Amazing Corn Chowder

I just made the most wonderful corn chowder.  Among all the lovely goodies we received from the food co-op yesterday, there were six ears of corn (there are some advantages to living in Las Vegas; one is that we get produce from California and their first corn crop is in!)  Not wanting it to go bad, I looked for a new recipe and found it here:  http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/corn_chowder/.  I added an Anaheim pepper (also from the co-op) and some cilantro (from my garden).  Delicious.

And more kitchen goodness:

Key lime pie is my favorite.  The co-op sent along key limes and I decided to make a pie.  The results were far superior to the chain restaurant that is famous for pies and soooo inexpensive (well under $5).  I find it deplorable that the above mentioned restaurant sells theirs for $18 each.  This is extortion, as far as I'm concerned.  But I guess people must pay it, because they're still in business.  (I only bought mine when they were having their $6.99 per pie sale.  Hurray!  My pies are better (according to my family) and much less expensive.  Plus, I know exactly what goes into them.  Here is my pie, earlier today:

More dead people...

My little princess now has two more friends.

Vintage Jacks

These were fun to make, except that my hands got covered in matte medium and now I look like one of the undead.  Peel-y greyish "skin"...eeewwwwww!

Dia de los Muertos

Here's what I've been up to lately.  Found a great idea in the latest issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors telling how to create calacas from cake toppers.  I used my daughter's plastic figurines that she got from McDonald's when she was little.  The cool thing about some of them is that they twirl around when you move them.  I cut off the heads and added skulls that I got at the local dollar store, then painted with acrylics and added (of course) glitter glue embellishments.  Such fun to make!

Popcorn Art

Here is a piece I just completed for the annual art challenge I have at the elementary school where I teach.  Last year, the PTA kindly gave me about 150 pounds of popcorn that had reached its expiration date.  It sat around all year and the kids kept wondering why I had it in my classroom.  At the beginning of this school year I challenged everyone in the school (adults included) to create a piece of art using popcorn in some way.  They've begun coming in and some of them are absolutely fantastic.  A fifth grade girl made a huge volcano, spouting popped corn and a dragon busily munching it.  A fourth grade boy brought in a drawing of Rodin's "The Thinker" and had used popcorn and seeds to fill him in like a mosaic.  A kindergartener used popped corn that she dyed fall colors and created an autumn tree.  The challenge runs until next Friday, so I can't wait to see more.  My mosaic is made with popcorn, green lentils, flax seeds, rye, white and red rice, and glass pieces.  The areas are divided with wire, which I painted copper.  The face is also painted with copper.

Paintbrushes Meet Power Tools

This is what I've been up to the last few days.  I wanted to have a mailbox outside my classroom door this year.  My students are always bringing me pictures and "love notes", and I thought they'd get a kick out of mailing them to me.  Plus, it's a sneaky way of encouraging literacy!  I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out.  The next challenge will be hoisting the thing into and out of the car to get it to school.  Concrete weighs a lot!