Archives: Uncategorized

Chicken Squawk!

Just squawking around the chicken coop today!

I’m loving this wafer paper as wings and feathers. So fun!

Squawk squawk! Trouble at the hen house! ?

Here’s one of the chicken’s in all it’s painted glory! I also played with some Photoshop brushes. I’m trying to figure out how to make my imagery more flat for publication purposes.

Thanks for viewing the hen house!

Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Recipe is below if you want to skip my long drawn out explanation of why I chose to make a gluten free vegan cookie. 
 
I don’t talk about my health often, but I’ve seen some differences and have experienced some positive change from just eliminating certain things from my diet. I would be lying to say that it has been easy. Try being a baker and not being able to indulge in all the things that you bake!!! I’m hoping that I will be able to reintroduce these items back into my diet someday, but for now, I’m testing out all kinds of recipes, to see which ones I can alter to replace the crunchy, decadent buttery flavors that I am craving!!! 
 
For those of you who have known me for awhile, you know how much trouble I have had with excema. It started about 15 years ago when I decided to stop taking allergy shots that I had been taken for over a year. It was getting more and more difficult to go to the allergy specialist office regularly, and I really had not seen much results. Little did I know that it had actually been helping all along. 
 

My excema had gotten so bad that I couldn’t wear shorts or even short sleeve shirts and I would wake up in the middle of the night itching like a dog. It was and sometimes still can be so unpleasant! I’m still in the healing stages. Just last night I introduced orange juice and I had a   reaction. 🙁


So after many years of feeling the itch, seeing allergy specialist, and several dermatologist, I decided to try an elimination diet. I cut out everything except turkey, lamb, veggies (except tomatoes and potatoes), fruit (except citrus), herbal teas and honey. 
 
I had also been suffering from tightness in my shoulders and upper body and both my hands were completely numb when I woke up in the morning. In just a few days of being on the elimination diet I noticed that these things disappeared. I think that cutting out sugar had a huge part in this and maybe by eliminating things that I was sensitive too made the inflammation in my body disappear. I’m not a doctor, but I feel like food can really play a big part in how you feel! 
 
So after figuring out the things that I was sensitive to, I decided to leave them out of my diet for awhile. At least until my skin heals. (I used the app mySymtoms to keep my diary) 
 
Sorry for the long post to get to the recipe. I felt I should share as to why I’ve chosen to make a gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookie. Maybe some of you have had a similar experience, I would love to know that I am not the only one that has had to figure these things out. Modern medicine has its place, but figuring out what your own body needs and doesn’t need is something we should all do. 
 
I think it’s very tasty cookie and turned out much better than I had expected! Even my very picky 10 year old likes it! 
 
So here it is…
 
GF Vegan Chocolate Chip Recipe
Preheat oven to 375 F.
 
1 1/4 cups of oat flour
1 cup brown rice flour 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. potato starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
4 oz. organic coconut oil (melted)
4 oz. organic shortening (melted) 
3/4 cup sugar 
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 Tb flaxseed soaked in 5 Tb. water 
( I also added 2 Tb flaxseed chai and Cocoa mixture with the flax seed water mixture, but it’s not nessasary)
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans
 
Soak flax seed with water.
 
Combine the flours, potato starch, salt, baking soda, and xanthan gum in a bowl and mix with a whisk. 
 
In the kitchen aid or large bowl mix melted shortening, coconut oil, sugars and vanilla. Whisk in flaxseed and water mixture.  Stir in the flour mixture until combined. ( the more you mix the flour mixture in the chewers do less crunchy your cookie will be. This is from activating the xanthan gum, I personally like crunchy cookies, so I didn’t mix it too much.) 
 
If possible let dough sit an hour or two or refrigerate overnight. I couldn’t wait than long, so I went ahead and started baking immediately! 
 
