Can I catch a ride please?

Melanie & I had a great weekend in San Antonio, and then in New Braunfels....went to a wedding....I wanted to snatch this from the bride & groom! Snapped a picture instead! Love you Mel!

Mardi Gras Beads, Bread Pudding & Jewel's Sugar Cookies

Okay, it was my sister Debbie's birthday, so she came to town to have lunch and see a movie! We went to Babin's and had some of 'dat Gumbo & then the waiter had on one of those fancy Mardi Gras necklace's, and being a looker (of jewelry) I said I liked the necklace, because of the little Pig Chef Beads it had on it! Well, that was before I had my glasses on!!!!!!!!!!

Then, I told him that it was my sister's birthday today, so guess what? He brought her some Birthday Bread Puddin'! Yummeeeee! Let's just say we had a BIG Time!

Oh, and I had to try baking Jewel's Sugar Cookies, as these are Debbie's favorites. The long lost recipe was found (by Debbie a couple of weeks ago). Mine were okay, and of course, Jewel's were the best! Deb did give me some additional pointers for my next batch though.

Happy Birthday Big Sister..... and many many more!

Bamboo and Swarovski

An unlikely pair, but I'm always trying to find the perfect shot for one of my newest RJ's Jewelry Shop pieces! Bingo.....or Bamboo! Bless you!

Swarovski really shines in the most unlikely places-even lying in a bamboo tray, sitting on the butcher block in my kitchen!

Just imagine what it would look like around your neck........picking up that warm glow of the flickering candlelight coming from your table, sitting next to the one you love!

Hope you all had a very happy & sweet Valentine's Day!

Cheetah Print Art Beads

I loved these beads the first time I saw them...and so have a few other people, as I continue to sell every item I make using them! This necklace has turquoise rondells, with carved bone beads and small burnt wood chips tossed in for good measure....oh yes, and red aventurine rectangle gemstones. The earrings are lying right dab in the middle of this double strung necklace! This set is quite special to me, so I will put it on RJ's Jewelry Shop this weekend.

New Banner

All weekend I've been preparing for a show tomorrow....but I've also made new jewelry, new business cards, new tags and I've put up a new banner on my Etsy Shop.

After the show tomorrow, I will be adding more jewelry to my Rosa & Josie's Etsy Shop!

I am pumped!

Sonshine!

Sometimes you have you make your own sun! Blessings to all today.......diane

Eye Candy

Speak of Valentine's Day, and you have to have candy! So....how about some eye candy? This is about as sweet as it gets - around your neck!

Preparing for a show in February. I have to think about Spring, even though it's WINTER - in Texas!

This necklace is as "cool" as ice to me, so in honor of the ice we had in Katy last night, look out Spring here I come....

Jake!

I am in San Antonio, visiting Melanie & Jake! ......waiting for the ice and snow! Can you believe it? .....But we are inside-all warm and fuzzy. Isn't Jake the most handsome chocolate lab? He is the BEST!

RJ's Jewelry Shop Open For Business!

Started uploading my inventory into Etsy.com tonight. Just double click on RJ's Jewelry Shop on the right sidebar of the Blog! I am excited about the unlimited opportunities I now have to share my passion! These are the first two pieces, but there is much more to follow tomorrow.

I have to go rest now, as all my computer skills were tested tonight.....in more ways than one!

p.s. Please let me know if you experience any problems! Thanks!

Happy Jewel Year!

Time to start a new year and design new jewelry, as the designs have been dancing around in my head-along with all those sugar plums!

I made several "mix & match bracelet watches" as Christmas presents (requests from) friends and for family. They were challenging and fun!

So now.....drum roll....it is time for an Inventory Sale for all my wonderful past year clients. I will be mailing out post cards with a surprise message next week!

Happy New Year!

Two Cooks ARE Better Than One!

We went to the deer lease between Christmas & New Year's, to hunt for the "Big One!" This is always our longest stay each year in "hunting paradise!" One of the fellow hunters on the lease once said, "I always lost weight during deer season, but since you have gotten on the lease, I have GAINED weight!" Well, that is because of No.1 Brother Cook! I am married to one of the two brothers on the lease, and cooking is one very important skill their Mother taught them.

