Halloween is on SATURDAY this year!

PSSST! You KNOW....Halloween falls on a Saturday this year! Squee! PARTY!!! Have you started to plan your costume and autumn seasonal finery yet?!?!?! Lemme help!

https://www.etsy.com/…/halloween-samhain-witch-shawl-gypsy-…

September Giveaway - The Imaginative Arts of Carol Ochs - Handmade Soap, Fantasy Art

GIVEAWAY! This month we're giving away this 7" X 9" ready-framed (tabletop stand-up or can be wall-hung) print of "First Leaf Omen" - It is said that to catch the first falling autumn leaf you see of the season is a VERY good omen! Perfect ...for your Halloween decorating! Paired with two soaps from our very popular Wylde Wytch Soap Collection: "Amas Veritas" (patchouli, sandalwood, rose & jasmine) and "Mint Oatmeal Shaving Soap" (peppermint and enriched with clay)!


To enter the drawing, simply "LIKE" this post at our FACEBOOK PAGE https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Imaginative-Arts-of-Carol-Ochs-Handmade-Soap-and-Fantasy-Art/170821082934424?ref=hl&bookmark_t=page or leave your name if you like, and your name will go into the pot where I will randomly draw a name on Friday and announce the winner! Be sure to also LIKE that page so you can stay tuned for all of our monthly giveaways! GOOD LUCK! And share with your friends! ~Carol    

Happy Halloween!

 

Super BUSY day today if I hope to get all my soap made, orders shipped, be done with work and dressed by sundown, and have some quiet time for private communing with my passed loved ones before the celebrating begins...but can't pass up a chance to wish you all a Happy Halloween, Blessed Samhain, and beautiful evening! Enjoy! 

Love, Carol

 

 

 

Corn Chowder & Famous Chili Recipes for Halloween Feasting!

 

Everyone has their own Halloween traditions, these are two of ours!  The night before Halloween, on Pumpkin Carving Night, my three (now grown) kids all come over and we feast on great cauldrons of Corn Chowder, my Famous Chili, with a big salad, and chucks of warm bread, hot spiced cider, and pumpkin pie!  Then carving commences!  And because I always cook enough for an army, there is plenty of leftovers for Halloween night, in-between scaring children!  Enjoy! 

Corn Chowder

1 large sweet onion

1 red pepper

4+ slices of bacon (regular or turkey)

3 medium golden potatoes, pared & diced

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 cans whole kernel corn (1 lb. each)

2 tall can evaporated milk

Cook bacon until crisp in large pot.  Set aside to drain.  Saute onion and red pepper in same pot until soft.  Add potatoes, 2 cups of the water sale, pepper, cover.  Simmer 15 min. until tender.  Stir in corn & evaporated milk.   Blend flour with remaining water and stir into chowder.  Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat until chowder thickens and bubbles.  Stir in chopped bacon & serve  10-12 servings.

Optional add-ins: 2 cups cooked chicken cut into chunks. 

 

Carol's Famous Chili

2 tsp. olive oil

1 large sweet onion

1 large green pepper

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, pared and cubed

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 lbs. lean ground beef or turkey, or cooked beef sirloin cubed

1 - 14 1/2 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 bottle of dark beer

1 cup strong coffee, brewed

2 - 6 oz. cans tomato paste

1 can beef or other broth

small can sliced black olives

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 up molasses

1 tablsp. cumin

1 tablsp cocoa powder

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp salt

1 pinch cinnamon

4 15 oz. cans of chili beans or whatever selection of beans you most prefer (kidney, etc.)

2 chili peppers chopped (remove seeds)

Heat oil.  Cook onions, garlic, apple, green pepper, and meat until brown, then add to large crockpot. Add tomatoes, beer, coffee, tomato paste and beef broth. Add spices and all remaining ingredients, and slow cook low all day.  If cooking stovetop, simmer for 1 1/2 hours. 

FESTIVE Halloween Scarves!

SCARVES (<-click)

Halloween Scarves to wear all October and beyond to keep your Halloween spirit on display!

Six foot long x 8 inch wide scarf can even double as a shoulder-cozy. Double-thick (two color strands used) it will definitely keep you WARM. Crocheted in Trinity Stitch in saffron orange and Edwardian dark gray, or orange & black, it has a rustic heirloom look & feel! Keep for yourself, or give to your favorite Halloween-Lover! 

~Carol

The Imaginative Arts of Carol Ochs

Soap, Art, Fiber.....

Bewitching Witch Art! Happy Halloween!

 

Tis the season...for ENCHANTMENT! Some of us feel it all year long, others think of October as *the magical season*! Whenever you're in the mood to be bewitched, a little magic hanging on your walls will certainly add to the ambiance of something we all seek--magic in our lives! (And we all know what real magic is...L.O.V.E.!)

(Greeting cards & gifts available, too!) 

Love,

~Carol

Enchantasies - Bewitching Witch Art

Halloween Preparations.....

