Cameos Revived, Not Just for Grandmas Anymore

Cameos are more than jewelry, they are little peices of artistic sculputre.  Typically cameos are mainly relief (aka relievo, positive. 3-D, or raised above surface) style carved onto the surface of shells or stones.  Although similar carvings might be carved into amber and translucent stones as intaglio (aka negative, recessed, reverse design INside of cabochon or flat).  Although cameos are historical treasures and have been around for centuries as a favorite for antique jewelry collectors, a new generation is falling in love with them creating a revival for this jewelry design. 

Antique and vintage-looking cameos have made a big comeback in fashion with younger people.  Now they are etched into mother-of-pearl, inlay designs, or slightly carved into inexpensive stones for lower prices.  Some cheaper cameos are also available in resin or glass via a mold process rather than hand-carved.  The new artisan carved shell and stone raised designs include animals, scenes, or skulls in additon to the previous portrait, flower, or religious  designs.  With all the new materials, cameos now come in colors other than coral, white, amber, or black.  The cameo sizes have also changed from half-inch or 1-inch to as big as 3 inches in height.  Cameos may still be in silver or gold frames, but they also appear cut-out, wire-wrapped, or hanging freely without any metal other than bale.  Cameos no longer require an 18" chain to wear as a necklace, they can be extended from longer heavier chains, or a leather cord, or on a lace choker depending on the desired edgy or dressy look.  Brooches are not only put on the shoulder or jacket lapel, they adorn hats, waistlines, and handbags too.  Bracelets and rings have evolved too - bangles and cocktail sized. Cameos are no longer just for Grandmas, now they are true fashion finds! 

Cameos can still be expensive at storefront jewelers, which is why people are checking out shopping channels and websites for newer versions like those from Michael Valitutti (see video) of Canada with carvings from Italy or painted items from Russia.  Or the Scognamiglios family (see history below) of Italy.  Unless a cameo collector of vintage options, ebay searches and antique stores are the best options as auction house bidding typically goes beyond most people's budgets for fashionable jewelry.      

History of Scognamiglio Coral and Cameo Jewelry Designers - In 2007 the Scognamiglio Family celebrated the 150th ANNIVERSARY of the beginning of their business. 

1. Michele Scognamiglio (Born in 1815) was one of the first to start a small coral factory in 1857 in Via Purgatorio n° 112 in Torre del Greco.
2. Giovanni Scognamiglio (Born in 1852) continued the business very successfully. He invented a one piece coral bracelet which was patented and won the first prize at the “Paris Expo”.
3. Michele Scognamiglio (Born in 1875) was a physician and President of the Company heling expert father.
4. Giovanni Scognamiglio (Born in 1905) started to run the family business in 1930. received from the Public Authorities the honorary title of Knight of Labour.
5. Dott. Michele Scognamiglio (Born in 1939) married teacher and jewelry designer Marisa Scognamiglio. He was President of M+M Scognamiglio srl. where he modernized the business and the marketing procedures. He acquired two prestigious properties in New York and Tokyo-Ginza to be used as branches and showrooms of M+M Scognamiglio srl.
6. Giovanni Scognamiglio (Born in 1970) handled the legal side of the main company in Capri Italy.  Dott. Amedeo Scognamiglio (Born 1972?) worked as cameo carver and jewelry designer and took over USA branch of family business in 1997 moving to New York.  In 2002, Amedeo launched the ITALY CAMEO by M+M SCOGNAMIGLIO TV show on the HSN.com and has since won several designer awards and even featured in many design articles.  Cristiano Scognamiglio (Born in 1978) ran the family business at the Tokyo-Ginza branch and introduced coral jewels of styles more suitable to the younger and middle aged ladies.  

Our Easy Chicken or Beef Enchilada Soup Recipe

We like to experiment to try to copy our favorite restaurant dishes without a lot of fuss.  Many of our easy family recipes for comort food like one-dish casseroles or Tex-Mex options  (Chicken Taco Soup,  Tamale Pie, Vegetable Beef Soup, Chicken and Rice Casserole, Cabbage Roll Soup, Chicken Tortilla Casserole, Verde Carnitas Soup, Chicken Chalupa Casserole, Chicken and Rice Soup, and of course all the desserts too) are popular on this blog, so I keep adding new ones.  The easy recipe below makes a large pot of soup, perfect for a family or dividing into multiple ervings for meals. It takes about an hour with preparation and stirring.  Since we were going for easy, we used mostly medium flavored products to make it taste like restaurant-style soup without adding and measuring various spices.  You may use a mild version or a hot version of the canned products depending on the flavor you prefer.  See the notes at bottom of recipe before making chicken other variations or trying your own alterations.   The soup will look thin at first, but will slowly thicken as it cooks due to thickening agent in step 2.  

