An Attempt at Sicilian Pizza

I had a feeling this was doomed from the beginning, but I thought I'd see if I could make Sicilian pizza at home. Unfortunately the answer is no, at least with the dough I buy.


The pizza was good, but it didn't have that spongey Sicilian texture. In fact it was more like a pan pizza. I'm sure I need to make a special kind of dough to get that perfect consistency, but I don't work with yeast so yeah...guess I'll be buying my Sicilian pizzas from my local pizza parlor.

Friends and Gifts and my Winnings Arrived!

What better gift than that of friendship!
We were blessed yesterday to be with our dearest friends – the one’s
I mentioned in my previous post.
Even though we are a world apart in distance we pick up right were
we left off with lots of fun and laughing….and reminiscing about
our younger years and hopes for our future.
Bill and Linda have been mentioned in my Blog more times than anyone else…what can I say. I love them to pieces. Linda is our vibrant, fun,
intelligent leader and Bill is like our brother…he’s also intelligent,
fun and oh the protector.
Isn’t life grand when you have such wonderful friends in your life?

They arrived at our house at one yesterday afternoon – we talked, laughed, ate and ate some more and then went out to dinner – more food!
Our evening ended at 9:30 and off to bed we went,
1:30 would come awfully early.
So here we are sleepy eyed and puffy faced at 2:00 a.m.
Well, I guess I should talk about just myself…I’m puffy faced!
Linda HAD TO HAVE HER COFFEE NO MATTER WHAT SO THAT WAS
ALL DONE BREWING BEFORE SHE HIT THE BOTTOM STEP!


I couldn’t love Billy more! Guess I should have combed my hair!!!
Please pray they sell their home soon so they can head back
to the States…we miss them so much.

Soooo, on to my gorgeous winnings…it came!
I don’t know what I was more anxious about…the package that
came yesterday or Bill and Linda’s arrival.
My winnings from Katherine at http://oldbranchhollow.blogspot.com/ are so wonderful – you just should see this bunny up close…he’s adorable and his outfit is made of blue wool felt and grunged lightly…LOVING IT!
And just look at that darling journal/note book….it has the parchment paper inside too!  Oh, and the eggs in the basket….the colors here don’t show up well but they are sooooo pretty.
Thank you so much Katherine.

And finally….I set out my Yellow Ware Eggs…not where I thought they’d go but after looking at the table throw I saw a match here….the woven fabric is deep golden yellow and black…so I just put the eggs in the goose bowl…and I like it…very simple and not overdone…. I like the simple look anyway….do you like it or should I have put them in a different setting?

I just have to say how happy I am that the forum I belong to has now started a published, printed magazine to come out in August…called
A PRIMITIVE PLACE
Go to this link to read all about it – I’m so anxious to see
what the cover will be - Margo Gracia of Circa 1892 Homestead Primitives
(  http://www.picturetrail.com/1892homesteadprimitives  )
will be taking photos for all the covers…how wonderful is that?

I hope you all will go and subscribe to a subscription
http://www.aprimitiveplace.org/APP-Magazine.html
Kristine is dedicated to giving us all a refreshing new magazine.
Congratulations to everyone involved – you are all awesome team members.
And I just found out today that one of our bloggers Dan…
from http://dan-yesterdayoncemore.blogspot.com
is joining the staff. CONGRATULATIONS Dan and Good Luck.

I know there’s more but I can’t think straight…up too
early – eyes are burning and red!
I’m not 25 anymore – can’t keep those hours.
Gosh, I’m not even 50 anymore…those days are GONE!

Have a great week and see ya back here later.
Hugs, Karen

Chicken in Coconut Milk

I'm sure this recipe for Garlic Shrimp in Coconut Milk, Tomatoes and Cilantro would have been better with shrimp but we haven't been splurging on shrimp lately so I subbed in chicken:


I love the smell of coconut milk...mmmmm. This was a good recipe but it felt like it needed something. Maybe the shrimp would have been the right pairing, or maybe it needed some curry flavor (as was suggested by someone before I made it).

Chicken Spaghetti - Updated

The last time I made this recipe for Chicken Spaghetti SP wasn't a fan. I made a few modifications and I think we're almost there.





This recipe made a ton of food so I froze half of it for a night when we need a quick dinner. Here's the recipe below with the modifications I've made and what I'll do differently next time (mainly add a 1/2 cup of wine for some kick).



Chicken Spaghetti

Modified from Pioneer Woman



4 chicken breasts, poached and shredded

1 lb spaghetti

2 cans Cream Of Mushroom soup

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 small green pepper, diced

1 small onion, diced

12 ounces mushrooms, cut into chunks

1/2 cup white wine

1 jar pimentos, drained and diced

2 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Salt And Pepper, to taste

1 cup additional grated cheddar cheese

4-5 pieces of white bread, torn

butter



Cook chicken breasts and pick out the meat to make two cups. Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook. While spaghetti cooks, saute green pepper, onion and mushrooms in a little butter or oil until soft. Deglaze pan with white wine, then add chicken to heat through. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar.



Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Pulse torn bread and butter in a food processor until you have coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly and the breadcrumbs are toasted.

A Feminine Fix

I have one little and one big of these wicker Ikea baskets. They came with leather belt straps, which I adore. You can see the little one in our son's room below with the leather straps intact.



But the straps on the bigger basket had broken off and disappeared. I was going to find some old belts at a thrift store to replace them, but I thought up something a little more feminine instead.



I cut up some old linen and didn't bother finishing the edge. I added a few staples to hold the fabric straps in place and a couple of droopy bows to secure the lid.



I think it says french farmhouse.

