Marie Antoinette

My friend Heidi and I were both so excited to the new movie Marie Antoinette staring Kirsten Dunst. We planned the movie night a month in advance and bought our tickets a day early to ensure we would have seats. I watched the movie trailer several times and was so excited to finally see the show. With a story line that's already written by history, costumes that dazzle the eyes and talented actors and actresses, how could they (the movie producers) go wrong? I'll tell you where they went wrong.

In an attempt to show show their artistic side, the audience is left watching a two hour movie that has only about 10 minutes of dialogue, an over abundance of boring day to day tediousness, and frolics through countless gardens. With the lack of dialogue, the audience is also left wondering who all these people on screen are, and where they fit in the story.

30 minutes into the movie, I turned to Heidi and whispered, "Does it seem to you that they wasted a great deal of film?" Her response was, "I'm afraid so."

If you like the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks, perhaps you'll enjoy this movie.

The Magic of Brining

My dear friend Missy recently passed on a recipe of Tender Apricot Chicken. I was a little hesitant to put apricot on my chicken, but I figure one of these days I'll be brave and give it a try. Until then, I do need to share with the world my favorite cooking method. I hope it brings smiles to your face once some of this delicious food is introduced to your taste buds.

Several months ago my Husband Levi talked on and on about the delicious benefits of brining chicken before it's cooked. Our conversations often went something like this. When asked, "What's for dinner tonight", and my response had anything to do with boneless chicken breasts, his smile would become fixed, his eyes would become a little heavy and he would slowly make his way out of the kitchen and pray for it be edible. After a few meals like this, he started to talk about brining and how it would be fun to try. Brining? I didn't know what that was. Best to stick with a tried and true (although not a lip smacking and satisfying) method.

As many people know, boneless chicken breasts are very easy to dry out. Even the cook with very little experience can dry out a full pan in only minutes. It doesn't take a genius to transform a perfectly juicy, plump chicken breast into a dry, hard, flavorless, tough piece of meat. Few people can claim to creators of juicy and deliciously flavored chicken perfection. I my friends, are one of them. It's a magic skill called ~ohhh~ Brining.

Raised in a house where salt was used very little, the concept of brining was very foreign. I first became aware of this cooking method by Levi's good friend, best man at our wedding, and current boss Jason. He invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner two years ago and served a brined turkey. I had no idea what that meant, but seeing that Jason is a professional chef, I knew it must be good. After one bite of the brined turkey, I became instantly aware that there is a whole wonderful world of brining out there for me to discover.

With this new found knowledge and practiced skill, I worked my brining magic on some chicken breasts served at our 4th of July BBQ held this year. It was a hit. And now I pass my magic card to all of you in hopes that you now become part of the minority, and no longer produce dry, tasteless chicken for your friends and family to consume.

Happy cooking!

Brine solution: 4 cups water to 6 tablespoons Kosher salt.
Add herbs of choice. I used around 1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning and 1 bay leaf.

Preparing Chicken: Place chicken in large ziplock bag and tenderize it using flat side of mallet to 1/2" thick. Place chicken in brine solution and rest for at least 2 hours. Once complete, remove chicken and rinse with fresh water.
*Optional- Season with a very small amount of additional seasoning (I like McCormick's Montreal Chicken seasoning).

Cooking: Grill on medium heat about 3-4 minutes each side or until inside isn't pink.

**Warning**
It's hard to go back to the old style once you try brining.

Service Auction

Last night my niece and I participated in a service/goods auction at my church. Instead of using real money, we used funny money. Your spending amount was based on a survey you took that questions your emotional, spiritual, physical and general well being. I was able to get 265 funny money dollars and my niece had near the same amount. We each donated items. My niece made a cookie bouquet in a Halloween theme. There were ghost and pumpkin shaped cookies decorated expertly by herself. I donated 2 loafs of my delicious honey wheat bread, a child/infant bracelet and headband. It filled us both with delight to see as people were bidding on our items.