Shirley's Easy Chicken (or Beef) Enchilada Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tablesspoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup corn masa or fine corn meal
2 cups water (or less)
1 can 10 oz diced Rotel tomotaoes (mild)
1 can 10 oz enchilad sauce (medium)
1 jar 15-16 oz con queso/nacho cheese (medium)
4 cups chicken (or beef) broth
1 lb of cooked meat 

Optional for topping(s):

Chopped cilantro
Sour Cream
Avocado chunks (or dollup of guacamole)
Fine Shredded cheese
Slightly Crumbled tortilla chips

Steps:

1. In large pot, saute onions in oil.
2. In medium bowl, wisk together masa/meal with water until no lumps remain to create a thickening agent. Then pour into pot with onions.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except chicken, to pot.  Continue stirring until all blended together and masa mix not longer tries to separate and stick to sides.  
4. Add chicken and let cook until soup thickens and bubbles.  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to pot and burning. 
5. Serve with desired topping(s) on each bowl.  
6. Store remaining soup in refrigerator or freeze into single portions for later.

Notes:  

• For chicken version, use chicken borth and canned chicken divided with a fork or pre-cooked shredded skinless/boneless chicken breast.  If you want beef, substitute beef broth and cooked hamburger meat (aka ground beef).  I have not tried it with Mexican sausage or ground sausage, so if you do let me and my readers know how that works.
• If you think the soup is too spicy the first time you try it, you can dilute the spice a little by stirring a tablespoon of sour cream into the serving bowl of each person who considers it too "hot".  
• Most enchilada soup recipes on-line use a 16-oz Velvetta cheese block cut-up and allowed to melt into the other ingredients during the stirring process.   I was going for easy. so I used a pre-melted jar and it still tasted the same to me, but you can use Velvetta and see if the flavor is different. 

WK Silver Vintage Jewelry Designer Whitney Kelly on QVC

Wow, that was a long and wierd blog title: WK Silver Vintage Jewelry Designer Whitney Kelly on QVC or was  it?  The title lists all the key words people typcially use to try to find detials on this particular jewelry designer. 

Whitney Kelly once sold her silver jewelry designs through the home shoping channel QVC.com with the trademark of her initials WK and sterling silver mark 925.  Her designs featured real gemstones that were mostly unheard of in nice jewelry at the time or were mostly limited to Southwest style designs.  She blended modern with southwest and "artisan" looks from other countries.  Back when she was on QVC, her necklaces, bracelets, and rings would have been considerd "bridge" jewelry.  That is the bridge between fine (gold with faceted gemstones) and costume (plastic and mystery metal now referred to as fashion) jewelry lines.  With the rise in cost of silver, her styles are now considered fine jewlery and classifed as "vintage" look in fashion.

For vintage jewelry collectors, Whitney Kelly may be found at estate sales or reseller sites like ebay, etsy, and poshmark.  Unfortuantely, most sellers on these sites do not know what stones were used in the items they are selling, so you may see lots of different descriptions for the same items.  WK did use lot of tiger's eye, turquoise, mother of pearl, and jaspers.  Ocassionally, she would do sliced agates, mosiac opal, or use green malachite and blue lapis.  If you see jade listed, it is most likely an aventurine, onyx, or calcedony instead.  Her pink stones were usually rhodonite, but that is based only on what I have seen so far.  For great example photos of her designs, visit the gem.app stie. The most expensive peices of her line were her signature chunky bracelets.  Those bracelets still are the most sought after peices and can go for fairly high bids on auction sites.  

Whitney Kelly started as a one-of-a-kind jeweler before selling on QVC.  After she left QVC, she exclusively designed in gold and sold through her own website.  The website is gone now and there seems to be no way of finding anything out about her anymore.  Since QVC and her designs were big in both the US and UK, I do not know where she was from.  Not being able to find details is a shame since she was such a great designer that her styles are still loved, collected, and worn.  

If anyone knows more about Whitney Kelly, please let me and my readers know by adding the infromation in a comment on thsi blog.  If anyone has a WK jewelry peice and are wondering what the stones are, add a question in the comments with a link to your item's photo on pinterest or elsewhere and I will let you know what I think the stones might be.

