Dutch Oven Pot Roast With Onions, Potatoes and Carrots

Well, that weekend certainly flew by now didn't it?  Wow.  Here it is Monday once again and there were errands to run and projects to work on and of course, dinner to be made.  Do you have favorite meals from childhood that you consider comfort food or "go to" meals?  Today was one of those days when I wanted something fabulously delicious (at least in my book), so I decided to make pot roast in my dutch oven with carrots, onions and potatoes.  This was one of my all time childhood favorite meals.  It was usually served for Sunday dinner in our house, but who said it's only for Sunday?  I decided to make it Monday dinner because I had the time, a roast in the freezer and it was what I wanted.  I cook, I make the menu.  Dan has to go along for the ride.  He didn't seem to mind at all! And, it's doctored up a bit from the ones we had at home.

I have a slow cooker and I use it often, but today I wanted a roast cooked in the dutch oven the "old fashioned" way.  Cooking in the dutch oven gives food so much flavor and makes a roast super tender.  I buy my meat from a local farmer at the farmers' market.  All his meat is grass fed, all natural, no hormones or antibiotics added and it is processed locally.  It is fabulous, lean beyond belief and so flavorful that it is reminiscent of childhood days.  It seems that so much of the meat sold in grocery stores today is somewhat flavorless, but not his.  

Here is what you need:

2 tsps extra virgin olive oil
1 3-4 pound chuck or shoulder roast
salt and pepper
2 large onions
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
3 garlic cloves chopped
2 cups low sodium beef broth
6-7 large carrots
3 pounds potatoes

The roast was a 4 pound shoulder roast that I had purchased a while back and put in the freezer.  I knew it was there waiting for just the right day and time to make its appearance.  Today was that day.  First, I defrosted it in the microwave.  Now to begin.  It's important to sear meat to help it retain its flavor and keep all the important juices in.  I put about two teaspoons of olive oil in the bottom of the dutch oven and let it get screaming hot.  Salt and pepper both sides of the roast and place it in the bottom of the plan.  Listen to that sizzle.  Boy oh boy, does it smell good.  Let is sear for a couple of minutes until it is brown and flip it over.  Sear on the second side until brown and remove the roast from the pan to a plate.

Slice two large onions in half top to bottom and cut each half into eights.  Throw the onions in the pan and saute until translucent.  Put the meat back in the pan and add about 2 cups of low sodium beef broth and 3 cloves of chopped garlic.  Toss in 4 or 5 sprigs of fresh time, put the lid on and place the dutch oven in a 350 degree oven for one and one half hours.  (don't peek)

While the roast is in the oven, peel 6 or 7 carrots and cut into chunks.  Peel about 3 pounds of potatoes and cut into chunks also.  I like to use what my grandmother called "irish" potatoes.  Back in those days we had red potatoes and irish potatoes.  (We didn't have Yukon golds, fingerlings or any of the fancy varieties we have to choose from now).  These will go in the pan at the end of the 1.5 hours cooking time.  Put the lid back on the pan and continue to cook for at least one more hour until the vegetables and meat are tender.  Remove the pan from the oven (it's heavy and hot, use pot holders), slice the roast and serve with the carrots and potatoes.  The onions have pretty much disintigrated at this point, but add soooooo much flavor to the pan juices, meat and other vegetables.

You can see the roast peaking through all the vegetables.  I wish you could enjoy how incredible this smells.   Oh so wonderful.  Garlic, onions, potatoes, carrots, thyme and beef filling the air, making your mouth water.  The beef was so tender you didn't even need a knife to cut it.  Yum!

We had a green salad with radishes right out of our garden and cornbread.  Talk about childhood memories.  Dan just kept saying over and over how good it all was.  Made it all worthwhile and there are leftovers!!

Next time you are in the mood for some delicious comfort food, give this recipe a try.  There are alternatives to a slow cooker.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

A favorite childhood memory:  Mashing up the potatoes cooked with the roast and putting some of the pot liquor over them and the carrots.  One of my all time favorites.  It's the little things.  donna

Green Pea And Chickpea Salad With Mint

On Monday, we talked about being tired of eating the same old salads over and over.  Recently we ate at a local restaurant that uses local produce as much as possible.  I had catfish and for my side I chose a cold dish that was made from sweet green peas, chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and mint.  It was delicious - cold and crunchy.  Mm Mm Mm.  I do love green peas!

