Beans, Beans the Tropical Fruit

So my family is planning another cook-off. This time it's a test of "Texas" or at least one of their famous dishes: yep, chili.

Now, I didn't win the last cook off. But you have to remember I come for a BIG family. Mom had nine kids so when we all get together it can look like a little slice of Texas, right in my own house. Yep, down there they say Bigger is Better. Mom must have been listening to that motto, why else would she want nine kids?

Anyway, we're going to be doing a chili cook off. So, I'm asking for some tips, tricks and for readers to share some of their chili cooking talents 'cuz I wanna win this one.

I have a sneaking suspicion that my brother (who used to own his own restaurant) is going to be stacking the voting bin . . .again. So, I can use all the help I can get.

If you know any good recipes...or better yet...some really GREAT recipes for chili, please leave them in the comments section.

I've got to start taste testing some of these beanly beauties to make sure I come up with the best combination, if I wanna win. And, this time I think there's going to be a trophy.

Okay, so my family is a little overly competitive when it comes to cooking but that's why I'm asking for your help. There's gotta be a few chili lovers out there in cyber land. So, please share my plight with your other cooking friends. Maybe they'll have a few tricks tucked up their aprons that they won't mind sharing.

And, if I use your recipe or one of your tips, I'll give you the credit (here on my blog). And, if you wanna play along, take out some pintos, red beans, beef, or whatever else you want to try and start roasting, boiling or baking those beans too. I'd love to hear all about it well only "hear" on my blog because you know the saying...

Beans, beans the tropical fruit,
the more you eat the more you toot,
the more you toot, the better you feel
So eat beans at every meal!

Now, that's not the sort of thing I want to hear about...I'm only talking about the yummy scrumdilicious conversation of chili.

DIY Edible Arrangements

It's so easy to make an edible arrangement out of fruit.  All you need to do is cut the fruit into thick slices and then punch out the fruit using cookie cutters. I skewer the fruit with bamboo shish-kabob sticks.

I stick the skewered fruit into floral foam and stick it all in a vase.

Then cover the floral foam with beans, rice, paper grass or anything.

It's healthy, delicious and looks really cute.

What a fun way to feast!

Wolf Connection - a nonprofit organization that works with At-Risk Kids and Wolves

My sister, niece and I went to volunteer at Wolf Connection during spring break.

This is Maya the Arctic Wolf. She is a sweetie. My sister and niece and I couldn't go in all the wolf pens to spend time with the wolves. But Maya is a very gentle wolf and Kenai was fine with us in their "den".

Wolves might look like dogs but there are a lot of differences. Wolves can crush bone in their jaws and they have very large paws and long spindly legs. They are also much larger than an average dog. I have a husky and this is how she looks.

And this is me with Maya the Wolf

Do you see the difference in their size? Plus wolves are much more powerful than dogs. Of course every dog has descended from the wolf.

Here are a few photos of my time at the wolf sanctuary.

This is Teo and Rene. They are the leaders of the pack at Wolf Connection.

And  this is a video clip of the wolves howling as a pack.



This is my sister Tammy carrying some of the poo away from the pens.

It was a great way to spend a vacation.

Getting Ready for a Trip

My sis and I will be howling with the wolves...literally.

We're going to be volunteering down at Wolf Connections for our spring break.

So if you don't hear from me for a while...don't worry...

I'm just going to be in the mountains, running with the wolves...or maybe I'll be shoveling with the wolves...who knows...

But it should be fun and educational. Plus, I'll post all about it when I'm back with the humans.

SCBWI - Prepare Yourself for the Conference

Saturday morning I went to the workshop to Prepare Myself for the May SCBWI conference.

Nicole Marie Schreiber was the speaker and she gave a lot of great pointers, tips and hints to first-time conference attendees.

Some of her important tips about getting a professional critique, in my opinion, were:

1) Follow the proper manuscript format;
2) Have a critique partner or beta reader read your manuscript; and,
3) Follow the guidelines of submitting your manuscript.

These are all really important things to remember.

She also said to remember the following self-editing tips:

1) Check your spelling and grammar;
2) Show/don't tell;
3) Run through your point of view and verb tenses to make sure you stay consistent;
4) Watch out for adverbs (and cut them out whenever possible) (all "ly" words should get a second look - like she ran quick"ly". You don't really need the quickly.
5) Try to make sure you know who the main character is and that you have a good amount of conflict.

There were lots of other tips but those are the ones that stick out in my head.

Nicole also recommended reading some good books on self-editing. My favorite is Stephen King's book, On Writing.

And one of the great things about this workshop is the way the community gathers around to help each other become better writers.

It was a fun morning, filled with great tips, hints and new friendships :D

Shamrock Run 2013 - Pictures from the Day

In Portland we like to dress up and not in fancy gowns and stiletto heels, no we like banana suits and tutus - even for our dogs.

 

 And if that isn't enough, if we don't want to dress up...we undress...and I'm not talking about in the warmth of the sun...NO! This was a cold, drizzly kind of day...you know, like Portland, Oregon is famous for. And, yet, men (old enough to know better) donned - or perhaps I should say "undonned" their shirts, and went half-naked through the streets.

 Kids dressed up like bugs, ballet dancers and other things I couldn't even begin to figure out.

But all in all it was a fun way to spend a day.

How 'bout you, did you have a fun St. Paddy's Day?

Making Shamrock Suckers

I filled the molds with sprinkles of white candy and little green shamrocks. The only thing was that the green shamrocks didn't show up in the green chocolate. So that was a bit of a fail...or well, they still tasted good.

I stuck the sticks in some floral foam and hide the foam inside a hat then I decorated the top of the hat with green paper grass to hide the floral foam.

I thought it was cute ;D