By the way, that distressed wooden piece to the right of the basket? It's a little glimpse of our next big project.

Buffalo Chicken Burger and Blue Cheese Potato Salad

We love the combination of buffalo wings and blue cheese so I'm always looking for ways to serve them. I thought this one was pretty much the best ever, although SP didn't agree (his favorite is still the buffalo chicken pizza).


I was going to make buffalo chicken sandwiches my usual way, but on the drive home I had a brainstorm and decided to grind the chicken instead and make burger patties. I mixed the chicken meat with breadcrumbs, Frank's hot sauce and finely chopped red onion and celery. I topped the patties with crispy iceburg lettuce and lots of Marie's blue cheese dressing:


What are buffalo wings without the blue cheese, in this meal in the form of potato salad:


SP thought the burgers were a little dry and he wished for more Frank's flavor, but I thought everything was perfect. Hopefully he'll let me try again.

Seeing Red….but I’m not angry! Winning!

This post will have a few little things and pictures. I have the last of my COLOR pictures that I thought I’d post….they have been in a folder on my computer desktop and I keep looking at it and decided to get it over with – I know it’s close to my last ‘color’ post but I wanted to put the file away.

First though - I WON A GIVE A-WAY over at http://oldbranchhollow.blogspot.com/
Katherine had the most wonderful offerings and now
they are heading to my home!
Aren’t these just the best????  Look, there’s a ‘K’ on the journal! Who knew!
THANK YOU KATHERINE – I’m anxiously awaiting my treasures.
 

On Thursday our best friends, Bill and Linda, who live on the island of St. Kitts flew home for the funeral of her father so we attended as well and were happy to be able to spend some time with them and her family. The funeral was in IL so it was a full day of it and regardless of the sad happening we all had a wonderful visit. Many of her relatives attended…some we have met before some new to us.
They’re coming to our house on Monday sometime and staying overnight and on Tuesday we’ll take them to Chicago O’Hare so they can fly back home.
We’ll miss them terribly. We don’t get to visit as often as we did when they lived 3 hours away from us here in Wisconsin.
But good news….they have their island home up for sale and are anxiously awaiting the sale so they can come back to the states….they’ll relocate in Raleigh, NC near her sister but that’s okay…it’s a beautiful place to live and visit. Good for all involved.  We couldn’t be happier for the news!
Pictures were taken and hopefully I will have one of the 4 of us soon to post.
 
The kids in the picture with them (I tried to put a box around Bill and Linda) are the kids from the Children’s Home which is a huge passion of theirs from the moment they arrived on the island – I’m sure of all the things they will miss by being away from St. Kitts it will be their kids….it has been their passion for the past 10 years…and the kids love them just as much.

 

Well, that ‘Seeing Red’ thing I mentioned…here goes….and yes, it will be the last of my ‘color’ photos….not much left in my house to take pictures of unless we start  some new textures like…
dust bunnies and fairy lace…of those I have a few too many!

 

Remember last week we went to Columbus, OH buying well one of the vendors ‘Doug Musser’ had a gorgeous mustard cupboard that I was going to buy for my den…As I’m getting my money out to pay for my huge bag of ‘pods’ (I showed you in the last post) and the cupboard…guess what? The lady ahead of me was buying it!  Talk about a let down! Here’s the cupboard…hopefully we can get it yet at his shop in Indiana in a few months.

Hope you enjoyed my post today – The next few days will be getting ready for company and then enjoying that company and then it’s off to Chicago on Tuesday and then Wednesday we have another funeral to attend. One of my first cousins passed away today from cancer – she was only 62.

Enjoy and see you all on Thursday
Karen

Linguine with Sausage, Onions and Peas

I go through phases where sometimes I enjoy eating sausage and sometimes I don't. When I do, one of my favorite ways to have it is in this rich but delicious pasta dish:


The last time I made it I called it Fettuccine Alfredo with Sausage, Onions and Peas because of the heavy cream. This time I used a mix of half and half and chicken stock so the sauce was a little lighter.

Swedish Meatballs

I really enjoy making Swedish Meatballs because it's easy and always tasty.


I served the meatballs with egg noodles and mixed veggies for a quick weeknight dinner.

New Desk Space

My desk is one of the things I moved around in the last week. You'll recognize the sill-sitting birds from this post. The art/craft table used to be in this same spot.



But our girl's room had a huge blank area needing to be filled with something (which I didn't show in the pictures). We decided to move the art table to their room, and utilize the school room more efficiently. The kids take turns doing a few different things on the computer (mine) during school time, so my desk works in here rather practically.



I love the bird calendar I found at Barnes and Nobles. It has the most amazing paintings. I think I need to move it up higher though, as the computer screen is competing for attention (it's interesting how perspective can change when I see a room in photos as opposed to real life).



My desk was a hand-me-down from my parents. It's an antique drafting table and I grew up BEGGING them to pass it down to me. They finally did, and I'm so grateful... it's one of my favorite things.



There are just some plain old ugly things about today's technology... ugly computer, ugly printer, ugly cords (why oh why do they make them black???). And then to top it all off, paperwork, cd's and other miscellaneous office junk just adds to the ugly. In an effort to mask it, I made some white fabric liners for our printer cart. Still ugly. But not as much. One day I'll replace our cart with a nifty piece of furniture and actually hide the printer. I love how Brooke from Velvet and Linen hid her uglies in baskets.



The industrial stool I picked up years ago at a junk shop. Lucky me that day!



So, this is where I will sit and continue to blog. ;) Thanks for all the kind comments and encouragement to keep it going. I think I will.

(oh, and that Friday Feature idea I had? Two weeks of no Feature=bad idea)