You know me, I decided I would try to replicate this dish and I must say, I think I hit it right on the nose so to speak.  It's super easy and involves NO cooking at all which is great for hot summer days.  I threw in some grape tomatoes because I happened to have some, but the original dish did not have tomatoes.

Here is all you need to make this dish.

1 16 ounce bag frozen green peas (or fresh peas if you have them, 16 oz. would be 2 cups)
1 can chick peas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
a handfull of fresh mint leaves
1 lemon
some good extra virgin olive oil

First, let the frozen peas thaw.  I just let them sit on the counter until they were no longer frozen.   Place the green peas in a bowl along with 1 can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans (chickpeas).  With the extra virgin olive oil, make about 2 rounds over the bowl of peas.  I would guesstimate that at 1 tablespoon or so.  Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon and pour it over the peas.  Roll the mint leaves all together and chiffonade them by starting at one end and making very thin slices of the mint with a sharp knife.  Sprinkle the mint over the peas.  Mix all the ingredients together and you are done.  Easy right?  If you want to add salt, add it very sparingly.  Personally, I don't think salt is needed.  The sweet green peas and the crunchy chickpeas are so good with just a subtle hint of mint and the tang of the lemon juice.  (I am not a fan of eating a big mint leaf, it's just not my thing, but I do love the subtle flavor of this dish).  If you want to add some grape tomatoes, just slice them in half and throw them in.  Mix with the rest of the ingredients.

This is a quick and easy salad that will work for all the hot summer days to come.  I served it with a beautiful pork butt that I cooked low and slow.  I will share that recipe with you soon.  It makes fabulous pulled pork!

Give this easy recipe a try and I hope you will enjoy it.  It's a different salad you can serve and ever so tasty.  Mm Mm Mm.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Peas are a good low calorie source of protein. A 100-calorie serving of peas (about ¾ cup) contains more protein than a whole egg or a tablespoon of peanut butter and has less than one gram of fat and no cholesterol.  FoodReference.com

Gluten Free Peach Crisp

Whenever we have family over for dinner, I always make dessert.  Our son in love cannot have gluten because he was diagnosed with  Celiac disease several years ago.  In case you are not aware, gluten is lurking in many, many products that you would never think about, not just bread and pasta.  Be sure to read the label of any food product you buy.  Wheat is NOT the only thing containing gluten, so it is necessary to learn to read food labels for all the hidden gluten containing ingredients.  Fortunately there are many more gluten free products on the market today than when he was first diagnosed.  That makes it easier for everyone who has to live gluten free.  Even many more restaurants are now offering some gluten free fare.

For Memorial Day, I made a peach cobbler for the majority of the family because fresh peaches were in at the farmers' market.  It's just not fair for everyone to be enjoying something decadent while Chris can't, so I have been trying lots of gluten free recipes.  Thankfully, Bisquick now has a gluten free baking mix that is good and has lots of recipes on the box.  That way you don't have to buy a bunch of specialty flours to bake with.  Trader Joe's also has gluten free oats.  Yay!!  Did you know oats have gluten in them?  They do.  Gluten is in so many prepared food products.  You have to learn to read food labels and know all the terms that could mean gluten is in the product.  The good thing is, many labels now say "gluten free" which is a big bonus.  Trader Joe's has a list of all gluten free products in their market.  I just carry it with me and check the list to make sure a product does not contain gluten.  Talk about helpful!

Anyway, I  made this peach crisp in an 8x8 baking dish, so that is what the recipe is for.  You will need gluten free Bisquick baking mix and gluten free oats.  Make sure the label says gluten free.

Here is what you need:

4-5 cups sliced peaches, sweetened to taste
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 stick butter

Peel and slice peaches, enough for 4 - 5 cups.  Sweeten to your taste with sugar and let sit while juice develops.  Place peaches with juice in an 8x8 pan, sprinkle with cinnamon.  Slice the butter into very thin pats and randomly place over the top of the peaches.