Grandma's Carrot-Raisin Salad Recipe

I have loved carrot and raisin salad since I was a kid.  It was a sweet way to get me to eat my healthy vegetables as well  as some fruit.  I'm surprised my mom did not make it for us, we only had it at Grandma's.  I guess mom figured she would put time into other food, since all her kids were willing to just grab a carrot or apple from the refrigerator as an anytime snack.  Or maybe it was more that she was afraid of herself or one of her "helpful" kids getting cut if using the grater.  

NOTES:

• You can make the dessert below with canned oranges or you can use pineapple instead.  My aunt made it with pineapple (love it) and either left out the pecans or used walnuts instead (want buts), but the oranges are yummy too. 
• This recipe can be served immediately or chilled for adding to the table later.

Carrot-Raisin Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups finely shredded carrots

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 small can Mandarin orange segments (or pineapple) chunks

3 or 4 Tablespoons mayonnaise (for dressing so amount is your preference) 

Steps:

1. Combine carrots, raisins, and nuts.
2. Drain oranges (or pineapple) and reserve the liquid 
3. Combine liquid from canned fruit with mayonnaise - using 1 teaspoon of liquid per Tablespoon of mayo to desired taste to dress the salad.
4. Fold in orange (or pineapple) last.

List of Good South Beach Diet Recipes

For those looking for a low-carbohydrate ,high-protein diet option, the South Beach diet (on Amazon) (on Amzona) is one my doctor recommends for consistent and healthy weight lose that could become a way of life to keep the pounds off.  The diet book is into 3-phases meal plans for 2-weeks each with different recipes to prevent boredom.  You can repeat that plan if you like it to continue to lose more weight.   Then once you decide to stick with the low-carb lifestyle, you may consider buying one of the supplemental cookbooks or search the web for more recipe.  Below are some sample recipes from a few of Dr. Agatston books to give you an idea to decide if this is something you might want to try.    

• Chicken en Papillote (main entree)
• Creamed Spinach (vegetable side)
• Herbed Roasted Potatoes (vegetable side)
• Provolone Chicken Melts (open-faced sandwich)  
• Ricotta Cremes - Almond, Lemon, Lime, Mocha, Vanilla (5 desserts) 
• Roasted Spicy Cauliflower (vegetable entree)
• Spaghetti Squash Italian Style (vegetable entree) 
• Stuffed Baked Tomatoes (vegetable side)
• Vegetable Quiche Cups To Go (breakfast)  

Always consult a doctor before starting a diet or exercise program!

If you find you have plateau in your weight lose on the South Beach diet, you can switch to a quick lose plan for 21-days or do either the 3-day or 7-day diet plans for a couple of weeks to quick-start again.  Then after you see the scale going down again, you can repeat the beginning South Beach plan to keep the streak going.  

Grandma's English Pea Salad Recipe

You probably had a black-eyed pea recipe for luck in the New Year.  If you like all kinds of peas, you might appreciate my Grandmothers recipe for a traditional green English pea salad below.  This side-dish veggie-mix can be easily doubled in size and chilled to take to a gathering.

Variations:

• My spouse makes a similar concoction - without the pimentos and adding in large grated cheddar cheese instead.  
• Often carrots are mixed with peas in a warm vegetable side dish, but you can  put in cubed carrots instead of celery for the crunch in this salad.
• I have also seen a few recipes on-line where a Tablespoon of bacon bits was added for additional flavor.

English Pea Salad

Ingredients:

1 medium size can English peas (drained)
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup pimentos
1/4 cup dill pickle (chopped)
1 Tablespoon mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise 
Salt, Pepper, Paprika (to taste)
2 hard-boiled eggs (chopped)

Steps: 

1. Mix all together, but add eggs last (so they stay in visible chucks).
2. Cover and chill for at least 1/2 hour.
3. Garnish with paprika (if desired).

Get Healthy with Digital Diet and Exercise Accountability Partner - MyFitnessPal App

Is one of your New Year's resolutions to lose weight or exercise more?  Let technology help you with your diet and exercise plans to improve your health.  There are lots of websites and apps on-line that will track your exercise progress, as well as ones that will track your progress on a particular type of diet. Most diet websites will provide instructions for getting their phone app.  For exercise tracking apps, merely do an on-line search for the type of exerciser you plan to do (walking, running, cardio, weights, etc.)   

