Four years ago, I painted my first watercolor painting, and I have been hooked ever since. I’ve come a long way, and I still have a long way to go, but I am thoroughly enjoying the journey! And I still can’t believe Charlie honors me with being an ambassador for World Watercolor Month along with so many professional and talented artists.
July is a great time to take the leap if you’ve ever thought about trying watercolor. Just grab some paint (this is a link to the first watercolor set I bought for about $20!) and some watercolor paper, click on some of the artist links below that share their talent through tutorials or head to the University of YouTube (like I did) and HAVE FUN!
But I’ve been trying to avoid it in an attempt to lose some weight.
I also adore cauliflower, so I finally jumped on the cauliflower crust bandwagon, and O M Geee! It is awesome!
Have you tried yet?
I did some reading on it before trying and found an important tip that causes many people to be unsuccessful and create a soggy crust… It is super important to squeeze the water out of the cauliflower rice. I got almost a whole cup of water out of my large head of cauliflower rice, and the crust turned out so nice and so delish!
I made this last weekend when the family came over for Father’s Day brunch. It is quite healthy and low fat/calorie. I used fat-free mozzarella cheese, fresh sauteed spinach and crumbled feta for my toppings. YUM!
Here is how I made it. Would love to hear your thoughts if you try it and/or your tips if you’ve made it other ways.
I loved it hot and also loved it cold the next day for lunch at work. (Though I am one of those crazy peeps who loves everything cold as well!)
Cut cauliflower into florets and “rice” in food processor in batches. Place in microwave-safe glass bowl with lid and cook for 8 minutes on high. Allow to cool slightly and place cooked riced cauliflower in 3-4 even batches at a time in a dry tea-towel. Roll up and squeeze water out of the riced cauliflower. Squeeze hard and get as much out as you can. This is an important step in creating a crust that will not be soggy. You may get up to a total of a cup of liquid out.
Add eggs, cheese and seasonings to cauliflower and blend well using your hands. Place on a parchment-lined baking stone, and pat into a crust. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown.
While crust is baking, saute minced garlic in about a tablespoon of olive oil until soft and fragrant. Add fresh baby spinach and cook until just wilted. It only takes a minute or two. Remove from heat and set aside..
When crust comes out of the oven, top it with the shredded mozzarella followed by sauteed spinach and then topped evenly with crumbled feta and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Place back in oven for about 10 more minutes. Tastes wonderful hot (and cold!)
You can also add other favorite toppings like sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, grilled chicken – the possibilities are as endless as your personal palate!
World Watercolor Month 2019 – I’m an Artist Ambassador Again!
My amazingly-talented, awe-inspiring, huge-hearted buddy, Charlie O’Shields at Doodlewash is once again hosting the annual World Watercolor Month celebration in July, which he created four years ago to inspire people to paint with watercolor while raising awareness for the importance of art and creativity in the world.
I wish I could express how much joy art has brought to my life since I discovered watercolor painting about four years ago – around the same time as Charlie – when we became blogging friends. Charlie has taken it to a whole new level with his energy and creativity, while I hobby along, yet he has once again honored me this year with the privilege of being a World Watercolor Month Art Ambassador along with some “real” artists I totally admire!
For the month of July and in honor of World Watercolor Month, I will be donating $1 from every watercolor sale (originals, prints, greeting cards) from our McKinneyX2Designs ETSY shop to Dreaming Zebra which helps support children in need around the world by providing art supplies and art education.Research has shown that art education has a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child and has proven to help level the learning field across socioeconomic boundaries. Unfortunately, arts education programs are too often the first to be cut when cuts are made, so more and more children each year are missing out on the important benefits of art classes.
The Dreaming Zebra Foundation is unique in that they provide an art recycling program that is free to the public. Reusable art & music supplies that would otherwise be discarded, along with new or unsold materials, are donated by individuals and businesses and matched to recipients who have requested those materials for arts education purposes in communities around the world.
I’ll be sharing more in July, which is only 11 days away! How is that possible?! Hope you will join us in the fun – through sharing your art or supporting art through your purchases.
I would also like to give away a couple of these pouches as a way of thanking all of you sweet supporters of The Creative Life in Between and McKinneyX2Designs. To be entered in the random drawing, simply comment with “I want it!” I will choose two winners July 1st!
Summer baking calls for bright, citrusy flavors; and ever since painting my lemons last week, I have had citrus on the brain!
I found a great old-fashioned cookie recipe for these cakey iced orange cookies from Taste of Home. I had just bought a bag of clementines, so I knew they would work great for this.
I gave some to my Dad for Father’s Day and served some to our kiddos at our Father’s Day brunch for Hubby.
Be sure to use freshly squeezed orange juice and zest for the best flavor. These cookies freeze well and taste amazing right out of the freezer on a hot summer day!
In an electric mixer, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in orange juice and zest. Add baking powder, salt and then flour to creamed mixture until well combined.
Drop by tablespoon or cookie scoop onto baking stone or ungreased cookie sheet about two inches apart. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. Cool on wire racks.
In a small bowl, combine icing ingredients until smooth. Drizzle generously over cooled cookies.
TIP: I refrigerated the cookie dough for a couple hours making it easier to work with and hold its shape.
Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing dads! Here is a photo taken a couple years ago of me between two of my faves: my Dad and Hubby.
And in honor of Father’s Day, I want to share a blog post I originally wrote and posted five years ago. Today also happens to be my Dad’s birthday, so it is a very special day indeed!
July 17, 2014
Today is a very special Anniversary… A day that brings back floods of memories… floods of emotions…. reflections on time missed… but celebration of time and love shared… from here on…
You see – Today is a Father-Daughter Anniversary. Today is the 4 year anniversary of my reunion with my Dad (my “birth father”).
