Thai Basil Chicken

A good friend of mine is from Thailand and she introduced me to Thai food a few years ago. One of my favorites is Gai Pad Krapow, so I had to find a recipe - this is the first one I tried and my son and I love it!!

2 Tbsp sesame oil
10 (or more) cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup ginger, thinly sliced OR 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 lb. chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup mirin (rice wine) OR 1/4 cup white cooking wine + 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
3-4 Tbsp sugar
1 cup basil leaves
red chilies

Heat 1 Tbsp sesame oil in a skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and onbion - cook 5 min. Add the chicken thigh pieces, mirin (or substitute), soy sauce, sugar and 1 Tbsp sesame oil - bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is cooked and the liquid is almost absorbed - about 15 minutes. Stir in the basil leaves. Serve over rice.

                                                                                   ENJOY

* 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic from a jar = 1 crushed clove
* Add red pepper flakes or dried jalapenos for extra spice
* Try to find Thai Holy Basil at your local Asian Store, it gives it more of an authentic flavor.
* I don't like fish or oyster sauce (I tend to use way too much) - this is a great recipe that uses neither!

Creative Spark Magazine ~ Premier Issue

ZnetShows Design Team members were asked to pick out items with the challenge theme "Rings and Bling" and design jewelry. Once our jewelry was created and photographed, Hope Smitherman, put together a fabulous Glossi magazine.

I'm one of the featured designers (pages 29-32) and my earrings are on the cover! Thanks, Hope!!

Click to view Fall 2013 Creative Spark on GLOSSI.COM

I love fall, so I started with the beautiful Chinese crystal teardrops-Autumn leaves (ZMX-04-06) and found a green Aqua Terra Jasper stone in the shape of a leaf, for the pendant. Then, I used copper leaf chain, green sari silk, a flower toggle and a leaf charm to finish it.

I used the ringy antique brass chain (M0478-AB) and went blingy with the pinks from the Chinese crystal teardrops-Autumn leaves. I had the pink Chinese crystal pendant in my stash - it matched perfectly!

I had to have the beautiful Chinese crystal teardrops-transparent gold (RS257-124) and made earrings with faceted Chinese crystal glass coins-peridot and Chinese crystal rondelles-Metallic gold (RT138-103).

For this pair of earrings, I used my "signature crown" as a base for the beautiful Chinese crystal rondelles and teardrops.

Check out Creative Spark to see all of the beautiful "Rings and Bling" designs from the Premier Issue - there are so many beautiful jewelry designs and designers!!

Erica's Run 2013

The 4th Annual Erica's Run/Walk  is on Sept. 21 in Merrimack, NH - you can read the story of my nieces journey with cancer here. The money raised during this wonderful and fun event is donated to local families fighting cancer. This year, I'm a sponsor and I'm giving half of the sale of anything in my etsy shop with my signature crown to the Erica Pombrio Foundation.

If you happen to live in the area and want to join the run or want to donate to a great cause, click on any of the links.

C. Joybell C.

No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is the beginning of a new book! That first book is already closed, ended, and tossed into the seas; this new book is newly opened, has just begun! Look, it is the first page! And it is a beautiful one!

John Lennon

Thanks, Rebekah!!

I was fortunate to have won an adorable sleepy critter from Rebekah Payne, of Tree Wings Studio, when she recently had a giveaway.                                                      

                                                               Here's the critter I won - isn't he the cutest!!

                                      You can go to Rebekahs etsy shop to see more of her oh-so-cute sleepy critters.

Estate Sales

Occasionally, I go to estate sales in the area, and when I saw one that included beads-of-all-kinds, I knew I had to get to this one!

There were several boxes and containers of beads in plastic bags - I could have gone a bit crazy, but I kept my spending limit to under $20.

This is what I picked up - look at all of the lampies and ceramic beads!! I, also, picked up a short strand of faceted garnet and faceted sodalite - I could be wrong, but I think that's what they are. There weren't labels on any of the bags, so I'm not sure who made the beads, but I'm loving all of the colors and shapes!!