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Decorative Painting and Heart of Ohio Tole Convention (HOOT)

The Creative Arts Lifestyle team just returned from the Heart of Ohio Tole Convention, held at the Columbus Convention center.

 

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Creative Arts Lifestyle team ready for Heart of Ohio Tole Painters!

Man.. WHAT A BLAST!

Attending trade shows are a great way to surround yourself with like minded people, but it’s even better when those folks are your friends and customers.  You get to shake hands or hug… giggle and share, demonstrate and inform.

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Painting Friends from Upstate NY

 

The team from HOOT did a great job getting the word out and are always friendly.

 

Set up is the brutal part…It takes two full days and a team of 6 to get it all ready.

Making Progress!
Boxes… LOTS of BOXES
One section Done

 

Painted Lace Ornaments and  Amazing Transformed Glasses by Lisa Schall are all part of the creativity at a Decorative Painting Show

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Creative Use of one of our Stencils! Designed by Judy Westegaard Jenkins

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Of course finding my designing friends for a relaxing glass of wine after set up
is always fun and filled with giggles!

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Veronia, Deb Antonick, Sandy McTier, Tracy Moreau and Patricia Rawlinson

 

The Husbands that help us are always amazing… we caught them on the last day comparing notes or trying to be our “Hoot Boys” lol…

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Always happy to get there…

Always fun to talk with other Decorative Painters!

 

Happy Painting!

Patty

 

Dehydrating Celery

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Amazing how tiny celery is once dehydrated!

My Pantry is stocked with many  dehydrated staples like celery, potatoes, and onions. 

So many times you get in the middle of a cooking session and whoops!@#, the celery is limp, the onions are gone or the potatoes growing!

I grab an extra bag of whatever looks good or has a sale price, dehydrate and store in mason jars, this style of preserving can last for years as long as you keep things cool, dark and dry.

Celery and onions don’t need blanching, but potatoes turn a terrible black color if you don’t blanch them first.

 

  • Cut in a 1/2″ dice
  • Fill dehydrator trays (I use an Excalibur, because of it’s large capacity and thermometer)
  • Set at lowest temp. ( I like to keep temps under 115 to preserve nutrients)
  • Dehydrate for 12-16 hours until Crisp
  • Add to Soups  or saute dry, re-hydrate to add to tuna salad etc or grind into a powder while dry to make seasoning