The Design Chickadee

Design Chickadee consists of fashion and jewelry designer Christine Chronis. With over 30 years of experience as a seamstress, she has a trained eye for quality craftsmanship and design.

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Ok jewelry lovers. What would you like to see made out of these beauties❣earrings? Necklace?bracelet?#hummingbirdfetishbirds #hummingbirdjewelry #jewelry #jewlery (at Albuquerque, New Mexico) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQl0unnLI5H/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Good Morning Ya'll❣#beautifulsky #albuquerquesunrise #hotairballoons #sky #makeitagreatday (at Albuquerque, New Mexico) https://www.instagram.com/p/CD6VtTBF2FG/?igshid=1iggutcou5dei

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I’m back!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, but I’m back! I’ve made some big life changes in the past two years; the biggest change was moving from Austin to Albuquerque. I do miss my old home town sometimes, but I love it here. I can’t wait to share my adventures with you. My goal is to inspire others to see nature, create, and have fun.

Now, you may ask why I would choose to move to Albuquerque; people who have never been here often think New Mexico is all barren desert. However, it’s quite the opposite; New Mexico is an amazingly beautiful place full of diverse landscapes. From within the city of Albuquerque, one can see mountains in every direction. A short drive up the Sandia Mountains will land you in beautiful pine forests

  Through the center of the city runs the Rio Grande. Along the sides of the river grows a beautiful forest; this area is known as the bosque. It has a wonderful park system with walking and biking trails.

Albuquerque is also home to many fun events, such as the annual Balloon Fiesta. For nine days in October, hundreds of hot air balloons take off from Balloon Fiesta Park. It’s a simply mesmerizing sight. If you can ever visit Albuquerque, I highly recommend coming during the Balloon Fiesta.

My dad and sister live in Albuquerque too; my daughter made the move with me as well. It has been great to reconnect with my sister; she is an avid hiker and inspires me to get in shape so I can go on hikes with her.

I am also currently running two shops on Etsy. It takes a lot of work but I love every moment of it. We all have dreams. I believe that no dream is too big; life is too short not to follow one’s heart.

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My beautiful view every morning. I do miss Austin,Tx but I love my new city Albuquerque and the Sandia Mountains. #albuquerque #sandiamountains #sunrise #makeitagreatday

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Exited to play with some new supplies today. Love the faded hues of plum, grays and cream together. #designwork #beautifulbeads #bootbracelet

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I will be walking this weekend to several ladies that have won the fight and one who is currently in the fight. Donations appreciated http://m.makingstrides.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=77404&pg=team&team_id=2093863 #stridesagainstbreastcancer

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This weekend working on new projects for my etsy stores. This pic is from last weekend. I went on amazing and hard hike across the top of the Sandia crest with my Sis, daughter and my 76 year old dad. #sandiacrest #hiking (at Sandia Mountain Peak 10,378 Ft)

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Here is another beautiful Christmas tree in Old Town Albuquerque. It is made of recycled water bottles! #christmastree #newmexico #recyclereuse #oldtown

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My cousin's Christmas tree Southwest style! Love it! Yes it is a Real cactus. #southwest #newmexico #christmastree

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Shipping out one of my favorite boot bracelets today from my new home town of Albuquerque, NM! #bootbracelet #Albuquerque #awesome #cowgirlchic

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Well I did it! Made the big move from Texas to the Land of Enchanted! #Sandiapeak #Albuquerque #love

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Pedro for President! Pedro's platform is peace, love and happiness and not least of all COOKIES! Also a free puppy for everyone. #pedroforpresident #dog #chihuahua #cutie

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A Dress for the Occasion

Every year, my employer has a Christmas dinner at a nice restaurant; this past year, I wanted to make a dress for the occasion. Rather than spend money on new materials, I started by going through my extensive fabric and pattern stash. I've had to narrow it down over the years, but it's hard to resist adding to it when the fabric store is having a sale! For fabric, I found a lovely cotton with a flame stitch pattern. Though it was difficult finding something to go with the fabric, I eventually settled on a McCall's pattern, M5925, with the intention of modifying it slightly. View D, the one on the bottom right, was closest to what I envisioned for my dress.