Topping:

1 cup gluten free Bisquick baking mix
1/2 cup gluten free oats (make sure they are gluten free)
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter, room temperature
pinch of salt
4 TBSP cold water

Put the Bisquick, oats and sugar in a bowl and mix with a fork.  Cut the stick of softened butter into the mixture using a pastry cutter or fork(or your hands) until it forms pea sized pieces.  Add a pinch of salt and the cold water one tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork until it clings together  Spread over the peach mixture in the baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees until brown.  Serve.


This is a really easy recipe and is quite delicious.  Chris certainly enjoyed it.  He even topped it with home made ice cream.  If you want ice cream with your peach crisp and don't have home made, Chris eats Breyer's vanilla as it is gluten free.  Be sure and check labels before consuming other flavors.

There are more and more people being diagnosed with gluten intolerance due to easier tests.  Did you know one of the reasons for the increase in gluten intolerance is because wheat in the US now has up to 400% more gluten due to genetic modification?  Yes, it makes better pizza crust and bread, but it is causing lots of problems for a lot of people.  And please, don't self diagnose.  If you think you have a problem, consult a physician before going gluten free.  Gluten is important in our diet and to our health.

If you have gluten intolerance or Celiac, I hope you will give this recipe a try and that you will enjoy it. It's just nice to have something sweet that doesn't taste like sawdust ( that's what lack of gluten can do).  Gluten can be a good thing for many and a real problem for some.  As we become more aware and there are more gluten free products on the market, it will make life easier, especially for the household chef.

Everyday Donna

Things to remember:

“After I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I said yes to food, with great enthusiasm. . . . I vowed to taste everything I could eat, rather than focusing on what I could not.” 
― Shauna James Ahern

Peach Shortcake

One of the best things about summer is when fresh peaches appear at the farmers' market.  We made a trip Memorial Day weekend and I could smell them before I got inside the vendor's area.  Boy, was I excited.  Peaches surely smell like heaven, ergo:  heaven must smell like peaches.  The wonderful fragrance of peaches is something I look forward to each and every summer.  More than the fragrance of peaches, I look forward to eating fresh, sweet, delectable peaches anyway they can be fixed.

For Memorial Day I made a peach cobbler for us and a gluten free peach crisp for our son in love.  I will post that recipe tomorrow.  The gluten free peach crisp is delicious by the way.  Dan is not a major fan of cooked fruit.  He will eat peach cobbler, but he prefers peaches just sliced and sweetened, eaten mostly over ice cream.  Since we had family coming for dinner this weekend, I decided to make shortcake to have with our peaches.  This recipe is from Paula Deen and it is oh so good and really easy.

Here is what you need:

4 cups Bisquick baking mix
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tbsp melted butter
1 1/2 tsp almond flavoring (I used vanilla)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease a 12 cup muffin tin.  Mix all the ingredients together and pour into the muffin tin.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until brown.  Remove from oven and they look like this.

They look almost like popovers, but are sweet and soft like a big biscuit and they pair with the fresh sliced peaches beautifully.  I just peeled and sliced a big bowl of peaches and sweetened them with sugar and let them sit so the sugar would help draw the juice out.

When it was time for dessert, I sliced a shortcake in half and put sliced peaches and lots of juice on the bottom half of the shortcake.  Put the top on and added a few more peaches.  I made some fresh whipped cream and put a big dollop on top.  Dan added a big scoop of vanilla ice cream to his.  Whatever floats your boat.

I like the idea of the individual short cakes instead of one big cake so it doesn't get all soggy from the peaches and juice before we can eat it all.  You could use any kind of berry on these shortcakes.  How good would they be with fresh blackberries on them when they come in?  Oh my!

If you love peaches as much as we do, you will want to give this recipe a try for sure.  Oh, the pleasures of summer and all the wonderful fresh foods and fruits to enjoy.  It's a wonderful world we live in.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

There is nothing like a warm summer day full of sunshine, toes in the grass, eating a fresh, ripe, juicy peach while the juice runs down your arm.   May be the closest we will get to heaven on earth.  donna

Grilled Romaine Salad - My New Fave

Happy Monday to you all.  Do you ever get tired of the same old salads over and over?   I sure do, so this weekend I tried something new and I have to tell you it is now my new favorite salad.  I had seen Bobby Flay grill romaine on his show on the Food Network and I wondered how it tasted.  Let me tell you, it's easy, super tasty and it will be made again and again in this house.   I put my own little spin on it and our dinner company LOVED it which made me glad I tried it.