I personally use a free app that my doctor recommended because it will do both.  It is MyFitnessPal, where you can track your weight, your calories or carbs, and deduct calories burned.  The doc said to get the app, track my normal eating habits for 3 days or more to see how many calories I typically consume daily.  He said people eat more than they need to.  So try to reduce my average amount by 500 calories as a daily goal to lose weight. It took a few months, but I lost the weight gain from my surgery recovery period with this method. 

MyFitnessPal app has a database of food options. including restaurant meals, with calorie and other nutrient amounts.  After adding an item to your meal in the app, you can edit the portion size to match how much you ate and it will adjust calories.  After taking a quick health survey on the website, you can set a final weight  goal to  track what you are losing. It also allows for daily max goals for carbs or fats.  It provides motivational flags at points in the weight loss or when a good food choice is made.  You can sign-up to receive healthy meal ideas and healthy option articles emailed to you when you create an account on the website.  Most of this is free.  After you get the app and if you want to go ad free, scan bar codes, or add an exercise tracking app to automatically track calories burned, that requires upgrading to a fee-based premium program.  Test it out for free before deciding to buy upgrades.  During trial or if continuing with free, do your own math by adding exercise notes and then subtracting the burned calories from your daily meal calories.  

As noted above, you may link an exercise or step tracker to MyFitnessPal if you have one you like.  If you do not already have a fitness tracker, use one of the free exercise tracking tools at CaloriesBurnedHQ.com.  This site does not require an account to use their calculators on-line,so bookmark it on your phone or computer.

If you are looking for a healthy diet plan for a lifestyle change, consider Atkins, Keto, Mediterranean, or South Beach diet plans.  If you just have a few pounds you want to lose quickly for a party or gathering, check out the 3-day diet, 7-day diet. or the 21-day diet. 

Always consult a doctor before starting a diet or exercise program!

Grandma's Best Buttermilk Pound Cake Recipe

I think I have mentioned before that my favorite dessert is peach cobbler.  However my favorite cake is always going to be some version of a pound cake!  I love them so much, that they were often my requested birthday cake.  Can you imagine a pound cake with candles on top?  Since I love pound cake, I could not resist squeezing in just one more cake recipe this year.  

Why are they called pound cakes?  My mom told they are called a pound cake because they usually had a pound of butter (and/or other fats) in them and you end up with a heavier cake.  Grandma said they were called pound cakes because eating them  guaranteed you would put on pounds after wards.  The real reason can be found in the history on BakingKneads blog.

Best Buttermilk Pound Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine (softened)
1/2 cup Crisco
5 eggs
2 & 3/4 cups sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 360 degrees.
2. In large bowl, cream margarine and Crisco together.
3. Gradually add sugar, beating until mixture is light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. In another bowl, combine and sift flour and soda.
6. Add [2nd bowl] to creamed mixture [1st bowl] alternatively with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
7. Stir in vanilla.
8. Pour batter into a greased floured tube pan.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Cool in pan 10 minutes.

Removal Tip:  

To remove the cake from the pan, place a plate on top and turn it over while holding the plate to the pan, so it will loosen from pan onto the plate.  Once up-side-down cake is out of the pan, place another plate on what is supposed to be the bottom of the cake.  Turn cake again with a hand on the bottom of each plate to get cake facing upright.

Three Healthy 3-Ingredient Cookies: Banana and/or Chocolate Recipes

Looking for healthy alternative cookies for your holiday or party dessert tables?  Below are three recipes that only require three ingredients you might like to try.    See also coconut or nut 3-ingredient recipes.

Wanting to convert to sugar-free?  If you are looking to cut sugar, Swerve is a substitute sweetener that can be used instead with the same recipe measurement as regular sugars.  If you prefer a different brand, check out the Conversion Chart to determine how much you may need to change the measurement so it will still be the right amount of sweet.

Banana Oat Cookies 

Makes 16 cookies

Ingredients:  

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup uncooked quick oats (may substitute gluten-free oats) 

¼ cup sugar-free chocolate chips (or substitute raisins or finely chopped nuts)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Mash bananas in a bowl with a fork until no lumps remain. 
3. Stir in oats.  
4. Fold in  chocolate chips (or substitutes). 
5. Drop tablespoon-size portions of batter onto a nonstick baking sheet. 
6. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. 
7. Cool for 2 to 5 minutes per serving.

