Paleo Crackers/ pizza crust by Me... as if I have nothing else to do today!

I have been perfecting this cracker/bread/pizza crust for a few months.  And when I say " perfecting," you will see by my measurements that I don't mean "perfect."  Those of you who cook will understand and the rest of you will just have to follow along.   Turn your oven to 375 degrees.  Plan on cleaning  your kitchen as you make the crackers.  If you decide to answer email, water the garden, or even take one step out of the kitchen, you will be sorry.  These things want to burn and will wait until you turn your back to do so.

step 1.  You will use any nuts that are available.  I used a combo of dollar general roasted, salted almonds and some cashews for this. If you want to cut down on the carbs ( which is the whole reason for doing this in the first place ) grab some garbanzo bean flour ( or make your own garbanzo mush ) maybe throw in a little flax seed meal too. 
step 2.  rinse off all the salt on the nuts ( those who are watching salt intake... otherwise, who cares, leave it on ) 
step 3.  Throw the nuts in a blender w a little water to make something that looks like, and is the consistency of cooked oatmeal. Throw in a few cloves of garlic and an egg while you are at it. a dash of olive oil wouldn't hurt and some nice, very sharp, cheddar cheese.
step 4.  dump all that into a big bowl and add some chickpea flour, maybe some Italian spices if you want and some flax seed meal. Add enough water ( or almond milk, soy milk ) to keep that consistency like oat meal. 

Step 5. Now liberally oil a cookie sheet or two.  Sometimes I sprinkle sesame seeds, flax seeds and such on the pan after oiling.  This time around I didn't.
Step 6.  I tilt the pan, use my oiled fingers or an oiled spoon to make sure this gets spread in a very thin sheet all over the pan.

Step 7.  Now is when I added a bit of sesame seeds across the top and sprinkled with oregano
Step 8.  Pop it in the oven  and check after about 5 minutes.  It should be starting to hold up on its own a little.  I pull it out of the oven at this time and cut it into crackers but leave it on the tray and pop it back in the oven for about another 5 minutes.  The sides should start to turn brown a little.

Step 9.  Now pull them out and with a nice steel spatula, flip them all over.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and pop them back in the oven for 5 more minutes or less.  Keep checking .  They are still conspiring to burn on you.
If you are making pizza crust then don't cut it, just pull it out of the oven, slip a spatula under the edges to loosen, flip it over on to your counter and then slide it back onto your tray.  It will now be upside down and ready to put  on your toppings.... now or later.
Step 10.  Sometimes the ones in the middle need a little more time.  Chuck them back in the oven and turn the oven off.  They will crisp up and be ready to eat in no time.  Enjoy!

Another Pre Raphaelite Girl... She's back on the auction block

I started this last semester while my students were working independently.  I think I finished it the other day... one never knows for sure.  It is on auction this week through ebay.  A purchase will assure me that it is, in fact, finished :-)
To Visit my Ebay gallery and possibly bid... click here

Pre Raphaelite Girl with Cat by Margaret Aycock SOLD!

This was a really fun assignment that I gave to my students and of course, not wanting them to be the only ones having all the fun..... I painted one too.  We started with a random photo of a pretty woman and each person had to add a background and an animal.  I loved what everyone did with them... I had bear cubs, cougars and my kitty too.

To bid visit my ebay gallery by clicking here

Melody Takes a Walk

I have been working on this today.  I started with a couple of photos, on of my son's girlfriend and another of a very cloudy moment during an ice storm in which I didn't know that the sun was trying to peek through until after I looked at the photograph.  You can see the progression and changes that I made during the process.  I liked how everything was kind of monotone.  I moved the snow covered dirt road into a better compositional position, played around in the snow myself, with paint and played in the sky.

Pre Raphaelite Girl by Margaret Aycock

This is what I have been playing with today.  I started this painting in my adult class as a demo and finished it over the holidays.  I have been painting Oklahoma landscapes and decided to put her at the edge of an Oklahoma forest.
Be the first to Bid by clicking here to visit my ebay gallery

Persimmons

It is that time of year.  When it gets cold and grey out I look for a relatively warm, sunnier day and finding one,  take off into the woods. I keep my eyes peeled for bare branches with little balls hanging from them.  Finding that tree, my search takes to the ground.  The best persimmons have already fallen.  They are usually unattractive and  mushy which might scare off those who are used to perfect looking fruits and veggies offered at grocery stores.  That is fine with me because those folks grab the pretty looking persimmons on the tree, bite in and find a bitter tasting fruit that quickly gets spit out.  I won't have to worry about them taking my tasty treats.  I have been eating them and painting them throughout the last couple of weeks.  This is the latest one.

To bid

What I am working on today

Some interesting photos, a great subject, a borrowed coat 

not done yet 

Allow me to brag on my kids two birds with one stone....

