Tomato Kale Soup

     Living in Maine, the winter's can sometimes get to you, but when you walk in that door, to a delicious smell coming from the kitchen, all that cold just melts from your body.  Well, if you are like me, you are always on the search for yummy, easy recipes that give off that warm cozy fragrance through out the entire house.  About a month ago, I created this one out of pure accidents, having a big bunch of kale that needed to be used.  So I just dug through my cupboards to see what I could do with it, and Tomato Kale soup was born.  Well, stupidly, I didn't take any pictures of it, so I couldn't blog about it, but last night I made another batch and remembered the pictures this time =)

Tomato Kale Soup
 Prep Time: 30min  
Cook Time: 1hour

Ingredients:
4cups Tomato Soup I used Pacific tomato soup 32oz box
2cups Chicken Stock
1 big bunch Kale
1 med. onion
1 Lg Carrot
2 lg Tomatoes (or a can of tomatoes)
1can Chickpeas (Garbanzo beans)
1 heaping TBS diced garlic (4-6 cloves)
1/2 Green Pepper
1/4cup Olive Oil
2TBS dried Basil
1TBS dried cilantro
a Pinch of Ground Red Pepper (if you like it spicy use 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes)
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan Cheese (to top when served)

Directions:
In a med to large stock pot, put in olive oil and set on med high heat, add the diced onion and pepper.  Once soft, add the garlic, cook until the onions are translucent.  Turn heat down to med., add tomato soup, chicken stock, basil, cilantro, ground red pepper, salt and pepper.  Stir.  Add the carrot, it can be diced, I sliced it thin with a slicer.  Tear the Kale into bit size pieces and add.  If using canned tomatoes add now, if using fresh tomatoes, wait.  Put the cover on the pot, and turn down so that it is just simmering.  Let cook for about 40min, until kale is nice and tender.  Add diced tomatoes and chickpeas, let simmer another 10min.

Serving:
I usually cook it early so that it can just sit on the stove with the cover on for 30-45min before serving.  Serve with some grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled on the top.

As you can see from my picture, my honey, really likes it, the pot is almost empty this morning.  You can also make this gluten free if you use Pacific brand soups and stocks.
You can also find me on www.pianobycheri.com or
facebook or the online shopping center for hand made items Etsy

I hope you enjoy this delicious soup as much as we did!!

Etsy Maine Team

    My Art has been on Etsy for a few months now with no results and no sales.  For those of you that don't know, Etsy is an online shopping place for small businesses to list their homemade and vintage items for sale to the public. I was seriously thinking of closing down my account after the holidays, but then I met a fellow artist at one of the craft fairs I did the fall that has had success with Etsy.  So, I took some of her pointers and joined a couple of teams.  The one that has made the most difference has been Etsy Maine Team.  They are a community of Crafters, Artists, Moms, all from Maine.  All the members work together as a team to like and share each others items so that you can get your shop out there beyond your own friends and family.       I have been so overwhelmed with appreciation for these team members since I joined a couple weeks ago.  They have all been so welcoming and supportive.  I have even gotten my first two sales from the team members.  Now I know that 2 sales doesn't sound like much, but to someone that hasn't had a single sale in the almost three months I have been on etsy, 2 sales is a huge deal!  My shop is now up to over 30 items in it and I am working towards 100 listings by this time next year. Yes, yes, I know, that is a LOT of painting to do in the next year!!
 

 I will be branching out soon to wall art, paintings large enough to put in a frame on your wall.  And maybe if I have the time to experiment this winter, paintings on fabric for scarves and such.  Right now I still have cards with my beautiful watercolors on them, as well as jewelry beads with my watercolor artwork on them. I would love it if you checked out my  shop.
     A big thank you to all the Etsy Maine Team members!!
www.pianobycheri.com
www.facebook.com/pianobycheri
www.facebook.com/maineteam

New Challenge

      Well, my art teacher Doris Rice gave us a big challenge this week, a still life with multiple items and textures.  So we have spent the last couple weeks learning to do different textures and now for the real test -- a full blown still life.  So I spent a week racking my brain as to what to bring from home to create my still life.  What to use, what to use??  I didn't want to do a bowl of fruit with a tablecloth, too boring.  I could do a picture of my dog, but what would I put with it?? Hmmm, maybe a martini glass with a mask and beads, a Mardi Gras still life, no, that's not really me.  Maybe one of my scarves, with a pair of boots? No, again too boring.
   

 And then, I finally got it!!  I have tons of old music, why not use that?? Ok, so now, what do I put with old music.  An old plaque with a music saying, yup that works, but what else?  A musical instrument would be nice but all of mine are too big.  Oooh, what about a pair of my fingerless gloves? Oh, and pearls and a flower.  Ok, I'm on a roll now.  All I have to do is arrange it in a way that looks awesome.  Well, now, that is easier said than done.  It took me 40 minutes of arranging and rearranging and taking pictures of them, and the help of another set of eyes to finally decide on one that I really liked. 

