Monday, February 22, 2010

Guest Blogger: Designs of Avalon

My Guest Blogger is Athena aka Designs of Avalon.
 
Tell me what inspires you to create the gorgeous items at Designs of Avalong. All the wonderful things you can do with beads and buttons. I especially take pride in my bead mosaics. I love seeing the picture really come to life as I place each little bead where it needs to go. A lot of my inspiration comes from different time periods. At the moment I am working on the signs of the zodiac, but I've done mosaics that were inspired by ancient Eqypt, and soon I'll be working on some Japanese inspired art.
 
I'm having a give away on my blog from now until March 1st. Everyone has up to 4 chances to be drawn by random number generator. The prize is one of my 2x3 inch bead mosaics. All you have to do is blog or tweet about my giveaway, then comment on my blog post (http://designsofavalon.com/2010/02/08/new-items-being-added-this-week/)  and become a fan on my facebook page.
 
Do you have a blog? Yes, it's Designs of Avalon and is about an Artist turned Stay at Home Mom and how she juggles it all. http://designsofavalon.com
 
What recipe are you sharing?
Chicken and Dumplings
 
(2½ to 3 lb) broiler fyrer
2 Quarts water
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 cups all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
3 TBS shortening
¾ cup buttermilk
 
Preparation:
Place chicken in a Dutch oven or large kettle; add water and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1½ hours or until tender. Remove chicken; let it cool slightly. Bone chicken, cutting meat into bite-size pieces; set aside. Bring broth to a boil; add pepper.
 
Combine flour, soda, and ½ teaspoon salt; cut in shortening until mixture resembles course meal. Add buttermilk, stirring with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead lightly 4 or 5 times.
 
For drop dumplings, pat dought to ¼" thickness. Pinch off dough in 1½" pieces, and drop into boiling broth. To make rolled dumplings roll dough to ¼" thickness. Cut dough into 4-x ½" pieces. Drop dough, one piece at a time, into boiling broth, carefully stirring after each addition. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 8 to 10 minutes or to desired thickness, stirring occasionally. Stir in chicken.
 
Serves 4 to 6
 
Where can readers find Designs of Avalon?

3 comments:

  1. Yummy yummy yummy! The recipe AND Athena's BEAUTIFUL work !!!!! YAY!

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  2. Thank you for featuring me. It's an honor to be showcased.

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  3. Fantastic recipe. I love chicken and dumplings and Athena's work is equally scrumptious. STUNNING pieces!!

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