Roses are so beautiful. There are so many different varieties and colors. All have their own special, unique beauty and charm. I just love roses. I love everything about them. Even their thorns are part of their charm, as long as you don’t pricked to badly by them. We have so many beautiful roses in bloom right now, I just had to share them with all of you .
I hope you all have a very rosy day.
Life these days is getting pretty intense, all over the world. There is so much going on and it seems all we hear about are all the negatives in life. Sometimes we just need to step away from all of that and have a good laugh or two. Laughter, after all, is the best medicine. Laughter combined with food is even better. So I am giving you some more food funnies to help lighten your load and brighten your day.
I am a major cookie lover, so this one speaks volumes to me.
My kitchen, my recipes! Larry has learned NOT to question the chef. I know how to play with big knives.
We all know EVERYTHING is better with bacon.
The secrets of a successful chef.
And another favorite of mine. This was a staple in my house as I was growing up. Oh yeah, I was the one doing the cooking too, so I had final say. 🙂
Have a great day Everyone. Stay cool, stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
Sometimes the “friends” I see on my walks are pretty adventurous and bold. They are not afraid of me and I guess they know I am not going to hurt them and will just let them be. So they often just come right up to me. it seems like they just love being the center of attention, and often pose for the camera. I will take as many pictures of them as they allow.
This little Chipping Sparrow was loving his camera time.
Nature is our friend. When you are kind to nature, she is kind to you.
Chicken is probably one of the most versatile types of meat around. The possibilities and recipes are endless. Because of the versatility of chicken, we tend to eat a lot of it. That also means I am always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to prepare it.
I came across a new recipe that was just perfect for a summertime meal. It included asparagus and edamame beans. I love edamame beans, but I have to admit, I don’t cook with them all that often. Partly because I am not always sure what to do with them. But they worked very well in this recipe.
Chicken with Asparagus and Edamame Beans
3 TBSP flour
salt & pepper to taste
1 1/2-2 lbs chicken breasts
olive oil and lemon or lime olive oil oil (optional) for cooking
1/2 red onion, sliced very thin
1 TBSP garlic
1/2-3/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup edamame beans
1 lb asparagus cut into 1-1 1/2 inch spears
2 TBSP fresh dill, chopped
1 TBSP sour cream
1 TBSP lemon or lime juice
red pepper flakes, to taste, optional
Combine the flour and salt & pepper and mix well, then coat the chicken breasts completely. Get the oil nice and hot in a large skillet and add the chicken. Cook for about 4-6 minutes per side, or until golden brown on both sides.
Add the onions and garlic and mix together well. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring often.
Add the wine and continue to cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the bottom to get all the scraps. Then add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 6-7 minutes.
Around the last 3 minutes of the cooking process, add the edamame beans and the asparagus and continue to cook, stirring frequently.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the heat and add the sour cream, lime or lemon juice and the fresh dill and incorporate into the sauce and adjust the seasoning as needed. I also added a bit of red pepper flakes. I used lime juice because that is what was the most readily available at the time, and it came out great. Though I actually prefer lime juice to lemon juice for a lot of things too.
I served it all on top of wild rice, with a crusty ciabiatta on the side, as well as a glass or two of a chilled vermiento white wine, though any cool, crisp white wine will do very nicely.
This dish is just loaded with summer goodness. It was very tasty and made even more enjoyable by dining al fresco, out on our beloved deck.
Stay cool, stay safe and stay well Everyone. Til next time.
Like me, all of our lake residents prefer to be out and about when the temperatures are cooler, either in the early hours of the mornings or at dusk. Lately, it has just been way to hot to be out and about during the heat of the day. There was a Common Grackling cooling himself down at the water’s edge. He looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself too. I just love his spectacular colorings. I think these are such beautiful birds.
Stay cool, stay safe and stay well Everyone. Have a great day. ‘Til next time.
Today, I give you the last of the VBS snacks. I call this one fish bait. I don’t know if this is what this snack is really called, but sticking with an underwater theme, it just seems appropriate and the name seems to fit. It is a combination of all things kids love to munch on for snacks.
The “fish bait” is a combination of goldfish, Swedish fish, pretzel sticks and popcorn. I also added the rest of the Sweet Tarts for more color. Besides, I had them, so why not use them, right? Just combine everything together and mix well, then bag them up. To make it more fun, I bagged them in colorful bags.
I just kept adding to my bowl as needed and stirring it all up until I had got used it all up and my big bowl was empty. In total, I made 92 bags.
