Warm Tummy Pumpkin Soup

  Hello! I had these pumpkins from my garden and had not done much with them except have them around to look festive. I love you pumpkins but now I must eat you! I tried my best to recall a recipe I have used one winter season but could not remember it all. I then just decided to improvise and this is what came to fruition.

 

Specific Tools: micro plane and a blender.

 

Ingredients:

 

2 tblsp vegetable margin

I ½ cups pumpkin

1 garlic clove

¼ onion (white)

1 tsp ginger

2 celery stalks

dash of oregano

¼ tsp basil

dash of nutmeg

½ tsp thyme

dash of cumin

2 cloves

dash of paperika

2 ½ cups of rice milk

salt  & pepper to taste

 

Directions:

 

Boil water in a medium size pot.

Prepare pumpkins by removing the stem, cut in half, removing the seeds and membrane out with a spoon (saving the seeds for later). Cut the pumpkin into pieces small enough to fit snugly in the pot.

Place in boiling water approximately 1 hr until the pumpkin is boiled through making it soft.

 In a sauce pan on medium heat add margarine and place onion, celery, and garlic.

 

Micro plane in ginger, stir, then cover half way and set on low heat until translucent.

 
 

Stir the herb and spices into the saucepan. Turn the heat up to high and pour in ½ cup of the rice milk, stirring frequently until it has reduced by half. Set aside.

 
                                                         Squeeze out excess water.

 

 Place the pumpkin, remaining rice milk, and milk reduction in a blender for a puree.

 

Return to a saucepan for a minute, stirring on low. Remove from heat.

 

 

 The soup is now ready to serve. Garnish with sprig of Rosemary.

  I find the winter brings out a necessity to be warm. I feel this soup has the potential to warm in a seasonal way. Something reminiscent of wearing a very festive sweater while reading a book in front of a fire place as the cat is curled up by ones toes. Meow.

  Thank you very much!
  Eric M. Rangel

Warm Breeze Biscuits (Vegan)

  Hello! This is my Warm Breeze Biscuit (cookie)! It was a lot of fun to make! There is not much else to do I suppose in the wee hours of the morning. This is more of an experimental recipe. There still needs to be some tweaking. For the most part they turned out well. I have used vegetable margarine though I do not tend to use it in my everyday cooking because it is just not as healthy as a good olive oil or grape seed oil that is the best thus far. I did not also include baking soda that helps with the leavening because of the flavor. I did not flatten them enough so they came out kind of  raw. I will continue to experiment in my kitchen and make sure to flatten the dough so they are more like discs instead of balls (this will derease the bake time to 15 to 20 minutes). I think the best part about this recipe are the Maraschino Cherries, my fave!

 Tools: Baking sheet, measuring cup and spoon, mixing bowls, wooden spoon.

 Ingredients:

¼  Cup of Vanilla

½  Cup of Macadamia Nuts

2 Bananas (Organic)

13 Maraschino Cherries

1 ½ Cup of All Purpose Flour

¼ Cup Vegetable Margarine

¼ Cup of sugar (brown & white mix)

 Recipe is as follows:

 1.      Preheat oven to 375 degreese fahrenheit (190 dregreese celsius).

2.      Place Macadamia nuts, sugar, and flour in a bowl and mix.

 

3.      Place banana, vegetable margarine, and vanilla in another bowl and cream them together ith a wooden spoon.

4.      Take thirteen Maraschino cherries, remove the stem, and chop into small piece. Mix the cherries into the flour.

5.      Add the wet to the dry and incorperate with the wooden spoon at first then when it mostly a ball then work with the hands (but not too much because the gluten is not to be overworked for it makes the dough more tough).

 

6.      Place as many dough pieces as possible at a desired circumference on a buttered baking sheet, making sure they are flat enough to bake through.

 

7.      Place them in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes.

 

 

8.      Remove them from the oven and let them cool. The cooling process also allows any excess moister to evaporate.

 

 Personally I love to bake and even more so when it is all finished to find that it does in fact taste good. I find baking to be more of a science though and I do understand it is a trial and error basis when baking, especially when one is coming up with their own recipes!!:) Enjoy!

Thank you very much!

Eric M. Rangel

 

 

 

D.I.Y dye paint and stencil sho

 Hello! I have been decorating my own shoes for about 2 years now. I am always finding new ways to improve the ability to express myself. When I find a new way to go about it, even if it just a small detail, it makes that much more difference and coming closer toward perfection. The goal here is to have fun!

Materials: White cotton shoes, water in a bucket, spray paint, stencil, paint pen, news paper (for work space), dye.