Now, I never really thought about grilling lettuce did you?  Somehow it did not sound like there was any way it would be good.  The picture in my mind was super soggy lettuce.  Ugh.  Plain grilled lettuce maybe not, but if you doctor it up this way it is fantastic!  It still has crunch and a bit of a smokey flavor from the grill, the parmesan cheese adds some nuttiness and saltiness, the tomatoes add a wonderful sweet flavor and the tangy balsamic drizzle is over the top!

Here is what I did to make this salad.  I had three heads of Romaine (you know how it comes in a package of 3), so I used them all since there were a lot of us here for dinner.  Cut the romaine down the middle  from top to bottom keeping the root end in tact so it doesn't fall apart on the grill.  Lightly coat the inside and outside of each half of the romaine with good extra virgin olive oil using a brush.  Put it on the grill for about 2 minutes on each side, just to get a little char and some grill marks on each side.  Remove from the grill and place on a plate or in a 9x13 pan.  I alternated the top and bottom of the lettuce slices for interest on the plate.

I had grated about a cup of fresh parmesan cheese and sprinkled it over the cut sides of the romaine as soon as it came off the grill.  The lettuce is just warm enough that it will melt slightly.  I had about a cup of grape tomatoes and I sliced them into small rounds and scattered them over the romaine.  You know, lettuce and tomatoes go together like peas and carrots.

Now, to make the balsamic dressing to drizzle over the lettuce.  Place about 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon of good balsamic vinegar to the olive oil.  Make a paste from 1 large clove of garlic.  To do this, mince the garlic and place some salt on a cutting board.  Using the broad side of the knife blade, mash the garlic into the salt over and over until it forms a paste.  Add the garlic paste to the olive oil/vinegar mix.  Add a pinch if salt, lots of black pepper, and a tsp of sugar.  Mix vigorously with a whisk or fork until the balsamic vinegar combines with the olive oil.  Simply drizzle the dressing over the cut heads of romaine using a spoon.  That's it.  Your salad is ready and is it ever good!

I cut the long pieces of romaine in half because it makes a BIG salad for one person unless that is all you are having (which would not be a bad thing believe me).  There were a couple of pieces left after dinner and I put them in a corning ware dish and saved them for today.  It was just as good today as it was yesterday.  Yummo!

Next time you are wanting a different kind of salad, this is the one for you.  The  combination of flavors is outstanding.  There is the salty parmesan with the tangy vinaigrette combined with the sweet tomatoes and crunchy, smoky lettuce.  (I do recommend fresh parmesan over the grated kind in a jar.  It has a different texture and I don't know if the pre grated kind will melt).  Words will just not describe this salad to satisfaction, you are just going to have to give it a try.  Let me know what you think.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Don't be afraid to try new things when it comes to food, you may discover a new favorite.

New Summer Decorations

Hooray, it's FRIDAY!  Are you looking forward to the weekend?  We sure are.  The weather is absolutely fabulous today.  The temp hovered around  70 and it was so nice not to roast so early in the summer season.  It has been awfully hot awfully early.  We got some much needed rain and our garden is looking fabulous.  The squash are blooming, there are some green tomatoes on the vine and some little peppers on the pepper plants.  It won't be long until we will be enjoying some yummy produce directly from our yard.

All of our spring decorations were changed over right before memorial day.  Remember my spring/Easter decorations on this cabinet?  I had a wreath and a small banner on the wicker arch and a beautiful bunny and a little blue bird on the cabinet top.  You can find it in an earlier post if you don't remember.  Well, spring decorations have been put away, and we moved on to our summer Americana theme to celebrate our patriotic holidays, the upcoming Summer Olympics and presidential election.  Actually, I just really love Americana and these events gave me an excuse to make some new decorations.  It really doesn't take much for me.

This cabinet sits inside our front door and is the first thing you see when entering the house.  It is also visible from the living room and the kitchen, so I always like to have something special on it for each season.  On the top of the wicker arch sitting on the cabinet, I made a paper cone wreath in the colors of our flag.  The plaque beneath was made on one of my $5.00 unfinished cabinet doors I found at the Habitat store.  The USA letters came from JoAnn's which I painted, and I highlighted them from behind with some glittered red #40 ribbon that is gorgeous!