I used an ice cream scoop to scoop out the cookies and I rolled them into a ball shape then flattened the into 2 1/2 to 3 inch cookies and placed about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until cookies are golden brown, about 12-14 minutes. Cookies will be delicate straight out of the oven, so let them cool on the cookie sheet a couple minutes then transfer to a rack to cool. They may be kept in airtight containers for several days. 
 
Enjoy! 
 
This recipe was inspired from Alice Medrich’s chocolate chip cookies recipe. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

My Recent Submissions

My submission of a full colored handcrafted dummy booklet, 
SASE, a postcard with check boxes, and the manuscript. 
I recently submitted a finished picture book to several publishers. At the moment I do not have an agent, so I am responsible for all inquiries. It is not an easy task nor is it inexpensive. I spent a lot of time and energy researching, printing, and constructing my book dummy. I sent out 9 packages in the mail to various publishers. (9 doesn’t seem like a lot but when each package cost about $20 each, it starts to adds up!) I have received 4 of my packages back, 1 never reached the publisher, 2 with form letters, and one that I was very pleased with. It wasn’t a contract but it was a form letter with a personal note attached to it. I want to thank Al Krysan from Finney Company for taking the time to actually write something positive and constructive. Just a few personal notes from an editor or art director gives me a little hope that maybe someday I will be able to share my stories and illustrations. 
Personal note from Al Krysan, Finney Company.
And the form letters…
Boyds Mill Press enclosed the 2013 Highlights Children’s Writers and Illustrators workshop calendar. It was a nice addition to the form letter but, I’m not sure if it was for my enrichment or that my writing was so bad they thought I could use some help! I’ll assume it is for perfecting my craft of writing and illustrating. 🙂

The Adventures of Emery the Candy Man

The Adventures of Emery The Candy Man is available to purchase! This is a book that I produced with a professor,  Eileen E. Morrison from the School of Health Administration at Texas State University. 

Candy Man is a story that Eileen used to tell her little sister, Beth. When Beth grew up, she still remembered Candy Man and his many adventures. Eileen grew up too and now she teaches grown up children. She hopes you like her story.
Eileen has other text books that she has produced. Click here to purchase Eileen’s text books off of Amazon.com.
I hope you will like The Adventures of the Candy Man. It will be available on Amazon in 5-7 days and on various other store online soon. 
I will try to get some fun free things to go along with the Candy Man story. Look for them in the future.

Elf Buddy’s Gingerbread Cookies

This was so much fun to create. I wanted to share where Buddy got the recipe for the cookies. They are called gingerbread cupids from the Martha Stewart cookbook. Recipe below if you would like my version of the “elf size gingerbread cookies recipe”. Martha has a similar recipe online. It is found here at Martha Stewarts gingerbread recipe. This one has ground pepper in it.
Amazon carries the micro mini cookie cutters  that I used for the itty bitty cookie shapes. And for the icing I used Wilton’s royal icing recipe.  The cookies only took about 3 minutes to cook. I iced the cookies first with what ever color I wanted then I dipped them in crystalized sugar. All the sprinkles should be found out your local grocery store, hobby lobby, Michael’s or any other craft shop.
Have fun baking! It’s not only cute but delicious!
Elf size Gingerbread Cookies:

2 sticks of butter

3/4 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs

4 1/2 cups sifted flour
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 ground cloves
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups molasses ( I use grandma’s molasses)
Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until mixture is smooth. Sift together dry ingredients and gradually add them to the butter mixture, beating until well combined. Stir in the molasses and beat well. (The dough will be very gooey at this point) You may add extra flour if it is too sticky. Divide the dough into quarters and wrap in parchment paper that has been well floured. Chill the dough for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 375º
Make sure you only work with one of the dough quarters at a time. The dough does best when it is chilled. On a well floured surface, roll one dough quarter into 1/8th inch thickness. ( I will roll mine out onto a parchment paper and remove excess dough so that I don’t have to move the cookies before I bake them)
Using cookie cutters, cut the dough into desired shapes. Carefully place them on parchment-lined baking sheets. (you may need a thin metal spatula for this). Bake 8-10 minutes, until the edges just begin to color. (For Elf cookies bake for 3 minutes) Let cool on racks.
Parchment lined cookie sheets may be reused. Or look at purchasing silpats for baking on. They last through multiple use. I love mine.
Ice cookies with Royal icing made from Wilton Meringue powder.
Happy Baking! 🙂

I have been preoccupied with little goatlings lately, but I wanted to thank Helen Juhasz for nominating me a liebster blog award. She is a fellow illustrator. Check out her blog.