One morning Allen made his infamous Migas and another morning, John (No.2 Brother Cook) made his Muffin Pan Eggs. Of course, we had spiral cut ham from Chrismas Eve, and big Cat Head Biscuits tucked along side.

Part of the fun at the deer lease each year, is to see what wide variety of food we can cook while we are there! We have anything from Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream made on site, to Homemade Baked Lasagna or just a plain ole' fashioned Iceberg Lettuce Salad with Miracle Whip. (Yes-it was ACTUALLY good-but everything tastes better there!)

I do not believe there is another deer lease like this in South Texas! Yes-sir-eee, I love going to the deer lease after Chrismas Day! For more than a week (for the last 10 years), we have no cares, no worries, no traffic or garbage pick-up, no park & ride or "BIG" bosses... just 6,000 acres of pure South Texas beauty and lots & lots of special "grub"! I love this life!

'lil potato pies

When Allen was a small boy, his grandmother would make a special potato pie for him, hiding it away from all the others. She put it on top of the cupboard, and saved it just for him. I saw some beautiful tart shells in the store, and brought them home to make individual potato pies for the Christmas Eve Party. The recipe was so simple, and they tasted heavenly!

Well, he kept them hidden away, only sharing the one larger 9" pie, I had also made, at the party....So now he still has all his little pies to take to the deer lease! yummy!

Here is the recipe for the 9-inch pie.

Sheila's Sweet Potato Pie

2 sweet potatoes (1-1/2 pounds), peeled & cut into 1-inch chunks

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 t. gound ginger

1/4 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 c. heavy whipping cream

1 9-inch frozen, unbaked pie shell (or homemade pie shell)

whipped cream (optional), for serving

Place the sweet potatoes in a large saucepan & cover with cold, salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium & simmer until the potatoes are very tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well & place in a large bowl.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Mash the potatoes with a potatoe masher. Wisk in the sugar, spices, salt, eggs & cream.

Place the pie shell on a baking dish. Ladle in the sweet potato filling just to the rim of the pie shell.

Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake about 30 minutes more or until the filling is set (a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean), and the crust is golden.

Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing. For dessert, dollop with whipping cream, if desired.

Serves 8.

Breakfast of Champions!

Melanie is home for Christmas! She called Allen ahead of time to ask if he would cook her favorite breakfast - pancakes! She brought a special buttermilk pancake mix, and lookie at Allen's beautiful pancakes! So fluffy & lite! Of course, he had to add a little German deer sausage (for me!)as a side, with sections of juicy grapefruit.....yummy-it was lip smakin' good! Plus, Melanie is home for Christmas!!!!

Comments Wanted!

Some of my "loyal Blog readers" may have had problems trying to leave a comment on my Posts!

Here is what the Blogger Team says: (I have changed over to the new Beta version!)
Logging in with an old Blogger account to post a comment on the new Blogger is giving a “please try again later” error. Until we fix this, it may work to log in first at http://www.blogger.com/login.g, and then go to the comments page on the new version of Blogger in beta.
Changing the Blog to Beta has caused some glitches, so until they are all ironed out, I hope this helps explain the problems you may have encountered. You can ALWAYS e-mail me at: rosajosies@yahoo.com

Hope your holiday season is running smoother than the Blog! God Bless!

Rosa & Josie's

I get a phone call from a customer with my card, "Are you Rosa or Josie?" "Neither" I say, "These are my two grandmother's names!"

I am Diane Cook, but my business is named after my grandmother's - Rosa Buechmann and Josie Schultz. I wanted a name for my business that meant something! Something to me!

