Curried Chicken Salad

For us, summer time means salad time. As we move towards July and temperatures that near 90 degrees, we lean towards cold dinners that don't require heating up the house. A few weeks ago, we tried our hand at making curried chicken salad. We were quite pleased with the results, and I am happy to share our recipe with you. Here's a little background on the rationale for this post …
My husband and I recently returned from a cruise of the Baltics. I anticipate you will be hearing more of that adventure in future posts. One of my favorite afternoon activities on board was going to afternoon tea. Among our sandwich options was one with curried chicken salad. It was actually quite good so I looked for a recipe after we came home. Here is how we put ours together:

Curried Chicken Salad

1.5 to 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

2 tablespoons mango chutney

1.5 tablespoons curry powder

1/2 cup diced celery

1 or 2 chopped green onions - use the white and green parts

1/4 cup dried cranberries (you can substitute raisins or even omit)

1/2 cup cashews

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1. Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a 350 degree oven for about 35 to 40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Allow to cool and cut into bite-sized pieces. Here is what ours looked like.

2. Stir together the chutney, curry powder, celery, onions, dried cranberries, and cashews in a medium sized mixing bowl. Your mixture will look something like this.

3. Now, stir in the chicken and combine

4. Stir in enough mayonnaise to moisten everything and reach the desired consistency. To be honest, I didn't actually measure the mayonnaise. I just scooped out what looked like the right amount and stirred it in.

5. Serve on the bread of your choice. We opted for croissants. A honey wheat bread would also be good. 

Stay cool and enjoy your summer!

Warm wooly blocks for cold winter days

Although we have officially passed the first day of Spring, we've continued to see some off and on snowstorms. Just two days ago, we had a storm that resulted in several inches of wet, heavy snow. Today, however, the sun is shining, and the day looks more like the last day of March. Here are a few images from my around back yard during the past week.

Before we turn the calendar page to April, I thought it might be fun to share some of my warm and wooly creations from this past winter. Some of my past posts have featured some of my Row by Row creations. The group that sponsors the Row by Row event of the summer also sponsors a Wooly Block Adventure event in the fall. Because fewer shops participate in this event, the sponsors spotlight patterns from two or three shops on their website every other day. "Woolies," as they like to call their followers, can download these patterns for free during this spotlight period. Most participating shops also offer kits of their patterns for sale during this fall event as well. 
To get to the point of this story, I followed along during October and November when the patterns were featured. In the spirit of true confession, I also did my fair share of ordering kits. This meant that I also had plenty of explaining to do as multiple packages were arriving in the mail (well, not really that much). At the same time, it was rather fun to come home and find packages waiting on the kitchen counter for me.
During the past 5 months, I've had two trips to Asia. Wool projects travel very well and are a great way to pass the time on these long extended trips. I also need to take care to discipline myself to use stitching time as a reward for completing other work-related tasks first.
Here are a few of the blocks. Not all are fully complete with the added embellishments. Just the same, I thought they would be fun to showcase.
These sunflowers are from The Quilter's Lodge in Draper, Utah. This is a delightful shop with rooms that can be used for a quilting retreat. 

This little hummingbird is from Piecemakers Quilt Shop in Hackensack, Minnesota. The flowers in this block reminded me of our hanging baskets from last summer that attracted several hummingbirds.

I purchased this block kit in honor of my daughter who is quite a fan of bees. This block is from Danner's Bernina Shop in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

As I have mentioned in several other posts, I love sheep. This block is from Calico Patch Designs in Morehead, Kentucky. 

The chickadee block featured at the top of this post is from Primitive Gatherings in Racine, Wisconsin. We enjoyed watching a number of chickadees at our bird feeder this past winter.

Just as we are coming out of a literal season of winter, I also seem to be coming out of a bit of a figurative season of winter with some of my work projects. I've needed to remind myself that just as the literal seasons do not last forever so also these figurative seasons do not last forever. These verses from Isaiah remind us of God's faithfulness to accomplish his purposes.

"Remember the former things long past,

For I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is no one like Me,

Declaring the end from the beginning,

And from ancient times things which have not been done,

Saying, 'My purpose will be established,

And I will accomplish all My good pleasure';

Calling a bird of prey from the east,

The man of my purpose from a far country.

Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.

I have planned it, surely I will do it.

