Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Chicken Recipe

For those that read my post about my chicken I appologize for not posting the recipe sooner, but it was in a bag that I had put in the fridge, even though I thought I had put it in my purse so I' posting the real recipe. Hopefully you all can find your own way it make it as juicy as I had it, but how you do that is up to you.

Ingredients
- 3T of fresh rosemary or 1T of dried rosemary (I prefer fresh)
- 1/2tsp of paprika
- 1/2tsp of salt
- 1/4tsp of black pepper
- 1 4lb. chicken
- 2 lemons cut into quarters
- 1 stick of butter - 2 heads of garlic

Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 & spray pan (hopefully its the Pampered Chef covered baker).
- Remove the inard parts of the chicken. Rinse in cold water and pat dry.
- Combine the half the rosemary, paprika, salt & pepper. Put a good portion of garlic in the bottom of the pan you are using keeping some on reserve for the inside of the bird.
- Truss the chicken and put it in the pan you are using.
- Put lemons, the other half of the rosemary and a couple cloves of garlic in the chicken cavity
- Make sure the butter is soft and add the herb mixture to it. Microwave for abt. 10 seconds. Just enough to make it spreadable and spread over the chicken.
- Now if you're using the covered baker cover the chicken and bake for 60 minutes. Then take the cover off and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 180 deg. so that the skin can become crispy. If you're not using the covered baker cover the chicken with foil and bake for the same amount of time. When you take the foil off make sure to baste the chicken abt. every 10 minutes until a meat thermometer reads 180 deg.

ENJOY!

Hallelujah Chorus Flashmob

I Love a good flash mob! As long as they are wholesome, which is rare, but a lot of the silly ones are great. Improv Everywhere does some of the best ones. This one s not by them. It was sent to me by my friend Vicki today. I hope you all enjoy it as well. I'm totally looking forward to seeing Handle's Messiah again this Christmas season!


Monday, November 22, 2010

Winter Wonderland & other wonders

Finally, I got to enjoy this view from the porchlight last night! And let me tell you, it was hard earned. It was just supposed to be a simple snow day right? Let me begin at the beginning...

See we rarely get snow on the island because well it's an island water usually adds an element of warmth to the air and so the freezing that tends to happen to most places where it snows doesn't really tak place. And I should probably qualify it to say that it almost rarely snows because it seems to be more frequent in the past couple years. But while the temps had been freezing in the past week, the weather men in the area were only calling for light flurries. So Monday morning I made my way to work as usual, but desperately wishing that I had my Isotoners with me.

No sooner had the 8:30 crew joined the office did the skys open up dispensing the cold, white snow and it did it plentifully. At first we weren't to concerned, because usually when it does snow, it takes a while to stick. But not this time. The ground was primed and freezing, which only compounded the anxiety of when we would be allowed to leave work. Where I work just happens to be at the bottom of 2 hills and I don't have 4WD either; none of us that were allowed to leave early did. Eventually, probably around 11 we were allowed to leave, but the damage was already done. The initial hill that I tried to climb had me sliding back down it. Thankfully the second hill I tried had a better success rate because it had been diven on all morning, but had it not been my friend & fellow church member Tom was on speed dial to come & get me out of a jam. However, once I reached the HWY it wasn't much better. All we could do was inch along the HWY and a normal 10 minute drive turned into a half an hour drive, for my co-horts it took an extra 30 minutes into Oak Harbor. It was treacherous on 20, there were at least 5 spin outs and the big rigs had to pull over to chain up. Now spin outs are never fun, but on an island...surrounded by water...that just adds another element of fun, right? Nothing like a water hazard to add to the excitement of inclement weather travel.

So I finally made it to the house that I am staying at, house sitting for actually, and here was the side yard/street view at abt. 11:45. It's Probably abt. 4" at this point.

Now the previous evening, not knowing about the gift that the Lord had in store for us, had decided to wait until the afternoon "after I got off of work", to go back to my place to get the ingredients in order to make the pie for tonights pie fellowship at church. At this point, after the initial hill debacle I had just decided to pack it in for the day...except that my wonter boots were also home and those I NEEDED. My tennis shoes were not holding up well. So I called my friend just to let her know about the snow and without asking her anything, she told me to use her van to drive in the snow. Her van is much heavier than my car and holds up well in the snow. PTL! so now I had a way into town, but I knew it would be another 30 minute drive. SIGH...here I go again...scrapping down the van...heating it up...and off I got into the crawl.

It's weird how when the snow comes it makes everything so still that when your crawling on the road at 25mph it can feel like you're flying. I know of at least one other person that shares that senitment, anyone else out there?

Well I made it to my apartment almost without incident. However, I failed to remember that one does not stop at the top of an icy hill, stop sign or not, when trying to navigate a snow covered terain. Thankfully, again, a passerby saw my plight and took pity on the situation and gave me a push up the hill. He seemed kinda irritated, so I guess chivalry only died a little within his heart. O well, at least I made it up the hill.