The wreath is made on a piece of cardboard from a shoebox and the cones are two sided scrapbook paper that was on sale 5 pieces for a $1.  Total cost for the wreath was $3.00.  I bought 5 pieces of red, 5 white and 5 blue.  That's my kind of price.  Cone wreaths are all over the blogosphere these days.  Most of them are made from the pages of old books or sheet music and I love the way they look.  Since I wanted patriotic colors, I turned to scrapbook paper.  You could also use construction paper, it's just a littler more matte than the scrapbook paper.

To make the wreath, I measured the area where it would hang and drew a circle on a piece of cardboard with a smaller circle in the middle.  After doing that, I decided I would not cut the middle out like a regular wreath, so I simply marked the center of the circle so I would know where I would place the ends of the cones.

Scrapbook paper is 12x12, so I cut each piece into 4  6x6 squares.  Using a ruler, mark 6 inches to the center vertically and horizontally and cut along the lines.  The next step is to roll your cones and you can make them pointed or round, your preference  I liked pointed.  Place a dot of hot glue on the underside of the point where it is rolled around the middle of the cone and hold until set.

To place the cones on the cardboard backing, I started with navy blue at 9 and 12 o'clock.  Then I placed red and white cones alternately back around to the navy blue and hot glued them to the cardboard.  I would recommend laying out your pattern before you begin gluing the cones down.  Paper will tear if you have to move it after gluing it down.  

Ack, I forgot to rotate the picture when I edited it.  So, just look at it sideways and you will get the drift.
Now, it's time to fill in the circle.  Place more red cones next to red, and more white next to white on the cardboard and then glue them down.  Then, you will make a top row by placing cones between the ones on the bottom row.  Lay them out first, then glue them to the bottom cones.   You just sort of have to play it by ear here.  To finish the wreath, I used a big star cookie cutter I have and traced a star on a white piece of scrapbook paper for the middle.   The star covers where all the cone points come together and it looks sort of unfinished.  I put some Mod Podge on the star and sprinkled it with white glitter and glued it to the center of the wreath when it dried.  Ta da!  Done.

You may figure out another way to do your wreath, but this is what mine looks like completed.  It's inexpensive and quite showy, don't you think?  Not bad for $3.00 plus tax.

The red plaque underneath was simply spray painted and then I stamped a line from "America" that says "from every mountainside let freedom ring."  I wrote down patriotic lines that I could think of before deciding on this one.  Even had to sing a bunch of songs through to come up with lines, but it was kind of fun.  Of course, there are some stars stenciled on it!  You know me and stars.   After looking at it, I decided it needed some blue, so I used navy blue acrylic paint and simply followed one of the raised edges on the panel.

The USA letters were $2.99 each at JoAnn's and were all white.  I painted them barn red, ivory, and navy blue and sat them on the cabinet top after they dried.  That glittery red ribbon just ties everything together and of course, it SPARKLES!  What could be better?

Here's a close-up of the vignette.  I like that wicker arch so much, I couldn't bear to take it down after Easter.  It adds height to the cabinet, but is still open and airy and present many decorative possibilities.

I hope this will give you some ideas for things you can do that won't cost a lot of money, but will add beauty and interest to your home.  Be sure and join me next week, we are going to be talking food which everyone enjoys and must have.  I've got some good recipes and summertime ideas for you.  Have a great weekend.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Surround yourself with things you love and they don't always have to cost a lot of money.

How To Use Metal Leaf

Somehow, it is Wednesday and I am way behind on "things" in my life.  The three day weekend sort of threw my schedule for a loop.  By the way, how was your weekend?  Hope it was spectacular, ours certainly was even though the weather was more like the 4th of July it was so hot.  Thankfully, it is going to cool down a bit this week.

Yesterday, our oldest daughter was in need of our help.  She had a hernia repaired a week ago and still can't pick anything up and she needed to go to the grocery.  She has three sons, one of whom is a 22 month old which proves challenging in the "can't pick anything up" department.   Her pick up limit is 10 pounds and  grocery sacks for a family that size weigh more than 10 pounds, so it was Grandma and Pawpaw to the rescue.  Afterward, we ran some errands and by the time we got home and had dinner, it was time to watch the Next Design Star on HGTV, therefore I didn't get my blog posted.   Time sure can go by in a hurry.  I don't watch much TV, but Next Food Network Star and Next Design Star are two of my "must watch" shows.  Do you have some of those in your life?