Isaiah 46:9-11

A Down Home Super Bowl Spread (featuring spicy black eyed peas)

To be rather honest, I'm really not that much of a fan of professional football. I'd much rather enjoy a college football game, specifically one involving the University of Utah. That being said, I'm always up for an opportunity to create food around a given theme. A few years back, when the Ravens were playing, we created an Edgar Allan Poe-themed dinner, complete with hot raven wings and a pit of queso dip. (Feel free to call us odd.) Last year, we made Swedish meatballs in honor of the game's being played in Minnesota.

With the 2019 game being played in Atlanta, it gave us the opportunity to pursue some good down home cooking. Given that I was hosting an early afternoon after church meeting at my house, I was doubly delighted to share some of this cooking with others. 
The inspiration for this year's Super Bowl dinner was Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room in Savannah, Georgia. If you ever happen to find yourself in Savannah, I can't recommend this spot highly enough. We had the wonderful good fortune of having lunch there this past September when we were in Savannah for a meeting. Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room is a former boarding house that is now one of the most popular places for lunch in Savannah. It is open from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm Monday through Friday. People start lining up well before 10:00 am. I'm thinking we were there by about 9:30 am, and I don't begrudge the wait. Guests are seated family style around large tables loaded with amazing Southern style home-cooked food.

We did pick up a cookbook featuring some of Mrs. Wilkes recipes. I will be sharing our interpretation of her recipe for black eyed peas and rice.

As I've shared before, black eyed peas really aren't peas but a type of bean. In the South, they are traditionally served on New Year's Day for good luck, but they are quite good any time of the year. We have a soup that we like to make with our leftover Easter ham that features black eyed peas. To be fair, though, black eyed peas do have a distinctive taste that either resonates with people or not. We've come to enjoy recipes with black eyed peas so here is how we made today's dish.

Ingredients:

1 pound dry black eyed peas

1 pound sausage, browned (we picked a mild sausage, but feel free to use a spicy sausage if that is what you like)

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 cup uncooked rice, we used parboiled rice (I will explain more later)

Salt and pepper to taste

Additional seasonings to taste

Directions:

1. Soak the peas using either a hot soak or cold soak overnight. There really isn't a clear advantage of one technique over another. Depends on your time availability and preference.

2. Drain the beans, cover them with water so that the water is at least an inch over the top of the beans. Boil until almost tender. We had used a hot soak and then let the beans simmer for about 1 hour to get to the "almost tender" stage.

3. While the beans are simmering, brown the sausage. After the sausage is browned, remove from heat and stir in the onion and pepper. Let this combination set while you are waiting for the peas to get to the "almost tender" stage.

4. After the beans have reached the "almost tender" stage, stir in the sausage, onion, and pepper mixture along with the rice. We have found that parboiled rice holds up better and doesn't disintegrate the way a traditional long grain white rice will. It's really your call what type of rice you use.

5. Simmer all ingredients together for about another half hour. Turn off the heat and stir.

6. Season up as you choose. In addition to the salt & pepper, we used a little Slap Ya Mama seasoning. Feel free to use Tabasco sauce or whatever you might prefer to spice up your black eyed peas.

In case you are wondering what else was on the menu, you could see the smoked pulled pork. I also included some green beans with a bit of onion and bacon. We also included some stewed tomatoes with okra and bacon as well as two types of cornbread muffins. I made the first batch using a traditional Southern recipe with a greater proportion of cornmeal to flour and no sugar. My husband said, "well, they're rather dry," so I made another Yankee-style batch with sugar and a greater proportion of flour to cornmeal. Just the same, I mixed them up in the breadbasket and let people see if they could decide which was which.

I just learned that it is now halftime (I honestly haven't been watching the game). Given that rams are of the genus ovis, as are sheep, and I quite like sheep, I will cheer for the Rams. (I did mention earlier, that I am odd.) Regardless of who wins, I hope that you have had a great day in the company of good friends and had the chance to enjoy good food.

