Tuesday's Lunch Bunch

Mmmm. This week's Lunch Bunch is here. Those of you who are wondering what this has to do with jewelry, I work for www.agrainofsand.com ,an online retailer of unique vintage & contemporary beads & findings. I'll wait a second for your wave of envy to pass. Not only do I design my own jewelry, I play with beads all day, AND get to share yummy recipes. Again, I'll pause here a second for you to pull yourself together.

What is Lunch Bunch? Once a week, Suzanne, Jean, and I cook one of these recipes and bring it in to share.

This week was Suzanne's day to cook. She brought in Pasta Salad with Apples and Chicken.

Pasta Salad with Apple and Chicken

Serves 4
6 points each
1/3 cup orange juice
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
3 cups cooked whole-wheat pasta
1 cup diced cooled chicken breast
¼ cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1 small Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 5-ounce bag baby arugula

Method:
To make dressing, whisk together the juice, vinegar, mustard, and maple syrup in a large bowl.
Add pasta, chicken, pecans, apple, and shallot to the dressing, toss to cop
Divide the arugula evenly among 4 plates. Spoon the pasta salad evenly on top.
Per serving (1 cup arugula and 1 ¼ cups pasta salad): 315 cal, 8 grams Fat, 284 Sodium, 46 Carb, 5gr Fiber, 19 gr Prot

www.weightwatchers.com

Ladies who Lunch

For the past few weeks, a few of us at work have started to take turns bringing in a healthy lunch one day a week. The rules are:
1)new recipe
2)Weight Watchers (or know the points!)
3)be food-obsessed

I don't follow WW, but I follow good food. I'm always looking for ways to eat *more* good food. I keep thinking "I should blog about this".....so tonight I am stopping the procrastination and just posting.

Tomorrow is our next Ladies' Lunch, and hopefully, I will not forget photos and share the food-p*.rn love.

But...until then, here is the yummy yummy recipe we had today, an 'unofficial' lunch day.

Baked Pasta with Butternut Squash and Ricotta.

Overall impression was yum! Definitely a recipe that makes you look forward to autumn.

Hanging by a Thread

Photo: Amazon.com

Rachel Taliaferro of Rachel Taliaferro Art Jewelry will lead our next Make-Out session, "Hanging by a Thread" on Aug. 26 at 7:30PM.

Taking a cue from kinetic sculptor Alexander Calder, Rachel will show you how to make grown-up mobiles out of wire, string, origami, paper and/or found objects. If you want a special color of fishing line or string, bring that with you along with any special papers or found objects to make yours unique! As always, Crown Town Handmade will have some supplies. Bring your inspiration, and...BYOB/W for $5/pack/bottle. We wouldn't turn our noses up at a donation, either....

Our last book binding Make-Out was our highest attended ever, so help spread the word so that this fun event keeps growing in our community!



Homesick

This link was on my Twitter feed today, and makes me wish I was back home in NY so I could get to participate in these cool events. If you are in the area, you should totally take advantage of having Etsy headquarters nearby.

Etsy Craft Night at South St. Seaport.

Holiday Plans

The All Arts Market is returning to the Neighborhood Theatre, and intenyears. will be there! Thanks to all of the great customers who voted us one of the Top Ten Favorite Vendors for the June All Arts Market! If you are in town for Labor Day weekend, stop by and say hi. Free admission, and its gallery crawl weekend as well.

Win a free book!

Win a copy of the new book, Craft Corps: Celebrating the Creative Community One Story at a Time! Stitch Machine and publisher Lark Crafts are sponsoring the giveaway. All you have to do to be entered into the drawing is visit the Stitch Machine blog before July 30th and comment about who your favorite crafter or maker is and why. Is it someone you know? Someone famous? Be sure to leave a way to contact with you if you win.

Craft Corps is a series of in-depth interviews with 30 well known makers, and 60 everyday crafters. See interviews with fabric designer Amy Butler, stencil artist Ed Roth, Big Ass Book of Crafts writer Mark Montano, and TV icon Carol Duvall. This book is stronger than most craft profile books because includes lesser known quietly successful business owners and people who craft for fun.

Five Friday Favorites (Fashion)

CircularAccessories Looking for my five favorites, I found this dress and and another shirt I loved. I then noticed they were both from the same shop. Kismet. Check out the rest of the shop, you can thank me later.

LamaWorksWoolies. This shop is pretty new, but this cowl caught my eye. I hate being cold, but hate hate HATE constricting things around my neck. Turtlenecks, mock necks,scarves etc. Cowls seem to give me warmth, look cute, but still let me feel like I can breathe.


RedThreaded. Channel your inner Elizabeth Bennet. Mr Darcy not included.


LaMistinguette. My mom (sorry mom) was a teen on the 1950's. I look at her pictures, and wish she had saved those dresses. They were so, so awesome. That is what this dress reminds me of. Makes me want to lean on a cherry 1955 Chevy.


TheGreedySeagull. Everyone needs a cute purse. Even better in pink.