“Love of beauty is Taste. The creation of beauty is Art.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

They say life often imitates art and so on Saturday when I discovered an article in the LA Times about a former TV chef being arrested for hiring homeless people to kill someone, I was immediately reminded of a great book I'd read last year called, Beat Until Stiff by Claire M. Johnson. In this book an ornery middle aged pastry chef, having recently divorced her cheating husband so who can blame her for being ornery, finds one of her kitchen staff brutally murdered and shoved into the linen closet. As more and more people die, she narrowly escapes being arrested as the main suspect mainly because of a detective and friend of her ex-husband who she has a love/hate relationship with and a very complicated conspiracy is uncovered. I won't give all the details but if you're a foodie who loves a good mystery novel, go pick this book up:) Claire Johnson also wrote Roux Morgue which continues the chef's chaotic life in the Culinary world with more murder and mayhem.

I've been told my candles are art but I don't see it. To me art is Picasso, Rembrandt or even Frank Lloyd Wright but I'm no aficionado so when multiple passersby exclaim that I have real talent, am an artist and "this is real art!" I'll give them the benefit of the doubt:) A lot goes into my candles from the moment of conception until the actual execution. I'm constantly on the lookout for sturdy glasses and containers of good quality that will exemplify whatever candle I may consider making with them in the future but for as little as possible to keep my costs (and therefore selling price) down. There will be times when I'll just stop and stare at something at the grocery store or eatery or even on the street pondering whether or not what I'm staring at can be successfully replicated as a candle. When I'm especially focused, I guess I have a certain expression on my face that makes hubby think I'm angry with him LOL but if I can't envision it, it just doesn't happen.

Anyway, with warmer weather and summer on the brain and Memorial Day just around the corner, I've been busy creating three new candles. The Margarita Votive has the same great scent as its larger cousins except it comes in a 3" votive glass with real Margarita salt on the rim and is very very cute:) I'm especially proud of my Watermelon Jar Candle. Watermelon in itself doesn't actually have a scent so I went for the next best thing and aimed for a watermelon candy scent. This candle resembles the fruit, complete with imitation seeds on top and a lid that's been hand painted by yours truly to resemble an old fashioned picnic blanket. It's a sweet and fresh addition to my jar candle line that will be perfect for summer decor.

Finally, if you find my Breakfast In a Jar candles intriguing you'll love my new Day at the Beach candles! These are double layered colored soy wax scented with the clean, crisp aroma of Ocean Breeze and the tropical fragrance of Pina Colada or Margarita and is available in 6, 14 and 24oz jars. I can also do triple layered candles if you decide you'd like both drink fragrances with Ocean Breeze upon request.

That's about all for today. If you're in Maine this weekend, the Cumberland County Y is holding their annual Tri for the Y event Saturday, May 22nd from 8am -noon when over 300 athletes will swim in a 325 yard pool, bike 12 miles and run 3.1 miles all to raise funds for the Y's Financial Assistance Program which allows the less fortunate a chance to utilize the Y's facilities even if they couldn't afford it. They're still in need of 15 volunteers so if you'd like to help or know someone who does click here. Have a great week everyone, chow for now!

So much to see, so little time

Lots to talk about this week so let's just get right to it shall we?:)

While the weather threatened to put a damper on the event, the NAMI Maine walk was moved at the last minute from Back Cove, Portland to the Field House at USM in Gorham. Hundreds of people showed up to walk including Glenn Close and her family and there was facepainting and balloons for the kids, a juggler on stilts and those giant wearable Carnivale puppets. Lunch was donated by some local delis and we listened to music by a halfway decent band and 102.9.

Apparently there was a breakdown in communication somewhere and the event only lasted until 1 instead of 4 so apologies to anyone who made the trip to Gorham yesterday afternoon. Most of the vendors were from Etsy Maine Team so it was great meeting people I've been talking to online:) Together NAMI Maine and Bring Change 2 Mind raised over $120,000 for awareness and better treatment of people with mental illness and the fight against stigma!

Hubby looks enthralled, doesn't he?;)

On the candle front, in all my preparation for the NAMI event I have neglected my candle making duties and only created one new candle this week but it's a charming little candle at that. The Margarita votive, complete with real Margarita salt, is a smaller version of its popular cousins and is the standard votive price of $5 plus shipping.

Finally, I've come across a couple of great recipes this week I wanted to share with you:) The first I found while reading Julia Child's autobiography "My Life in France." Again I say if you haven't read it and you liked the movie Julie and Julia, run and pick up this book! If I ever hear that the cast of Julie and Julia (minus Julie's side of course) were starring in a movie based solely on this book I'd do cartwheels all over Maine:-D

Anyway, Chapter 2 talks about Le Cordon Bleu and she mentions how after seven weeks her cooking skills changed dramatically and the two dishes she describes sound incredible!

