SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE: "On The Move"

Here's our Monthly Treasury  

From a doctor's bag to jumping horses, we were on the move in this lovely treasury!

As usual, our diversified team chose several different items as their favs but the turtle, appropriately, won the race... so to speak.

 Isn't it cute!!

Hand knitted toy  by Alexis of The Yarnery.


Thanks everyone for your support and we'll see you all next month for our challenge:
Winter White/Summer Sun

Stop by and add your item to our entries... come and join us if you are an expat or a would be/has been expat @  https://www.etsy.com/teams/6612/etsy-expats
Look forward to seeing you there.


posted by Linda of JustOneLook

September Member of the Month: BloomingtailsDogDuds

September brings us to our next member of the month ... Sally of BloomingtailsDogDuds.

Sally is one of our newer members and has jumped right into being an active one, making treasuries and always ready to chat.

She has an adorable model to help her sell her doggy clothes.
Seen here.. Dominque or as Sally refers to her as:

Dom the Pom

Sally, who now resides in Florida, spent some time in Iran and was happy to share a little bit about herself with us.

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I'm so happy to have been chosen September MOM, and what a great Team this is! The camaraderie and the opportunities for promotion of items, including the competitions and Treasury games, are awesome!

I originally stumbled upon this Team as a result of one of my items being Favorite'd by Etsy Expats, and this former expat hopped right on board. My expat experience dates back to 1974-1979, when my then-husband and I lived in Ahwaz, Iran (he was on loan from Gulf Oil to Oil Services Company of Iran). Until the political situation there went haywire in 1979, I thoroughly enjoyed living there, having had a lifelong interest in international people, places and things. Living in a foreign country is likely to enhance personal growth, and having been subjected to death threats, like the other Americans during the last few months of 1978, gave me a greater appreciation for life and what it has to offer.

Thanks, everyone, for a great Team! 

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Here are some of the items we have been featuring this month from Sally's shop:

An Autumn Coat with Notched Collar

1.  Ready for bed in flannel pj's

Look at the pose!

2.  Small dog's dress

3.  Pink Polka Dot Dress

4.  Bow tie

These are just a few of Sally's items.  She offers over 120 items in her shop.  Do check it out. 

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Sally has posted a traditional Iranian recipe on our team and here we share with you the recipe for Chelou:

Chelou, which "is simply cooked buttered rice baked in the oven in such a way as to form a crunchy crust on the bottom of the pan." This crust is known in Farsi as the "ta-deeg."

"Wash thoroughly one pound long-grain rice. Fill a 4-quart saucepan with water and bring to a boil. When boiling steadily, add rice and 3 tablespoons salt and boil uncovered for 7-10 minutes over high heat." Gently stir occasionally. It is done when cooked at the core. Remove from heat, drain in a colander, and rinse with warm water. 

"Heat a heavy-bottomed saucepan or fireproof casserole over a low flame and add 2 tablespoons butter or margarine mixed with 1 tablespoon hot water, and swirl pan to coat evenly. Mix 1/2 cup of the rice with 1 slightly beaten egg yolk and spread over the bottom of the pan. Fill the pan with the remaining rice and mound it in the center, then with a spoon handle, form a deep crater at the top of the mound. Cover and bake in a 350F oven for 15 minutes. Remove cover and sprinkle rice with 2 or 3 tablespoons butter mixed with 2 tablespoons hot water. Cover and bake 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven and place on cool surface for 10 minutes; this makes it easier to remove the brown crust from the bottom of the pan. Remove cover and stir gently. Turn onto a warm serving dish. Serves 3.

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A Persian stew ("khoresh"), an accompaniment to chelou:

Fessenjon (serves 6)

1 large onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons butter or cooking oil
1 pound chicken or duck
1/2 pound chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon flour
1/3 cup hot water
1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
salt to taste
juice of 1 or 2 lemons (optional)
1 small eggplant
cooking oil 
1 1/2 teaspoons cardamom powder

Saute the onion with the pepper and turmeric in the butter or the oil until well browned. Remove onions and drain. Sprinkle the poultry with the flour and chopped walnuts and saute for a few minutes longer. Add water, pomegranate juice and salt to taste and, if you like a sourer dish, the lemon juice. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

Peel eggplant, cut lengthwise into 6 or 8 pieces, sprinkle each piece with salt, and stack one on top of the other for a few minutes to drain. Then rinse in cold water, dry, and saute in hot oil until lightly browned on both sides. Arrange the eggplant on top of the poultry, partially cover, and simmer over low heat until the eggplant is tender and a rich, brown gravy rises to the top. Add powdered cardamom, stir well but gently, and cook about 5 minutes longer. Serve with chelou.


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posted by Linda of JustOneLook

August Challenge: "I Spy"

...................... with my little eye something beginning with

"A"

A fun treasury!  