My son, Dylan is releasing my son, Jesse's 7" vinyl record on his record label, Scissor Tail Records.  So Dylan designed the cover ( excellent job, Dyl ) and Jesse wrote the songs, played several instruments and produced the mini album.  A bunch of well known musicians play on the CD.  You can check it out at http://jesseaycock.com where there is a link to Dylan's label and more info about the release.

After a Walk in the Woods

We took a nice walk in the woods two days ago when it was about 55 degrees out and then worked on this the next day when it didn't get above freezing.  Surprisingly we found a tree full of persimmons long after the season was over.  Every tree in the woods was totally vacant of persimmons EXCEPT one and it was absolutely full of them.  We have had several hard frosts and an ice storm which should have cleared every tree.  Don't know how this one held on so long.  Anyways the persimmons, having been through those extreme weather conditions, had turned a very interesting shade of blue, almost like a blueberry.  I just had to bring some home to paint.  Later in the day we found a tree that had dropped a bunch of acorns too and the squirrels hadn't found them yet.  I have been meaning to try to make some acorn flour and these were so big and meaty that I couldn't resist.  When I started to make the acorn meal and boil it, it smelled just like molasses.  I called my husband in and asked, " what does this smell like?"  to which he replied, " Molasses."  I am excited to try some bread made from this flour.  Perhaps a loaf of banana persimmon bread is in order.

Now and Then

The photo shows what my pretty lilac bush looks like right now.  The painting is what it looked like this summer in all its glory.  Hopefully it will spring back after all this ice melts off of it.  It was about 12' tall.  and today its leaning self is barely off the ground :-(
To bid on this painting and check out my other ebay auctions click here

Aceo trading cards

One of my ebay buyers ordered a few of these and so I tried my hand at them last week.  Turns out they are really fun to paint.  I put these 3 on ebay today.  There is no reserve on the auction.  Each one is hand painted in oil on an aceo trading card.
To Bid

ACEO cards

What fun!  one of my ebay buyers just requested a couple of artist trading cards.  I had never considered doing one before but went to my local art store ( Zieglers ) and they hooked me up.  Since I bought a pack of these little trading cards I suspect I will be doing some more of them.  These two were a lot of fun and I do so love immediate gratification ( these didn't take too long to complete )

Want one of your own?  I can surprise you with a dramatic billowing cloud sky scene or do one similar to those above.  Only $35

Church and Lunch in the Woods

We got up early on Sunday and went for a little foraging trip to the woods.  We found a couple different eatable mushrooms ( which were delicious ), some poor man's pepper, greenbriar, and buckbrush ( we weren't that hungry ) and some delicious ground cherries.  Yummy!

Wood ears ( brown jelly like ) Oyster mushrooms ( gills run under the cap and down stem)

Buck Brush

Greenbriar ( climbs, has tendrails )Some are used like a root crop, try digging them, first through the stickers, then they are tough to get out of the ground, cook like potatoes or you can make flour from them by chopping up and adding to water to later collect the starch in the bottom of the water for flour.

Ground Cherry ( has a little lantern like husk, bright orange fruit delicious

upside down oyster mushroom on willow

poor man's pepper ( best when green )

wood ears

SOLD! Pre Raphaelite Girl in the Woods

Chief Standing Pear 6x6 oil

What could be more festive than a green pear on red and white striped cloth? ..... a second or third green pear on red and white striped cloth.  This guy's brother and sister are on auction in my ebay gallery right now for a song and No Reserve!  6x6 oil on canvas.  Cute!
To bid

One of my Favorites

This is a painting of summer roses from my garden.  I brought them in and set them on the kitchen table.  I am not much for red and orange together... or so I thought... but I loved the two colors together as the roses were against  my terracotta wall.
This and several other paintings are on sale this week in my ebay auction.  To bid click here
To visit my blog click here

'Tis the Season for Demo/Study Sale on Ebay

'Tis the season.... To put a lot of affordable studies, demos on ebay auction.  This is a little study of my great niece, Avery as she walks in the woods.  It is on auction w no reserve starting at $39.  It is 11x14 oil on canvas.
To bid Click Here

Setting up for our Big Art Sale. What fun we had this weekend!

What a lovely morning and afternoon we had as did those who braved the snow and ice to join us.  Nothing nicer than a house filled with happy voices of sweet girlfriends, guy friends and our patrons. 
Thanks to all who came. 
Unfortunately our house concert musical artists were unable to join us as they were coming from Dallas and had gone only 10 miles in two hours and had to turn back.  That was the bad news.... The good news, an acquaintance was opening a restaurant downtown in the evening and so we took our little party downtown following the show and scarfed down free snacks and drinks followed by a new hand craftsman ( woman) / whiskey tasting group event in the neighborhood.