  Phew!!! That's over, well, I thought that was the hard part, wrong!!!  That was the easy part.  I bring my selections to class, set them up and think I should get my pencil drawing done of them this week, and can paint it next week.  HaHaHa!  Doris, had other plans.  She gave us all a sharpie and a cheep piece of watercolor paper.  Do a contour drawing in sharpie, she says.   OMG, are you kidding me??? I think I must of held my breath the entire time!  Just knowing that you can't erase it is enough to give you heart palpitations.  I guess, that is why its art CLASS.  I get half way through it and I think, Why did I select so many damn items?!!  But I finally finish the sharpie drawing and of course it looks awful.  But now we have to put in some of the color to make sure we are going to like the end product.  This is our "study" to make sure we really like what we are doing for a still life, to make sure everything is where we want it, to find out what background looks good with it, etc...  Oh, man, I think we were all glad when that class was over!

     So, next week, I get to actually paint this still life, and hopefully it comes out better than my "study" did!!
To see my art visit me on Etsy or on my website
pianobycheri.com

Holiday Sale!

    Well, I'm back, I know it's been a while since I've posted but hopefully I have worked it into my schedule, and will be posting at least once a week.  So, to get you caught up on how my hours have been spent the last couple months.  I have taken my art and decided to run with it, ok, maybe not literally run with it.  Although that may be an advertising option!  I have put it on www.etsy.com/shop/artbycheri and have been renting tables at craft fairs this fall.

     For those of you that don't know, a couple years ago, I could not do watercolor for the life of me.  Like a lot of people, I was drawn to it, but could not paint it.  So, I signed up for Kittery Adult Ed watercolor class.  http://kittery.maineadulted.org/  Well, my teacher, Doris Rice, was amazing, patient, encouraging (even though I was horrible at it for a while) and I just fell in love with how she taught.  http://dorisrice.com/  I have since taken several of her classes and am currently in one right now actually, through Kittery Adult Ed.  The current class I'm in allowed me to bring in all my cards that I have for sale and show Doris.  I was so thrilled to do show and tell with my teacher, you would have thought I was in school again.  LOL  Well, she loved them and she used them to give examples to the class, how to save the whites of the paper, doing birch trees, doing poked evergreen trees, etc.  I couldn't have been happier, I was like a proud puppy dog!
     Anyway, besides taking class, I have been out and about trying to sell my art.  Well, let me tell you, it is not an easy market out there.  I have been to a craft fair every Sat. since the first Sat. in November and I have to say, it is starting to wear on me.  I have done well at two of them, because I saw several people I knew at them, and bless their hearts, purchased from me.  But I'm beginning to think that cards may not be the best way to get my art out there.  So this weekend I decided to do some brain storming.  What can I put art on that will sell??  How can I get my art to be irresistible?? What are people buying??  Well, I don't know if I was able to answer all of them, but I did a little research and found out the top selling items at craft fairs are jewelry.  The top selling items on Etsy.com are jewelry.
   www.pianobycheri.com

 Ok, so people are buying jewelry, how does that help me, I paint watercolor.  Think, think, think.  Well, with a lot of thinking, and a little research, I found a way to get my watercolor art in the form of earrings. I am taking them to the craft fair this weekend to see what the reaction will be to them.    Now, I'm still experimenting with them, so you won't find them in my etsy store yet, but if you really want a pair, email me and I can mail them to you.
     Also, if you are looking for holiday cards and like my style of painting.  I am having a sale on my etsy store.  Use coupon code HOLIDAYSPECIAL2013 to save 13% on your entire purchase.  www.etsy.com/shop/artbycheri

Owl Craze Insanity

     I have somehow been unwittingly sucked into the owl craze that is in full swing right now.  How can a beautiful, scary, head swiveling, over sized eyed, meat eating bird become a fixation for us??  Who woke up one morning and said I think I will spread that word that it is cool to go mad over owls?  I want to be that person!  I want to be the person that creates the next CRAZE!  Hmmm what shall I pick, ooh, how about the dik-dik.  Don't you want to decorate your baby's room with dik-dik? I mean who wouldn't like a miniature deer/antelope decorating their house?   Way cuter than an owl I think.  But who am I to say what pop culture will choose to fixate on next.
     So, owls it is.  I'm not sure exactly how I got sucked into the craze, but I was surfing the net one day looking for inspiration for a new painting and I found a picture of an owl with a scarf around it. So I chuckled a bit over it, and then realized that if I thought it was cute, other people would too, and that translates into sales.  So I did a painting of an owl with a scarf around it.
     Well, now, I can't just have one owl painting, I have to do a couple more so that I have a collection.  Back to the internet I go for owl inspiration.  OMG, talk about owl overload! Now, I knew that they were popular because of working in retail, but Jiminy Cricket, I had no idea to what extent. So I'm surfing and saving pictures for future inspiration and I realized that I've saved like 25 pictures!  What am I doing?  How did I get so sucked into owls?  How can there be so many cute pictures of owls out there?
     Well, with more than plenty of inspiration, I start painting.  I added two more owl paintings to the first one, to create an owl collection, that is pretty darn cute, if I say so myself. They are now on Etsy for purchase. http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbycheri
along with some of my other art.
     But, now, I have been commissioned to paint a baby owl suitable to give a mom at a baby shower.   So, back on the internet I go to look at more owls!!  I think it might be impossible to avoid this owl insanity. As long as I don't start buying any of it, I might be safe.  I'm still all for the dik-dik, anyone with me?? Together we can start our own craze over miniature antelope.! pianobycheri.com