SATC 2 !!!

Thanks to La Dolce Vita for sharing this!  I'm so excited I want to do the dance of joy! 

Easter Dinner revisited

Behold my Easter dinner!

Grilled Stuffed Chicken Breasts - Chicken breasts stuffed with fresh basil, provolone cheese, and proscuitto. 2 words: Garlic butter.  Doesn't it make everything taste Fabulous!

Roasted Okra - I don't believe I ever had okra until I moved to the south.  I knew that if you cook it wrong, it is slimy.  This okra was not slimy, it was quite good!

I made asparagus using the same method as the okra, and German Potato salad, recipe below.

The German Potato salad is a recipe my Gramps used to make, although I do think it was most likely my Grandma, since he was Polish and she was German.  For some reason, I seem to remember him being the one to prepare it.  Once a week we'd go over to their house to eat, most of my memories of my grandparents are centered around their kitchen table.  Remember Uncle Ziggy from a couple posts ago?  Gramps used to talk about Uncle Ziggy all the time.  At least once a visit I think. 

"We never knew Uncle Ziggy was a drunk until we saw him sober!"

Then several years later, and when I say several I mean about 10, we found out there was no such person as Uncle Ziggy.  I thought that was the funniest thing ever, all we heard about the man, none of it true!

"Waiter! This coffee tastes like mud!"

"Well it should, it was ground this morning."

That was another favorite line of Gramps.

And now, if I may take a 180, only because I'm not thinking of a proper transition:

Head over to the Strawberry Cake blog.  She is giving away a print from Red Letter Words.  Oh how I wish to have been the one to have this giveaway, I love love love these prints!  The arteeest in me wonders can I make this myself?   But if I won this giveaway, I wouldn't have to!  These are my favorites:

Ms. Strawberry Cake also cooked and blogged her way through Pioneer Woman's cookbook, a noble feat indeed!

German Potato Salad

This is an old family recipe, and an old family favorite.  Hold the phone now, I'm giving you a family recipe!  I hope you enjoy as much as we do!

German Potato Salad

2 lb Red Potatoes
1/2 lb sliced bacon
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
dash pepper
1 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar
2 hard boiled eggs (optional)

Cook potatoes unpeeled 25-30 minutes in salted water.  Peel and slice potatoes.  Cook and crumble bacon, save drippings.  Remove bacon from pan and cook onions in bacon drippings.  Do not brown onion.  Stir in flour, sugar, salt, celery seed, green onions, and pepper.  Cook and stir until thick.  Stir in bacon and potatoes.  Cook about 5 mintues until heated through.  Add sliced hard boiled eggs if using. Serve warm.
6-8 servings. 

Photojournal #47 Statue

#47 Statue

I found this statue peeking through the trees at Magnolia Plantation.

AoM

Photo by Marius Romila

You are in my thoughts and prayers today.

I wish I could be there, I wish I could help.

But I hope you know, you are not alone.

And you are loved.

"When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don't give up though the pace seems slow--

You may succeed with another blow,

Success is failure turned inside out--

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit."

~ Unknown

To AoM and everyone going through a hard time right now.  Keep faith!

 

Well. This is awkward.

I'm finding a need to blog right now, to entertain myself, see.  But the thing is, I've already wished you a Happy Easter.  So one may naturally assume not to hear from me until Monday.

It reminds me of those hilariously awkward moments when you say goodbye to someone, only to find you are taking the same elevator, walking out of a building, all the way down the street and actually parked right next to them.  Do you walk together, since you already said goodbye?  Maybe you walk together at the same pace but do you keep talking? It's funny to take notice at what people do.  I love awkward times like these and how different people react.  Me - I laugh and joke the rest of the way.  Bye!  How bout now?  Bye!  Ok, see you later!  Bye Bye now.  Ok seriously, Bye!

Gosh do I love awkward moments.

Back in college, in the pre-9/11 world, for fun we would go to the airport.  Sometimes we would make up signs and while everyone was getting off the plane, we'd hold them up with a completely straight face, and write a name like "Stiouewazuitegrnt"  on it.   You know everyone reads the signs when they come off the plane. I loved people's expressions trying to read them. Some traveling in pairs would try to pronounce it to each other.  I wish we had thought to videotape some of that stuff.

Then we'd get into a crowded elevator, stand on opposite sides, and after it filled with people, we'd say -

"did you remember the tickets?"
"Haha, no you have the tickets."
"I don't have the tickets."
"What?!  You're kidding!!"
"YOU SAID YOU'D BRING THE TICKETS.  I CAN NEVER COUNT ON YOU, NOW WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?? UNCLE ZIGGY IS COUNTING ON US!"

I'd love to be on one of those prankster reality tv shows.  My favorite ever was Trigger Happy TV.  Ever see it?  For 30 minutes I would be laughing so hard my sides were in stitches, I couldn't breathe, and tears would be streaming down my face.  I'd get a grip during commercial breaks, and then immediately start back.  You tube won't let me embed so head HERE to watch some funny stuff.  Please do.

Here's a ridiculous photo to accompany my ridiculous post:

photo

Even if I failed to entertain you, I have just amused myself writing this post, so I consider it a success.

Have a Happy Easter, eh?!

Color me pink and call me the Easter Bunny!

1)  If you've got some time this weekend before Easter, head on down to Marshall's and see if you can't find such a cute plate as this:

Hello, $5.99!! No kidding!

2)  Then head over to Bakerella and make some of them cake balls.  They aren't the hardest thing ever to make, they are quite simple, but there is a little technique I'm finding.  Be sure to use chocolate meltaways because they are smooth and have a nice "pop" when you bite into these.  It's not easy to get that chocolate on smoothly, that's where the technique comes into play.  I'm still working on that bit.  But looky here, look who's all ready for Easter!

Good heavens to Betsy these are awesome!  I made another batch in the shape of eggs but I was too excited to finish those before blogging, I had to put this up at once!

I hope you all have a happy Easter!