Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Dr. Deverstein Is At It Again!

Well, the application is in and there is no going back now....WitchStitchery and Dr. Deverstein will be selling wares at the YWCA/Studio 23 Annual Riverside Art Festival in Downtown Bay City June 12 and 13. I will also be participating in the Art Battle.

I have had about a 12 year art festival hiatus, so.... it feels a little daunting, but exciting too.

Cut out 14 doll bodies this morning and will start stitchin' this afternoon. Be on the lookout for some witches and creepalicious Halloween dolls. I can't wait till they are done. It's hard to sell them sometimes tho... these little beings I create. You get a little attached to them.

The booth will also have some of my "greenies" clothing line- stuff that has been rescued from the landfill and recycled into art clothing, jewelry, handbags and cute little kitchy clutch purses (retro bags redone), there is even a cool pair of Salvador Dali/Alice Cooper collaged shoes (size 8.5). Never know what you will find in the WitchStitchery gypsy wagon.

Let's see..... recipe du jour...... how about something fresh, like Greek farmer cheese?

This is an easy one. All you need is some cheesecloth, string, a large plastic container and a carton of plain yogurt. Get good yogurt with cultures like Dannon or real Greek yogurt (available at health food stores- Kroger in Saginaw has it too.)

Fold the cheese cloth to double and cut a big square, like 18 x 18. Pour the yogurt onto the cloth and then gather the cloth up to form a bag. Tie the bag tightly at the top. Take another piece of string and make a long tie around the top of the bag.

Now here is the tricky part: Put one end of the tie on the lip of the plastic container and push the lid down on it to hold it down. Pull the other side of the tie tight to the opposite side of the container and push that side of the lid down to hold the string. So what you have is the bag of yogurt suspended in the closed container.

Let it sit in the fridge like that for two to four days, depending on how moist the yogurt is to begin with. All the liquid will drain from the yogurt and form a nice ball of fresh farmer cheese.

Remove it from the bag and serve it with some fresh fruit or veggies. I like berries and peaches myself. Yum! This is fun to make with your kids. It's like.... well.... Magic Cheese.

More Later,

Dev

Witches and Wings

I was going through some pictures this evening and found this one of my Friendly Witch custom made for my witchy friend, Patticake for Yule (Christmas) this past year. She is made from a collaged paper image sewn to upholstery fabric and watercolored. She says "Friend" across the breast with rub on lettering. The broom is made from branches and grass from my yard and tied with red embroidery thread.

I will be crafting more of these witchy Victorian ladies in time for Halloween if you are interested in purchasing one. They are approximately 8 to 12 inches high and have a weight in the bottom so they will stand on their own on a shelf, desk, or table. I can make customized witches with your face on them as well, which is pretty funny/cool. Thought I would share this one.

I also make tree branch ghouls. I will try to find a pic to share on the blog.

I have neglected my recipe share for a day or so, and I would be remiss if I neglected to post this wing recipe. Yes, we had the Wild Wingy Dingys tonight and they were frickin' awesome (a technical culinary term.) We did a dozen wings which turns out 24 pieces.

Get a dozen wings, and if they are a little frozen yet, they will cut easier. Separate them at all the joints and throw the little wing tips away. Spray a broiler pan with cooking spray and place the wing pieces on it. Sprinkle with salt, lots of pepper and lots of powdered garlic. Seasoning at this juncture is most important. Bake for about 25 minutes at 425 degrees.

While they are baking put (and these are approximate measures- doctor up as you see fit) about 1 cup of applesauce, 1 cup bbq sauce (we love Sweet Baby Rays), a healthy shake of garlic (yeah, yeah, get the breath mints again!), cayenne pepper (a little or a lot depending on how hot you want them to be), a squirt of mustard and a few shakes of Red Hot. Zip up the bag tight and start rubbing the contents of the bag together between your hands to mix up the mess.

Take the wings out of the oven and let them cool for about 10 minutes. Then throw all the wings into the bag with the sauce. Zip up the bag. Make sure it is really zipped or you are going to have a holy hell of a mess. Start tossing the wings in the bag, and when they are well coated allow them to rest for about 15 minutes in the sauce.

At this point you can finish them off on the grill (yum!) or in the oven. If you are putting them back in the oven, reduce the heat to 375 while the wings are resting in the sauce. If you are putting them on the grill, you should have been getting it ready already for Pete's sake. Bake or grill them for an additional 15 minutes.

You will only be sorry you did not purchase more wings!
All we heard at our table was NOM NOM NOM....

-Dev

Sasha and Selene

This is Sasha, our Husky/Karelian Bear Dog mix. I lovingly call her Shirly the Fuzzy Office Assistant because she is invariably under my feet whenever I am working. Every now and again she gives me a big "woo woo!" to let me know I am doing a good job. OK. She could be telling me I am screwing up, but being a glass half full kind of girl I prefer to think she is complimenting me. Look at that face. Doesn't she seem to be saying, "Hey, you're fabulous!" Or maybe "Hey, mom, do you have any of those green dog biscuits left. Wanna fetch one pronto?" Yeah, it could be that.

Here is Selene, nearly complete. Sasha helped me with her. Ok so she didn't do any gluing or painting. But she hung around and watched me work. Jimbo is napping his rotten cold off. Poor guy. (It has hung on for 2 weeks now.) Selene will be mounted on a round stand with an invocation to her written around the base in a spiral.

Well, that's three dolls fairly complete in as many days. It's really felt great working on them after about a three year haitus. I have some article deadlines, etc. And I probably ought to be a decent mousewife here spiff up a bit. As always...

-Dev