I will start with Rosa (she & grandpa in top wedding picture) - Grandma Buechmann. She spoke mostly (only) German; and therefore, we didn't have much to say to each other. But our interaction was more action, than speaking when I visited. She grew beautiful mums in the front yard of her house, right up against the silver-wired fence. You know the kind, with large square corner posts, and a matching wire gate. I would occasionally go to her house, and she would let me pick as many mums as I wanted. Bright gold, white, yellow and deep crimson. I would have one of her large pair of sissors, and I would very carefully cut all the petals off into a large tin saucepan. I must have thought I was making dinner! She was a well-known seamstress in the area. She made me and my sisters matching dresses-WITHOUT a pattern. I have many beautiful pictures from Easter time where all 3 of us were dressed alike! (I will post the pics sometime!) She sewed my Pilgrim outfit for me when I was in the First Grade. I remember going to her house for alterations....I cried, of course, as the stiff material stuck me in places I didn't like! I had a matching white bonnet-I looked exactly like a little pilgrim girl. I am told she sewed many wedding gowns for local brides as well! She grew wonderful day lilies, strawberries, vegetables, and had fig, pear and pecan trees. She and my grandfather were farmers, as he grew sweet potatoes to sell. They were in a "butcher club" with their neighbors, sharing pork and beef on butchering day. They had some horses, for farm work, milk cows, chickens and pigs. Her life was not easy. She made a great coffee cake, and taught my mother quite a bit about cooking; as my mom & dad lived with them for awhile. One weekend, my mother dropped me off at her house, and she taught me how to embroidery! She had a tea towel waiting for me, with beautiful rows of embroidery thread. She taught me how to make a satin stitch, and a french knot that stood up just right!

She was of German and Czech descent.

And then there is Josie (she & Grandpa in Galveston, Texas)......Granny Schultz! I LOVED her so much! Occasionally I would get to spend the night with her, and she and I would go outside in the cool of the evening and water ALL her flowers using her big metal watering can! Later, we pulled the long watering hose thru all her little flower bed paths...being careful not to crush any of the flowers! She had a magnificent flower garden on the side of the house. The entire yard was white sand, and her flowers loved it.....roses, lilies, poppies at Easter, larkspur and bachelor buttons, corn flowers and cosmos. Have you ever smelled a four-o-clock at 4 o'clock? I have....with my Granny! (Debbie, I believe that is the smell we came upon on our Fun Run in Sealy quite a few years ago!) On Saturday nights, we would watch Hee Haw, and Lawrence Welk....a one...and a two...and a three! In the winter time we slept in her big old iron bed, under a feather bed that felt like it weighted 2 tons....it was GREAT! I couldn't move! My head just peeked out the top. But in summer, I would lie in bed waiting for her to finish spraying for mosquitoes with one of those old push sprayers...I can hear it now...swoosh...swoosh...swoosh! She was the Granny who made just a couple of jars of beets each year, and she gave one to just me! She had a hard life as well. Her husband was a barber, and they raised 13 children. Whew!...that wears me out just saying it!

So, this is my Rosa & Josie's Story....here it is, and I'm sticking to it!

Thanks to the both of them for teaching me so much! I wonder if they will every know what an impact they had on my life. Perhaps one day I will get to tell them......my Rosa & Josie's Story.

Lanyards, Lanyards, Everywhere Lanyards!

My newest jewelry commission......badge lanyards! Yes, you too can own one......the request was for a basic black & silver! I just couldn't do it.....well, maybe sort of at the end! But I made 5 of them this weekend. 2-with my "new favorite" animal print art bead, 1-with a brilliant lime green polka dot art bead - Melanie says this is her favorite, because it is RETRO and yes, it has black in it! and 2-that have black & white bone, black wood, black onyx and a creamy white shell! At the end I put them all in a pile to see how colorful they looked! These were FUN!

The Rockettes

Oh, my.........18 Rockettes came to H-town. Allen & I went to the Radio City Chrismas Spectacular starring The Rockettes on Wednesday, December 13th! They were breathtakingly precise, and ahhhhh.....just sensational! The beauty and "real reason" of Christmas came alive this night! Especially with the finale of Scene 12 "The Living Nativity".

I have heard that the Rockettes are are a must see while in NYC during Christmas, but Houston got a glimpse of their beauty for a short time this Christmas Season!

So many parties & get-togethers, tours and shows to see and do, and just not enough time during this busy season. I am so glad we bought tickets in September for this one!

bubble lites are the best!

Need I say more?

Blue Cornbread

It is cold and rainy today in Katy....so Allen please make a BIG pot of homemade chili! Yes! and some of that fancy blue cornbread too! (It has sour cream and mexican style cheese in it-definately low cal!)

simply simple

My jewelry stock is slowly going back up...but Christmas is knocking on my door!



















This necklace is made with brown shells, tiny black onyx spacers and a beautiful Artistic Stone Pendant. The "dangly" earrings are made only with the brown shell.

We all need a simple pair of crystal earrings (Czech of course), that will go with EVERYTHING.....just add a drop of sterling silver on the end and there you go......