Welcome to 2019

Here we find ourselves at the close of the first month of 2019. Even though I do enjoy the excitement and anticipation of the start of a new year, January is a month that seems to linger on forever. For this post, I thought I would share a few of the stitching projects that I use to occupy my time during this long and dark month.
I've shared in several earlier posts that Shepherd's Bush is my favorite stitching shop. Having it so close to home is rather convenient, and I don't have any trouble leaving the shop a little greener than I found it. Each New Year's Day, the shop is open for a few hours for a 10% off sale. Each New Year's Day, they also introduce a new scissors fob or, as I like to think of it, a small ornament. I'm not quite sure when the shop introduced these stitching projects. The oldest one I have dates back to 2003, and I think I have one for every year since then. At any rate, I enjoy having a new small stitching project to start the new year.
Now time for a bit of a confession …
Last year, I did the stitching work, but never got around to actually finishing the ornament. During the holiday weekend a couple of weeks ago, I determined to finish the stitching on my 2019 ornament and then to complete the stuffing and finishing work for both. Here's a look at the finished squares ready to be sewn together and then stuffed. You can see that each ornament will have both a front and a back with a cross stitched design.

Now for a closer look at the finished projects. First the mermaid from 2018 …

And then this year's sheep … I continue to find it hard to resist a stitching project that features sheep.

 For fun, here are some looks back at projects from past years …

So, what exactly might one do with these small projects? Good question. I'm one who likes to have something to brighten up the house after I take all of the Christmas decorations down. I have a 6-foot alpine tree that I keep upstairs in my living room all year round and change its decorations out with the seasons. During January and February, I have it decorated with some icicle garland and these little New Year pillow ornaments.

My children tend to find this practice of mine a little odd, but I keep it up each year just the same. We will see just how many more small ornaments this tree can hold. For now, I am going to wish you blessings for the remainder of this new year. Even though getting through January seems to be an exercise in endurance, the anticipation of what God will do in 2019 still brings an eagerness. As the psalmist reminds us …

Wait for the LORD,

Be strong and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the LORD. Psalm 27:14

Schnitzel with Noodles

I realize it's been quite a while since I've made a post. Here's a little snapshot of our cooking adventures from about a week and a half ago. We initially intended to participate in a German-themed event, complete with authentic German food. To make a long story short, we weren't exactly thrilled with the changes in the menu for this year so we opted to prepare our own German dinner. As you can see by the picture of what is simmering away on the stove, we prepared schnitzel, spaetzle, and red cabbage. When all was said and done, the red cabbage was really the only thing we prepared from scratch, but the dinner was still pretty good.

You might be asking, just what are schnitzel and spaetzle? Good question. Here's a little background before I go on to describe how we prepared them.

Schnitzel, or "slice," of meat originated in Austria. Wiener schnitzel actually has nothing to do with the hot dog chain. "Wien" is the city that we, in America, refer to as Vienna. Traditional Wiener schnitzel is made from veal pounded flat and then coated in flour, egg, and bread crumbs before being fried. We weren't able to acquire any veal at our local grocery store, but we did find some pork that had already been prepared as schnitzel. As you can see from the picture below, the pounding and breading had already been done.

The schnitzel is then deep fried in about a quarter inch of cooking oil. 

So then, what is spaetzle? Glad you asked. Spaetzle is actually a German egg noodle. It is typically served with meat and gravy and is typical of the cuisine of southern Germany and Austria. While a number of different recipes for spaetzle are available, we typically just buy dry spaetzle and then boil it on the stove as we would any other type of pasta. This time, we also just made our gravy from a mix. 

As I mentioned above, we did make the red cabbage from scratch. You can find the recipe on an earlier post. Ours is prepared in the Danish style without the heavier spices that are typically part of the German red cabbage.

Here is everything all served up and ready to be enjoyed. Guten Appetit!

Brisket Pies

At least once a year, I find myself in the South visiting family. During these visits, I tend to find myself in a local grocery store. While at the grocery store, I like to go to the magazine aisle to peruse those magazines featuring Southern-style cooking. Among my favorites are Taste of the South and Southern Lady. 
This past August, I picked up the current issue of Southern Lady. I was initially drawn to the picture of the apple cream cheese cake on the cover. What actually sold me was a recipe for brisket pies. I knew that we were planning to smoke a brisket for an upcoming event so I was eager to give it a try.
Before we proceed with the recipe, here's a little extra information about brisket.

As you can see from the picture above, brisket is one of the key cuts of beef. Because cattle do not have collar bones, the muscles comprising the brisket support about 60% of the animal's weight - who knew? At any rate, this cut of meat contains a fair bit of connective tissue that needs to be tenderized during the cooking process. Marinating and then smoking the brisket is one way to accomplish this process and provides pretty amazing results. Let's just say our smoker has been well used through the years. 