Directions:

1. Tape of souls of shoes to keep a cleaner look.
2. Soak shoes in water and drain excess water from shoes.
3. Apply generous amounts of dye to your liking and dry.
4. Rinse the excess dye from shoes and dry.
5. Splat multiple colors of paint and dry.
6. Make a neat stencil and spray it on and dry. 

 

There it is in a nutshell! One now has a super colorful and fun pair of shoes! I reckon it is quite a mess, so I use the newspaper to lay down over the work space. The one thing I would like to improve is the saturation of the dye color. Most dye kits come with soda ash that helps the dye take into the fabric. All it could use now are some colorful laces and they are set!

Thank you very much!

 Eric M. Rangel

Kitchen "Eric's Clarity Apple Butter"

 

Hello! This is my recipe called Eric’s clarity apple butter!

Tools: measuring spoons and cup, deep saucepan, water bath, knife, cutting board, wood spoon, jar, and of course fire.

Ingredients:
7 Organic Pink Lady Apples
3 cups of water (750 ml)
¼ cup brown/white sugar mixed (59 ml)
½ tsp vanilla (2.5 ml)
¼ tsp almond extract (1.25 ml)
½ tsp organic cinnamon (2.5 ml)
Dash of nutmeg and salt
1 Star Anise
1 cinnamon stick
* ¼ lemon for water bath

1. In a deep saucepan pour water and bring to a boil.

2. Prepare the apples by pealing the rind and removing the core.

(Place them in the water bath until all of the apples are prepared.)

3. Add all of the ingredients into the deep saucepan of boiling water.

Reduce heat to a medium for approximately 45 minutes.

4. Once reduced to a sauce like consistency, it is done!

I think cooking had more of a magical flare in the before times. When wizards made potions and herbs man created a remedy that naturally but mystically caused an altered state of being. Eating organic definently helps in clarifying ones body. May your cooking creations be magical!

Thank you very much!
Eric M. Rangel

D.I.Y Bracelets "Hoot-tastic"

D.I.Y Bracelets "Hoot-tastic"

Hello. If you have ever saw a bracelet and wondered how it was made, or would like to make one self an accessory that is sure to dazzle, then here is how to do it yourself.

SUPPLY LIST: Needle nose pliers, scissors, tape, beading string, beads, and clasps.

1. Measure your wrist and cut a piece of beading string to length. Tape both end down to ones work space.

2. Select your beads of choice and put them in a line of desirable fashion.

3. Release one end of the tape and commence stringing the beads making sure that they go in the order one has selected them to be in.

4. I like to do a test fit to see if any beads need to be added or removed to ensure a proper fitting.

5. Tape one end returned to being tapped down to ones work space and at the other apply the clasps. Place the beading a crimp bead through, then through one of the two pieces of the clasp (either the hook or the loop), and returned through the crimp bead a second time. Release the previously taped end and repeat. Tadaa!

 Now you have a spectacular piece of fashion that will add more charm to your attire!

Thank you very much!
Eric M. Rangel

Love Cats

Hello. This is my first blog. Eric's Art Creative uses different mediums of Art to express and share. So with that aside. This is my very first kitten called, "Vampire Kitten". He first came about from a study that I was drawing of a cat that was to be in the back ground of an acrylic painting on a wood panel. I liked the study so much I continued to draw and make him into a character to give him more personality. This includes their hair, wardrobe, and type of cat( tabby, calico, white, black, tortoiseshell shell, etc. )! I enjoyed drawing and creating him so much that I kept drawing different kinds of kittens!     

Monster Truck Kitten

Twin Kittens

Breakfast Kitten

Jogger Kitten

Future Kitten

Homecoming Queen

Clown Kitten

Moon Kitten

Root beer Float Date Kittens

 Then I wanted to draw more of a scenic portrayal with the cats and did so with the Merry Christmas spread.       

Santa Kitten

I liked the fact that Santa Kitten was in motion. Something was actually happening! The next logical step for me was to create a comic strip. The first comic strip is of Knight Kitten. He play fights a friendly dragon to impress thee princess. The dialogue is interesting to come up with. I like it because it reminds me of writing a script for a movie! That is pretty much the same process when creating a story board.

Knight Kitten

  I had to think of a name to call my comics of kittens! In my second comic strip I titled the comic, "Love Cats". I know there is not any correct way to draw a comic per say though I try to keep it close to the form found in the funnies section of the news paper.  In this occurrence I had broaden the range of motion and start to make the Cats more animate.

Moon Kitten

This is the latest of my Love Cats comic strip. I have just gotten a new light table and art supplies so I am so ready to keep the art coming!

Thank you very much!
 Eric M. Rangel