Need a great/delicious/healthy/low fat and NATURALLY ORANGE treat for Halloween festivities? Hummus Dip! SO easy: 4 cans of garbonzo beans -rinsed & drained, 2 red peppers cored and sliced, 3 tblsp of olive oil, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 2 tablsp chopped onion, 1 tsp lemon juice, salt & pepper to taste...throw it all in the food processor and voila! Serve with blue corn chips for black/blue & orange appetizers! 

 

Just finished another scarf in the wee hours of my crocheting evenings.....Black Witch Lace Crocheted Scarf! Fancy & fun to dress-up your outfits, doubles as a shoulder-cozy! I plan to wear mine with my witch outfit Halloween...but know I'll be wearing my own throughout holiday season! $40 @ http://www.carolochs.com/fiber-art.php

The Soap Workshop has been busily humming along with many orders!  So happy to see so many stores anxious to stock their shelves with soap merchandise again!  A wee turn in the economy!   Art is, well....*new art* anyway is not getting done as much as I'd like to be doing it (as is usual this time of year for me), but our existing prints and gifts are available and selling!  We hope to have a new holiday print available soon and available on gift items through our Zazzle store and for holiday cards!  Look for that announcement coming soon!  

This weekend is a special one!  Halloween is always one of my family's favorite celebrations, starting the night before.  All three of my grown kids come home and we imbibe hot spiced cider, enjoy dipping into great vats of potion (SOUP!  My famous beer chili and corn chowder!), chunks of hot buttered autumn breads, a huge salad...and of course, pumpkin pie for dessert.  There's also traditional plain brown doughnuts--round symbols of eternal life.  And we pause to remember & reflect upon all of our dear loved ones and friends who have passed....feeling their presence amongst up. 

 Then on to the CARVING!  Our BIGGEST pumpkin this year is 103 pounds!  You have to carve largies like that very carefully though!  Too large of cut-out parts and the whole face will collapse!  Trust me....I learned the hard way...and many boxes of toothpicks and chopsticks later! 

So after work today, I'll begin firing up the kitchen for prepartions!  OH...and dusting off the costume!!

OH!  And YES......preparing my favorite potion of ALL!

 

 Then my work will be complete! 

Mwhahahahahahahahahaha!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend, too!

POOF!

~Carol

Only 17 more days!

Muwahahahaaaaa!  What to wear?  What to wear?

I've had my nose to the grindstone for so many days, I haven't looked up to have some Halloween fun!  Today I will devote some serious time to deciding which witch costume to wear! 

For those of you who also like to get into the spirit, and stir your own cauldron...here's our traditional Corn Chowder recipe I make every Halloween!  Enjoy!

- CORN CHOWDER -

4 slices bacon, chopped

1 large sweet onion, chopped

3 medium potatoes, pared & diced

2  1/2 cups water

1/4 flour

1/2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp.  pepper

2 cans whole kernel corn (1 lb. each)

1 tall can evaporated milk

Cook bacon until crisp in large pot.  Set aside to drain.  Saute onion in same pot until soft.  Add potatoes, 2 cups of the water, salt, pepper, cover.  Simmer 15 minutes or until tender.  Stir in corn & evaporated milk.  Blend flour with remaining water and stir into chowder.  Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat until chowder thickens and bubbles.   Stir in chopped bacon & serve.  10 - 12 servings

Optional add-ins:  2 cups cooked chicken cut into chunks, 1/2 cup diced green pepper.

Delicious served with cornbread, and I always add whole kernal corn to my cornbread recipe!  YUM!

Sometimes I amaze myself with my DUH-ness!

I am notorious for multi-tasking.....flitting between stuff I'm in the middle of at any given moment. However multi-tasking is really only a worthy talent when you do it EFFECTIVELY......

I was carrying my load of orders to-go-out to the front porch for my mail carrier guy to pick up and smelled the most wonderful scent on the air---just like roasting pumpkins! And who doesn't LOVE the smell of roasting pumpkins??? :::aaaaahhhh!!!::: Made several trips and got all the packages out. The pumpkin scent continued to grow STRONGER! HMMMM! Delicious! Got me thinking about Halloween already as my mind skipped-ahead past a hot summer in-store to my most favorite season--autumn! Went back to cleaning up the workshop...and still that wonderful pumpkin scent grew STRONGER STILL! Who the heck is roasting pumpkins in June?, I thought.

Well DUH me, I went in the house and it was a pot of peas & carrots I'd put on the stove to boil for lunch and the water had all boiled away! Isn't it when you start doing stuff like that, that your kids put a leash on you and take away stove privileges??? :::gulp::: Honest Folks...I'm not luzenit...yet! Just too many things going on at once. Next time I shall set a timer, I promise!

But FYI...if you ever want to enjoy the heavenly scent of Halloween pumpkins roasting in June or whenever...burn a pot of peas & carrots! LOL! My helpful tidbit for the day.....