"Take roast veal, for example. Under the tutelage of Chef Bugnard, I simply salt-and-peppered the veal, wrapped it in a thin salt-pork blanket, added julienned carrots and onions to the pan with a tablespoon of butter on top, and basted it as it roasted in the oven. It couldn't have been simpler. When the veal was done, I'd degrease the juices, add a bit of stock, a dollop of butter, and a tiny bit of water, and reduce for a few minutes; then I'd strain the sauce and pour it over the meat. The result: an absolutely sublime meal."

YUM!:-D I'm actually going to attempt this this week except with beef instead of veal:) Wish me luck!

She goes on to say "Chef Bugnard was a wonder with sauces, and one of my favorite lessons was his sole a la normande. Put a half-pound of sole fillets in a buttered pan, place the fish's bones on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and minced shallots. Fill the pan with liquid just covering the fillets: half white wine, half water, plus mussel and oyster juices. Poach. When the fillets are done, keep them warm while you make a roux of butter and flour. Add half of the cooking juices and heat. Take the remaining cooking juices and reduce to almost nothing, about a third of a cup. Add the reduced liquid to the roux and stir over heat. Then comes Bugnard's touch of genius: remove the pan from the fire and stir in one cup of cream and three egg yolks: then work in a mere three-quarters of a pound of butter. I had never heard of stirring egg yolks into such a common sauce, but what a rich difference they made."

Unfortunately I'm allergic to mussels and oysters and won't be able to try this without making a substitution with some other fish juice but if anyone does try the recipe please let us know how it turns out.

Finally, here's a very elegant and unique recipe for Candied Roses & Dark Chocolate Sorbet, a great surprise for Mother's Day next year! Have a great week everyone and Happy Mother's Day:)

Good food and walking it off

Well, it's official (I guess), the 50 World's Best Restaurants have just been announced.. at least according to S. Pellegrino anyway.

As usual the list consists of some fairly fru fru, high priced venues around the world where mainstream people usually don't go and probably won't step foot into in life! Noma in Denmark snatched the #1 spot from El Bulli of Spain, who had held the position for 4 years and now sits at #2. According to CNN, El Bulli accepts 8000 reservations annually out of millions of requests but will be shutting down until 2011 and 3 years later will become a non-profit organization for young chefs. Surprisingly 8 of the 50 restaurants are located right here in the US, a fairly commendable feat when you think of the decades long struggle for American chefs to be recognized and respected by epicureans around the world.

The thing that gets me about these lists though is they almost never cover regular establishments serving regular food to regular people. I'm not talking about chain restaurants like Applebees or McDonalds but mom and pop small businesses with prices people who work for a living can afford! I remember a year or so ago there was a major uproar when Zagat added a little hole in the wall noodle place (I think it was in Hong Kong) to its list. There were no fancy paintings on the wall, no snooty waiters or pretentious little appetizers posing as $100 meals on big fru fru plates. It was clean, cheap, no frills good food and apparently had people lining around the block for hours BEFORE Zagat added them to the list. I guess when a place is deemed Best Noodlehouse in the World by thousands of happy customers, you can't exactly ignore it even if they aren't charging very much.

This is what I'm talking about though. Yes, if you ever get the chance to experience a fancy restaurant at least once I say do it. The ambiance is nice and the food is usually very good even if you do have to run for a burger an hour later;) But, there are plenty of establishments that serve decent food for decent prices and they don't all involve burgers and fries, fat and grease.

So, what are your favorite, non-chain local places to eat? Who makes the best breakfast? Where's a nice place to go for lunch? Where's your favorite place to go on a date? Let's compile a top 50 list of our own shall we?

On the candle front, there are 6 days left for the NAMI Art Walk and I am PUMPED! The weather looks to be decent, sunny and mid-60s although there's supposed to be one of those bad thunderstorms moving through when the temperature drops 20 degrees like they're saying it will and I'm hoping I won't have to set up in the mud:( I'll be developing one more votive candle but the rest of the week will be devoted to setting up and finishing touches. So next week's blog will be all about NAMI with lots of pictures about the event. So, all you Mainers out there and visitors to the Portland area be sure to visit Back Cove (it's a kind of park off 295 exit 7) from 10-4 and root for the walkers taking part in a good cause, get some food and face painting, listen to some local musicians, support your local artisans and quite possibly you might get a chance to meet Glenn Close:) It promises to be a pretty day so get off your duffs and get some air! Chow for now.

