Some Holiday Love

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It was a most wonderful, and successful Vegan Thanksgiving here, with a full table, overflowing plates, good wine, and lots of love. Think you can't have a Holiday Feast without a dead animal artfully displayed on the table? Think again, my friends! I've cooked a lot of Thanksgiving dinners in my time, and I know my way around a turkey. Normally you'll hear the opening round of compliments to the chef - The turkey is perfect! So moist! Who made the green bean casserole? I love this stuff! Pass the potatoes, etc... and then talk turns to other things, depending on the group around the table. This was the first time in all my years of feeding people that the conversation pretty much stayed on the food. I went all out and cooked for two days straight, creating a meal like non of us had ever experienced, and it was awesome, if I do say so myself.





You can read more about it on my other blog, PositivelVegan, and get all the menu details and recipes. Try one dish at a time and see what you think. I bet your mouth will be very happy. I'm so pleased with my ability to make a huge meal in a small kitchen, I'm planning for Christmas already, starting with dessert. I'm considering a moist, spicy gingerbread cake (like the stuff they used to serve at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, back in the day), with a goopy, saucy, baked apple topping. The rest of the meal will come to me. It always does.

I'm also wishing really, really hard for  a kitchen island. If I was a Rich Lady, I'd remodel the whole kitchen, or at least have a truly perfect island custom built to fit the space. For now, my Dream Island Getaway, ready-to-assemble from Overstock.com, looks like this... (Santa, do you read my blog...?)
But it's not all about food and cooking. I have business to take care of too. I'm still a beadmaker by trade, and this is no time to quit my "day job." The Taos Folk show opened on Friday, with a line of people waiting outside the door. It was a delightful Taos-Style Black Friday scene, with people chatting happily, and politely streaming through the door at the civilized hour of 10 AM. The opening night party was packed with happy shoppers, and Saturday morning looked good too, when I dropped by for a little while to straighten up my display. 




I think I've already mentioned that this is the first show I've done in several years, and the first craft show in ages. I switched to bead shows at some point, after realizing that people who attend bead shows already know what they're looking at, where as craft show go-ers need considerably more educating. After the third person walked up to my display on Saturday and commented on my "lovely bags," it occurred to me that I might put up a little sign reading, "Free Handmade Glass Bead with every Bag!"


Fortunately (or maybe not so), I don't have to be there to sell my work, so I have time to be in the studio making more, and tending to my website and blogs. It's all manageable, and I'm having fun with it, waiting to see what surfaces, what "wants" to be made. Playing Christmas music at full volume the other day, I found myself inspired to make Cupcake Beads and Snow Globes. What a surprise! I thought I was finished with both of those, but there they were, wanting another turn at the torch, so I obliged.


Today I'll take their pictures and post them on my website. On Friday, I'll take any that are left to the show. And that's how I plan to work my "bead weeks" from now until Christmas. Beads up Tuesday, down Thursday, mail Friday, move the rest to the show. Boom, boom, boom. If you're shopping, shop fast! And if you're not on my mailing list, now is a good time to join. You'll get a note when the beads are ready to go, and you'll also be entered in a Surprise Bead Drawing to be held later this month. Click HERE to add your name to the Beadist Mailing List.

I hope you're all enjoying the Holidays as much as I am!
Cheers!

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