Blackened Chicken

Our Memorial Day's feast!

We had a great dinner tonight of grilled blackened chicken (compliments of my handsome barbequer), garden-fresh lettuce (from our neighbor) and my homegrown tomatoes, biscuits, and corn on the cob. So yummy!

Here's our newest recipe--Jesse says it easily earns an A+

Bring out your good old charcoal grill--this one deserves it!

♥ 4 chicken breasts
♥ 1 tablespoon paprika
♥ 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
♥ 1 tsp ground black pepper
♥ 1 tsp sugar
♥ 1 tsp garlic powder
♥ 1 tsp onion powder
♥ 1 tsp fajita seasoning
♥ olive oil

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Rub olive oil on both sides of chicken breasts, and then rub the spice mixture all over each piece of chicken. Let chicken sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes to soak in all the spicy yumminess. It only takes about 6-7 minutes of grilling on each side to get the outside of the chicken nice and black. Yum Yum!

Blackened Grilled Chicken

Our Memorial Day's feast!

We had a great dinner tonight of grilled blackened chicken (compliments of my handsome barbequer), garden-fresh lettuce (from our neighbor) and my homegrown tomatoes, biscuits, and corn on the cob.  So yummy! 

Here's our newest recipe--Jesse says it easily earns an A+

Bring out your good old charcoal grill--this one deserves it!

♥ 4 chicken breasts
♥ 1 tablespoon paprika
♥ 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
♥ 1 tsp ground black pepper
♥ 1 tsp sugar
♥ 1 tsp garlic powder
♥ 1 tsp onion powder
♥ 1 tsp fajita seasoning
♥ olive oil

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Rub olive oil on both sides of chicken breasts, and then rub the spice mixture all over each piece of chicken.  Let chicken sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes to soak in all the spicy yumminess.  It only takes about 6-7 of grilling on each side to get the outside of the chicken nice and black.  Yum Yum!

There is Nothing

Lord I come before You


To honor and adore You

For who You are and all that You have done

Lord I am not worthy

My heart is dark and dirty

Still somehow You bid for me to come




So clothe me in humility

Remind me, that I come before a King




And there is nothing

There is nothing

More precious, more worthy

May I gaze deeper

May I stand longer

May I press onward to know You Lord




May our time be sweeter

May I be a keeper

Of the promises I make to You in song

Lord may I remember these moments of surrender

And live my life this way from this day on




So clothe me in humility

Remind me, that I come before a King




And there is nothing

There is nothing

More precious, more worthy

May I gaze deeper

May I stand longer

May I press onward to know You Lord



--Laura Story

She's a Curly Girl, That One!

Yesterday while sitting on the ground outside with the preschoolers, one of the little girls walked up to me and caught one of my curls in her hand.
"Mrs. Bluemaker," She said, twisting my hair between her fingers, "Your hair is wiggly!"

Cranberry Chicken

It's always exciting to find a recipe that only calls for ingredients that you already have in your house!  This one is so easy, and barely uses anything.

Whenever I make this one, Jesse comments on how our house smells like Thanksgiving as it is cooking.  Yum yum!



Ingredients


♥ 1 T cooking oil

♥ 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets (cut horizontally through the breast to make it thinner/easier to cook)

♥ 1 cup sweetened dried cranberries (Craisins are always in our house--they were one of the first reasons we clicked!)

♥ 1/2 cup apple juice*

♥ 1/2 cup chicken stock

♥ 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

♥ 1/2 tsp Kosher salt

♥ 1/2 tsp coarse-grind black pepper

♥ 1 T Dijon mustard

Combine cranberries, apple juice and chicken stock in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a gallon-sized plastic bag with zip top, mix flour, salt and pepper. Toss chicken breasts into bag and shake well until each breast is coated evenly with flour.

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot add chicken and cook for 5 minutes each side. Remove chicken to a plate and keep warm.

Pour soaked cranberries with juice and stock into the hot pan, reduce heat to low and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Stir in mustard and add chicken back into pan.

Cook for another 8-10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and sauce has thickened. Serve chicken with sauce atop.
 
 
*There have been times that I've used Martinelli's Sparkling Cider instead of apple juice--both are yummy!
 
