Summer Kitty

Oriental Chicken Salad

ORIENTAL CHICKEN SALAD
1 chicken breast, cooked and diced
1 cup of Yoshida's Original Gourmet sauce
3 c. fresh Romaine lettuce
1/2 c. mandarin oranges
1/2 c. pineapple tidbits
1/8 c. sliced almonds
Apple slices
Creamy poppy seed dressing.

Pour the marinade into a small bowl and add diced cooked chicken. Let sit for at least 5-10 minutes to soak up the marinade. Wash & chop romaine lettuce and put on individual plates. Add remaining ingredients onto each plate. Take the marinated chicken out of the bowl with a slotted spoon and place on bed of lettuce. Drizzle poppy seed dressing over the top & enjoy.

Zucchini Brownies

These were super yummy. It was surprising to know there was zucchini in the brownies.

ZUCCHINI BROWNIES

Brownie:
3 c. shredded & peeled zucchini
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 & 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c. milk chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking pan. In a large bowl mix together the oil, sugar and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and then stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in zucchini and chocolate chips. Press batter evenly into the pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes.


Frosting:
6 TB unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup butter (melted)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix together butter and cocoa powder. Set aside to cool. In mixer bowl, blend together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Stir in the cooled cocoa mixture. Mix on medium for 2 minutes. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

John's busy summer

John kept himself very busy this summer. Helped a neighbor sand and refinish hardwood floors in 4 rooms and all hallways (7/19-21-21). He then started a project at Brandy's house to complete an unfinished basement and then tile the floors in the basement. This project ran from 7/30 until 8/22. He also spent a day at Scout Camp on August 3rd. In between all these busy projects, he had a few job interviews. He got the job at Eastern Washington University as an Information Tech Specialist 3 in the OIT Department (Office of Information Technology).  First day of new job was today, August 27th.

The Vet !

Sidney visited the vet for her annual checkup and shots. Doesn't she look like she is rolling her eyes over the whole process? But she got a cute neckerchief out of the deal : )

Blackberry Scones

BLACKBERRY SCONES
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 TB grated lemon zest
8 oz blackberries
Course sugar for sprinkling (can find in cake decorating section)

Heat over to 400 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a grater, grate frozen butter into flour mixture until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal.

In a small bowl whisk sour cream, egg and lemon zest with a fork and then add to flour and butter mixture. Use a fork to stir everything together until just moistened. Add blackberries and gently stir into the dough.

Empty the dough onto a clean floured work surface and shape into a circle. Cut into 8 wedges. Carefully transfer to baking sheet. Sprinkle with the coarse sugar and bake for 13-15 minutes or until light brown. Cool for 10-15 minutes.

Huli Huli Chicken

HULI HULI CHICKEN
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup pineapple chunks
2 TB brown sugar
2 TB ketchup
1 TB rice vinegar
1 knob ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Chicken (recipe called for chicken legs, but we used boneless-skinless)
1-2 tsp canola oil

Preheat the broiler. Add soy sauce, pineapple, brown sugar, ketchup, rice vinegar, giner, garlic and Worcestershire sauce into a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Rub the chicken with canola oil and broil skin side up for 8 minutes. Turn and broil for another 8 minutes. Brush the chicken with the glaze mixture and broil for an additional 16 minutes, flipping and basting every 4 minutes.

Soft Zucchini Cookies

SOFT ZUCCHINI COOKIES
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup finely grated zucchini
1 cup raisins (optional)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Gradually add egg, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in zucchini, raisins, nuts and chips. Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet (or parchment paper lined). Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until golden. Don't over bake.

Long Bridge Swim

Drove up to Sandpoint to see John's niece Lindsey participate in the Long Bridge swim. It was her first time doing something like this and it was awesome to watch. She swam the whole way without stopping. The spectators could stand on the bridge and look over into the river to see all the swimmers. We definitely had it easy compared to Lindsey!

The Long Bridge Swim, in beautiful Sandpoint, Idaho, is the Northwest's premier open-water event. The Swim is 1.76 miles across Lake Pend Oreille.

John with Gracie, Marcie with Siouxmani. 

Derek & I are out of the picture on this one!

Love this picture!!

Marcie & the kids met up with their friend who swam the event with Lindsey for an after-swim get-together. John and I stopped at Panhandler Pies for lunch before heading back home. Fun day. Thanks for inviting us to join your family Marcie!!

TV Room Remodel

We remodeled our TV room (for the 3rd time) because our TV stopped working one night - just went to a blank screen. We tried to fix it, even ordering a part for a few bucks, but ultimately we could never get it to work. Of course that meant we had to purchase a new one. Time to upgrade to a larger screen! And a bigger TV meant that the custom cabinets originally built for the TV we owned would no longer work.

John removed the 2 upper cupboards and shelf to make room for the new TV. He installed a bank of recessed lights along the top. Added a cupboard to the bottom center portion, to better hide the components when not in use. And then he extended the storage space by adding 2 upper and 2 lower cabinets to either side of the original built in area. Hard to see since I could not back up far enough to get it "all" into the picture frame. Love the new look!