First Stop on the NiftyKnits Meerkat World Tour: Rural Blounts Creek, NC!

Etta the Meerkat arrived here in rural Eastern NC all the way from England, and her creator Heather of Niftyknits! What a sweet little kat she is! After unpacking, we set off on a geeky fun adventure together: a trip to explore some of the sharks teeth that our area is internationally known for, at the Aurora Fossil Museum!
As you can see, Etta was in awe of this Great White replica and all the fossil sharks teeth!

Later, back at my house, Etta had a tour of our 75 acre property. My husband Howard is a ham radio operator and she was intrigued by the four huge radio towers in our fields. All of a sudden, Etta was gone! I guess her taste for adventure got the best of her, as I spotted her climbing the 130 footer! Bad Etta! By the time I got there, she was hanging on for dear life!

Luckily she managed to pull herself up and climb down

with no harm done... what a girl! Happily, we went on to safer pursuits.


I think Etta enjoyed seeing the gourd art from my Midnightcoiler shop, and some of my gourd harvest. She told me the egg gourds were her favorites! Tomorrow my little Meerkat friend leaves for her next stop. I'll always remember Etta and what a good time we had together! To see more of Nifty's fabulous Meerkats, check out her shop, NiftyKnits. Read her Blog and join the Meerkat World Tour Fan Page on Facebook to follow all of Etta's adventures, as well as her sibling, Treasure, who is also traveling the world!

Lynn's Vegetarian Stuffed Pepper Casserole

Two food posts in a row-- must be harvest time! Our peppers have been wonderful this year!

My Treasury Teammate and friend Kristen of Gockfrocks tweeted this question today: anyone else with good dinner ideas? what are you making tonight? My tweet back was Vegetarian Stuffed Pepper Casserole, one of my husband's very favorite dishes- homey, comforting and delicious! (the casserole, not my husband) This is a very flexible dish, so you can substitute ingredients and amounts to your taste. So, here it is Kristen:

Vegetarian Stuffed Pepper Casserole

6 to 8 peppers, quartered, enough to cover bottom of a 9x13 baking dish
2 cups brown or white rice, cooked
2 medium to large onions, chopped
2 tablespoons oil
1 large can (26 oz) tomato soup
1 to 1 1/2 cup soy crumbles
2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce or to taste
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided (or more to taste)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (optional)

Seed and quarter peppers and layer in the bottom of baking dish. Add 1 tablespoon water, cover and steam in the microwave for 5 minutes.

In pan saute onion in oil until it starts to turn golden brown. Mix in cooked rice, soy crumbles, 1/2 can of tomato soup, 1 teaspoon Tabasco, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon salt and turn off heat.

Spread mixture evenly over steamed peppers, set aside.

Add a little water to the remaining tomato soup in the can to thin just a bit. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon Tabasco, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon paprika. Adjust spices according to your taste. Stir and pour evenly over casserole.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheddar cheese, return to oven for 2-3 minutes until cheese has melted. Serve & enjoy!

Win These Earrings!

The Etsy Treasury Team is sponsoring a giveaway featuring these lovely sterling earrings from StrandsofLight! Go to the Treasury Team Blog and enter 5 times for 5 chances to win- it's easy!

Thanks to webmistress, Sandie, of ZaftigDelights and KnitzyBlonde, for doing such a great job with these monthly give-aways!

Give-Away on the Treasury Team Blog

The Etsy Treasury Team is sponsoring the first give-away on their blog! The prize is a stoneware pottery charm mix that I created, a $30 value. Please go to the Treasury Team Blog for all the details.

Last Day for Free Shipping on Designer Eggs--- Happy Valentines!

Grab my colorful designer egg gourds before midnight tonight

to take advantage of free shipping! If you missed this, check my shop for future offers.

Make Mine with a Twist!
I stayed up well past midnight last night to put this treasury up. Guess I'm not called Midnight for nothing, though late hours don't always mean coiling. Can't seem to get a whole shot of this one, sorry. Click on image to enlarge. Featured are Norakaren, Truluxe, Patspottery, Abrushandaneisel, Slavko, Accentsbylori, Glassnwood, Dbabcock, Gocksfrocks, Niftyknits, Adornmejewelry, and Susansheehan.

Black and Cream Dream

This treasury was based on tips that House of Mouse wrote about in the Etteam Blog. I'm ever hopeful to someday achieve that elusive front page spot! In the meantime, I enjoy featuring items from lovely Etsy shops like these:

dbabcock, notrocketsurgery, liciabeads, tiedandfeathered, springcolors, busybeads, galit,
stelmadesigns, beautifulbridget,
jeremisavoie, funwallart, bazketmakr

ETTEAM

The Etsy Treasury Team is less than a week old and we already have 30 members and have created a bunch of fabulous treasuries! Treasuries=exposure and sales, and that is happening for us too!

So, if you have time to visit, 12-click and comment on team treasuries and create one team treasury a month yourself, I invite you to join us!

Visit our website
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/etsytreasuryteam/