I Miss You Blogger

 What if we all started blogging again? That would be amazing. I've been thinking about this for a really long time. So, here I am. I am no longer succulent plant growing, and have returned to making art. Perhaps, some cooking content in future posts as well. Hope life has been treating you well, if you are still out there. Abstract painting by me. This is called oleander dream. It was part of a curated local art show last fall about color. 

So does anyone really use blogger anymore?

So many people I used to follow are gone or their blog left behind like an old mining town with the tumble weeds of now blowing through it. Hahahaha just like mine? So on that note GOOD MORNING! Im having a fatted coffee and my pecan pie bites for breakfast here. Ive learned to make a caramel with erythitol as it doesnt impact my blood glucose or insulin levels. Yay! I had to stop baking all the delicious sugary carbohydrate ridden things. I did myself in weight wise and blood work wise. It was a good run and Im not gonna lie. I do have a cheat here and there but it really and truly is minimal. Here is the recipe if you are interested https://www.heyketomama.com/keto-pecan-pie-clusters/. Hers are much looser and fabulously photographed. They are mighty tasty though.

It's been a long while

Dear blogspot and followers I do think about you so much so it has prevented me from nixing this place all together. I haven't been using tumblr very often maybe a wee more than here? That is not saying much. I do use instagram all the time. So as soon as I re-acquaint myself here I will add my instagram.  I will also leave you with a photo of a cauliflower crust pizza I made earlier in the year. Looking forward to cooler days to start heating up the kitchen again. Its been brutal this summer with rain wind and many many days above the 105 f mark. So today I find myself back and am hoping for many happy returns in the future.

love you guys, shellie

So I have been cheating

on blogspot that is.

so I mostly post on Tumblr now because the format is so much easier.
also I dont like how everything is connected to google+ and facebook.
I get that its easier for a lot of people but im weird that way.

So stop by and visit my tumblr sometime.

http://shelliegarcia.tumblr.com/

Elephant Ears and Lemons

Its lemon season here. YAY! I havent really cooked anything with them yet. I suppose my mainstay of lemons goes to salad dressing. I eat a lot of salads thus vinaigrettes. The good news is I will never suffer from scurvy.  Also my elephant ear plant is on its way out and it hasnt sent up any new shoots. This makes me worry because I really love this plant. I have had it for a couple of years and Im just gonna say its gonna come back.

So I havent started decorating for christmas yet. Have you? I really want to throw a small party but it seems that all swims in a theory that may never come true.

Is it just me? Or do children constantly bicker? I think I may be going insane. Im constantly correcting behavior. Really Im too old for this shit but its too late right? Ugh.

So its plants plants plants. The etsy lull has ended my two week hiatus. The lull never lasts long.

Im hoping to get some stuff up in my art shop and have been working on paintings and collages.

So yeah happy December. I hope yours goes well.

Who needs a plate?

Pan roasted butternut squash and apples with pecans. Actually this was pretty easy. It was a pound of squash peeled and cubed. You can use a vegetable peeler and a very sharp knife to cut it in half. Its even luckier if you can pick up a package of it already done. Also use peeled a baking apple to chop up in cubes. Next time I would use two. I roasted this on a jellyroll pan that was just barely covered in water. I cooked this at 400 F for about 20 min. The water helps to steam the squashed and the apple. I wouldnt stir with a spoon because you will smash everything. I recommend using a spatula to stir it around or flip it over. When your squash is fork tender hopefully there isnt too much water left in the pan. This is why you really dont want to add too much. You can add a little bit more if its taking a long time but its really a pain to drain it and what not. So When they are fork tender you take a mixture of 1/3 cup honey, 1/3 butter, half a teaspoon of nutmeg ( i suppose you could use olive oil too if you didnt want to use butter) and melt them in a pan. You toss this with the veg and fruit thats on the pan with about a half cup of chopped pecans and then put back in the oven for about 10 minutes. Finally you can eat this masterpiece right off the jellyroll pan or glass baking dish or whatever you used with your beloved whomever that might be. I have tried this with carrots and didnt like it so much. So yeah its time to get your squash on!

days in the life of me

Happy Friday

a few images captured over the last two weeks 

trying to keep busy

just kidding who has time to even stop? 

if you do 

i am incredibly jealous!

what have you been up to??

