Featured on Kelly Market

by Andrea Mulder-Slater

Just found out... one of my abstracts was featured in Kelly Market!

Have a look here: http://www.kellymarket.com/2011/06/must-haves.html

So excited!  No, really.

Painting featured by Zuniga Interiors

by Andrea Mulder-Slater

Well this is neat...

My artwork was featured in the Zuniga Interiors blog. Zuniga is an Interior Design Studio located in Southern California.

Have a peek: ZUNIGA INTERIORS: Summer {Colours}

No, really.

I scream, you scream we all scream for... avocados [ice cream recipe]

by Andrea Mulder-Slater

My daughter loves ice cream. Unfortunately, ice cream does not feel the same way about her.

When she was a baby, we were told (based on some recurring symptoms) my girl likely had a milk protein allergy. This is different from being lactose intolerant. Folks who have a lactose issue can still eat  lactose-free milk products (including some aged hard cheese, yogurt that's been fermented for 24hrs, etc.) but those with a protein issue have an allergic reaction when they ingest milk products (lactose-free or not).

This is something that she may outgrow. This is likely, considering she can now eat small amounts of cheese, yogurt and even gulps of milk, with no trouble. However, there is a threshold - and when she crosses it - whammo... hives.

Back to the ice cream. Her first big taste was this summer, in the form of a scoop of vanilla on a cone. I had grown complacent and really I should have known better than to give her such a big whack of milk at once, but in my mind, she had outgrown her allergy. Not so. Had we not recently introduced a dog into her world (yeah, dog allergy too), she may have been okay - but...

The poor kid devoured the stuff and then paid dearly with a nasty case of itchy red welts. Since then, she drools when she sees others eating ice cream cones but she knows that they are off limits - at least for now.

We've tried to compensate by making frozen fruit pops but she is pretty aware of the difference. Then - an aha moment happened - thanks to a mom friend of mine. "Use avocados" she said. Of course! And off I went to find a recipe.

The website http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/ provided me with the answers I needed. I modified their avocado ice cream recipe to suit our needs and here is what I came up with.

Avocado Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 avocado
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup rice milk
• 5 strawberries
• a splash of water

Directions:

1.  Blend mixture until smooth using a blender. (I used a Vitamix at high speed for short duration.) If mixture seems too thick, just add a bit of water.
2. Pour mixture into ice cream maker. If you don't have one, just freeze the mixture in the freezer.

Note: You can use any kind of milk alternative (soy, almond, oat, etc.) not just rice milk. It just happened to be what we had in the fridge. And, if you have a super sweet tooth, you can use sugar. A hint of vanilla extract would be a nice touch and if you are a chocoholic - some milk-free chocolate could be added as well. I used strawberries but any fruit could be included - or left out altogether. It's really a fool-proof recipe that you can alter to suit your needs and tastes. The key though is the avocado and banana. They give this recipe the needed creaminess.

That's it. And... it worked! The girl LOVED it.

And when baby's happy -- mama's happy.

(UPDATE - SHE DID OUTGROW THE MILK ALLERGY)

No, really.

Painting with Coffee and Studying at Etsy U

by Andrea Mulder-Slater

I've loved etsy since I first discovered it a number of years ago. The concept of an online marketplace for people who made things by hand, really appealed to me. 

I joined the site when I was pregnant, back in 2008. Shortly after, I set up an online shop for our studio. That was when I thought I'd have some time to sit back, relax and build up a decent site (you know, while the baby slept).

Reality struck when the girl was born and I really didn't have much time to do much of anything - let alone create an online etsy empire.

However -  recently, I've made a concerted effort to go "back to school" and learn all that I can about etsy. And I am having a lot of fun with it - especially since I just had one of my items featured on an etsy Treasury list (this is a good thing - I've come to discover).

I'm sharing with you now, photos of some of the products I've been adding to etsy. They are (of course) inspired by (and created with) coffee.

These lovely little paintings are available for sale on etsy and at our studio.

Meanwhile, as I was toiling away on the computer (while Daughter was sleeping) I had a lightbulb moment and came up with a cool new idea that I am going to unveil very shortly (as soon as a few packaging supplies arrive via courier). 

Stay tuned and I promise, you will be the first to know when the curtain is removed...

No, really.

Looking Through It...

Life is a whirlwind at the moment and between the sale of our house, the epic move, family visits and art show openings, I haven't had many days available for painting. However, I have been working on a new series of abstracts when time allows and I'm really excited to share them with you.

These new pieces range in size from 4" x 4" to 12" x 12" and - as with all my abstracts - they are inspired by the land and sea.

Hope you like them!

~Andrea