Still hangin' with me? OK, got my stuff and made it back to the house unpacked and now I'm ready to bake! Right? You'd think.

If that had been true I would have started right away. Instead my friend called again and reminded me about the fact that the hose needed to be unhooked from the spicket so that the pipes didn't freeze. OK, no biggie...NOT! I was able to find an allen wrench in a drawer and set to it. All to no avail. The thing was already frozen solid! YIKES!!!

Remember people, righty tighty...lefty loosey (the wisdom dispensed to me by my mech friends from my Navy days).

So now what??? I tried to call anyone I knew who had lived in a cold climate (remember people I'm an original California girl). First, I called my friend to see what she wanted me to do. After all this hasn't been the easiest house sitting job, last week we had a major wind storm that toppled over one of her sheds! But alas all I got was her voice mail. Second I called my Dad. He's from Pittsburgh, PA and he'll know what to do, right? Answering machine. Really?! (if I couldn't laugh I'd cry. Not to ironic that Sunday evenings message at church was about how not to worry.) So what's my 3rd option? Think, think, think. Ahhh HA, Tim & Katie! They're from the frozen tundra, a.k.a. Minnesota. They'll totally know what to do. So I rang them up. Katie was home & her advice, a blowdryer and extension chord. That way if I can't get the hose unstuck at least it doesn't re-freeze with warm water on it. At this point I'd try anything!

Blowdryer? Check. Extension chord, well naturally the extra long one that I needed was in the shed that was still standing, but it was all tangled up since it had originally been in the one that toppled over. I tried and tried, in the dark and the below freezing temp last evening to work out the kinks and tangles, all to no avail.

*Sidebar* I hope my friends that know me are enjoying the mental picture of this struggle.
OK, time to regroup. So in the end all I could find was a bunch of smaller extension chords that I attatched together.
But that endedup not working so well. Finally, my friend called me back and told me to just go ahead and use the hot water idea, and if I couldn't get it off then we'd just pray that it wouldn't freeze. Well that's fine, but really I just couldn't deal with it if I had to contain another disaster, especially busted pipes. So again, here I go. But finally...Ta-Da!!! I am smarter than a frozen water spicket! YES! I was super relieved that the hose came loose. And my tools that worked? HOT water and an Allen wrench. Definitely have to remember that for "next time".


This one I took just for fun

YAY, for snow boots!

Finally, after all was said and done, I got to start & finish my Oatmeal Pie (click the link for the recipe, I got it from another blog). And those that chose to partake in it tonight found it YUMMY!
My evening day may not have been ideal, but I learned a couple things:
1) Why worry when you can pray?
2) Oatmeal Pie is YUMMY
3) That God's plan will always cause a person to wonder. Why? Because in the prevailing thought that stayed with me throughout the evening and that I expressed to my friends is that, I just had to wonder what the Lord was preparing me for. Because it just seemed to be one thing after another. It's definitely gonna be something, but what only He knows in the end. Whatever it is I wonder if I'll be trudging through snow doing it. If so I'm definitely more prepared than I used to be.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Cooking again

It's been a while since I've posted any recipes...a long while! It's not that I haven't been cooking, it's just that I haven't really made anything that has excited me. Most of it has been repeats of my stand by list. However this past week I received my Pampered Chef products and I was fully inspired to use my new stoneware baker! So as I was waiting for Nicki to come over and help me make my Christmas presents I set to work on making dinner....Roasted Chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans, I only took pics of the chicken process though because I wanted to highlight my new cooking tools.

It all started with this little gem. I decided to make it one of my 1/2 price items from my Pampered Chef party the other week. A while back this covered baker was only available to hosts, but now everyone can get it. I've only used it once but I know that I will be using it a LOT!


The Covered Baker
Then I peeled the garlic. I love garlic! I just don't like it making my hands sticky. So the peel removerreally helps that.


Garlic

Isn't this just a lovely picture of tastey goodness! The restaurant is not longer around, and I can't even have traditional Pizza anymore, but I remember Peter's Pizza in SF and specifically the aroma of the toasty garlic, Mmmmm....Seriously! I can't have it anymore:( WHAAAA

Rosemary
In a word...shredded!!! I loved this knife! There is nothing that is so much fun as cutting with a sharp knife. Can I get a witness from the other cooks?

Diced Rosemary & my new knife
The recipe originally called for EVOO and the spices sprinkled over the chicken, but as much as I like EVOO if I need a fat to cook with, I prefer butter. All the way! Butter makes everything better. Well, nit my wasteline, but my tastebuds sure dig it.