Chocolate Banana Cookies (Vegan, Gluten-free) 

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:  

3 ripe bananas, mashed  (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter (or unsweetened almond butter)

1/2 cup  cocoa powder,  sifted

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, using a fork to thoroughly combine the ingredients until it reaches a smooth and uniform consistency. 
3. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough onto a greased or lined cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart.
4. Bake for 8-15 minutes  until cookies lose their sheen. 
5. Allow to cool and set on the cookie sheets for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Or to prevent them sticking together, store them uncovered in the fridge or covered in the freezer. 

Keto Chocolate Cookies

Makes 10 cookies

Ingredients:  

1/2 cup natural creamy unsweetened almond butter  

1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup sugar-free maple syrup

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 
2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 
3. In a large mixing bowl, add almond butter and cocoa powder. Stir until cocoa powder is completely incorporated and is uniform in color. 
4. Add in the syrup. Fold and stir until the syrup is completely incorporated and forms into cookie dough. Stir until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl and is firm enough to roll into balls.
5. Use a Tablespoon-size measuring spoon to measure dough for balls, placing them onto baking sheet spaced about 2 inches apart. 
6. Flatten the dough balls into thick round cookies. 
7. Bake for about 10 minutes or until cookies no longer look wet on the surface and are slightly cracked. 
8. Let the cookies cool on baking sheet before removing. 
9. Cookies may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Four Healthy 3-Ingredient Cookies: Almond, Coconut, or Peanut Recipes

Looking for healthy alternative cookies for your holiday or party desserttables?  Below are four recipes that only require three ingredients you might like to try.   See also banana and chocolate 3-ingredient recipes.  Although it has more than 3 ingredients, you might want to check out Gluten-free Pecan Cookies too, if more healthy dessert or snack recipes are desired.  

Wanting to convert to sugar-free?  If you are looking to cut sugar, Swerve is a substitute sweetener that can be used instead with the same recipe measurement as regular sugars.  If you prefer a different brand, check out the Conversion Chart to determine how much you may need to change the measurement so it will still be the right amount of sweet. 

Almond Cookies (Gluten-Free)

Makes 2 dozen 

Ingredients:  

1 can (8 ounces) almond paste

1/2 cup sugar

2 large egg whites, room temperature

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. 
2. In a large bowl, beat almond paste and sugar until crumbly. 
3. Beat in egg whites. 
4. Drop by  tablespoonfuls about 1-inch apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
5. Bake until lightly browned, 15-18 minutes. 
6. Cool for 1 minute before removing from pans to wire racks. 
7. Store in an airtight container.

Almond Flour Cookies (Vegan, Gluten-free) 

Makes 1 dozen 

Ingredients:

1 & 1/2 cups fine almond flour 

1/4 cup maple syrup (or substitute sugar-free version)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
3. In a mixing bowl, stir together almond flour,  syrup and vanilla until fully combined. The dough should look moist but still slightly crumbly and ragged. 
4. Using rounded tablespoon of dough drop on the cookie sheet about 2 ½ inches apart. 
5. Using a small square of parchment paper to prevent sticking and a flat-bottomed glass, flatten each cookie to about ¼ inch thick and 2 ½ inches round. 
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges and bottoms are golden. 
7. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet.

Coconut Refrigerator Cookies

Makes 20 cookies

Ingredients:  

3 cups shredded coconut

1/2 cup powdered sugar 

2/3 cup condensed milk (or substitute sugar-free version or condensed coconut milk)

Steps:

1. Line a large plate or tray with parchment paper. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, add all ingredients and mix well, until a sticky dough remains. 
3. Using your hands or a cookie scoop, form small balls of dough and place them on the lined plate or tray.
4. Press each ball into a cookie shape. 
5. Refrigerate until they firm up. 
6. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  Or in the freezer for 6 months using Ziploc bags.

Sugar-free Peanut Butter Cookies 

Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients:  

2 cups of smooth peanut butter (or use chunky if the nuts are desired) 

2 cups Splenda  

2 large eggs  

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
3. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
4. Drop mixture by tablespoon onto a baking sheet. Then use a fork to lightly press each cookie out and make a cross-hatch pattern on top.
5. Bake until the center appears dry, about 8 minutes.  Watch the cookies as different ovens bake faster or slower to make sure the cookies do not burn or if more time is needed.  Then  adjust the next batch accordingly.