The pattern had an unusual way of sewing the front and back to the dress yoke; by gathering and stitching the fabric to the outside, it would create a ruffled appearance. I decided to just sew it as a normal, gathered seam from the inside; it gives the dress a cleaner, more professional look. I also added about 6" to the length of the dress so it wouldn't be too short when paired with a belt. The neckline is very plunging, but I left it as is with the intention of sewing a hook and eye- however, I ran out of time. Instead, I went through my jewelry and picked out this pin- a silver and turquoise roadrunner that my grandmother gave me when I was younger. I always think of her when I wear it; it's one of my favorite pieces- unfortunately, I don't get to wear it too often. Luckily, it went very well with my new dress.

The dinner was excellent; it was held at North by Northwest in Austin, a brewery known for its craft beers. I'm not a huge fan of beer, but they have an assortment of other drinks and excellent food.

Pictured below are two of my friends, Alton and Greg, sharing a tiramisu. Alton runs a business making bow ties and accessories; if you're looking for ties or pocket squares, I highly recommend checking out his store.

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Merry Christmas to all!

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Oklahoma!

In the days when I was a kid, you watched what your parents were watching or nothing at all; as a result, I ended up watching a lot of old movies that my mom enjoyed with actors and actresses such as Elvis, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers and lots of classic musicals. My all time favorite musicals are The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady.

So when I saw on the morning news last week that the Austin Theater Group was presenting a free presentation of Oklahoma! my first thought was, “Wow free?” and next, “Yes, I am going to be there!”

Here is their website in case you live in central Texas and want to go.

I was surprised to hear them say they have been doing this every summer for 56 years. I had been living in Georgetown, which is just 30 minutes away from Austin, for over 15 years and had never heard of them. So I told my daughter that you and I are going and that’s it. No discussion!

Since we needed to arrive early to get a good spot, I decided to make a picnic dinner to take with us. So that I wouldn't have to make two meals, I decided to make something we both can eat - delicious and simple egg salad sandwiches.

Simple Egg Salad Recipe

5 hard boiled eggs

¼ cup of canola mayonnaise

2 stalks of chopped celery

Salt and pepper to taste

Bread of your choice

My daughter likes HEB's honey wheat bread, but I love the Nature’s Own 100% Whole Grain bread. To me it’s just a much more fluffy and flavorful bread. So to avoid any arguments one sandwich was made with her bread and one with mine.

I also picked up a tasty baked treat from the grocery store. I had originally planned to see if they had cheese cake by the slice, but even better- I found a slice of tiramisu! It's my daughter's favorite dessert, and I enjoy it too.

I also packed some water bottles, a couple sodas, napkins, and bug off spray. We got there at 6:15 and it was still pretty hot outside. I think it reached 99 degrees- typical for a Texas summer. Thankfully, when we got to the stage area we found a wonderful spot under the trees with plenty of shade. We spread out our blanket and then dug into our yummy sandwiches, followed by our dessert.

The show didn't start until 8:30, but some of the cast entertained the audience with rope tricks while we waited. They asked us not to take pictures during the show, so I only have one of the stage before it started. You can see we had great seats!

The show was fantastic- so worth the drive and sitting in the heat. The actors, the singing, and the dancing were all great. It had been so long since I had seen Oklahoma! I had mostly forgotten the plot; it was very suspenseful! My daughter had never seen it so I was a bit worried she wouldn’t like it- she's very picky about musicals. Afterwards I asked her what she thought and she responded, “I loved it. I think it’s my new favorite musical.” That made the evening even better. If you happen to live near the Austin area I highly recommend it.

Now I will be singing all week!

The show runs now through August 17th. Thursdays through Sunday.