If you have been following my VBS series, you would know just busy I was. Even though all of these are very simple, easy-peasy recipes, they were time consuming too, especially since I made them in the volumes that I did. Just to recap, I made about 200 clamshell cookies Snacks for VBS – Part 1 – Clamshell Cookies, about 130 schools of fish Snacks for VBS – Part 2 – Schools of Fish and about 92 bags of fish bait – ALL in one day. I was wiped out at the end of the day. They were all a lot of fun to make, and definitely for a very good cause. They were labors of love, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
The VBS starts today and will continue all through the week, and all these snacks will hopefully be enjoyed by all the kids who attend all week long. Lacy did a FABULOUS job of decorating the church too. One of our other parishioners drew and painted all these fabulous cutouts of all kinds of marine life. She did an amazing job with these too. They were used to transform the church into an aquarium for the week. The kids are well on their way to becoming underwater enthusiasts.
Have a great day and a great week Everyone. Stay cool, stay safe, stay well and carry on. ‘Tl next time.
I was in the kitchen for most of the day preparing all the VBS snacks for VBS that starts tomorrow. Yesterday, I shared the clamshell cookies. Snacks for VBS – Part 1 – Clamshell Cookies. Today, I am sharing the schools of fish. I think they turned out adorable. They are very easy to make, but again, time consuming, especially since I made about 130 of them. They only require three simple ingredients – graham crackers, goldfish and blue frosting. These are another fun kids’ snack idea that the whole family can have fun making together, or the kids can do themselves.
Keep the graham crackers whole, then spread the blue frosting over 1/2-2/3 of the graham cracker and place the goldfish on top of the frosting. Pretty easy-peasy.
Both the schools of fish and the clamshells are fun and very creative things that kids of all ages will enjoy.
Just keep swimmin’, just keep swimmin’, just keep swimmin’.
As you all know, I do the church coffee cart every Sunday. Everyone at church knows I love to cook and love to feed people. So it is only natural that I help out with the snacks for the VBS or Vacation Bible School that will be running this week.. Lacy, the pre-school and early childhood facilitator, came up with all these fun ideas for the VBS, and I am the creator of the goodies.
Our theme this year is “Under the Sea“. Here are all my ingredients I get to work with.
My first batch of goodies are now done. I will start on the next batch in just a bit. Round one – Complete – 200 Clamshell cookies.
These are super easy to make and are made with vanilla wafers, colored frosting and sweet tarts.
Each clamshell requires 2 cookies and 1 sweet tart as the “pearl” inside. Frost one cookie (rounded part down, then add a sweet tart in the center.
Add a little frosting on the bottom of the second cookie and stand it up on the edge of the first cookie to make the clam.
This is the first round, with two more to go. So, that being said, I need to get back in the kitchen again, to start Round 2. This is just a brief breather in between rounds. 🙂
Stay cool, stay safe, stay well and carry on. ‘Til next time.
Pasta is always on my easy go-to list, but especially when things are hectic. It is easy to make and easy to re-heat for later. It was one of those days when Larry and I were both going in all different directions and wouldn’t be home until later. So I made something that would be easy for us to heat up once we got home. Every night could easily be a pasta night for me, but this time it definitely was.
I had a whole bunch of vegetables that I chopped up and added some Andouille sausage to. I also had some heirloom tomatoes that were ready to be used as a sauce. So I whipped it all together to make for a light, tasty summer meal, though it is really good anytime of year.
I also got to use up all the little bits and pieces that were leftover, which as you know, is always a favorite of mine. I had 1/2 a zucchini and 1/2 a crookneck that I sliced, about 1/3 of a red onion that I sliced very thin, and then I used some red, yellow and orange bell peppers along with a diced jalapeno pepper too. And don’t forget the garlic! Always add garlic.
I sauteed everything together with some olive oil and lime olive oil until all the vegetables were cooked. Once they were done, I removed them from the skillet and added the Andouille sausage.
When the sausage was cooked, I re-added the vegetables, as well as the chopped tomatoes, about 1-1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream and all my seasonings and spices; salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper and some ancho chili powder. Once all the ingredients were added, I brought everything to a boil, then reduced the heat to a simmer and let it continue to cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
This colorful combination of sausage, vegetables and spices made for a delicious Southwestern pasta. I LOVE Southwestern foods, and combined with pasta, well, it is just a homerun! It just knocked it out of the ball park. All I needed to do was add some garlic bread and some chardonnay and voila! Dinner was served.
Keep it simple, especially in these dog days of summer. Stay cool, stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
Yesterday, I showed you yet another surprise baby picture of a baby duckling with its mommy. Nature Walks – Just Mommy And Me. But just as surprising to see this late little duckling was the fact that my goslings are almost all grown up now. What happened? Where did the babies go? Time just flies by so quickly.
Time is of the essence. Make the most of it.
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 