Butter and herbs in a bowl Remember all that garlic I rolled? Well I decided to use it as a spice on the bottom of my baker as an aromatic (I've been watching food network alot, can you tell?), and then some in the crevis of the chicken as well.
Toss garlic in the bottom of the baker
I know this looks like a hot mess, but trust me it was totally NOT! I melted the butter slightly, for abt 10 sec. in the microwave. Just enough to make is spreadable. If I could have handled my camera to take a pic of my hands I would have. Again I've fallen vicitm to Food Network nirvana. See I'm house sitting this week and my friend has the FN channel!!! It's also Thanksgiving week, and everytime they get the Turkey ready for the oven they but the spices in the butter and then spread the butter over it with their hands. I guess I just didn't allow enough time for the butter to soften. But still you just make it work.

Before...
After.
The carnage!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Are you carrying any baggage?

I know it's been a while since I've done one of these. Not since the days of my list, and I don't even think I reviewed this book back then. In any case, this was the first of my books that I had to read for my completion of Bible Institute.

You may be asking yourself why I would re-read, and re-do a book report that I had already done for a previous class? well for a couple reasons. The first is because it had been 2 years since I had taken our world evangelism class (where I first read this book) and it's always good to brush up. The second is because I couldn't find my original graded copy, we had a different Pastor teaching that class and he graded it, not my current Pastor. Lastly, because after reading my original book report, I could hardly see why my Pastor back then would have given me and A. I missed a lot of talking points in the original paper. This would not be acceptable for this assignment. So I chose to re-write my paper. I did use most of my old paper to bring the two assignments together though. Hey, I like to work under the phrase "work smarter not harder".
This time I feel like I have a much better paper. Maybe I'll post it once I get the grade back.

Like the title suggests this book is mostly about the ideals that Americans hold to and how they can be hindrances when dealing with other cultures. This is an especially important consideration for a person that is ministry bound to consider. And that is in escense the objective of the author.

Nussbaum starts off by pointing out that there are about 10 commandments that Americans live by, which are:
1. You can’t argue with success 2
2. Live and let live
3. Time flies when you’re having fun
4. Shop ‘til you drop
5. Just do it
6. You are only young once
7. Enough is enough
8. Rules are made to be broken
9. Time is money
10. God helps those who help themselves

He then continues the book through a seies of American proverbs that illustrate how Americans act in, and re-act to situations (for better or worse). Some of the proverbs to consider are “Live and let live”, Winning isn’t everything”, "Just Do It", and “Home Sweet Home”. According to Nussbaum all of these sayings focus on the three major goals of success, self-esteem, and fun that, he says drive Americans to make the decisions that they do. What do these proverbs/saying mean to you? Do they evoke any thoughts on how you make your decisions?

It's a really good book. And I'm happy that I decieded to read it again. I got a lot more out of it the second time around. If you're interested you can find it on Amazon.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Veterans Day

In all my antics in growing up, and with all the titles that I ever thought I would hold, Navy Verteran never would have been one of them. However, that is one of the titles that I hold in my life. I shouldn't say proudly, because the Lord does hate pride, but I can say that I honorably served in the USN for 5 years (I have the DD214 form to prove it).

This picture was taken in 2000 and I was 20. Oh how much I had yet to learn, even though I thought I knew it all back then. Who would know that within a years time I would be stationed in Sicily (a country I had always hoped to go to), standing watch on front gate (on the look out for terrorists) and that I'd come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour.


However, this leads me to a thought. While those of us who have given up chunks of our lives, yay even some lives entirely, in order to protect both hearth and home; serving in the armed forces for our Nation is nothing like serving in the Lords armed forces. Once we enlist in those there is no DD214 separation paperwork, and our honorable service is only recognized upon our promotion to glory. We can only hope to hear "Well done, thou good and faithful servant", Matthew 25:21.

The word Veteran is a noun & means - One who has been long exercised in any service or art, particularly in war; one who has grown old in service and has had much experience.

Sadly I believe that there are all to many Christians that fall out of the spiritual battle before becoming seasoned enough to hold the title of Veteran. I believe primarily because alot of people don't ever learn to use their sword, Hebrews 4:12, and because of that they don't know how to use their weapon against the attacks of the enemy. Just like a military service person, the Christian has been given a weapon in order defend themselves, which is the Bible. One way to hear the afforementioned scripture is to know your Bible. And while I admit I have a lot to learn from it and that I'm still learning how to use it better. It is has by far been the best means of defense that I've had in the past 9.5 years.

11 years ago I joined the Navy to serve my country and get money for school. A year and a half later I was actually saved to serve in a much greater capacity than I could have ever imagined. The serving has not stopped and I hope one day that I can count myself worthy of that Veteran status.

Until then however, let me just say that I am happy to be called a Veteran of my country and want to thank all of those that have served and are still serving in our nations Armed Forces. Let yourselves always be counted Semper Fi.

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