A Childhood Favorite

Kind of a funny picture, but they were yummy -


I remember my mom used to make a non-vegan version of these when I was a kid... This animal-friendly version is adapted from a VegWeb recipe. Ironically, this quintessential kid-friendly recipe did not go over well with Carlos, but Matt and I liked them.

Next time, I'll slit the dogs partway through and stuff some vegan cheese inside before I bake them. I didn't have any vegan cheese on hand this time around.

Pigs in a Blanket

8-10 vegan hot dogs
1-1/2 cups unbleached flour
3 tablespoons cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons canola oil
~ 1/2 cup water

Mix together flour, cornmeal, sugar, and baking powder. Drizzle oil over mixture and combine well. Add water a bit at a time, until dough forms. If you want them to look pretty, you can roll the dough out and cut it in some creative way; I didn't feel like it so I just took a lump of dough and pressed it flat and wrapped it around each dog. Next time, I'll make the dough cover the ends of the dogs as well (the exposed ends of these got a little rubbery when I baked them). Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Serve with your favorite condiments.

June Jewelry for Charity Recap & July Kick-off

I have been so slow in posting my Jewelry for Charity updates lately... I used to do it promptly on the first of each month but lately I've been edging closer and closer to a week into the new month. Eek!

Anyway, I hope you will be happy to hear that with your help, I raised $463.oo during the month of June for WINGS-Guatemala, one of my favorite charities helping families in Guatemala. Thanks for shopping with me during the month of June - together we really are making a difference! To date, my program has raised $5,241.00 for various deserving charities.

For July, I'm featuring Animal Place again. I decided to focus on really doing all that I can to help support the purchase of their new farm animal sanctuary property in Grass Valley, so I'll be donating 5% of my June sales to this worthy cause four times over the course of a year. I've posted plenty about Animal Place before, so I won't go on and on today, except to say that they are awesome and if you haven't already read what I have to say about them, you can do so here and here.

Thanks again for your support.

A Not-So-Subtle Hint

If I'm indoors around 4:30 in the afternoon, this is the sight that often greets me through my front door windows...


I guess it's their way of saying "FEED US NOW PLEASE." (Sorry for the sub-par photo; it was tough to capture from inside looking out into the late afternoon glare; in case you can't tell, that's three of four ducks on the left and three of five chickens on the right begging for their dinner. If they are feeling particularly demanding, they might start pecking the window glass.)

Happy Fourth of July! Carlos and I have a very mellow (aka boring) day ahead... Matt has to work and all of my family seems to have gone out of town for the holiday weekend. So I guess it's just Carlos and me at home with a neurotic dog hiding under the bed (Otis is afraid of fireworks).

New Beadies

Fire opal briolettes

Faceted red spinel rondelles

Sunstone button beads

Big ametrine briolette drops

Aquamarine briolettes

Faceted garnet rondelles

Iolite button beads

Rainbow moonstone heishi beads

Public Service Announcement

Is there anything more irritating than having to wash all of the dishes from a dinner that turned out too disgusting to eat? At the moment, I can't think of anything.

To save you the pain I have just endured, I hereby warn you not to make the Mac and Cheese on page 71 of the June 2008 Vegetarian Times. It is part of a feature where the magazine's readers share their supposed favorite dishes from America's best vegetarian restaurants. I find it hard to believe that anyone who was served this dish in a restaurant wouldn't send it back uneaten, let alone nominate it for any kind of reader's choice award. Blech. It was nasty, bland beige sauce and noodles - the kind of tasteless slop that gives vegan food a bad name.

And if you choose to ignore my advice and make this disgusting dish, don't serve it with undercooked broccoli. I don't have anyone to blame that on but myself.

New Rings

Pietersite & recycled sterling silver ring
{ custom order; sold }

Pink tourmaline & recycled sterling silver ring
{ custom order; sold }

Blue tourmaline & recycled sterling silver ring
{ custom order; sold }

Carnelian & recycled sterling silver ring

{ custom order; sold }

Charoite & recycled sterling silver ring
{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

Labradorite & recycled sterling silver ring
{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

Bi-color tourmaline & recycled sterling silver ring
{ custom order; sold }

A few new cabs

Here are a few new cabs I found the other day.
All are available for custom order rings or pendants.

I forgot to write down what this is... some kind of agate, I suppose.

Opal (yum!)

Charoite