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Copycat Recipe: Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits

When I made the slow cooker green bean casserole from my previous post, I intended not to turn on the oven but my daughter and I got a craving for Red Lobster's cheddar bay biscuits. I had a good copy cat recipe tucked away somewhere that I had tried before, but after finding it proved to be a challenge I decided it would be quicker to find a new one online. I came across this one and it looked really good so I gave it a try.

Now don't freak out and say, 'I cannot make things from scratch,' I swear they are super easy!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt ( I used regular lite salt)

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

For the Topping:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, garlic powder, salt; after combining dry ingredients, whisk buttermilk and butter together in a separate bowl and pour over dry mixture, stirring with a rubber spatula. After completely mixed, fold in the cheese.

I have to say I loved her suggestion to use a rubber spatula! I have always used a spoon which gets all sticky. The rubber spatula worked so much better!

Next, using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop the batter evenly onto the prepared baking sheet.

Her suggestion to scoop the dough into a 1/4 cup measuring cup was another wonderful tip. I found that my 1/4 measuring cup was the perfect dimension for biscuits! I then just dropped them onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. If they don't come out right away, just tap the edge of the measuring cup against the baking sheet. I know its silly, but I was super excited about how pretty they looked. Just look at them all in perfect little circles!

Note: I never bake without parchment paper. It keeps items from burning on the bottom and makes the sheets super easy to clean.

Place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown at 450 F.

While they are baking, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a small dish. Mix in your parsley and garlic (if you don't have fresh, dried parsley will do). After removing from oven, apply the butter mixture. Having a pastry brush handy makes it much easier to spread the butter.

As the recipe states, they are not exactly like the restaurants but are actually better! My daughter and I loved them.

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Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole

This weekend I tried a new recipe from my favorite Crockin’ Ladies! I made a few minor changes. Here is the link to the recipe.

This is the list of ingredients in "Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole":

1 (28 ounce) package of frozen cut green beans  ( I used fresh)

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 (16 ounce) container Alfredo cheesy sauce

6 ounce package of French fried onions

Salt and pepper to taste

 I also added a small handful of chopped baby carrots to add color and more nutrients.

The recipe calls for a 24 oz package of frozen green beans. I have never liked frozen green beans; call me strange but for some reason I think they have a strange flavor. I also figured frozen green beans might be mushy after 3 hours in the crock pot, as the recipe states to cook them.  I luckily happened by our local farmers market Saturday morning and picked up some fresh green beans. I love fresh! When I got home I remembered I had just seen the Crockin’ Girls post this recipe a few days earlier and decided to try it with my fresh beans. I washed the beans under cold water, then snapped the ends off and snapped them in half.

I didn’t have quite enough from the farmer’s market package so I added a few small handfuls of store bought fresh green beans. I eye balled what a 28 ounce package size would look like to get the right amount into the recipe.

 While my daughter and I were washing the beans, of course my curious dogs had to come investigate and start begging. My daughter decided to go ahead and give him one. I figured he might eat it since he loves lettuce and other various veggies.

Here is my dog Pedro checking it out:

Here is his sadness in discovering raw green beans don’t taste good! Poor Pedro. Our other dog, Tera, gobbled it up after he left it sitting on the floor.

Back to cooking:

Here I am adding a small handful of chopped baby carrots to the mixing bowl. My daughter hates carrots so we had a disagreement about whether to add them or not. I finally was able to convince her it would be OK! A small amount you won’t be able to taste. Turns out I was right. I couldn’t taste them and got to add some needed vitamin A!

Next I chopped up the onion and bell pepper. Note that I used less than the recipe called for. I added half an onion and half of a bell pepper.

Here are all the ingredients added and mixed in the mixing bowl:

Mixture is now added to the crock:

I cooked mine on high for 3 hours. The beans had just a slight bit of crispness left but were done. My daughter wanted them softer so I did cook them for about another 30 minutes for her.

 Here is the finished product on the plate ready to eat. I will post later about the wonderful biscuits on the plate.

I have to say I loved it! It was so easy and good.