Let me know if you try it!

Cranberry Chicken

I found this simple recipe tonight when I was looking for something quick and easy to make with the chicken I had on hand.  It's always exciting to find a recipe that only calls for ingredients that you already have in your house!  This one is so easy, and barely uses anything.

Jesse kept commenting on how our house smelled like Thanksgiving as it was cooking.  Yum yum!



Ingredients


1 Tablespoon cooking oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets (cut horizontally through the breast to make it thinner/easier to cook)

1 cup sweetened dried cranberries (Craisins are always in our house--they were one of the first reasons we clicked!)

1/2 cup apple juice*

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon coarse-grind black pepper

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

Combine cranberries, apple juice and chicken stock in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a gallon-sized plastic bag with zip top, mix flour, salt and pepper. Toss chicken breasts into bag and shake well until each breast is coated evenly with flour.

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot add chicken and cook for 5 minutes each side. Remove chicken to a plate and keep warm.

Pour soaked cranberries with juice and stock into the hot pan, reduce heat to low and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Stir in mustard and add chicken back into pan.

Cook for another 8-10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and sauce has thickened. Serve chicken with sauce atop.
 
 
*Jesse and I don't have apple juice in the house tonight, so we substituted it for Martinelli's apple cider.  It worked really well!  Now I'm curious what it tastes like with apple juice and if I'd still like it my way better :-)
 
Let me know if you try it!

Family Gatherings in the Month of May

May has been a busy month, but a wonderful month of getting to see family!

May 1st was Dad's birthday.  We celebrated by going to the Nethercutt Museum in Salinas.  I had never been there before, but I remember Papa Chuck singing it's praises many a time.  He was always telling us about the show room with over 250 cars, the room full of musical instruments, the second largest theatre organ in the US [or world?].  We had so much fun!

Dad, Mom, and Laura drove out, Kate came with us, Bianca drove from her new home in Victorville, and Uncle Todd and Aunt Paula met us there. 

It was a wonderful time of milling about, enjoying all of the antique vehicles and choosing out our "dream cars."  It cracked everyone up that most of my favs were Pierce Arrows with seating for 8-12.  I don't see what's wrong with being practical! :)

At the end of our tour, Aunt Paula took all of us girls into the Merle Norman cosmetic shop that adjoined the museum.  She had the ladies working there help find the perfect lipstick for each of us, and bought them as gifts for us.  What fun!  I love the one I got.  It was fun to do something so girly in the midst of all of those cars!

Laura and my favorite part of the day was getting to hear the player piano that George Gershwin himself played on to record Rhapsody in Blue.  Sighh!  It was amazing to watch the keys and know that the dynamics we heard were played exactly as Gershwin played it when it was recorded there.  Amazing!

I don't have any pictures from that day.  I think I have to bug Kate for them.  It's a handy thing that she's living with us this summer!

The next day, May 2nd, I drove up to Ventura for the Spring Arts Festival that Laura participated in.  I love going to those, because I get to see so many of the kids I grew up with, babysat, and helped teach at one point or another.  And I was so proud to hear Laura perform two songs!

She and Jon sang Yankee Bayonet by the Decemberists, and although I don't have a recording of them singing it, you can hear the original here.  It was so much fun to listen to them!  Jon played his twelve string and Laura had her beautiful Jasmine.  They sounded amazing!  I videotaped it for Mom and Dad that night, but I don't have it.  Here are pictures of them, though!

I was so proud of them!

(Mr. Sanchez took these pictures from the front row while I sat on the floor in front of him with the video camera!  He was the principal of the homeschool program I was in during highschool, and my boss while I helped out at the school office!)

Jon's girlfriend Megan was there too, along with her whole family!  They are such a wonderful group, we love them all!  Uncle David was also there.  I'm glad that he could come :)

Jesse was at a church function that night.  I was supposed to be there too, but I couldn't pass up getting to hear my baby sister sing in front of a crowd!

She and her best friend Amelia also sang a song together--one that they wrote!  It was really sweet.  They have such beautiful voices!

Sorry that all of these pictures are so dark :-(

Anyway, what a fun night!

