This is officially the Banana Blog. Not really, but I feel like every other recipe posted here is all banana-y. Anywho, I had a couple of bananas going brown and instead of bread I searched and found this recipe: Banana Muffin Top cookies. Soft and spicy, we love them. I added a little honey to the recipe because I was just shy the one cup of banana. Of course, my hunkie boyfriend has to hit them with the microwave and a touch of "spray butter." Each time he offers me some and each time I say, "my dad said to stay away from the chemicals." Sorry to all you spray buttah lovahs. They were photographed on my kitchen table in the bag because I would've eaten 4 had I opened it. I knew you'd understand. If you love banana bread, get on it!
The Weekend.
Friday night was a big night at Dorothy Ilene's gallery. Us artists had a blast mingling and selling our wares. I even got to meet my on-line pal, Little Indiana. THANKS to EVERYBODY for all the love and support.
The next morning, Jean and I hit the ground running with my HOJALATA ("tin work" in Spanish) workshop at the FAME fest. We had pre-schoolers up to middle schoolers stop by to learn about the history of metalwork in Mexico and make a folk art magnet like these:
I used Sizzix dies to cut out tin shapes for embossing. The kids loved the permanent markers to color in their designs. Special thanks to Secondary Metals here in town for donating the aluminum background pieces that we textured with a chasing hammer.
Then Dad had the brilliant idea of taking us girls (who'd been working hard all day!) and Aaron to Anderson to the big casino buffet for all-you-can-eat crab legs. We never turn Dad down. So fun!
On Sunday, we had a huge breakfast (because we needed more food after the buffet dinner) and then went in search for a bike for Aaron. Found one and were on the bike trail by 2 o'clock. 11 miles later, 3 movies rented, tidied up the house and this for dinner:
IT WAS A GOOD WEEKEND!! Thanks to all that shared it with me. XOXO.
Gratitude
My studio-mate brought me this lunch today. There is so much love in this studio that we've been in since January 1. I'm so grateful for her creative spirit. She constantly inspires random acts of kindness—that's a true friend.
P.S. That water bottle has a net around it with a stem bow. See what I mean?!!? She's amazing.
Mushroom Hunting Part II
You know that sound when you hit the jack-pot at the casino? Yeah. It sounded like that last night at the cabin.
Charm Bracelet Tour
Into the Woods Charm Bracelet by Candie Cooper
I love making charm bracelets. Make your own from whatever you have laying around–mismatched earrings, keys, charms and beads. Hands down-my very favorite thing to make.
Components from:
Handmade Flower Clasp: Metalworking 101 for Beaders
Hammered Key: Remixed Media Video
Dehydrated Pineapple and Bananas
Greetings from our dehydrated fruit test kitchen. We broke out the dehydrator this past week in an attempt to make dried pineapple. Kroger's 2 for $5 pineapple sale made me do it! I sliced and hacked the pineapples (I will never take freshly sliced pineapple for granted again btw) into pieces which filled the dehydrator perfectly. Aaron busied himself making sure the trays were super clean because this was his deer jerky dehydrator after all. It was a complete stranger to fruit.
And boom goes the dyn-o-mite! I only left it in for 14/15 hours, rotating the trays once, because I wanted it to be chewy. You can check it as you go. Ours is stored in the fridge.
Then we had to try bananas. You can pre-treat bananas with a citrus soak to prevent them from browning…which we didn't know. Silly, newbies. Aaron skipped down the stairs to get the trays Saturday morning, then came tromping up. "And?!" I say with only a giggling "wellll," response. Not good. The bananas were brown and kinda ugly. Poor bananas. But then I googled the topic and found that they are perfectly good to eat.
Game on! Up next: apples.
Ready to make your own? Check out Kitchen Stewardship (where I learned that bananas are perfectly ok brown after dehydrating).
Hi, I’m Candie. I design jewelry and crafts, author books, teach classes and host television programs. I thrive on simple ideas that anyone can achieve. I also love projects made from unexpected materials that stand the test of time. Join me as I lead a creative life! 