A is for Animals, Antique, Amber, Authentic, Aqua, Apron, Accessory..... well you get it.

What a lovely selection... some items sold before we had chance to show them off and a couple of shops were on their hols. Eventually we had a wonderful showing again for our theme.

This time we had a tie between Jaime's fun little farm animals ............

Vintage wooden farm animals

and Betti's 

lovely amber nuno felted scarf

Congratulations to both of you! 

Thank you all for your support and we hope to see you back for our next month's challenge.

"On The Move" .  This time it will be the last Monday in September so stop by and see what a lovely mix we have next time.


posted by Linda of Just One Look

August Member of the Month: PeonyForest

Terrier Brooch

Our member of the month this month is Elena of PeonyForest .

Elena has been an active member of the Etsy Expat Team for quite some time.

Originally from Russia, Elena first came to the US with her family to follow her father's scientific research where she landed in California.

In her own words she then " bounced around the country a bit" and has now settled in Upstate New York due to her husband's research.

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Here she shares a story with us and a photo of her lovely companion.



Most of my creative process takes place at home and, really, there is just one companion who witnesses all the ups and downs - 
my dog, Annie. 
She is a Kerry Blue terrier, also known as Irish blue. Isn't she pretty? And soft, very soft. 
The best thing, of course, is that she is happy to see me no matter what mood I am in. The tail is an indicator of her mood: wagging is happy, up means that she is on look out for squirrels (or really anything that might be passing by our yard, like bikes, walking people, deer), and down means one of two things, either she is eating something very tasty or she is disappointed. 
We do get along though. She is a constant source of enthusiasm.

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Elena has a few different handmade items in her Etsy shop.. the most recent being her clear votive sleeves

. 
Here is just a sample of some more of her lovely items:

These magnetic lamp inserts are intriguing.  What a fabulous idea and customizable too!  
Elena has a good selection of these in her shop.  

Under The Sea Magnetic Lamp

Indoor or outdoor bunting

Secret Heart

and if you want to do-it-yourself .... follow these instructions .........
Lop Eared Bunny PDF pattern




This is a hand cut and painted sleeve ... pretty home decor



Clear acrylic votive with green fern fronds or your choice of Autumnal reds and yellows.

Pop into Peony Forest and browse to see what you can find to add a little fun and colour to your home.

July Challenge: Waiting For A Letter

Waiting for a letter, any letter, in any way, shape or form...................................
here is our team turnout for this challenge treasury

Voting stays open for 48 hours then our winner will be announced so pop in and cast your vote... one vote per seller... then stop back in to see which item was chosen.

Enjoy:)

and our winner is..........................................

Rachael of HookStitchTreasure with her lovely vintage New York postcards.

Congratulations!!  

Our Member of the Month for July

This month our featured seller is Debbie, a Florida native now living in South Africa who has two gorgeous Etsy shops.

One is called Singing Heart Jewelry Designs  where she offers her handmade jewelry featuring many gorgeous shells and beads.
Here are just a couple of examples:

