Remembering...

My dad got re-married Saturday.  It was a joyous occasion for him and his new bride, Shelly.  I am so thrilled that he has found a companion and partner for the next chapter of his life I cannot help but to think back on my mom.  Since I love lists, it only seems appropriate:

1.   Outside our home was a sign that read “Love Deeply.”  And my mom did.  Loving is being selfless and she was so selfless.  When her sister died suddenly she left two boys behind and my Mom raised them.  I cannot think of a way to love more deeply than to love two boys that are not even your own.  Then she had her own kids and she loved us so deeply too.  In memory of her, I have a matching sign that also reads, “Love Deeply.”

2.   My mom loved to cook.  Most of the memories of my mom were centered on a meal.  I would like to think that has been passed onto me.  She cooked every night for the four of us.  Not only did she cook every night for the family but she got up every school day and made a hot homemade breakfast.  First, I am surprised that I don’t weight 500 pounds because it was so yummy and good ole Southern style breakfast.  But secondly I didn’t realize until I was older how out of the ordinary that is.  Her homemade biscuits were the best.  She made them very small, only about one and a half inches in diameter.  They were adorable and delicious.  

3.   Speaking of cooking, she started a recipe box for me when I was really little, probably six years old.  In it are my favorite recipes with commentaries like, “A Christmas Morning Tradition” and “You called these cheesy potatoes.”  I have that recipe box in my kitchen and it contains all my childhood favorites. 

4.   Often when I think of my mom in the kitchen I think of a white sweatshirt, shorts and flip flops.  That was her “at home” outfit in rain or snow.  Sometimes I feel like I need to channel her and so I throw on my grey Polo sweatshirt, some shorts and flip flops and cook away.

5.   My mom was a great listener.  I remember sitting at the bar while she cooked and just talking.  She would ask great questions, which to me is the sign of a good listener. 

6.   My mom was not for inside dogs.  I type this as my two BIG inside dogs drool over my dinner.  Sorry mom.

7.   Sometimes when life got stressful, I would vent to her and she would start her next sentence with, “Now here’s what we are going to do.  You need to take a good long bath and get some time to think and then we will …..”  She believed that a good long bath could cure a lot of things.  I believe that is great wisdom.

8.   My mom had the most unique handwriting of any person I have ever met. Each letter stands meticulously on its own and with its own personality.  R’s were always capitalized whether they needed to be or not.  I admired her uniqueness in just about everything.

9.   My mom was so thoughtful.  I can remember at least once a week in school there would be a note, favorite piece of candy, a picture, you name it - in my lunch box at school.  I hope I said thank you enough for those small, meaningful acts of thoughtfulness.

Although it only scratches the surface, it felt so good to share those things.  Thanks for indulging me.

Mom and Me - November 2006



Make Your Own Gift

A good friend of mine just moved into a new house and is graciously hosting my husband and me for dinner.  I wanted to bring her a hostess gift and house warming gift but didn't know what exactly to get her, nor what she needs. 

She is a meal-planner like me but we all know post-it's are not so glamorous and I always lose my grocery list 4-5 times during the week anyway, so I thought I would make a prettier one that stays put and it is your kitchen when you need it.

Here is a picture:

 

How to make it:

1.  Purchase or re-purpose an 8 x 10 frame. 

2.  Cut scrapbook paper to match your kitchen motif - cut a few different patterns and colors

3.  Place the paper where you would typically put a picture

4.  Purchase a dry-erase marker and viola!

This is a great item to place family reminders, quotes, Bible verses, or my personal favorite, the grocery list - all dressed up.

Go-To Meal

I pride myself in being a pretty decent meal planner, but there are a few meals that are go-to meals when you haven't meal planned. You know, the days you open the fridge and hope for the best!  This recipe is one of those go-to meals.  I almost always have the ingredients on hand and just enough time to throw it all together.  I learned to cook Chicken Scallopini when I first started cooking.  At the time, it seemed so difficult.  Now, I can cook it with my eyes closed.  Well, maybe not, but you get the drift.  I don't always have capers on had so you can live without them too.