Then, on the Thursday of that week, while Jesse was cosmic golfing with his high school youth group, I drove out to Riverside to be at the opening of the Division 9 gallery, which was showing two of Kate's pieces!  My 19 year old sister was included in a professional arts exhibit--how cool is that?  I'm so proud of her!

I drove Kate, Jon, and Megan out there that night, and met up with Dad and Laura.  Aunt Poo even came!

Here we are on our drive...

I think I missed the memo on this one...good thing I was still looking AHEAD!

The funniest thing of the night happened when we got there.  I had to ask to get off from work an hour early because I knew if I left Temple City at 4:30, there was no way I would be able to get to Riverside by 6:00 for the gallery opening.  When I dashed home to get out of grubby preschool teacher clothes  (oh, yes, mysterious sticky substances is part of life there!) I quickly changed into some nice slacks that the most "artsy" shirt I owned--one that Kate had given me for Christmas.  I figured it was also a nice way to honor her at her gallery opening :-)

When Laura got out of the car with Dad that night, I burst into laughter.  She didn't think anything was funny.

Laura owns the exact same shirt in red. 

I thought it was pretty funny, but to a 17 year old girl, there is nothing hilarious about wearing the same thing as your sister.  Ever.

Feet!  Dad's socks, Kate's heels, and Laura's strappy sandals.

Not sure about the socks.

He did bring shoes, I promise!

Excited!

Mostly excited because we had enough time to order a pizza before the gallery opened.  We were hungry!

Here she is standing in front of her two pieces.  She has a very unique style of sewing together negatives before developing them that no one has heard of before.  Very cool!

Aunt Poo came!

Laura was careful to make sure that she and I were always separated by at least two siblings to help cut down on the obviousness of our matching shirts.  That didn't keep Kate from introducing us like this: "This is my older sister, Beth, and my younger sister, Laura.  They're wearing the same shirt."

Evil dagger eyes were always sent her way...

One of the highlights of my night was when I had to leave the gallery in search of a trash can.  (They served hors d'oeuvres but didn't have a trash can in the gallery!).  There was a Cinco de Mayo festival going on in the streets outside, so I headed that way looking for one.  Lo and behold, there was a harp laying down on the sidewalk!  I looked at the man standing next to it and asked, "Do you play?"  He said yes, and when I told him that
I do, too, he was so excited, he wanted a picture.  He asked me to play something for him, but when I took the harp, I realized it was different from anything I'd seen before.  My harps have red strings for all of the Cs, and blue strings for all of the Fs so that you can tell what you're playing.  His strings were randomly colored, and it didn't look like there was any pattern of colors to speak of. (Mine are red, white, white, blue, white, white, white, red--all the way up for 6 octaves).  I admitted that I couldn't find middle C. 

"C?" He asked, "Oh, in Spanish harp, we have no C.  We just have La."

I counted.  "La" would be A.  He pointed out La for me, and I tried my song again.  Not very successfully.  I asked him to play me something.

Next thing I knew, I was hearing "Let it Be," by John Lennon on the Spanish harp!

Very funny :)

After the gallery closed, we got to enjoy a little bit of the Cinco de Mayo festival

I'm glad that no one kicked us out! :-)

The Marrying Age

"Hailey's gettin' married," Mikayla skipped over to inform me about her 4 year old peer.
"She is?  Who's the lucky guy?" I played along.
"Cayden."
"And does Cayden know he's getting married?"
Mikayla shrugged.  "I dunno..."  And she was off.

I called Cayden over to get his side.  Things like this are so amusing!
"Cayden, are you getting married?"  I asked
"Nope," He looked up at me, "I've still got some growing up to do!  I'll probably get married when I'm 8 or 9."
"8 or 9 years old?"  I laughed.
"Yeah," He said matter-of-factly, "or maybe when I'm 91."

Oh, Baby!

Here are some pictures of the projects that kept me busy for the last couple of weeks!

I've been going to Michael's or JoAnn's every time I get a 40% off coupon so that I can save money on $10 packs of Gerber onesies (five in a pack)

I also used my teacher discount card at JoAnn's to get 15% off on 1/4 yards of each of the three fabrics I used for applique designs.

