Homemade Wine Making

Wow! I have been super busy getting a new site ready for a client - so much so that I haven't had much time for doing my research for a niche I might get into. One topic that looks interesting to me is that of Grape Growing and Winemaking. I used to live in northern New Mexico where there are a fair number of people growing grapes and making wine. In fact, one of my sisters and her husband have a small vineyard of their own. So I did some looking around on the web and found a site that gives some basics of homemade wine making. They even have a free 10-part MiniCourse Introduction to Growing Grapes and Homemade Wine Making so I signed up and am now on lesson 2 - so far its a really good course, much better than a lot of email courses I've sign up for in the past.

I'll be posting other niche ideas - if you have any experience in those niches I hope you will post a comment and let me know how they are working for you. Thanks, Megan

All Kinds of Dogs in Costumes

Things have been kind of busy around here lately, but not too busy for a bit of fun. If you think dogs in costumes are cute and fun the check out this Puppy Dog Costumes site over at Weebly - they have some pretty cute videos. My favorite are the Dog Wedding Videos
but the Haute Dog Easter Parade is pretty cute too ;P

later, Megan

Olive Garden Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Did you know Olive Garden is publishing its recipes on its website ??? You can find them here

(you can get gift card here)

meanwhile:

Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Prep Time:	30 minutes
Cook Time:	30 minutes
Serving Size:	Serves 4

Ingredients
2 fresh artichokes
1 lemon, juice squeezed
1 tsp salt
OR
1 14-oz can artichoke hearts, drained and sliced

1 lb cream cheese, room temperature
8 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
5 green onions, chopped
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1 6-oz pack fresh spinach, chopped
8 slices crusty Italian bread
Extra virgin olive oil (to drizzle)

Procedures
Preheat oven to 325ºF.
PREPARATION WITH FRESH ARTICHOKES

1. BOIL artichokes in 3 quarts water with 1 tsp salt and lemon juice.
2. COOL artichokes. Clean, peel, remove center “choke” and slice artichoke.
3. FOLLOW Dip Preparation steps below using fresh artichokes.

DIP PREPARATION

1. MIX all ingredients in a large bowl, except bread and extra virgin olive oil.
2. COAT a large non-stick baking pan with pan spray; fill pan with mixture. Bake at 325ºF for about 25 minutes or until bubbling and center is hot.
3. DRIZZLE both sides of bread with extra virgin olive oil. Grill bread on both sides.
4. SPRINKLE top of heated dip with parmesan cheese. Serve hot with grilled bread.