Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallows

I recently asked my friend, Frank about his favorite dessert and he promptly told me it was sweet potato pie topped with marshmallows. Apparently it's known as "Soul Food" in the Southern US and although Frank isn't black, he does hail from Missouri.

Here in Canada, yams aka sweet potatoes are just becoming popular mainly because of pre-packaged foods coming across the border. I can't ever remember having ever eaten one but I had heard they're very healthy. When I googled them, the first thing I learned is that yams and sweet potatoes are actually two different vegetables. Up here we call them yams but in much of the States they're known as sweet potato and surprisingly there are quite a few different types grown throughout the world; the yams sold in our grocery stores are the orange fleshed, reddish-brownish-orangish skinned sweet potatoes masquerading as yams. They’re even more common than the standard sweet potato, sweeter, and containing a healthy starch that's great for a diabetic diet.

Now you might be wondering what all this has to do with miniatures and dollhouses!

I've long been in the habit of buying a real life food to get my clay just the right color when miniaturizing and so having googled my fill of recipes (for the ingredients) and photos of sweet potato pies (so I'd know how they looked), I set off to the local store to buy a few yams.


Once you've figured out your clay, what then, do you do with whatever you've brought home? Last year I bought at least 8 different types of squash but never had the desire to taste any of them....mostly because I'm not a very experimental cook and luckily I have a large composite bin.

This time, however, I was determined to do better and since I had to roast at least one yam so I could see if the baked changed color from the raw, I decided to find out whether they tasted as good as everyone claimed. I mashed my roasted yams with some butter and maple syrup and served them that night for supper. My husband, who categorically hates all vegetables and especially those he's never tried, pulled a face but surprisingly ate the rest without another complaint. My first taste made me realize why: they taste really good! I've even bought some more to mash and take to a Christmas potluck dinner.

So Frank, thank you... for "forcing" me out of my comfort zone!
For anyone else out there, who's not quite sure this is the right type of dish for them. Try it out on your dollshouse people first:I have three more preps, available in my Etsy store.

Steampunk

so what does the word steampunk really mean? Wikipedia tells us that...

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, and fantasy that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. It involves a setting where steam power is still widely used such as in Victorian era Britain or the "Wild West"-era of the United States. Works of steampunk often feature futuristic innovations as Victorians might have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, or art as seen by a member of a rebellious counterculture group. The technology includes such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or the contemporary authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld and China Mieville.

Huh!!

So how would ...could you show it in a miniatures setting? What do you use? Do you create something that could conceivably be used by your miniature people?
Or would you make it so futuristic that it has no rhyme or reason for being?

....and while you puzzle it out. Steampunk is generally shown using watch gears, wheels etc. ....if that helps.

I LOVE it!

....with those words, my customer announced the arrival of her ruins and sent this photo to me:
As an artist, there is no greater praise than to see your creation enjoyed!

Less than 45 Days til Christmas!

I went to my first Christmas show this week. Decorated theme Christmas trees everywhere you looked, two string orchestras ....one with a lady singing Christmas carols, a bit of wine and cheese, hot chocolate or coffee and the aisles overflowing with shopping carts loaded high with purchases. I read in the paper that this season will be the worst for retailers but at the show, you could have fooled me!

These are some photos of the Biltmore House in North Carolina, USA featuring Christmas traditions and folklore of France, Germany, India, Egypt and Italy with elements of the Vanderbilt family’s own Christmas traditions mixed in. On the front lawn, a 55-foot Norway spruce is lit by 45,000 tiny white lights.
Designed by Richard Morris Hunt, America’s largest home is a 250-room French Renaissance chateau, exhibiting the Vanderbilt family’s original collection of furnishings, art and antiques. The Biltmore estate encompasses more than 8,000 acres including renowned gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture.

The Biltmore modern-day Christmas celebration is modeled on the first 1895 Christmas, with an elaborately decorated, 34-foot tall Fraser Fir dominating the Banquet Hall.
How super would that be to miniaturize!

Endings and New Beginnings

My ruined castle is finally finished!


I hope I've given it enough of a damp and dank atmosphere to make Dracula feel at home.


....and the roombox give-away has closed as well. Congratulations go out to Aukje Tibbe in Holland who makes incredible needle point! We've talked about certain things for her roombox ....like steampunk! I had secretly hoped she might go for it and she did.
I am totally excited to start! So stay tuned.

A CSI Moment

This photo probably makes you think of Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffin show. What a nice old lady, you're thinking right?

Her name was Frances Glessner Lee and back during the 1940s she created a series of crime scene roomboxes for the Baltimore Maryland police force. They must have been extremely authentic because the dioramas were used to teach inexperienced police officers about different types of death scenes, as well as encourage them to use careful observation to spot "indirect" evidence for crime reconstruction.



You can read all about her amazing miniaturist career here

New WIP....in time for Halloween and a Give-away Announcement

Some time ago I had a customer ask me to make a roombox for her 1:12 Dracula rising from his castle. She also wanted a graveyard to show off some additional ghosties & skeletons. I immediately thought about how perfect a ruined castle would be....
Although there's not much more to do, other than make the interior of the ruins look just that little bit more dark and dank & give the graveyard grounds a spookier look, I doubt I'll have it ready this month but....
.... since Halloween is almost upon us, I thought I'd show you some more Work In Progress photos:






I didn't want Dracula feeling lonely so I added 3 little friends flying close to the stone walls....


So now for my give-away news..... unfortunately this is for facebook followers only:
I intend having a give-away of a 7"x9" roombox when I reach 100 likes on my OrrLakeMiniatures facebook page (winner to pay shipping).
Every person following gets one entry so you'd have a 1in100 chance of winning.

click here to like my OrrLakeMinis page