Although there were lots of items I wanted to bid on, I wanted to bid on my own items. Smelling that bread cook earlier in the day, making the headbands and bracelets, sewing the dish towels to go around the bread, all that hard work made me want to keep my items. But no worries, I did not bid on my own items. I had my niece do that for me. I hope that the people who won my items will enjoy them, as I enjoyed making them. By the way, give them back! Just kidding.

Some of the other items offered were, homemade fudge & cookies, Avon Halloween decoration (which I wanted so badly, but ran out of funny money dollars), haircut gift certificate (which my niece won), swing dancing lessons, Babysitting for one night (I won one of these), desserts each Monday night for a month, child's quiet play kit, baskets of Arbonne lotions and lip gloss (I won one of these) and a Clinique make-up kit. There were many other items available, but I can't remember them at this time. There were lots of very nice items offered and It was such fun to participate. This is certainly one of the most enjoyable Enrichment Night activities I've attended.

Atticus

This picture is of my adorable Atticus. Earlier this week he was tortured with annual shots and general check-up. He hasn't been feeling well since that day and has joint pain (apparent as he can't jump too easily today). Although these symptoms are to be expected, my heart still goes out to him. He was by my side all though the difficult days and nights of my pregnancy and he's very protective of the baby. He sleeps at my feet every night and follows me everywhere I go in the house.

I adore my big boy and hope he starts feeling better soon.

I should also mention that he's lost a little over 1/2 a pound. He now weighs 16 1/2 pounds. I'm so proud of him!

The Secret Life of Bees

I recently finished the book "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd. It's about a spunky young girl named Lilly and her struggle to find peace within herself. She has lived a difficult life, and is haunted by memories of an event in her childhood. In her struggles to find the truth of things, she comes across a woman named August who's able to help her find the peace she so desparately needs.

The characters in this book are diverse. August and her sisters April, May and June are all so different and interesting. Their chosen way of worship was quite surprising and fun to read about.

The descriptions of people, places and emotions in this book were vivid, interesting and enjoyable.

If you're looking for a good book, I recommend giving this one a try.

Popcorn or Diapers?

If you read this, you might choose to never eat buttered popcorn again.

From the moment we brought our baby home, we noticed that her poopy diapers didn't seem to smell bad, but had a weird sort of sweet smell. As I am nursing, we figured it was due to all the sweets I keep eating. As the baby grows, so does the intensity of her poopy diapers. I can now say that if blindfolded and asked to identify the poopy diaper from the bag of buttered popcorn, I couldn't tell them apart.

I don't think I'll be hungry for popcorn anytime soon.

I'm Back

After a short break I've decided to come back to the blogging community. Many things have changed since the old days. I'm a now a full time wife and mommy, part time cat trainer, occasional writer, full time seamstress, Star Trek geek, Martha Stewart fan and Sims addict.

Yesterday I went to my favorite hair stylist and received a new do. It's short all around with a fringe on top. I loved it. All the people in the salon loved it. One lady asked me to come over to her stylist and show her the do so she could get the same thing. I was so excited. Everyone loved my hair, everyone wanted my hair. I was popular hair girl. I walked out of there standing a little taller and feeling oh so stylish and sexy. This high lasted until I got home and saw Levi's smile fade. He looked at me then quickly turned his gaze away, as though trying to hide the horror in his eyes. I asked, "So, what do you think. Cute huh?" His reply was typical of a loving husband who's trying to be honest and considerate at the same time. "It's okay I guess. It makes your face look long (his way of saying that my head looks distorted). I like the old style better". I was a little deflated, but I kept remembering how much everyone in the salon loved it, and clung to that memory for comfort. A short while later I knocked on a friends door to drop off some items. She opened the door, looked at me funny, paused a moment, then said, "Nice earings". What on earth? My earings? It's clear that my do was shocking and horrifying to 2 people. What's going on? Could all those people at the salon be gathering together to make every customer feel good about their do, even if it's awful? I can't believe it.

At church today, 2 people complemented me on my hair. Are they telling the truth or are they lying? I can't tell anymore! Will people be cast into haties for lying in church?