“The Liebster Award is given to loveable blogs with less than 200 followers to recognize worthiness and drive more readers to them…. and hopefully generate higher follower numbers.

I am super-grateful for this nomination and for anyone who appreciates my work! I met Helen through the 21-day Comment Challenge this past January, which was put on by Lee Wind, MotherReader and SCBWI. It has been exciting to communicate with other writers and illustrators.

As a recipient I need to share 5 “things” about myself. Hmm…
1. I live each day to the fullest and try to remind others to do the same!
2. I love drawing, painting and writing
3. Observing my children is a daily occupation…who knows a book may come out of it!
4. I milk Goats.
5. I’m a half Japanese/half German American with a Texas accent.

So here’s how it works:

“Liebster means “dearest” in German, and the award is intended to help up-and-coming blogs get the attention they deserve. As with any award, there is a bit of ceremony involved. In order to accept the award, we must do the following:

*  Copy and paste the award on our blog.
*  Link back to the blogger who gave us the award.
*  Pick our five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
*  Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs.”

Now, the fun part! I get to pass on this honor to the following 5 nominees:

1. Medea – Check out her blog! She is a Canadian mom raising bilingual children in Japan! She has some great information on literature. She also reviews kit lit that is related to Canada and Japan.

2. Diandra Mae – Is a friend, the IC for Houston SCBWI , and a wonderful Illustrator, blogger and busy mom! She shares and amazing amount of children lit information!

3. Lisa Medway – A fellow professor, friend and writer. Lisa and I met at the SCBWI Conference in LA 2011. She is such a delight!

4. Jerry Bennett – is a friend, the IC for Oklahoma SCBWI and amazing graphic novelist/illustrator. We met through the SCBWI conference in LA 2011. He is so fun to be around. Jerry recently won an award for Oklahoma Comic Creators event.

5. Larry Felder – is a fellow artist and friend who recently moved to Costa Rica. Larry shares how he paints any thing related to the beautiful surroundings he is living in. He also has Felder Gallery in Port Aransas, Texas where you can purchase his original artwork.

Thanks Ya’ll! Have a great Day!

13 baby goats and counting!

Wow, What a week! My mama goats have been so busy. While I went to the Austin Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator’s Conference in Austin Texas, my little goats have been popping out babies! I am soon going to make a blog dedicated to all things goat.

First milk of the season!
Today I got 1.5 gallons of milk off of 6 mama’s. They are also feeding their babies so I am guessing that they are producing double that amount of milk. Which means they are more than likely producing half a gallon of milk per goat. Who knew that goats could produce so much milk!
So, yesterday I made feta cheese. mmmm….

“Out with the old, in with the new.”

So it is about time that I went through my closet and cleared out some things. It was a sad relief to let it all go but life must go on. I just donated to the San Antonio Train Museum several of my father’s trains. He had collected HO, N, NN and Z scale trains since he was a young boy. I had held on to them for my children and my brother, but video games, computers and internet have all replaced the wonder of these tiny engines. There are still a few people who enjoy these tiny gems and I hope that they will all get a chance to interact with all the toys my father acquired. He will be happy to know that someone is enjoying them instead of them sitting in my closet.

Here is a small sketch of the Der Adler by minitrix, nn-scale.

Next Page →
Follow Me
Past Interviews
Search
Recent Post
© 2023 Akiko White