Cranberry-Pear Compote!

Who: Amy Elizabeth Mucken
What: Canning Seasonal Pears with Fresh Cranberries into a delicious paste!
Where: Our home
When: 11/12/11 - that means it is magical.
Why: Preparing to host a Thanksgiving event at our home, as well as prepare small gifts for special people in our lives
How (& More):


I just finished working 350 hours in one month.  Don't get me started, and I KNOW!  So the first thing I wanted to do after sleeping for three days straight - was get back to crafting.   


Luckily my hankering timed beautifully with the release of SkyRim so my handsome husband, Tiger Reel, was happily occupied on the nearby sofa.   


Fresh pears were still to be found at the Farmer's Market and I bought 12 pounds and had plans to triple the recipe I found on the Simple Bites site.   I still love this site, and have found it to be an amazing source of inspiration.   

I made batch one on 11/12 - I prefer to do it without white sugar, so did a 1 to 1 replacement with honey for the sugar required in the Simple Bites recipe.  It leaves a delicate tanginess to the recipe, but I like it.   I also doubled the cinnamon just to give it a good Holiday Kick!  

Kitchen shot:  Cranberry Pear Compote, Canning Handle, Mitts & Le Creuset utensil holder.  

Cranberry Compote Cooling before the jar-boiling process.  

Into the bath!  

Batch two came out even better - and I look forward to playing with the third batch tomorrow night when my friend Maggie Hollinbeck is in town.    Canning is more fun with friends.  :) 

Craft & Crunch

Who:  Me and my girlfriends
What: Thinking of new ways to share quality time together
Where: My home
Why: See What.
When: March 2011, and again in a month or so..
How (& more):

I am a big fan of the quilting bee.   Driving a few days in my horse-drawn wagon, weathering the elements and thinking about intricate patterns.  Exhausted and exhilarated  I arrive at a good friend's home to add my materials to The Quilt.  Our communal and supportive way to celebrate someone's marriage or christening.  Spending time with the women to catch up on the news.  Oh shit.  I forgot I live in Los Angeles, and my girlfriend time equates to meeting up for a drink, see a show or do Yoga with a quick catch-up afterwards before we both run to our cars to get to our next appointment.   And I dont' know how to  sew.  Nameste.

This year I tried a new thing called Craft & Crunch.   The Working Title was Craft & Chew - but that almost sounded like we would use ABC gum as a crafty-resource.  Craft & Crunch still isn't quite right - but you get the point.

I cold-called a couple other Craftarians to see if they would be interested.  Boy were they! AND they would bring arts and craft supplies from their homes to help the cause.  Thank you Beezus.

We gave it an "open-house" feel with a 11-3pm run time.  That would be plenty for folks to eat, craft and shoot the shit.   It ended up being even more fun than I hoped, and I look forward to doing it again.

This is me with my "finished" projects.   The one on the left is marked with WendyO's wood burner (I LOVE THIS TOOL), and the one on the right ended up going through another 10 hours of work before it finally felt done.   

Lacy Altwine made two beautiful frames!   

Marti Hale was mid-joke during this photo, and is always an amazing guest and friend.  

Claudia is hilarious, and a very talented playwright and actress.  I love zombies too so she is near and dear to my heart.  

Julie Terrell-Travis is one of my best-friends and she made the frame on the left for her daughter, Eleanor 

Wendy's frame is beautiful!  She is one of my "heart girls" and had the killer wood working tools and always classes up the joint whenever she comes over.  She is also my cohort/hostess with our Bend & Brunches - which is a take on the Craft & Crunch, but we do Yoga and then eat and visit with the girls who came to class.  We are both really lucky to have such inventive women in our lives, and I am undyingly thankful for her support in my path.    

Kelly was knocked up with her baby, Dante, and did a lot of beautiful work, not just frames.   My supplies would have been sorely diminished had she not come and shared her tools and insights.  

Here is a shot of our finished products.   Super fun time had by all.  

See!  I told you Kelly did a few things.  The INSPIRE sign was already cut upon arrival, but she painted it and we all learned a few styling tips by watching her work.  

I love making food for parties, and folks brought other things to share as well.   Quiche, watermelon, potatoes and something delicious that Marti made that I still remember as being great!

Morgan Kays was my best-friend in 7th grade, and we still have a lot of the same tastes.  We both ended up in LA and have been catching up on each other's lives via FB and shared chance meetings at The Hollywood Bowl.   She is awesome, and I love getting to know her again in our adult lives.