Sometimes you're hot . . . sometimes you're not . . .

I didn't sleep all that well last night. I went to bed with a heavy heart. I have always enjoyed blogging and have always said that you meet the best people on here, which is true. I have made many beautiful friends through the medium of blogging and you have always been here for me, through the bad times and the good times, with words of love, encouragement and support.

Last year when we lost our Jess, job and home, I know it was your prayers and happy thoughts that helped to get us through that very stressful and unhappy period. I know that you all jump for joy right along with me when I am jumping for joy and that you feel it when I am not . . . it has always meant the world to me. You feel like family.

Last autumn one of my blog readers that I had been in contact with off and on throughout the years, going right back to my AOL journal days wanted to speak to me via the telephone as she had some suggestions of places where I might be able to show my artwork. We spoke on the telephone and I wrote notes as we talked on a piece of paper, a piece of paper that I still have stuck on my fridge. She then told me she would be leaving the country shortly and would be away all winter but back sometime in the spring.

As luck would have it, I did contact one of the companies she told me about, and they did indeed contract me to do some designing for them. It was all very hush/hush though and I was not allowed to let anyone in on it until this past March, as you know, when they finally went up for sale. Apparently rubber stamps are a very big business and it's very cut throat. Indeed, even now, my name has not been applied as the designer of these stamps, and it is only you, my readers, who know about it.

Yesterday this lovely lady left a comment for me on here and I fear I have offended her, as I neglected to mention that it was at her suggestion that I had contacted the stamp company in the first place, nor had I thanked her for doing so. I am so very sorry that I had not done so, but in all truth, I had no way of contacting her in the US as far as I knew, and the one e-mail address I have for her bounces my e-mails back. I had every intention of corresponding with her upon her return to the UK, and thanking her in a very individual and private way. As she had never commented physically on my blog in the past, having done so only via e-mail, I had been of the impression that she was blog shy and I didn't want to put her out there if she didn't want to be put out there. I was wrong.

I want to publicly thank Jan this morning for having pointed me in the right direction last October. I do so appreciate very much the advice she gave me, and am very grateful for it. I would have loved to send her a card of thanks and a small gift, but have been unable to do so as I have had no way of contacting her back. I also want to apologize for having offended her. It was not my intention to do so.

Sometimes I get this blogging business right, but sometimes I get it wrong.

By the way, some people have asked, and I wanted to let you know, that I do not get paid for the stamp sales. I got paid for designing them and then the designs belong to the company I did them for. Any monetary compensation after that point goes to them. It is to my benefit if they sell well, however, as they are then likely to commission me to do more. It would be nice if I made a little bit of something each time a stamp sold, but that is not the reality of it! In the meantime, I am just happy that someone wants to buy my work. I think that is the sincerest flattery of all!




*Stuffed Pork Chops*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Deliciously moist pork chops stuffed with a wonderfully spiced bread and apple stuffing.

3/4 cup of finely chopped celery
1/4 cup of finely chopped onion
1/4 cup of butter
4 cups of dry bread cubes
1 small apple, peeled, cored and shredded
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground black pepper
1/4 cup apple juice
3 to 4 TBS chicken broth
4 thick pork loin rib chops (about 1 1/4 inch thick)
2 additional TBS butter

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Have ready a large baking pan or dish.

Heat the 1/4 cup of butter in a large skillet until it begins to foam. Add the celery and the onion and cook, stirring occasionally (without browning) until tender. Remove from the heat.

Combine the bread cubes, apple, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pepper and cooked vegetables together in a large bowl. Toss to mix. Add the apple juice and enough broth to moisten, tossing gently until combined.

Cut a deep pocket in each chop from the fat side, almost to the bone. Spoon the stuffing mixture into each pocket and seal shut by securing the cut edge after filling with wooden toothpicks. If you have any remaining stuffing you can heat it in the oven in a small covered casserole dishs during the last 20 minutes of baking, until heated through.

Melt the 2 TBS butter in the skillet. Brown the chops in this butter, browning them first on one side and then on the other. Transfer them to the baking dish or pan.

Bake, uncovered, for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the juices run clear. Serve hot with some freshly mashed potatoes and another vegetable on the side. Delicious!



Over in The English Kitchen today I am reviewing a new cookbook based on things that have been cooked on a stick and the recipe I have featured is Spam and Pineapple Skewers, which were actually incredibly delicious!