UPDATE: Shortly after this posting I discovered vendors of the Art Walk will be situated in a horseshoe around a tent (assuming it's the BringChange2Mind tent) where Glenn Close will be signing tshirts and having photo ops so it should prove to be an interesting day:)

Cooking on TV

I was excited this morning to see a commercial for the upcoming Cooking Channel due to launch May 31st. A quick internet check told me it's a replacement of the Fine Living Channel (which is unfortunate because I LOVE that channel) and it's kinda, sorta but not really a spin-off of the Food Network (the same company owns both channels). By the sound of it, the Cooking Channel will be going back to basics and focusing more on the instructional cooking shows we all know and love but that Food Network has steadily been shying away from. I've never been a huge reality show fan and hate how Food Network seems to be cranking out more and more reality shows every season until ::gasp:: I'm just not tuning in as much as I used to.

Anyway, I'm especially excited about the news that the Cooking Channel will include shows on how to prepare international cuisine and will be including chefs from Canada and the UK among others! Upcoming shows will include Chuck's Day Off (who's Chuck?;), Chinese Food Made Easy, Everyday Exotic, and French Food at Home. However, if you're not sick to death of Ms. EVOO, want to see more of Bobby Flay and miss seeing Emeril on your screen, these three will also have new shows on the Cooking Channel.

I don't know how much good it actually does but their commercial says to call your cable or satellite provider about getting the Cooking Channel. The way I figure it, if your provider has been carrying the Fine Living Network you'll most likely get to see the new channel come May 31st. Meanwhile, as hubby and I already hate our cable company with the fire of 1000 suns *coughcough*Comcast*coughcough* and have firsthand experience of Direct TV's rotten military transfer policy, we're seriously looking to switch to Dish Network this summer.

On the candle front, tea light sets are now available for sale. You can choose from 10 different scents in clear plastic and come in Neapolitan (chocolate, french vanilla and strawberry) and Taste of the Tropics (pina colada, margarita, orange cream and lemon). You can also mix and match tea lights in assorted sets of 4, 6, 8 and 10 or just stock up on your favorite scent. I'm also adding to my Breakfast In a Jar line with Strawberry Preserve, Blueberry Preserve and Maple Syrup Jars.

Also, be advised Culinarychiq Concepts will not ship to areas experiencing a High Heat Advisory or Warning until it's been lifted by the National Weather Service. This is due to the fact that the wax I use is much softer and has a lower melting point than traditional wax and frankly there's too much risk of a candle being damaged while waiting in the mailbox or on the porch. I've seen them go liquid in direct Floridian sunlight so it's just too much of a risk to take.

That's about it, I think. I'm off to take my beasties for a walk on a very nice day:) Stay safe those of you in areas facing severe weather and condolences, thoughts and prayers to the people in Tornado Alley who have lost loved ones, house and home. Chow for now!

Who Wants Breakfast?

This has been an interesting week of inspiration for me. I sat there staring at my new fragrance oils and mulling over what to do with them after some disastrous results last week and wondering if for the first time I might have to chalk up my latest purchase to a loss. No one in business likes to lose money and the best thing to do is always try to make back at least what you spent.

Anyway, I was watching my favorite movie Julie & Julia (by the way if you haven't read Julia Child's autobiography, My Life In France, definitely pick it up it's an awesome read:) and everything started to fall into place! And so I bring you my latest creations the Breakfast In a Jar scented soy candles:

Choose between Breakfast In a Jar, Continental Breakfast In a Jar and Deluxe Breakfast In a Jar, layered candles with lids hand painted to reflect a bright sunny morning:)

Deluxe Breakfast In a Jar contains the fresh scents of Orange Juice, Smoky Bacon and Maple Syrup reminiscent of a good Sunday morning breakfast!

Continental Breakfast In a Jar has Orange Juice and Maple Syrup scents of breakfast on the go!

Breakfast In a Jar is the idea that started it all and has the scents of Smoky Bacon and Maple Syrup.

Finally, a candle I'm most proud of at how well an experiment can turn out, but then I'm always happy when a risky candle turns out well, Bacon In a Jar!

This candle smells just like smoked bacon cooking on a griddle with a lid that's hand painted to look like strips of streaky bacon!

Every jar candle shown today contains 8oz of wax and sells for $10 plus shipping. Visit culinarychiqconcepts.etsy.com to order from my shop and as always custom orders are welcome. That's about it for now I think. Have a great week everyone, be sure to voice your opinion in my vanilla milkshake poll in the top left corner of your screen by Wednesday, April 21st and don't forget to check out my personal blog Egg Drop Soup. Chow for now!

Candles, candles and more candles

Apologies for the delay folks, with upcoming events in May and June fast approaching time just got away from me! Don't you just hate when it seems like there aren't enough hours in the day?

Anyway, despite the NAMI Walk and Art show being just three weeks away, my imagination refuses to let me mindlessly crank out candles like a machine and so this week I've listed 8 new candles including smaller versions of the Pina Colada, Margarita and Hot Fudge Sundae Candles. I especially love the little green cactus stem on the new Margarita glass!

