Elizabeth Taylor and her jewelry

A co-worker brought this book to me for viewing. I'm a huge jewelry fan and have followed Elizabeth Taylor off and on through the years.








The book is now selling for $875 on Amazon:



It is a fascinating book, each piece of jewelry has a story, there's also a photo of Elizabeth wearing some of the pieces. Men gravitated towards her, in their admiration they bought large pieces of jewelry for her for nothing other than wanting to. I have no idea what that is like, but I'd be willing to try it out for awhile.

Birthday Get A Way

We'll be staying in some renovated cabooses. This looks like fun, the cabooses each have a hot tub and an outside grill. It looks like a cute place to stay. I've already checked out the reviews on Trip Advisor.

Lobster Mac

My friend Matt made this dish for the Glass Class in Omaha. It's a very rich calorie laden dish of indulgence..............or in other words, the BEST KIND!!!!



LOBSTER MAC N CHEESE

12 Ounces hollow pasta
4 TBL Butter
1/4 C Flour
4-1/2 C Half and Half
16 Ounces grated Fontina
8 Ounces Sharp aged White Cheddar - grated
8 Ounces Marscapone
4 TBL Lobster or Seafood Broth
2 TBL Hennessy Cognac
2 TSP Franks Red Hot Sauce
1/4 TSP Freshly ground Nutmeg
2 LBS Cooked Lobster Meat - cut into chunks (If in Omaha - Absolutely Fresh sells 2 pound packages for 60.00)
1/3 C Minced Chives
2 Scallions - minced
Kosher Salt to taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste
4 TBL Butter
1-1/2 C Panko Bread Crumbs


Heat oven to 375

Bring salted water to a boil and cook pasta 3/4 of time recommended. Drain and set aside.

Add 4 TBL butter to skillet and Panko - toast till lightly brown.

Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until smooth, about 1 minute.
Whisk in half and half and cook, continuing to whisk often, until sauce has thickened and coats the
back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add in fontina,white cheddar, marscapone,
broth, cognac, hot sauce, nutmeg and salt/pepper.

Add pasta to cheese sauce and stir in chives and scallions.

Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish and top with bread crumbs. Bake until golden brown and bubbly,
about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Makes 10 servings.

Eureka Springs Visit cancel

I was planning a trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. We visited with our in-laws on a bus tour last year. It was such a quaint little town.

I got online and booked a little cottage that was so charming according to the website.

















Yesterday I received an email from a friend that lives in the area. She told me to stay away from that place as it is very dirty and unkept. She attached a review from trip advisor showing a totally different set of photos of the real cottage. Luckily it was 22 days away from my trip and there is a 3 week cancellation window. However, the owner insists on receiving cash for your stay. If you cancel you can't get your money back, you have to take it in credit. Credit has rules about not staying on a weekend or holiday or during the month of OCtober.

Wow, and we received 4 pages of rules in the mail. If you don't check in at 3pm there is a $25 fee. If you are a smoker (Which I have never been) there is a $100 deposit. You only get that back when the housekeeper checks the cottage to be sure you didn't smoke. THen they return the $100 CASH deposit. I think we see a trend.

Here are the photos from trip advisor. Way different than the website pictures:


This photo of Enchanted Cottages is courtesy of TripAdvisor


This photo of Enchanted Cottages is courtesy of TripAdvisor


This photo of Enchanted Cottages is courtesy of TripAdvisor


This photo of Enchanted Cottages is courtesy of TripAdvisor


This photo of Enchanted Cottages is courtesy of TripAdvisor


This photo of Enchanted Cottages is courtesy of TripAdvisor


This photo of Enchanted Cottages is courtesy of TripAdvisor


This photo of Enchanted Cottages is courtesy of TripAdvisor


That last photo really did me in, the website is totally misleading. The Chamber of Commerce in that town should do something about this. I'm heartbroken. This was to be my birthday weekend get away. Now it is ruined.

Glass Class In Omaha

Sometimes you have to remember to have fun when you are taking a class. I'll have to remember that next time.........not be so serious and focus on what I am doing.

I got a bracelet and 2 pendant beads from Melanie. I have her elephant bead from Tucson, I got it last year after reading online she was going to take a break from making them. I had it around my neck on the day we made them in class. It's a good thing, we used it as a reference while practicing that evening at Sandy's.

Thanks for coming, Melanie. It was so delightful having you in Omaha.

Snickerdoodle Muffins

Photo courtesy of Tasty Kitchen Blog where this recipe was discovered.


Made these for work today. Pretty good, I'll make the mini version for the glass class this weekend.

Snickerdoodle Muffins
1 cup Butter, Softened
1 cup Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2-¼ cups Flour
¾ teaspoons Baking Powder
¾ teaspoons Baking Soda
¾ teaspoons Cream Of Tartar
½ teaspoons Salt
1 cup Sour Cream
¼ cups Buttermilk
_____
FOR THE TOPPING:
⅔ cups Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Prepare a muffin tin with liners. (I learned the hard way that they are too fragile for just cooking spray.)

In a mixer, combine the butter and sugar and cream until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the sour cream and buttermilk and mix to combine. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until you have a smooth batter.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon for the topping.

Use scooper and plop a scoop of batter into the bowl with the sugar and cinnamon. Gently roll the batter in the sugar and cinnamon. Place the ball into the muffin liner.

When you have completed all of the muffins, sprinkle the leftover cinnamon sugar onto the tops of all of the muffins.

Bake the muffins at 350ºF for about 15-18 minutes or until they are golden on top and just baked through.

Enjoy!

Makes 12 jumbo muffins and 24 mini muffins

More Melanie Moertel Class Coming Friday 3/18

We'll be thrilled to learn any of these techniques.........it will be interesting to see how each person turns it into their own work. There are 2 classes held back to back with 10 in each class. She is so popular that the class was almost full before the emails went out to our bead group. We had only 7 openings to offer to The Hot Shops Flameworkers. Word got out on a glass forum prior to the dates being set or the costs, I was inundated with calls for this class.

Melanie hails from Germany, she's just adorable, her work is so fresh and exciting, we can't wait to host her here in Omaha.

We found a studio in Texas that was willing to split her travel expenses with us making the class more affordable for all. We feel so blessed to have her come.

Glass class coming up!!

We're having a glass class with a woman we're flying in from Germany! We met her in Tucson last year, she was in a booth with some glass suppliers, her name is Melanie Moertel. The sweetest girl! She'd love to find a husband so she can move to the USA. Here's one of the beads she makes that I love, she'll be teaching us how to make it:














We're all excited to learn new techniques. It's been awhile since we've had a get together with each other. We're all looking forward to it for sure!