Bella the Butterfly

Bella was a butterfly in the ballet The Twelve Dancing Princesses. She was a sweet little butterfly! We are so proud of our tiny dancer!

artwork to share

The kids are always doing artwork and coloring in the booth area in our kitchen. Sometimes they work ferociously on their drawings. Once in a while a guest will unknowingly have his portrait made within seconds of entering our home.

My husband's college roommate Chris came over for dinner this winter. Bella and Abs presented our guest with this portrait:

Here is a real picture of him (taken 10 years ago):

The next drawing was completed by Bella. It was done after a visit to Jamestown. My favorite part of the drawing is the Indian!

shadow box christmas present

I found an id baby bracelet that belonged to my father. I decided to make him a shadow box with it. So I gathered some things to put into it that had to do with my Grandma Gert. I scanned a note written by my grandmother and decoupaged it into the background of the shadow box.

Thanksgiving 2009 kitchen with new hardware!

The toy story gang - Halloween

Garlic chicken pizza (with figs & caramelized onion)

Garlic chicken pizza (with figs)

I just used the odds and ends in the fridge. I had some ready made pizza dough laying around, half of a nearly expired onion, garlic, a chicken breast left over, and some dried dates. Pizza it is!

Ingredients

ready made pizza dough from the fridge section of the grocery store
olive oil

1/2 sweet onion

2 cloves of garlic diced

1 cup of cooked chicken breast cubed

handful of dried dates

feta cheese

balsamic vinaigrette

herbs from my garden (I used flat leaf parsley, chives, and oregano)

Caramelized the onion (after finely slicing it with my mandolin), add some olive oil to a dutch oven (4 tablespoons) and cook over medium heat until the onion is nice and brown. Add two diced cloves of garlic to the caramelized onion for about a minute, and then move the onion garlic mixture into a bowl to cool. De glaze the dutch oven with some balsamic vinaigrette (1/4 cup) and throw cubed chicken breast into the vinegar mixture over medium heat (I added a little chicken stock for a little more moisture @ 4 tablespoons). Once the chicken absorbed all the yummy juices, throw in a handful of diced dried dates, put the lid on the dutch oven, and remove from heat.

Spread the pizza dough over a baking sheet greased with olive oil. Drizzle olive oil on dough and add caramelized onions and chicken mixture. Sprinkle with feta cheese to cover and add some diced fresh herbs. Cook 2 400 degrees Fahrenheit until pizza crust turns a golden brown.

Low Carb mojito with a Grand twist

Ingredients

4 ounces Rum
2 ounces Grand Marnier

8 ounce lime juice
1/2 lime cut into 8 slices

4 teaspoon Splenda
6 sprigs Mint leaves (about 16 /18 leaves)

8 ounces Soda Water

Instructions

Juice the limes, place mint into pitcher, sprinkle in Splenda. Muddle the splenda, lime juice and mint. (I use the end of a wooden spoon) Muddle until leaves look a little crushed and you can smell the mint. Add some ice and give a little stir. Add rum, stir, add grand marnier. Top with soda water and throw in 8 lime slices. Drink and enjoy!! (add more rum to taste if not strong enough)