Married 30+ years to the same sweet man & plan to hang on to him! Pray for your family daily!! If you don't... who will?

Monday, February 22, 2010

Painted Furniture

I like to paint.  
I'm not very good, but I enjoy myself.

I particularly enjoy painting furniture.

Wish I had photos of the many I have given away.

Oh well.

Hope you like the ones here. 


  

 
 



Sunday, February 14, 2010

Yorkshire Pudding and Popover Chicken Recipes

I posted a comment on Susan's post at Between Naps on the Back Porch when she wrote about her experience with Yorkshire Pudding at Christmas and never noticed back on Dec 31 that she asked for the recipe. Then today I recieved a comment from "Anonymous" wishing I had posted the recipe for Popovers and Popover Chicken.  I thought I had posted the recipe at some point, but alas, I am afraid that is not so.


So, here is my recipe for Yorkshire Pudding, followed by the recipe for Popover Chicken.
I don't remember when my mom first started making Yorkshire Pudding.  It is so ingrained in my memories.  She always tried to be a gourmet-ish cook and I continue to cling to my faves.  


Roast "Beast", Yorkshire Pudding, au jus and a few other items are traditional Christmas fare around here. We've whittled out anything that is not a fave so we can enjoy the best in decadent delight. We make double and triple batches of Yorkshire Pudding because some doesn't even make it to the table.

No need to buy a "popover" pan. I use my Nana's old tin muffin pans. They are stained and ugly but work just fine.




Yorkshire Pudding         
         Yield 1+ dozen
1 Cup flour
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
Mix until well blended and smooth.  Chill minimum 1 hour. 
Preheat oven 375° F.   
Place dab of solid shortening in  each muffin cup, heat in oven. When melted, pour batter ½ full. Bake 30 minutes until nicely browned and nicely puffed up.

Serve w/ au jus  
(I use Campbell's Double Strength Beef Broth, diluted)



Popover Chicken
One cut up chicken or 6-8 chicken pieces
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup 
½  "can" milk
1 recipe Yorkshire Pudding/Popover batter (above)


I use a cut up chicken.  You can use your favorite pieces or even boneless skinless breasts, but I find  the boneless skinless ends up dry and not as yummy.


Prepare one recipe of Yorkshire Pudding and chill in fridge while browning chicken.
.
Brown the chicken pieces in one of two ways:  
  1. Lay chicken skin-side down in a single layer in a 9X13" glass baking dish. Brown in oven At 375° for 1/2 hour, then turn and brown another 15 minutes. Drain fat and continue.  
  2. Brown both sides of chicken in skillet in a small amount of oil or spray pan with non-stick spray. When nicely browned, transfer chicken in a single layer to a 9X13" glass baking dish that has been sprayed with  non-stick spray and place in 375° oven about 3 minutes until dish heats up and then  continue.
While 9X13" pan is still hot from the oven, pour Yorkshire Pudding/Popover batter over chicken.
Bake for 30+ minutes.
Meanwhile, make a gravy/sauce by mixing the Cream of Chicken Soup using ½  can of milk and heating. 
Chicken Popover is done when the batter is puffed up and nicely browned.  Check to make sure the middle is done.  
Serve a piece of chicken by spooning out the chicken and popover together. Top with "sauce".  Serve with rice or potatoes, green salad and veggie of choice.




 Enjoy!


Saturday, February 13, 2010

Pink Valentine Saturday!!!


It's been forever since I've participated in Pink Saturday.  

While up in Columbia 2 weeks ago visiting Jay! & Christy and the little girlees, we again went to the Upper Crust Bakery/Restaurant.  

They already had a nice supply of Valentine Cookies. 

Aren't they fun?  
They inspire me to replicate them.  

And just because I can, 
I'm including a photo of the Mischievous Kitty.  

Isn't she cute?

Be sure to visit Beverly and the Parade of Pink Saturday Fun!



Sunday, February 7, 2010

Rock-A-Thon 2010 for CMN

My students are raising money for 
Children's Miracle Network,
this year's national service project for FCCLA.

Rock-A-Thon 2010 is now history! 
We had a great time.  
We started out with a little dancing:
 
(a little Cha Cha Slide)
  
(a little Thriller?)
  
I Tweeted and updated on Facebook:


$466 was raised by 7 FCCLA members!
 
 Michelle said her favorite part was Cranium!


My favorite part was when I posted that
we were eating hot homemade pizza at 2:45 am:
I got comments from 2 former FCCLA officers.
"We want to come!  Plz???? 
If we show up will you let us in?"
You bet I let them in!  
They stayed for about an hour.

They actually worked in my room a little, 
spiffing things up like they used to.
Ate some pizza, of course. 
It was a blast to catch up with them. 
It was just as if they were still in our chapter!
Thanks for stopping by Christian and Crystal!
Please come back again and 
join Alumni & Associates!
Here's a retro photo from 2008:


The money brought in from this year's Rock-a-Thon
brings our total for Children's Miracle Network to
$1566 so far this year.  

We still have a few more plans... 
selling Crushes for your crush
for Valentine's Day during FCCLA Week,
then there's Hot Chocolate & Cappuccino profits.

FCCLA Rocks!
I crashed!
Rock On!