This go-to recipe can be served with anything - orzo pasta, frozen veggies, a light soup like tomato-basil soup, etc.  The possibilites are endless.

This recipe is from Cooking Light:

Chicken Scallopini

Prepare chicken breasts scallopini-style by pounding them into thin, quick-cooking servings, then dredge in lemon juice and breadcrumbs and sauté for about 3 minutes on each side. The white wine sauce with capers complements the flavor of the lemon juice, and makes a great topping for wild rice.

Ingredients

• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 4 teaspoons capers
• 1 tablespoon butter

Preparation

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Brush chicken with juice, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in breadcrumbs.
Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Remove from pan; keep warm.
Add broth and wine to pan, and cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in capers and butter.

Warrior Dash

Let me get something straight.  I don't really like to run.  The last time I ran over two miles was about four years ago.  But, Lane got this wild idea to run a fun race with some of his clients.  We signed up for the Warrior Dash.  Essentailly it is a 5k race (a little over three miles) in the mud with ten obstacles throughout.

Here is a preview of what we did:

The first obstacle was wading through a lake - which was FREEZING.  Lane saw the panic immediately set in.  I was with a ton of strangers, strangers in a hurry, in cold, muddy water.  YIKES!

Instead of leaving me to talk myself out of complete and utter panic, Lane kindly just picked me up and guided me through the water.  After that, I was on my way to becoming a warrior!

We completed the 10 obstacles together as a group.  We were cold and filthy when we finished, but it was fun and worth it.

Lane and I jumping over the firey rocks near the end of the race - hand in hand.

Viking hats as a completion prize.  Flattering?

Lane was filthy and decided it appropriate to kiss me.  Not cool.

Cooking with Giada

I don't have a written Bucket List (things I want to do before I kick the bucket) but if I did, meeting Giada De Laurentiis would be on it.  Not only did I get to meet her a few weekends ago, but I got to COOK with her. 

Let me catch my breath and I can tell you the whole story.

I saw an advertisement for a Cooking Expo on the Food Network.  I looked online at tickets were $75 each.  That is not in the envelope budget, so I put the idea aside.  A few weeks later a Groupon came through for half off and I jumped on that super quickly.  I also convinced Lane to go with me becuase I played up the fact that there would be free food there all day.  And downplayed the fact that the event is 99.9% women.

We set off on a Saturday unsure of what to expect.  I didn't have much of an idea as to what might be there or going on.  The web site made it seem that you had to pay extra to meet any of the famous folks, so the bar was set pretty low.

We roll into the Cobb Galleria Center and people were filing into an auditorium.  We followed.  I started to gather some clues that there was going to be a cooking demo.  I started to brim with excitement.  The emcee mentioned that Giada would be coming out soon and I was unable to hide my excitement.

We stealthly made our way to some pricey VIP seats that didn't sell and awaited for Mrs. G herself.  She came out and introduced herself - and she is so gorgeous.

She mentioned that she would cook three things and would need three volunteers.  People threw up their hands almost all at once, including Lane and me. 

She chose an older gentleman for the first round.  He was endearing, but I knew I had to get up there.  She called out for the second volunteer and before you could even think I was up on Lane's shoulders waving my hands as if I were landing a jet plane.  At the same time Lane was pointing to his crazed wife on his shoulders. 

Giada scanned the crowd and I could feel her staring our way.  She threw her hands up and said, "Well, I can't say no to that."  I ran down the aisle straight up Price is Right style.

I reached the stage and put on my game face.  She introduced me to the crowd and asked what loon was holding me on his shoulders to get her attention.  We chatted about my favorite dish to cook and I told her.

She asked me if I liked salmon and I nodded enthusiastically yes. (Even though I am not a huge fan)

She explained what we were going to cook and we went to town.  I nervously shook while trying to act cool, calm and collected.  She asked me to cut chives and my hands were shaking as if I was about to meet the Pope.

