Art

Good Morning!

I have been busy working on lots of creative projects! I have been stringing beads for a chandelier, paper mache-ing for some lamps, and painting with acrylics!

I've found that creating things has really been a stress reliever for me. I am able to do what I like without fear of it being done "wrong." I can relax and just make something from my imagination. It's a beautiful thing.

If you haven't had a chance to check out my artwork, go to www.laece.daportfolio.com or add me as a friend on facebook (Jenna M. Weaver).

Who knows! This whole 'art' thing could become a career for me. I have even been thinking about entering my photography into the River Festival in Salina. The price is not too high and I think it would attract attention to my work that I need to become successful.

When at work I find myself wishing I were building something, painting something, or glueing something. I have a skip in my step and I am very happy to have found some hobbies (relatively inexpensive ones at that!) that I can stick with.

On a dessert note, I took my key lime pops to some friends. They enjoyed them very much! In fact, ate all of them within minutes! The only problem was they kept falling off the stick just a few bites into them. The key lime cream STILL is too soft! By george, I'll get the recipe right one of these days!

Key Lime Pie

I adore key lime pie. Something about the creamy tartness gets me every time.

I have made cheesecake pops in the past-- cut up pieces of my cheesecake, inserted a lollipop, and dipped each bit into chocolate. I didn't see a reason I couldn't do it to key lime pie!

In the past, I tried and I failed. I make my key lime pie in a rectangular pan without a crust and then I scoop out rounds onto parchment paper. The problem with key lime pops comes in when you try to keep the lollipop stick in the key lime pie. It tends to come right out--the key lime cream is too soft, even after freezing.

This time, I rolled the key lime scoops in crushed up graham crackers and put them back in the freezer to see if they'd harden up. Didn't seem to help. For this recipe, I added a bit of gelatin hoping it would help sturdy up the key lime cream, but it didn't help. I'd like to be able to figure out how to sturdy up key lime cream so I can make some yummy chocolate dipped pops! Perhaps I should mix key lime pie with a bit of cake crumbles so it sticks together?

Either way---enjoy a delicious piece of key lime pie!

Key Lime Pie

2 egg yolks

2 14oz cans sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup key lime juice

1/2 cup cream

a graham cracker crust or your own homemade crust (precooked)

beat yolks.

add cond. milk

add key lime juice.

add cream.

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. cool completely and refrigerate.

It's so simple!

I shall continue my trial and error key lime pops.