Anyway, I wanted to continue my series on Americana decorations that I am using here at the little yellow cottage this summer.  The picture above shows what I am using on the front of the house in honor of the Olympics and presidential election.  I wanted something other than a wreath, so this is what I came up with.  The star was one I have had for several years and it was a rusty red color.

If you don't know me well, you may not know my love for all things stars.  I have them in all sizes, shapes and colors.  Needless to say, I decided to doctor this one up a bit for a more Americana look so I painted it to look like this using acrylic craft paints.

Voila! - that gave it a whole new look didn't it?  I simply used navy blue on the left hand part of the star and stenciled white stars on it when the paint was dry.  Then, I used ivory and painted every other side of the remaining points on the star.  It now has a true Americana look and the cost was only time since everything else was on hand.

I wanted to add USA underneath, so I purchased some mache' letters at JoAnn's for $2.99 each.  I painted one barn red, one ivory, and one navy blue. The front of our house has cedar shake on it which can look rather dark under the porch roof even on a sunny day, so I decided I would put metal leaf on the edges of the letters to brighten them up and make them easier to see from the street.

Metal leaf comes in gold, silver, bronze, copper, and some variegated colors.  I used the gold color.  This is not to be confused with real gold leaf which is no less than 22 carat gold.  Metal leaf comes in packages that you can buy at the craft store and you also need a bottle of Metal Leaf Adhesive Size to apply it.  A package will cost around $8.00 and so will a bottle of the adhesive, but it goes a long, long way.  There are 25 sheets to a package.  Fortunately, I had this on hand also.

This is what the back of the package says about metal leaf.
"What is Metal Leaf?  Metal Leaf is a micro-thin sheet of metallic composition metal packaged and separated by pages of tissue paper.  All through history in the world of decorative arts, gold leaf has played a very prominent roll.  This same phenomena is just as true today as precious metals continue to exemplify quality and good taste.  With inexpensive composition leaf, we are now able to afford that special look in home decor and personal accessories.  Our new products and techniques make the leafing process fun and foolproof with satisfying results every time."


This is how the metal leaf looks in the package.

Each sheet is micro thin, but very easy to apply.  You simply apply the adhesive wherever you want the leaf to show.  I used a small square shader brush and went around the edges of each letter.

The adhesive will be milky looking when first applied  (you can see some at the bottom of the "U").  As it dries, it becomes opaque and very tacky.  After an hour's drying time, you can begin to apply the metal leaf.  You just tear small pieces off and rub it over the adhesive using your finger.

There is little to no waste since you can pick up all the little tiny pieces and rub them over the adhesive. It gives a very smooth finished look and mimics real gold leaf for a miniscule fraction of the price.  Metal leaf can be used on anything - furniture, candles, jewelry, ornaments, picture frames - the list is endless - just use your imagination.  Here are the finished letters.

It only takes a short amount of time to use the metal leaf and it is so much fun.  It's one of those mindless craft projects that has a beautiful outcome.  I attached the letters together using sisal twine and some hot glue and hung them on the front of the house.  Then I placed my Americana star above them.

LOVE the way this looks on the front of the house.  The metal leaf outline makes the letters pop from the street and this wall hanging can used for the rest of the summer.  

If you have objects that you love in your decorative "stash" and don't really want to part with them, find a new life for them by using things like paint, metal leaf, or by rearranging objects from one room to another.  It can save you lots of money and add new interest to your home.  Or, you might consider trading things with friends or family for a new and different look.  Paint and metal leaf can completely change the look of any piece of furniture or object and it doesn't cost nearly as much as replacing that object.  You also have the satisfaction of saying "I did it myself."  Crafts are a way of expressing yourself.  Give it a try, you will be surprised what seeing with "new eyes"  and a little work with your hands can do.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Crafts make us feel rooted, give us a sense of belonging and connect us with our history. Our ancestors used to create these crafts out of necessity, and now we do them for fun, to make money and to express ourselves.
Phyllis George