We cooked for about 20 minutes on stage.  She took questions while I worked on the salmon patties.  It was bliss.  I was cooking on stage with Giada, my favorite TV chef. 

We finished the segment by sampling our freshly made salmon patties and much to my surprise they were awesome.  I took the dish back to the row where I was seated and shared it with my twelve new friends.

It was a blissful day.  I finished off the day by purchasing an autographed copy of her new cookbook. 

Here are some pictures from the day, followed by the recipe that she and I cooked. 

Here is the link to the recipe:  http://www.ozimandius.com/images/uploads/Laurentiis_SalmonCakes.pdf

Favorites

Becuase I have such a love for lists, here is another, in no particular order....

1. Favorite Color - to wear - black, to look at - green
2. Favorite Candies - Sour Patch Kids, Lemonheads, Hot Tamales
3. Favorite Movies - Top Gun, The Notebook
4. Favorite Person - Lane, my husband
5. Favorite Food - anything Italian
6. Favorite Outfit - black velour comfy pants and a gray long sleeve t-shirt - cute, right?
7. Favorite Artist - now, Adele and Sara Bareilles;  I also like John Legend, John Mayer, among others
8. Favorite Flowers - Gerbera Daisies and Tulips
9. Favorite TV Shows - House, Bones, and Giada on the Food Network
10. Favorite things to do - take golf cart rides, cook, play with my pups, organize anything, spend time with friends 

Foofs

Lane and I have two dogs.  They may look mean and slobbery, but they are so sweet.  They are still slobbery, however.  There is no medical cure to rectify that. 


Let me introduce you to Maverick, commonly called Mav, Little Guy, Buddy, or No Mav No!

Maverick is three.  We bought him the first year we were married, actually I bought him and convinced Lane to let us keep him.  Here is how it went down.  I had talked about wanting a dog, so I went to Jemison, Alabama and met a litter of boxer pups.  We knew we liked boxers because our neighbors had boxers.

I picked out the runt of the litter - the one who looked pitiful and calm.  I gave the lady a check for the pup and asked her politely not to cash it, as my husband might not let me keep it.  I told her I would call her in a day with the verdict.

Here is day 1 with Mav:

Fingers crossed, I took the little fellow to Lane's work and asked him to meet us for lunch.  When he showed, I innocently said, "Look! He needs a home." 


We went to lunch and Maverick fell asleep in Lane's lap, all eight pounds of skin fell asleep and it was LOVE. 


So Maverick came home to live with us.  He has stolen my heart.  He structures his day around naps and if he is lucky he gets a golf cart ride.  Those, above all other things, are his favorite things in this life.  He loves the golf cart.  We have a rule that you can't even say those two words out loud in our house.  If you do, you will pay.  You will have to take him for a ride.  He is relentless.

Here he is with the "Don't mess with me, I'm napping face."

He also enjoys a run in with the waterhose.  Below is the evidence:

That was May 2008.  In September 2008, we found out about a boxer girl who needed a home.  She was being terribly mistreated in Tennessee.  She was part of a puppy mill and had been abused.  We decided to take in a dog named Kadie. 

We call her Kadie Bug, Kadie Thug, Buggers and Rabbit.

Say hello, Kadie!

Kadie is not one for pictures. She's about 6 years old.  She enjoys sleeping all day, everyday.  She is a good companion to Mav and loves Lane more than me.  I'm okay with it, I guess. 

Kadie loves to ride in the car.  If I am making a quick trip to the store, she loves to go.  She lays down and is really calm about the whole thing.  The girl just likes to ride in the car.  Maverick, on the other hand, throws up every time I drive somewhere.  Bummer.

We love our little foofs.  They are always excited to see us when we come home.  Kadie brings you a shoe every time you walk in the door as a welcome gift.  They don't care if you have had a bad day or are grumpy - they just want a quick tap on the head or a scratch behind the ears.

They are really great companions.  They like the same movies that we like, the same food we like, music, and so on.  They love to take naps and snuggle - which is great on a Saturday afternoon. 

They are our four legged babies. And I LOVE them!