Halloween past

These two are now 23 and 22 years old. Spencer on the left is living the dream in NYC and Arlyn, on the right is living and going to school in Asheville.

Oh the years of dress up that these girls saw. They are now 18 and 19 and probably don't remember those frilly home made dresses.

Jenny on the right, now has a son of her own, but I vividly remember the Halloween she and Katchen were both Witches.

Arlyn wanted to be a Hooty Owl in the worst way and Its amazing to think I had the time to make his costume that year. Lucy could have cared less about her costume that year and probably took it off right after this picture.

My princesses! They were magical!

Goombay

Fantasy Fest festivities kicked off with Goombay last night, up and down Petronia Street. It is a real local event and I always see people I haven't seen in a while. It was a beautiful night and the drinks were good and the people watching was even better!
Petronia St looked good with a few new shops. I think this might make a nice little painting.
This guy was the best. He has decked out several bikes with lights and music and rides up and down Duval st. They were wonderful!

There were some cool outfits!

Everyone was selling these bright earrings. I didn't see anyone wearing them.

Loads of food stands. I ate some incredible quickly fried conch and some really good cocktails!


Fresh fruit drinks in a pineapple!

Steel drum player drew quite a crowd


Lots of antics outside the 801 bar. These girls looked like they must be famous.

New October painting

"Pears" painted in a dark dramatic fashon. Evokes that fall feeling 16"x20

Armenian lamb dumplings- Monti

The weather has finally turned and the windows are open and the breeze is blowing through my house. It was cool and I suggested a soup and my daughter said we should make monti, and that she would help. Being rather labor intensive I jumped at her offer and we sat down and talked and made monti. First you make a mixture of lamb, chopped parsley, finely chopped onion , lots of chopped garlic , salt, pepper, a little cumin and a little cinnamon. Traditionally you would make your own dough but I use wonton or egg roll wrappers. Each eggroll wrapper is cut in fourths then each of those is cut in fourths so you have small squares ,you place a ball of meat and pinch the sides together to form little canoes.

Bake for about 20 minutes until they are about to brown. In the mean time you have made a lovely hot broth, homemade or boxed, I use a mixture of beef and chicken. You ladle some broth into the pan and put it back in the oven for a minute or two.

Then ladle them into a bowl with more broth and a big dollop of yogurt mixed with fresh garlic salt and pepper, and if you like a little dill. This is a lot of work but so delicious. I usually make this for a holiday but was glad to have my daughters time and energy to help make these. Well worth the effort! We even made enough to stick in the freezer for another couple of meals. Lets just hope the weather stays nice and cool, but I am afraid it will probably get hot again.

Hemingway House

New Hemingway House painting. I haven't painted it in a long time so thought I would update my image and revisit this really nice house. Its in the Gallery now and the canvas is 11"x14" with a nice wide frame. I have made prints of this painting too.

Its almost Halloween!

I decided to get my Halloween decorations out this weekend.I have been collecting these for a while and some were my Mothers. I lit all the candles last night and can almost feel the cool air and the windows open, even though its been record high temps all week.

Which came first the chicken or the egg?

Stuffed pork tenderloin

I haven't done a cooking thing in a while so I really tried to document this. This was a pork tenderloin that I opened up and stuffed. I salt and peppered and smeared with garlic and thyme. Then I added chopped artichoke hearts and capers and Romano cheese.

Then I rolled it up and tied it with string. It wasn't too messy so I was able to sear it in a pan and get a nice color on it.

OK so I draped some bacon on it after I browned it and then threw it in the oven and baked it at 350 for about 30 minutes until it was about 150 degrees internally. I had to get rid of the bacon.

It was YUM! I served it to my lovely daughter and myself with a nice salad with cucumber and avocado and tomato.