So, let's get on with this recipe…
Given that we were making hand pies, this was a great way to use up some of the scraps of brisket. Because they are rather small, you only need about 3/4 pound of chopped brisket. 

Here is how we put ours together:
First we made the crust. Go with whatever piecrust recipe you like best. The one in the Betty Crocker cookbook is my go-to recipe. I used the amounts given for a 2-crust 10-inch pie. You will need to double the recipe provided below to have enough pastry for the amount of brisket that you will use. I found it easier to make one recipe-worth of pastry and then repeat so that it was easier to combine and manage the ingredients.

• 1 cup shortening, I like to chill mine in the freezer before using
• 2 2/3 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 7 to 8 tablespoons cold water.

Stir the flour and salt together. Cut the shortening into the flour and salt using a pastry cutter. Stir in the water a couple of tablespoons at a time until all of the flour is moistened and the pastry can be gathered into a ball. Take care not to over stir or the pastry will be too tough. 
Roll the pastry out in batches to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 4.5-inch circles. Fortunately, we found a canister lid in the house that was exactly 4.5 inches in diameter and were able to use it for these pies. Feel free to use whatever works for you. We ended up with 16 circles. As you follow the pictures, you will be able to see how we laid them out on the baking sheets. A few years back, we found these handy-dandy silicone liners for the baking sheets. They are amazing.

Here are the ingredients for the filling:

• 2 teaspoons oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 pound chopped brisket
• 1 cup shredded smoked Cheddar cheese (if you can't find a smoked cheddar, a sharp Cheddar will also do nicely)

Heat the oil over medium heat and cook the onion until translucent. Stir in the brisket so that everything is warmed through.

Place a rounded tablespoon (yes, it really is enough) of the onion-brisket mixture onto each round. Be careful to leave enough space near the edges so that you can seal your pies.

Top with about 2 teaspoons of shredded Cheddar cheese. Are you getting hungry yet?

Fold the pastry over the filling and pinch the seams to seal. Brush the tops with a wash made of one egg and two teaspoons of water. Poke a few holes in the top of each pie with a fork.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. OK, some of these wouldn't make it on the British Baking Show, but they sure tasted good.

These hand pies also warm well as leftovers. We warmed them in a slow oven (250 to 300 degrees) to get the centers warm. We then heated them under the broiler for a few minutes to "re-crisp" the tops.

Hanging Out with a Sloth or Two

It's definitely been a while since I've written anything in this blog. I haven't had a lack of writing material. Rather, I've experienced a number of other demands on my time that have kept me from keeping up with the blog. Just the same, I've been rather eager to make a new post. For this one, I thought I would share a quilt that I completed a little earlier this year.
This name of this quilt is "Hanging Out" and you can download the pattern for free. I first saw this quilt on a Facebook post from one of my favorite quilt shops in Minnesota, Sewing Seeds Quilt Co. Their post indicated that they were making kits available for this particular quilt, and I jumped at the opportunity. Who wouldn't like the opportunity for a nap time quilt featuring sloths?
Before we get moving along with the description of this quilt, how about if we slow down (haha) and consider a few fun facts about sloths.

• Sloths live in tropical rainforests in Central and South America.
• Although they spend much of their lives hanging upside down in trees, sloths are actually fairly adept swimmers (who knew?)
• Sloth hair has grooves which support the growth of green algae which, in turn, helps provide camouflage against predators.
• Sloths are biologically related to armadillos and anteaters
• Costa Rica has a Sloth Institute that is dedicated to caring for injured and abandoned sloths and returning them to the wild.

One of the nice things about this quilt is that it featured a panel so I didn't have lots of piecing to do. As much as I do love traditional patchwork, having something easy to put together is fun, too. Here is the center of the panel featuring these cute sloths.

The back of this quilt features rainforest-type leaves. If you look closely, you can see that I selected a quilting pattern which I felt complemented the leaves.

Here is the final, completed quilt. As you can see, the quilt is built around a panel that included the center square and then the two sets of squares featuring individual sloths. All I had to do was sew the honeycomb-patterned side strips, an inner border featuring stripes, and then an outer border of rainforest leaves. It is the perfect size for an afternoon nap.

To be honest, I really don't have any deep, thoughtful reflections for closing this post. Over the past couple of months, I've found myself in a bit of a busy and mentally tiring season. These words from Paul to the Ephesian church in reminding us how we as believers ought to walk, provide a reminder of the need to renew our minds.

… be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:23-24