Beadwork Necklace

Sterling silver with green beads and shell pendant

~~~~~~~~~~~~~The other Etsy shop is called Nomadah Photography   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~


 where Debbie offers us a peak into her wonderful world of animals and nature.
So many close encounters with wild and exotic animals and fascinating aspects of South African scenery.  Totally awesome photography!

       Such a tough choice as to which ones to feature!!  

Leopard - Hippo - Baboon - Elephant - Zebra - Lily Pad

All these pictures and more can be seen in Debbie's shop.

We will be back with more items to feature and a little bit about Debbie before the month is up so don't forget to check back!

June Team Challenge: Through Thick and Thin

Our team challenge for June has been put together into a lovely treasury  for you all to go and view.

Please comment, and vote for your favourite item.  Voting stays open for 48 hours.

Check back on Wednesday to see who our winner is this time!

Take a look here and go vote.  All are welcome to vote... one vote per person.  Enjoy :)


................and we have another tie !

............. between ChicChixnChampagne's pretty crocheted poncho  shown here

and SewFineFashions' ring bearer's pillow

Well done!

A great turnout team!  Thanks for coming by and commenting and voting.

Don't forget to swing by to support our next team challenge at the beginning of August.








Posted by Linda of JustOneLook for EtsyExpats

Great Basin National Park

One of our talented team members, Shannon Meyer, has written a great article about Nevada's National Park.

Shannon recently wrote a wonderful piece for us about the Netherlands National Holiday, called 'Going Orange' which you can find on this blog.
Unfortunately we had trouble sharing photos.
Until we work out a better way to share our pictures, we are just going to share the link to her blog here.  So go ahead and click to take you on a trip to the Great Basin National Park.

Enjoy:)


Posted by Linda of JustOneLook for EtsyEpats.

Etsy Teams. You're Not alone!

Recently, I read this blog article by Just Michele.  

I knew many of our expat team would be able to relate to this and asked for her permission to post the link here for you all to read.

The internet has brought so many of us, who would never have otherwise had the opportunity to meet, so close together.  Our expat team is a testament to this.  We chat as though we have known each other all our lives.  Some of us have even met in various parts of the world and shared our stories with the rest.  We welcome new members with open arms and nobody need feel like a stranger.

It is wonderful to know that no matter how alone you may be feeling in your own little corner of the world that there are others, just like you, who understand and are there to talk to when you need a friend.

An offered virtual cup of tea and piece of cake is there to feed our souls and comfort us when we need a little support.  To many this may sound silly but to those who have moved miles away from everything and everyone they are close to, it is so welcome.

Our team is growing and there are many who join in our daily chat and/or promotional games.  Thank you Etsy for your teams.  Where would we be without them?

If you would like to be a part of our Etsy Expat Team, you can go to our home page and request membership.  Our rules of engagement are few and we accept expats, re-pats, would-be expats and world travellers.

Come join us... kettle's on!



Posted by Linda of JustOneLook for Etsy Expats

Member of the Month for June

Well another month and another name was chosen from Monique's fabulous bowl and this time it is ...............
Angela of TomaydoTomato. !!





Congratulations Angela.  Your turn for a month of being featured by our Expat team in treasuries, your own Pinterest board, Facebook and just generally spoiling you :)  Enjoy!


Angela, as you may guess from her shop name, is not a native of America, although that is where she is presently residing and working on her wonderful Etsy shop.

Originally from the North East of England she has found herself in very different surroundings in Tucson, Arizona.  You can read in her own words all about her travels on her Etsy shop profile page.  Just click and check it out:)  and her About Etsy page here.
You can also find out more too if you keep reading :)

Angela is one of our newest team members and we are all enjoying finding items in her lovely shop to feature.
This 1960's Corvette is definitely one of our favouirtes, as so many of us chose


this gorgeous car print to display.














There are so many other really great prints too but this is top choice this month!


Along with the prints of so many famous places and unique items, Angela makes handmade, personalized gifts
Her shadow box prints are a lovely way to acknowledge and commemorate someone special.

Personalized shadow box 

Handmade jewelry is another lovely gift option Angela offers in her Etsy shop.  Here are a few:


Natural Amethyst Gemstone
Red and Pink Glass Pendant
Red Jasper Gemstone Pendant
Wood and Turquoise Bead Earrings



Angela has a couple of recipes she would like to share with us and prints of her home town and some of Georgia & Arizona:

Originally from the UK.

I was born and bred in England. What is English cuisine, we are always asked? Well the thing we always make our new friends, is Yorkshire Pudding, or Toad in the Hole to be precise! 
I have no idea where the name came from, but it’s fun to see their faces when I tell them what we are having for dinner.


YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS

Ingredients: Half a pint of milk, 4oz plain flour, a pinch of salt and 3 eggs.
Method: Mix it all together!

Yorkshire puddings should be cooked in Yorkshire Pudding tins, which are difficult to obtain in foreign parts. You could use a muffin tray? When making Toad in the Hole you need one large tin, a large baking pan, or a loaf tin is perfect for 2 or 3 people. (The ingredients serve 4, so if you are making a large one double up.)

