Dreamgoddess

about me

Umm...guess what movie premiers in theaters November 20, 2009! Can you tell I'm counting down the days??? LOL!





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I love cross-stitching and reading any and every book I can get my hands on. I love going antiquing on the weekends. I love reading and watching tv shows about the ancient world...Greece, Egypt, Rome. My dream is to one day travel to Greece...wish we had time travel - I'd love to travel to ANCIENT Greece.

Being born and raised in Alabama, I love southern comfort foods the best. Give me some black eyed peas, corn bread, collards, and fried chicken and I'm in heaven.

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I'm very proud to be the Forum Host for Table Setting & Decorating Ideas ...there is always something fun going on there!

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Swaps I've Participated In:

2003 Mini Swap (with Aunt Paula)
2005 Cookbooklet Swap (with pines506)
2005 Kitchen Towel Swap (with triviakat)
2005 Refrigerator Magnets Swap (with Terri Juwan)
2006 Anything Easter Swap (with Sandy From CA)
2006 Salt & Pepper Swap (with MarieAlice)

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!!Games and Events!!

PICK A CHEF

Adopted Quiltn99.


Adopted CaramelPie, JanetC-KY, Rita L, MSZANZ and lovecooking #2.


Adopted bayou-mimi, Momma Zakaria, Nick’s Mom and Baby Kato.


Adopted lizbits, knitaholic, snowangel and Michelle_your_Belle


Adopted Jeff S


Adopted Montana-GemBob and School Chef.


Adopted Princess Flowerbreath


Adopted cookin_nurse


Adopted Leann Bailey


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ZAAR WORLD TOUR

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Cavorting Chefs Rock!!

During the 2006 Zaar World Tour II, I am proud to have been a member of the Cavorting Chefs team. At the end of the tour, we had tied for !First Place! with the Quisine Queens. The charity we played for is Second Harvest and $500 was donated to them by Zaar.

I also hosted the Zaar World Tour Australian Challenge in the Seafood Forum.


We had a great time coming up with our pizza challenge recipe! The Cavorting Chef's Fabulous Fruit Pizza was a team effort with each member contributing an ingredient.

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For the 2007 Zaar World Tour III, I was Captain of The Naughty But Nice Gang! The charity we played for is Save The Children.

I hosted the Australia & New Zealand Challenge in the Dessert Forum. The first part of the challenge was to identify this dessert and who it was named for.

"Light and airy, this dessert dances along the taste buds. Created in the first half of the 1900’s, this dessert is too, too romantically ethereal. It is delicately lovely in presentation and one taste will make you feel as if you are soaring on wings. The dessert is “like a butterfly which appears and delights us for one brief moment but soon flits away”. This dessert will make a perfect swan song to your dining experience.

Traditionally attributed to being created in Australia, there has been some controversy that instead it was created in New Zealand."

I love this banner that was made for the challenge!


I also hosted the Spain & Portugal Challenge in the Desserts Forum. The Crusaders originally brought sugar to the Christian European countries when they returned from their campaigns. They called it “sweet salt”.


In the Seafood forum, I hosted the 2nd part of the Mexican seafood challenge "Plan it...Grill it...Wrap it Up.



The challenge that was the most fun for me was the Zaar Stars. My daughters had such fun creating their stars and the three of us together chose Charlotte J's Cheese Danish to prepare. We had a blast working on this challenge! Here are their Zaar Stars along with the danish.



After the tour came to an end, Peter made an exclusive pass for all us Non-Aussie/Kiwis to use so we could visit our Naughty friends in the Aus/NZ forum. Of course, we also have to provide the secret code words too... but 'nuff said about that!



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During ZWT 4, I was a member of the awesome Tastebud Tickling Travellers!



I had the fun job of being Mistress of the Cookbooks during the Tour. I was responsible for getting our team's recipes to the cookbook captains for inclusion in the regional cookbooks.



In the Table Settings and Decorating Ideas forum, I hosted the Romantic Greece challenge. Players had to stage a romantic Greek tablesetting and post photos of it. There were some gorgeous and very creative tablesettings done during this challenge!

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I hosted a table setting challenge for the Caribbean region. Each chef had to pick a spot in the Caribbean and and describe their location. Then they had to set a table with an island flavor. There were some great ideas and beautiful table showcased!

