Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Treat Dreams

The warm Indian summer weather gave me an excuse to have some ice cream at my new discovery, Treat Dreams on Woodward in Ferndale. They make their own ice cream in lots of unique flavors.


They have lots of yummy looking baked goods as well.



For $3.50 I had this big cup of ice cream. This time I had "Trick-or-Treat Bag" with 4 kinds of candy bars mixed in. On the bottom something more adult - Cardamon Pear. I've also tried their Salted Caramel and Mounds of Pink - both amazing!



I heard they sometimes have German chocolate - I love that flavor and hope sometime I can try their version. It would be nice if you could check their updated daily flavors on their website.

-- Post From My iPhone

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Earrings Remixed

And here are the earrings that I promised in my last post. I got two pairs from the necklace - a larger pair that I put with smokey pearls....

Remix - American Eagle Necklace

and a smaller pair that has gray blue crystals.

Remix - American Eagle Necklace

These are some of my new favorites - I wear them all the time! I think I managed quite nicely to get both a necklace and 2 pairs of earrings from one piece!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Another Jewelry Remix - Newb's - Holland, MI

You know I just can't leave jewelry that I purchase just the way it is. Here is a cute little necklace that I bought a while back at a shop in Holland called Newb's:

Jewelry Remix - Before

Now this is a perfectly cute necklace. I think it originally came from American Eagle. I bought it for around three dollars. I liked the chain and the design on the charms. I decided I wanted to use the charms to make earrings. (I'll share them in the next post.) This is how I reused the chains to make a new necklace:

Remix - American Eagle Necklace

I mixed in some quartz, a crystal, and a variety of silver beads. It's an interesting mix, I think!

Remix - American Eagle Necklace

If you are in Holland and like discounted jewelry, you should check out Newb's. They recently moved into the downtown on River Avenue. They have brand jewelry from places like Chico's and other cute accessories all marked at crazy discounts. Last November on Black Friday, they had a sale where most pieces were 3 for ten dollars. I bought quite a few items, and many that I didn't even remix!

Stay tuned - the remixed earrings are coming soon!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Eiffel Tower Necklacee

DSC_9704

I made this Eiffel Tower Necklace using a charm that I found at Michaels. (I do love their 40 % off coupons!) I made a dangle out of it so I could clip it onto my dangle chain. More examples of how I use the dangle chain here. I like this necklace, because it reminds me of my favorite city in the world!

DSC_9699

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Mango Salsa Couscous


I love mango, and especially love it in salsa! Several years ago I was playing around with making mango salsa and I got the idea to combine it with couscous. This colorful dish has ended up being one of my top ten favorite recipes - one that I make over and over again. It is fresh and tropical and goes great with any kind of chicken, fish, or shrimp that has a citrus base. I will eat it even as my main dish, it is that good!

I make this dish with Israeli couscous (sometimes called maftoul in the Middle Eastern section on the market) which has a larger grain than regular couscous. This can be difficult to find, but recently I have found it at Trader Joes. If you live in the Detroit metro area, you can likely find it at one of our many Middle Eastern markets. I'm sure it would work with regular couscous, but I love the texture of the larger couscous.

Mango Salsa Couscous

To make the couscous:

1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon olive oil


Combine the broth, juice, and water in a pan and heat until warm. Meanwhile, in another large shallow pan (I use a Dutch oven), heat the olive oil. Add the couscous and toast it, stirring it constantly, until golden brown (about 5 minutes). Add the warm broth and stir. Reduce to medium heat and boil until the liquid disappears. Set aside to cool.

To make the salsa:

2 0r 3 mangoes
1 red pepper
1/2 sweet onion
1 bunch of cilantro
juice of one lime
salt to taste


First cut the mango into pieces. I like to score the mango in 2 directions and turn it, so the mango pops up in cubes that you can easily cut off.

Cut the red pepper and onion into medium sized chunks. Cut the tops off the cilantro. Stick it all into a food processor. Use the pulse to chop it all together. Remove from the processor. (If you don't have a processor, you could chop it all by hand.)


Combine the salsa and the couscous together. Add salt and the juice of one lime and blend.

Serve chilled.

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