Sweet heart applique--my very first attempt at applique!

Using the blanket stitch decoratively

I loved these fabrics for a baby girl :)

So sweet!  These gifts were made for my friend Dalia, who is expecting a baby girl in about two weeks.  She's doing everything brown/pink.

Couldn't resist :)

I've really never embroidered before (cross-stitch, yes, but not this)

Especially never free-hand embroidered!  There was no pattern...

I like the whimsical way it turned out.  I also sewed around the neckline and the hem on the sleeves for added contrast.

I was so excited when I found this yarn at Michael's!  (bought with a "20% off your entire purchase coupon," thank you very much!)

Brown and pink, just for Baby Chloe!

There had to be lots of flower-themed gifts for Dalia's daughter, because "Chloe" means "from a flower."  Dalia's my favorite flower around!

I was so excited when I found these buttons!  They were the perfect finishing touch to the sweater.

I'll be posting pictures from Doll's baby shower on Sunday, but first, I'd better think about taking my own shower and hopping off to work! :)

Rainy Day Song

I love rainy days!

Strolling along country roads with my baby

It starts to rain, it begins to pour

Without an umbrella we're soaked to the skin

I feel a shiver run up my spine

I feel the warmth of her hand in mine

Oh, I hear laughter in the rain

Walking hand in hand with the one I love

Oh, how I love the rainy days

And the happy way I feel inside

After a while we run under a tree

I turn to her and she kisses me

There with the beat of the rain on the leaves

Softly she breathes and I close my eyes

Sharing our love under stormy skies

Oh, I hear laughter in the rain

Walking hand in hand with the one I love

Oh, how I love the rainy days

And the happy way I feel inside

Neil Sedaka

My Newest Little Joy

...is crafting these precious, tiny little hats for preemies!

My best friend Emily is a Respiratory Therapist and works in the NICU where up to 70 tiny babies a day are fighting for life.  Little hats like these help them maintain their body heat and keep them snuggly warm.

It's easy to adjust the size of the hat too, depending on the baby you're making it for. 

I wonder what little ones Em will pass these on to?  I don't know who they are, but I've prayed for them.

They're so cute!  Check out the pattern

There are so many hospitals in need of donations like these sweet little hats.  You can use scraps of yarn from other projects, and they whip up in minutes.  If you know how to crochet and are looking for a simple way to bless others, give this little pattern a try!

Also, Jon's girlfriend Megan passed on the awesome website ravelry.com which is where this pattern came from.  I've quickly fallen in love.  You can share your own pattern, browse through others, and post pictures of your completed projects.  It's a crochet/knitter's heaven!

I'm Windflowers927.  Check me out :)

Flower [pen] Pot

I made these for two special ladies at First Lutheran as a gift on my last day of subbing at First Lutheran School.  (I still see them almost every day since I'm just across the parking lot at the preschool now, but I wanted them to know how much I appreciated them while I was working there all year)

Hence, the Flower Pen Pots!

To make the pens, I gathered tacky glue, silk flowers, ball point pens, and floral tape.

Also, a terra cotta pot and some pinto beans.

The decorative scissors and paper are used for the card, and it's fun to have a cute ribbon to tie around the flower pot.

I peeled the green plastic off of the flower stems to expose the wire, glued the wire to the pen, and began wrapping with floral tape.  I used dots of glue all along the way to make sure that the floral tape (which isn't incredibly sticky) would adhere to the pen and not unravel the first time anyone picked it up to write with.

I used a piece of paper to cover the drain hole in the bottom of the pot, and filled the pot with pinto beans.  The beans are a great way to keep the flower pens standing where you put them.

After the pens dried, I put them in the pot, tied a cute ribbon around the top of the pot, and voila!

How cute is that?

It came out to costing less than $5 to make these.  It's always exciting to find a way to make inexpensive gifts!

Easter Break

Yes, it was a month ago, and yes, I am posting about it now.  It's been a crazy few weeks!