It's a plant life

I stink. I know. So essentially I am still cooking and painting a little here and there and actually carved two linoleums this past year. I also took up jogging and can pack plants up like a you know what. I just havent been photographing and actually took most of my work down from my etsy shop. I will be returning. I know that was a long hiatus. Sorry for the quality of my phone photograph.

Dont have a heart attack

Kale and fingerling potatoes

                                                             Some of my favorite foods
                                                             I just wanted to say "Hello"

                                                             I have missed you all so very much

Happy Labor Day

                                Sonnet XXXIV(you are the daughter of the sea)

                        You are the daughter of the sea, oregano's first cousin.
                                    Swimmer, your body is pure as the water;
                                     cook, your blood is quick as the soil.
                        Everything you do is full of flowers, rich with the earth.

                       Your eyes go out toward the water, and the waves rise;
                         your hands go out to the earth and the seeds swell;
                        you know the deep essence of water and the earth,
                                 conjoined in you like a formula for clay.

                                Naiad: cut your body into turquoise pieces,
                                 they will bloom resurrected in the kitchen.
                              This is how you become everything that lives.

                             And so at last, you sleep, in the circle of my arms
                             that push back the shadows so that you can rest--
                         vegetables, seaweed, herbs: the foam of your dreams

                          by pablo neruda translated by stephen trapscott

Hmmmm.....

I left comments on my blog that disappeared. Also Mommylove I have left several comments on your blog that have disappeared. Are you getting them? shellie

always and forever my babies

my little monkeys
scenes from this summer
kim from jikits left a link for a post called the sweet spot in one of her comments
its a great read especially if you have kids
time goes by so slowly yet so quickly
its so easy to get distracted and frustrated
so i kiss them and hug them as much as i can
and try to have fun
sometimes its not as easy as you would think
thanks kim!!

Salad

Where are you?
Want some?

St. Anns

St. Anns is a small ocean front beach. I love it. My favorite is Victoria but there are no restrooms within walking distance. I adore Laguna beach.

No I havent disappeared completely.
I am still here.
This year has been very hard for me.
Essentially all of my time goes to my children and the succulent business.
I am grateful.
But I have felt backed up and empty creatively and without an internal push.
Since December I have been quite depressed and trying to find ways to dig myself out.
Time.
I think I just needed time.

So with that...
This is where I was this morning and afternoon for about four hours.
It was perfect.

Watercolor paintings

I really do have a thing for hearts. I finally finished this little piece. Someday soon Im going to have to get these small paintings up in my shop. What have you been doing?

CNN grieves that guilty verdict ruined 'promising' lives of Steubenville...

did you see this? he raped someone. it doesnt matter if people were drunk or on drugs. he raped another human being because he thought it was okay. what if that was your daughter?

Chocolate Cake

 Sometimes you bake without thinking

 What? You dont ever do this yourself?

 So the pan I used was too big for the recipe but now I know what to do next time

 Its heavenly chocolate cake from Smitten Kitchen. It still turned out delicious. My pan was too large so my cake was a little bit too thin.

You know when I am having telephone conversations I find myself saying things like cake is really important to me. Yeah I wanna be the girl with the most cake. This mouth eats a lot of cake. Its true. You should be here. I have coffee and espresso as well. Also yippee for the time change. That is all. :)

Cobalt Violet

So I needed more paint and sometimes these little old tubes I have get dried up a bit. So I gutted it like a fish. I love this color. I could get lost in it. Oh yeah working on some little drawings and paintings too.

Lemons

So this year no one hijacked my lemons. It was imperative to make more delicious treats with them. I had never made lemon bars before. OH MY GOODNESS! Such lemony  goodness. It makes me think of the lemony snicket. 

"...if we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting the rest of our lives..."

- Lemony Snicket, The Ersatz Elevator -

And with that its time to make stuff happen. Right?
oh here is the recipe if you want it here. Go ahead make it.

Blue

I just want to know when winter is going to be over. It has been really hard emotionally and I am ready for a change. Ready for sunshine and spring smiles. Oh I know I have it easy here in Southern California. I know. How are you all doing? I am still here. Trying to be better and trying to work on more art and cooking. Sometimes the blues last for quite a while. I am ready for this cycle to be over.