The oven needs to be hot, and the oil does too. So have the oven heated to 250/475/9, put the oil in the tin(s) and heat it till it’s smoking hot. Then remove and pour the mixture into the wells of the tin. When making Toad in the Hole, cook the sausages in the oil in the oven first, then remove and add the mixture.

Return to the oven. Do not open the door for at least 20 minutes!!! It will collapse! 
The batter will bubble and rise, and become fluffy inside bit golden and crisp on the outside. Yum!

Serve with mashed potato and onion gravy…..



Prints of my home town of Newcastle:

The Tyne Bridge 

Gateshead, UK

High Level Bridge

Swing Bridge

Views of the Tyne Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne / Gateshead, UK







Now living in the U.S.A.

In 2009 we moved to Acworth, which is NW Atlanta, Georgia. 
I was sent a Jamie Oliver cookbook as a Christmas Gift a couple of years ago - ‘Jamie’s America’, which a thought was a little weird at the time…. An English book by an English chef, sent from England… to America. Anyway I am glad they did, as it contains one of my favorite recipes – a southern staple:

GUMBO

This takes around 2 hours to make, but OMG it’s so worth it. We love it. I make it at least once a month.

These are the ingredients for 6 to 8 people:
Meat: 4 chicken thighs, and 4 chicken drumsticks. (If I am making it for the 2 of us, I use 1 pack of thighs, or drumsticks, or 1 chicken leg is just as good.) Leave the skin on! You can take it off later.
Also a pack of Andouille sausages, or fresh chorizo sausage – thickly sliced. And 4 rashers of bacon, but I tend not to have bacon, so just leave that out and it doesn’t affect the taste.
Spice: A teaspoon of paprika, and a teaspoon of cayenne.
Erbs: It’s spelt with an H? Sprigs of Thyme, and 4 bay leaves.
Veg: A large onion, and four sticks of celery, finely chopped. A green pepper and a yellow pepper (I just use one for the two of us). 6 cloves of garlic. Sweet potatoes (one large or 2 smaller ones if fine for 2 people). Do not forget the sweet potatoes!
3 heaped tablespoons of plain flour. (I am gluten free, and corn or chickpea or potato flour all work fine.)
Chicken stock. He says 1.5 litres, but I just go with my gut on this….

Season the chicken with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. 
Fry the chicken, sausage and bacon in a large pot, on high, for 15 minutes, till it is golden brown and crispy. (You really do need a large pot, as everything ends up in that pot cooking together.)
Remove the meat, turn down the heat, add the onion, celery, and peppers and fry in the meat fat for 10 mins.
Add the flour - to make a roux. He says 10 minutes, or if you prefer darker 20 to 30 minutes! I’d stay I stick with this for 5 to 10 minutes….
Add the garlic, sweet potatoes, all the meat, thyme, bay leaves, and stir for a minute, then add the chicken stock. Bring it to the boil, then simmer for 45 minutes. (I use enough stock to cover everything. Too little is better than too much? You want it thick, not watery! You can always add more later?)
After 45 mins, take the chicken out and shred it off the bone. Throw away the bones and skin, and add the meat back into the pot.

Jamie adds chopped parsley and spring onions, but I don’t bother with garnish!
Serve with rice. Yummy yum yum – spicy meat and the sweetness of the potato


Prints of North Georgia:  Click to view more.  

Big Chicken Blue, Marietta

Lake Ackworth

Cartersville Depot, Georgia

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October 2012 we moved to Tucson, Arizona. We actually live in Sahuarita, which is south of Tucson, about 30 / 40 miles from the Mexican Border. I can’t say I ate much Mexican food in Newcastle, nor when I lived in London either – it wasn’t available. But there are Mexican restaurants all over America, and we had several favorites near where we lived in Georgia, and even more now here. 
I mentioned before I was Gluten Free, and it is such a joy to go to a restaurant where I can eat most of what’s on the menu! If it’s not on the menu they will usually put whatever it is into a corn tortilla too. Except for a burrito, which is always a large flour tortilla - but they are the size of a small baby?! 
I’d never had mole before living in Arizona – spicy chocolate sauce - OMG I get to eat chicken with chocolate!!! I digress….. 

The main thing we get here in Arizona, which I’d never had before in Georgia, is Tamale’s. A tamale can be filled with meat, cheese, fruit, or vegetables, which is wrapped in masa (a starchy dough, usually corn-based), which is then steamed or boiled in the actual husk of the corn!

TAMALES
Ingredients: 2 cups masa harina (Mexican corn flour), 
1 10oz can beef broth,
1 teaspoon baking powder,
1/2 teaspoon salt, 2/3 cup lard (yes – lard!),
1 (8 ounce) package dried corn husks, and whatever ingredients you want for the filling you want for your Tamales.

Cook the meat or vegetables, etc you want for your tamales. Meanwhile soak the corn husks in a bowl of warm water. 

In a large bowl, beat the lard with a small amount of broth until fluffy. Mix the masa harina, baking powder and salt together, and then stir this into the lard mixture. Add more broth as necessary, to form a spongy dough.
Spread the dough over the corn husks a quarter to a half inch thick. Place a tablespoon of filling into the center, and then roll the husks in. Steam the tamales for 1 hour.
Remove tamales from the husks and drizzle with sauce. They usually use as green or red chile sauce, or I have had them with a cream sauce too. A quick option is to mix chili sauce into sour cream.

You can tell I have never actually cooked these? Lots of restaurants serve them. You can buy them at the supermarkets. And we have taco trucks! and makeshift cafes at the side of the road! Who needs to cook?


Prints of my new home in Southern Arizona:  

San Xavier

Tumacacori Granary

Pueblo Hotel, Tucson, Arizona

       
Thanks for reading. Happy eating! 
And thanks again for all of your support to me as June MoM x

  
It was our pleasure Angela!!  Thanks for the recipes.

Here's a grand finale treasury of your fabulous items.

Please swing by and check out Angela's shop.

You can find these unique items at TomaydoTomato





Posted by Linda of JustOneLook for Etsy Expats