Easter break was wonderful this year.  I got to spend it with so many people that I love!  It was light on my Jesse time, but I get to see him all the time ;-)

On Tuesday, I drove down to Costa Mesa to visit with Gramma and Papa Davis.  Papa had had back surgery a few weeks beforehand, and was recuperating at a beautiful rehabilitation center a quick drive from their house.  When I got there, I was really surprised by what a pleasant place it was.  I had been envisioning a convalescent home like the one Papa Chuck had been in around Thanksgiving time (which was utterly horrible) and was thankful that Papa Don had much better care.

Gramma wheeled Papa out to the lobby to meet me, and then we went out into the lovely garden area to sit and catch up. 

So happy that Papa is doing well!  Pinched nerves and back surgeries are NO FUN!

Gramma is happy too :)

We had a wonderful visit, and they treated me to lunch there, too (which doesn't sound exciting, but it really was!  Turkey, potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, a salad, juice...Papa was living the high life!)

I'm so glad that Papa has since been able to come home and continue his road to recovery there instead of away from Gramma.  And I'm glad that Gramma can enjoy having him at home instead of driving to and from the hospital twice a day for over a month!

After saying goodbye to Gramma and Papa, I got back in the car and drove down to San Diego to visit Emily.  We had a wonderful time!  We love being total lazy bums when we get together...at least for a day ;-)  Crocheting, chatting, painting toenails, watching girly movies, putting on PJs by 4pm...it's a wonderful life!

We began our Wednesday with a trip to the mall

People must laugh when they see us walk in to clothing stores together...I'm 6' and she likes to think she's 5'2 (maybe in heels!)

We're perfectly sympathetic with each other, though.

"This is too long! I think I'll trip!"

"Grr, these shorts look like hotpants on me!"

We have fun, though :)

After our shopping trip, we went back to Emily's condo to meet Arlen (her "he's just a friend"  a month ago, but her wonderful boyfriend now!) and Emily sister, Sara, and her boyfriend, Chris.

We drove to the Point Loma Lighthouse to enjoy a beautiful afternoon at the beach.

Happy gang!

Chris and Sara are so sweet together.

Sara and I are compensating for Em's height!  :)

We've been best friends for 18 years now!

Gosh...this beach girl misses her ocean!!!

After leaving the beach, we headed over to Golden Spoon for Arlen's first time.

We had a wonderful time!

I came home on Thursday afternoon, and on Friday, I headed up to Oxnard to spend the weekend with Ami.  We had a wonderful time going through pictures, crocheting, and putting on an Audrey Hepburn marathon.  I loved getting to spend time with her.  Things have been so busy; I hadn't spent the night at her house since the day Papa Chuck died.  She amazes me with how well she is doing.  God certainly has blessed her with a peace.  I can't imagine losing Jesse.  Now, or in 60 years!!!

I got to see Dad and Laura on Saturday morning and have breakfast with them.  Mom was at  the OPC Women's Retreat, and Jon and Kate were at school.

It was a whirlwind break, but I'm thankful that I was able to spend time with so many of the people I love!

Happy Mother's Day!

I had the preschool class I'm taking care of right now (12 adorable 3 year olds) help me make cards for their moms for Mother's Day by filling in some sentences I had created. Some of their ideas were sweet, some were funny, and some make you go, "whaaaaa???"
Here are some of their answers:

"My mom's name is...Mommy."
--Sophia

"My mom is prettiest when she...puts her make-up on."
--Cayden

"I like to make my mom smile by...saying 'cheese!'"
--Kimberly

"When I am sad, my mom...gives me a bandaid."
--Sophia

"My mom is a good cook! My favorite thing she makes for me is...McDonalds."
--Cayden

"I know she loves me because...she hugs me."
--Zion

My mom is prettiest when she...wears pants."
--Juan

"I like to make my mom smile by...playing with her."
--Sophia

"When I am sad, my mom...makes silly faces with me."
--Sammy

"My mom is prettiest when she...is being happy."
--Jaden

"My mom is a good cook! My favorite thing she makes for me is...breakfast."
--Victoria

"I like to make my mom smile by...putting on a show for her."
--Zion

"I know she loves me because...I make her laugh."
--Cayden

"I like to make my mom smile by...making pancakes for her in the kitchen with Daddy."
--Sammy

"I know she loves me because...she's my mom!"
--Jaden