house

i finally finished the hooked rug house!!!

living room transformed

We took some furniture out of the living room and put in some shelves and a five foot table. We really don't use this room and thought we would make it into a painting room. All of the paint supplies are on the shelves and you can really spread out on the table. Liking it very much!

Christmas is done and over with and put away. Here is a little reminder.....

This little aluminum tree was what my mother always put up in the bathroom every christmas. The I have no idea what the white fluff is but jerry is sure that it is toxic and probably spun glass. I love the pink reindeer and angels.

chicken posole!

I made this for dinner last night and it was so good. Thought I would share the recipe......I have printed the recipe as it was written and have put in the changes that I made in red.

Speedy Chicken Posole with Avocado and Lime Time: 45 minutes.

This dish, using canned hominy, takes a fraction of the time needed for regular posole. Serve with warm corn tortillas.

3 large poblano chiles (1 lb. total) I used pasilla chilies
6 garlic cloves
1 large onion
2 cans (14 1/2 oz. each) white hominy
1 1/2 pounds boned, skinned chicken thighs
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano*, divided I used regular oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons ground red New Mexico chiles*

Garnishes: sliced avocado, lime wedges, cilantro sprigs, and sour cream

1. Preheat broiler. When hot, broil poblanos on a baking sheet until blackened, turning as needed, about 15 minutes. After blackened put the chilies into a brown lunch sack and let them steam. This way the skin will slip right off.

2. Meanwhile, in a food processor, whirl garlic to mince. Cut onion in chunks and pulse with garlic until chopped; set aside. Drain hominy; set aside. I have no idea why you are going to chop up an onion and mince garlic with a food processor when you have a perfectly good knife. Just use a chopping board and your knife and go to town.

3. Cut chicken into 1- to 1 1/2-in. chunks and sprinkle with salt and 1 tsp. oregano. Heat oil in a 5- to 6-qt. pan over high heat. Brown half the chicken lightly, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer meat to a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken.

4. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add onion mixture and remaining 1 tsp. oregano to pan and sauté until onion is softened, 3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a microwave-safe bowl, microwave broth until steaming, about 3 minutes. Add ground chiles to pan and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds. And just why am I heating the chicken broth in the microwave before I put it into a hot pan and bringing it to a boil? Don't think so. Just open the cans, measure out and pour into the pot with the onions.

5. Add broth, hominy, and chicken to pan. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer to blend flavors, 10 minutes.

6. Remove stems, skins, and seeds from poblanos and discard; chop poblanos.

7. Stir poblanos into posole and cook 1 minute. Ladle into bowls; top with garnishes.
*Find Mexican oregano at well-stocked grocery stores, along with ground red New Mexico chiles.

If you enjoy spice then you will really enjoy this dish. The flavors are very complex and varied with a bit of heat at the back of your tongue.
.

more reclaimed

Both of these pieces are on 4x5 inch stretch canvas. On the first one I have painted the canvas and used a piece of deconstructed National Geographic page under the wood. The wood is more salvage from the coffee table that we found. In the middle is a head light knob and on either sides of it are seed pods that I found on the sidewalk.

I have used more of the found coffee table on this piece along with a found metal #3. On the top of the canvas I have imbedded two spark plugs that was among the "stuff" that I inherited from my father. Boy do I have a lot of that "stuff".

kyle home for visit

Kyle has come home for a week visit and brought his girlfriend Faith. This is the first time we have met her and we like her very much. His cat Jazz missed him a lot and planted herself on his shoulders and wouldn't get off. Here are some photos of Jazz on his shoulders and Faith.

Reclaimed - the series

I have started a series that I am calling "Reclaimed". I am using bits and pieces that I find on the property or in the many boxes of "stuff" tht I have savd over the years. The first one is made with a piece of wood for the body. Her head is the cardboard base spool from something that I don't remembr and her head is a burned out light bulb. Her wings are from corregated metal and her arms are the turny things that you take off an ink cartridge before you put it into the printer. I painted them with acrylic paint. The boards on her body are pieces from the top of a coffee table that jerry and I found along side the freeway. I have it in the front yard and with time the little pieces of wood on the top are coming off. When they are all off I will do something to the top of the table to seal it, but for now it is giving me great little pieces of wood. The paint that is on them is acrylic paint that is on the piece of plastic that covers my desk. When I paint I use that as a pallet and when it dries you are able to peel it up. These are peelings from the desk adhered with matt medium.

The second one that I finished is from a piece of an antique dresser that is coming apart up in the field. I entitled this one "My Boobs Hurt". The "boobs" are bed springs. There is a piece of barbed wire adhered right under them. Under the left hand one is a chunk of broken glass and the other one is "pierced" with some of the wire from the original bed springs. In the middle is a dried wish bone representing hope and the red tag is the color tag from an old truck and I just liked it and the color. It hangs with speaker wires......don't tell Jerry that the speakers in the house don't work anymore.......