FOR THE LAST SIX WEEKS OR SO, I have been working fervently to open an Etsy shop.



I found this book to be very helpful


Inventory
    and construction of same----------------Check
Shop name----------                                  Check
Opening Etsy account---------------------  Check
Opening a Pay Pal Account---------------- Check
Making a light box and assembling a
    backdrop for inside photography--------Check
Taking photos in natural light outdoors
    when it's windy and chilly---------------Check
Photos, fine tuning photos-------------------Check
Writing descriptions about product----------Check
Uploading Photos----------- &*!?*%$#

No matter how I've tried to resize the photos, I get an error message when I try to upload the photos. I've read the Etsy forum and community posts, been to YouTube, copied and measured pixels of photos similar to my product on Etsy just to get an idea of how to size them.  Only one photo would upload. When I tried to resize the others  with the same dimensions, I was unsucessful.

Needless to say I am disappointed. I will put away the items and clean up ALL of the spaces where I have been working.

New Crockpot

The last crockpot breathed its last AFTER I'd put in the meat for turkey chili. Since it was such a clean break with no shards, I salvaged the meat and used a Dutch oven for the remainder of the recipe.

I'd been wanting another crockpot because I like the way everything can be placed inside and I can do something else while it's doing its thing.  It's also great to start it in the morning before going to work and coming home, opening the door and smelling the cooking aromas. It's as if an invisible cooked has dinner prepared and waiting just for me.

 

I don't know if you have a Fred's Discount store in your area but there's one here. I try to throw a little business to Fred as often as possible since Wally gets so much.

I'm assuming a slow cooker is almost the same as a crockpot

It has the removable bowl which will make clean up and serving easier. With the glass lid I can leave leftovers inside and store them in the fridge.

The first meal will be...CHILI of course.

That's It ***

RED HOT APPLE PIE IN A MUG

Spying the March 5th issue of Woman's World in the check out line I bought a copy.  Another just- for- one recipe was inside.   I did Chocolate Cake in a Mug in 2010. It turned out to be delicious.

The ingredients for the apple pie called for red hots, apple,graham crackers, cinnamon, whipped cream. The recipe is below. Click the picture to enlarge.

I gathered the crew with some exceptions as I always do. I bought honey grahams instead of cinnamon grahams, not because they're my favorites but because I didn't make an ingredient list before going to the grocer. Instead of Reddi Whip I had store brand whipped topping so I used that. 

This picture taken in my mock up home made light box

I peeled and  cubed the apple then put it into the cup. At first I thought I'd have to use 2 cups but as it cooked the juice caused the fruit  torelease its juices. . But I'm getting ahead of myself.

 I placed a sufficient amount of the cinnamon candies on top of the apples and placed it in the microwave for the instructed 2 minutes. After that time I took the mug out and stirred the contents. That's when I noticed that the apples had cooked down to about half of the original amount.





I also noticed that the juice had boiled over from the mug.

  

Deciding to live dangerously, I stirred in  more cinnamon candies . Placing the mug back into the microwave, I allowed it to cook 2 more minutes.  I had to wait a while before adding the graham crackers and whipped topping because the mug was so hot.

Here is the final product. It tasted good  but losing so much of the juice made it a little dry. Next time I'll micro for 1 minute instead of the 2 minutes and I'll watch it.

BTW I've been toying with photography. I want to get a light box to make better pictures. In the picture of the crew I used my home made light box. The remaining pictures were taken outside of the light box.




THAT'S IT***