March - in like a chicken

It appears that this will be a poultry month.

It began with the lovely brown eggs delivered to my door... immediately followed by free range chicken horrors memories. Ahem.

Finish that week with a Cheesy Bacon and Egg Casserole disaster entree for the Men's Breakfast at church. Argh.

In the midst of all this my computer laid an egg. So I'm figuring... why fight it? Let's just have a poultry month. Who knows what will happen by the time March 31 arrives?


In keeping with this theme, here's a yummy way to put our feathered friends to good use. (No, not a Cheesy Bacon and Egg Casserole! That recipe has been destroyed!)

Thai Chicken - 8 servings
(crock-pot recipe)

4 whole chicken breasts (I used boneless, skinless - worked fine.)
1 Tbsp grated gingerroot
3 green onions, sliced
1 (14 oz.) can coconut milk (unsweetened)
1/2 to 3/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
1 (8 oz.) can pineapple chunks, drained
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold water
Cooked rice
1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Cut chicken breasts in half, making 8 pieces. Place chicken in a slow cooker. Add ginger, green onions, coconut milk, turmeric, and pepper flakes. Cover and cook on LOW 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is tender. Turn control to HIGH; add drained pineapple. In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in water; stir into chicken mixture in cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH about 15 minutes. Serve over rice and sprinkle with peanuts.

Enjoy!

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Psalm 91:4

Free range chuckles

Opening the container and seeing these farm fresh beauties, brought such a flood of memories. If I forget the nasty roosters, they were fun memories. Or, maybe I should say, laughable memories.

We had chickens on our farmette... free range chickens that would give us extra-nutritious, big brown eggs. The problem with those noisy creatures is that they thought free range meant they could go anywhere in the neighborhood! I usually caught them before they left our yard, but every once in a while, the entire flock (flock?) ended up 2 doors down, enjoying their new found buffet.

I, being the uptown girl who would never step foot uninvited into someone else's yard, did the only thing my pride would allow. I pushed my four year old daughter out the door and said "Go get them! Chase them back to our yard!"

While I hid behind the curtains and watched, she ran like a crazy woman, arms flailing, shoo-ing those stubborn creatures back to the safety of our acre-plus.

I don't know... when a child renders such a service, are you ever out of debt?

It still makes me laugh... Thank you, Marcie.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. I John 4:11

Powerless

Sometime in the wee morning hours of Monday, the ice, snow, freezing rain, more ice, and sleet, did a number on the trees and power lines in our neighborhood. We woke up to silence... no hum of a furnace... no alarm clocks beeping... no phone... nothing.

The heavy layer of ice covered everything. Everything!




The sun began to shine late in the afternoon on day two of our power-free adventure. The sparkling ice was beautiful...


...but I would have traded the view in an instant for the hum of a furnace... for a light switch to do something when I touched it... for my automatic life to return.

I shouldn't complain. We stayed warm. We had great food prepared on our wood burning cook stove. (I even baked in the oven!) The generator kept our freezer frozen and our fridge cold.

This morning, normal came back to live with us. How nice.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:31

Temptation, thy name is chocolate

Uh-oh.

I have been left as caretaker for this package that arrived on Valentine's day.


I'm here by myself for a couple of days... and I keep hearing my name. Softly, on chocolate scented breezes, again and again...

Barbie.... Barbie... (Only those who know me veeerrrryyy well call me that, so I must respond. Right?)

I'm trying so hard to keep in mind that the package was labeled for Gramma and Grampa. Hopefully, no one counted the little yellow packets before he left the house.

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her... She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. Proverbs 31:11-12

Name the artist!

While browsing thrift shop book shelves, I discovered a very old art book written for children. Its pages were filled with examples of drawings from many famous artists.

Even though the pictures were all black and white, I paid my quarter and brought the book home.

When I had time to examine the book page by page, I decided that only a few were worth keeping. Among those treasures was this wonderful sketch.


I read the title under the picture... and then I read it again. I still find it hard to believe the name of the artist.

Can you guess?

God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect. II Samuel 22:33

On the job

I went shopping Wednesday. I love shopping when I'm by myself.... I can think, calculate "??% off" to the penny, and make quick decisions - yes or no.

Wednesday I had three friends with me -

Ol' Blue


Lorene


and little Julie.


Only two of them came home with me. Right in the middle of Macy's, Lorene decided she had work to do. I'm trusting she'll find a good home and accomplish her mission.

I"ll take Blue and Julie with me again. They are very well behaved... but they do need to be on the job... not shopping!

Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it. I Thessalonians 5:24

Table decor

Men's breakfast tomorrow morning... that means decorating tables. Guess what will appear center stage?

Snow? Did you say snow? How did you know?


They were supposed to look like spiky snowballs, but when I look at them I only see robots.

Hmmm... snow-bots?

...wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

Celebrate!

Happy birthday more-than one,


Happy birthday more-than two,


Happy birthday number three-eee


Happy birthday, dear blog.

Three years. Thank you, dear blog, for giving me a reason to write again... and a place to do it.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. Proverbs 18:10