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MY 3 CHEFS

Theme was “Pies”


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AUSTRALIAN/NEW ZEALAND RECIPE SWAPS

April ‘08


May ‘08


Aug ‘08


June '09


July '09


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EVENTS IN THE PHOTO FORUM

March ‘08


April ‘08


May ’08 participated in honor of my uncle who died with cancer. I chose to make Nana's Lemon Supreme Cake by Marty Hugo.


July ‘08






April ‘09








June '09





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Comfort Cafe



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EVENTS IN THE ASIAN FORUM

March ‘08


April ‘09


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"Every Day is a Holiday"





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COOKATHONS


Beginning September 2006, NcMysteryShopper and I hosted a cookathon for Amy (better known in the Zaar world as Chef Redneck Epicurean). Amy was a disabled diabetic and we asked the Zaar community to join us in showing our support and good wishes for her.
The response to Amy's cookathon was overwhelming and a wonderful testament to how much she is loved here at Zaar. A total of 109 Zaar chefs signed up to participate and a total of 142 reviews submitted. I was told that makes this the single largest turnout for a Zaar cookathon ever!

Amy's Cookathon Recipes cookbook can be seen above in my public cookbooks. Every recipe that was made and reviewed in the cookathon is listed there.

Sadly Amy passed away May 13, 2007. The Zaar world has lost a shining light in Amy and she will be so very greatly missed here.

God's promises are like the stars;
the darker the night
the brighter they shine.
-David Nicholas-

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July-Aug ‘08


Oct ‘08


Aug '09


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EVENTS IN THE TABLE SETTING FORUM



I'm really tickled pink to be the host for Zaar's forum Table Settings and Decorating Ideas! The new forum was launched on July 9th, 2007. To commemorate this event, I hosted the Place Settings and Table Decor Photo Contest! From July 16th through July 30th, chefs submitted photos of their decorated dining tables. Zaar chefs chose the winners by voting for their three favorite photos!

UPDATE 8/4/07 - after much counting... stopping to make my husband's coffee...then more counting...

French Tart was the overall winner with her Old Roses, Lavender and Lace table setting! A very beautiful setting showcasing old shrub roses, lavender and ivy from her garden. Decorating the table was antique glassware and lace with c1930's Indian Tree china.

First Runner Up was Joyfulcook with her French Rustic Table Setting! Joyfulcook was visiting with French Tart and raided her kitchen for this table setting. For aperitifs on the terrace, Joyfulcook showcased wines, cheeses, breads in a gorgeous outdoor setting.

Second Runner Up was CountryLady for her Black & White New Year's Eve table setting. Highlighted in this very elegant table setting was individual s/p shakers, lovely black and white china dishes and a black wispy centerpiece with black candles.

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2007 Holiday Tablesetting & Decor Photo Contest



From Dec. 3-10, I hosted the first ever Zaar Holiday Tablesetting & Decor Photo Contest. Seven chefs participated by showing off their beautiful holiday tables. I'm so glad I didn't have to vote...LOL! There were some beautiful entries!

Winners were...

For her absolutely breathtaking "Fire and Ice" tablesetting, CountryLady won first place.

Carolinajewel's beautiful Victorian tablesetting was the runner up.

A secret tablesetting item was chosen and the first chef to post a photo using the item won a very special gift. Kiwidutch donated a lovely set of serviettes to Kim D. for using a set of salt/pepper shakers in her tablesetting.

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For the August 2008 Community Calender, I'm hosting Eat Outside Day - August 31st in Table Settings.

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Nov '09, I'll be hosting Festive Holiday Party Table Settings!

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1800Flowers

Favorite Foods:

One of my favorite restaurants is Outback Steak House....their Alice Springs Chicken is out of this world. I've tried some of the copycat recipes and found some that come really close, but Outback is still the best. I also adore eating at Dreamland BBQ. They simply can't be beat for bbq'd ribs.

I guess my favorite dish to make is Chicken and Dumplings like my Grandmother used to make. It takes me about 2 1/2 - 3 hours to get it done, but boy is it worth the effort!

I'm not a picky eater and love to try new recipes. HOWEVER, my DH is very picky so there are several things I don't cook. These are some of the foods he won't eat so I tend to stay away from preparing them:

rice (this has gotta be a "man thing"...DH's father doesn't eat rice, therefore DH won't eat it)

sour cream (after coming to Zaar, I discovered creme fraiche, so I get around this aversion that he has)

meat loaf (this one is almost a sin...!)

DH is not fond of Mexican foods (which I truly adore!).

Other than these, most everything else goes!
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