And I thought it deserved a special anniversary card to send to Dad to help us cherish the day.
So you might think that sounds a bit odd…. Father and Daughter Anniversary???
Well – I’m going to share a kinda big chunk and pretty personal part of my heart today. So – if you’re not into that or not interested, you may just want to skip this blog.
So here goes…
On July 17, 2010, I was reunited with my Dad (my “birth father” Dad so as not to be confused with another great man in my life that I also call Dad – I know – a bit confusing – and on top of that both of their names are John!).
It was a day neither of us will ever forget.
The reason(s) for our separation for 39 years is really not the point or purpose of this story, nor do I feel appropriate to share, but the joy in our reunion is the focus here…. And oh what JOY we have shared.
For our second Christmas together again in 2012, I presented Dad with a book I wrote for him.
I called it, “The Journey Back to Daddy’s Girl.” The book is a celebration of our initial exchange of emails leading up to our reunion that covers the course of only a few short weeks, but close to 70 pages of exchanges. It chronicles how we discovered each other again – an adult daughter close to 50 years old – and an even more adult father – close to 70 years old who last saw each other when the little girl was 9 years old and the Daddy was just barely past 30.
We (well mostly I) asked each other questions (sometimes difficult ones) and our exchanges evolved from closings with “John (BF)” to “Love you, Dad”s.
Let me share the “Introduction” with you here.
———-
“Once upon a time, there was a little girl. Jodi had a Mom and a Dad and a little brother.
Life was good, until one day when Daddy left. Then Jodi just got to visit with Daddy on the weekends, until a day came when Mom introduced Jodi and her brother to a new Dad, and told her she would not be seeing her other Daddy any more.
Jodi lived a good life. Her new Dad and Mom took good care of her and her brother and her new baby sister, but Jodi always felt something was missing.
She thought of her first Dad throughout her life.
She dreamed of bumping into him on the street… their eyes would lock, and they would immediately recognize each other. Dad would tell her he loved her and missed her and was so proud of the woman she had become…..
Sometimes dreams do come true…”
———-
Marty (for those new here – the hubster), was instrumental in helping me find my Dad.
It is so much more incredibly easier than imaginable with the internet and people search software these days.
Marty has known for years – probably before I even realized – that there was a part of me missing – that there were unanswered questions – that there was a dad out there that I needed – and who needed me. He has asked me over the years about it – ever since we started dating when I was a mere 16 year old high school girl and he was a “mature” 20-year old “man.” (That story is a whole blog post for another day). When Marty realized my yearning had grown so strong, and my need was so great, he was the one that took the step to reach out for me, and the resulting reply is etched in my mind and on my heart forever:
“Hi Jodi – Yes. I am your “Birth Father.” It was an answer to prayer hearing from you. I hope that you and John are both fine. To this day, I regret the worst decision I have ever made. I was talked into doing something, but I had my own mind. At the time, I thought I was doing the best thing for your two. Can you ever forgive me?”
And so began my Journey back to Daddy’s Girl.
And now we celebrate four wonderful years of being a reunited father and daughter, which began on July 17, 2010 when my Dad showed up to my house with a huge bouquet of flowers, a face that looked exactly like mine (and resembles Tom Jones I think only to me 🙂 ), immediately telling me he loved me, and he missed me, that I was beautiful (only to him I’m sure 🙂 ),and he was so proud of me. You see – he wanted to fulfill my dream… He wanted our reunion to be the wonderful event I had dreamed about over the years…
We both cried – happy and sad tears. And we have talked almost every day since then. We’ve spent birthdays and holidays and Father’s days together. He was with me at our son Jake’s wedding. He loves my family as his own. His family has embraced me as their own. They have always known about me, and they welcomed me with open arms.
I will never forget the first time I met my Dad’s wife, Carole (aka Mom 2). The first thing she said to me was, “Your Dad always promised me a daughter, and now I have one. We’ve been praying for you for a long time.”
The epilogue of my book closes with:
———-
And so it began …….
With a simple email …
A journey back to Daddy’s girl.
And now, two and a half years later …
… we write each other almost every day
… and talk every weekday morning at 7:05
We’ve spent Father’s days together and holidays and birthdays and are part of each other’s lives again.
Our families love each other and we love each other.
‘What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life’
Dreams do come true!
this is notTHE END.”
———-
Father & Daughter Reunion Day – July 17, 2010
I hope this message will encourage those adult children who were separated from birth parents – at whatever age (birth, childhood, teenager, young adult) – for whatever reason – to reach out and try if it is something that has yanked on and ached in your heart for years.
Maybe your ending will not turn out as good as mine did (and of course there is much more to our story than I’ve shared here so far) , but can anything hurt more than the emptiness and not-knowing that you feel every day? Could the potential rejection be any worse than what you have imagined or decided or dealt with for years in your heart?
Love is worth the risk. It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. Closure or resolution or answers to decades of unanswered questions can let you sleep at night… can bring you peace… can make you right with yourself! I’m certainly not an educated or trained professional in this area, but I can only speak of my own personal experience.
I wish you joy. I wish you peace. I wish you resolution. I wish you wholeness of heart – no matter the ending. YOU are worth it. YOU are here for a reason. YOU are loved.
Happy 4 year “Anniversary” Dad! I love you, and I cherish you! (And I’ve been listening to “our song” again this week. I’m betting you will too.) ❤ “What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life!”
(click on the photos for information on how to purchase any of these and many other fun, lemony items in our McKinneyX2Designs ETSY and Society6 shop!)
the creative life in between 