The new candles listed are Chocolate and Strawberry Milkshake candles and a votive sized chocolate milkshake so you can get both milkshakes either lifesized for $16 or votive sized for $5. It seems I caught chocolate fever because I was also inspired to create the Chocolate Silk Pie candle which is about as much decadent chocolatey goodness you can get without packing on the pounds! Finally, there's the crustless Lemon Meringue pie votive with a cute little whipped cream dollop on top.

I'm working on three more candles and hope to release them next week. My plans for the Maple Syrup and Bacon candles didn't go quite as I'd hoped hence the delay but that can happen when dealing with handmade. You can either release garbage and hope it sells or you can go back to the drawing board and make another attempt at good quality. I prefer the latter! And yes, you did read right, I am attempting a bacon scented candle! It's a wonderful scent, so smoky and meaty the husband wanted to drink the oil right out of the bottle! So if you're a bacon lover keep watch for the listing of this little gem. I'm also attempting a vanilla milkshake this weekend, the only problem is figuring out what color says vanilla to the most people. Personally I envision an off yellow shake (almost like the small pina colada), however others have told me white like my hot fudge sundaes while others have suggested more of a beige color. So I think this calls for a poll. Please take a moment between now and the 21st to let me know what you think via the poll on the top left of your screen. Your input is greatly appreciated!

Finally, specifically for the NAMI walk but soon to be listed on Etsy and 1000markets, I'll be selling Tealight Sampler packs of 3, 4, 6, and 8 so you can get a test sniff of any scent you're curious about. The Neopolitan Tealight Sampler with chocolate, vanilla and strawberry will be available in sets of 3 and 6, the Tropical Tealight Sampler will feature Pina Colada, Margarita, Lemon and Orange Creamsicle in packs of 4 and 8, the Fruit Bowl Tealight Sampler will contain Strawberry, Lemon, Apple and Blueberry tealights in packs of 4 and 8 and the Pie Sampler which gives you a choice of chocolate cream, lemon meringue, blueberry, pumpkin, pecan and apple pies in sets of 3 and 6. You can also buy the Assorted Sampler where you can choose any of the above mentioned scents as well as Creme Brulee in packs of 3, 4, 6, and 8. Mix and match or just get the one scent, whatever takes your fancy! Custom orders will also be available for sets of 10 and 12.

That's about it for this week. Be sure to check my personal blog, Egg Drop Soup! Chow for now.

Obscure Food Holidays

The weather this weekend is just too gorgeous for words so I'm about to run out and fly my Smurf kite before sitting down to a nice homemade dinner of Chicken Korma with Basmati rice and Na'an bread (we felt like going Indian tonight:)! As I'm preparing inventory for events in the Portland/Augusta area in May and June, there's nothing new to report. However, next week I should have some pictures and details about my new Creme Brulee and Chocolate Cream Pie candles oh, and possibly an unusual but pleasant surprise.

So have a great week, and tell every man you know to check this blog this time next week:) And of course don't forget to check my other blog, Egg Drop Soup, for a chance to enter a new giveaway!

Obscure Food Holidays for the Month of April

2 National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day – Don’t just settle for a boring ole’ sandwich today, make a Peanut Butter and Jelly swirl Bundt cake!

7 Caramel Popcorn Day - Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack... or you could settle for this cute little notebook made from a recycled Cracker Jack box!

14 National Pecan Day - Find out anything and everything you ever wanted to know about the Pecan, courtesy of the National Pecan Shellers Association.

16 National Eggs Benedict Day - Do you have too many (well, what's too many?) Cadbury Creme Eggs leftover from Easter? This recipe takes my favorite egg dish celebrated on this day and gives it a nice chocolatey twist that I think you'll like:-D

17 National Cheeseball Day - Even the lactose intolerant can celebrate this day with some erm uh, cheezy art! Buy your favorite cheese fan some cheeseball cufflinks or mull over "Cheese Balls and Storm Trooper". Not sure what one has to do with the other but I guess that's what makes good cheese;)

19 National Garlic Day - Not just for keeping vampires out of the kitchen, apparently catfish like it too!

22 National Jelly Bean Day - Put the kids to bed early and call your friends over for some Jelly Bean Shooters!

23 National Zucchini Bread Day - This lady has some great zucchini bread recipes with pictured step by step instructions.

24 Pig in a Blanket Day - We be stylin' with these adorable handmade earrings:)

26 National Pretzel Day - No one makes pretzels like the good people of New York City and you haven't experienced pretzel heaven until you've chomped down on a nice Pretzel Roll! Check out this link to find out where to get some good ones in the city.

27 National Prime Rib Day - This site claims to have the key to making the perfect Prime Rib and has lots of information from choosing the perfect cut to what to serve it with to complete the meal; and for the Prime Rib enthusiast who has everything, this is just too cute for words!

29 National Shrimp Scampi Day - This site claims to have THE best recipe for Shrimp Scampi and it appears that at least 100 people agree with them!