Valentine I-Pod

I got this idea from Familyfun.com and decided to make a few for the gals I visit teach. It was cute, fun and easy. You still have time to make some for this year!!

Material List (makes one I-Pod):
Tape
2 (14-inch) pieces of string
2 mini peanut butter cups
1 (1-ounce) box of conversation hearts
2 (4-inch) circles of aluminum foil
4x7 inch strip of pink paper
Glue stick
Printable scroll wheel and playlist (off website)

Directions: Tape each end of a piece of string to a peanut butter cup. Tie the two strings together about mid-way and tape the loose ends to the candy box. Wrap each peanut butter cup in the aluminum foil. Wrap the pink paper strip around the candy box and secure it with a glue stick. Cut the scroll wheel and playlist and use glue stick to attach them to the box. Write a valentine message on the back of the box.

Laser Quest and the Symphony

Today was a day with absolutely different activities! John and Audrey started the day by attending a birthday party at Laser Quest. They had a fun time! Then later that evening, Mom and I went to the Spokane Symphony performance. It was titled "Three Broadway Divas". We heard music from Gypsy, Funny Girl, Music Man, A Chorus Line, Candide, Mame, Sweet Charity, My Fair Lady, Mama Mia, Wicked, West Side Story, Evita and Boys from Syracuse. The music was fun to listen to because it was a nice variety of styles. They also varied it between solos, duets, trios or just the symphony playing, so that was nice too. One of the performers could not make it due to health issues, so they got a substitute the day before. She did a great job, especially on the Candide solo (Glitter and Be Gay). Good time!

Amanda's Apricot Chicken Redux

This recipe is actually the Apricot Chicken recipe I got from Amanda Jeppsen years ago, but if you add diced red peppers and a can drained pineapple chunks - Viola! Hawaiian style chicken.

I got a rice cooker for Christmas and tried it for the first time today. I love it! It made 8 cups of rice (in retrospect, a little much) in a short amount of time, perfectly cooked, fluffy and wonderful! We served the Hawaiian Chicken over a bed of yummy Jasmine rice. Yeah for John, thanks for the present : )

AMANDA'S APRICOT CHICKEN, HAWAIIAN STYLE
12 to 16 oz Apricot jam
1 Pkg. dry onion soup mix
8 oz. Russian dressing
*1 can pineapple chunks, drained
*Finely chopped red pepper, to taste
4-6 oz boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

*Indicate the additional steps. Leave these out if you want to make the traditional Apricot Chicken recipe*

Place chicken in 9x13 baking dish (can pre-brown if you like). Mix jam, soup mix and dressing together. *Add drained pineapple chunks and diced peppers.* Pour all over chicken. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serve over sticky rice.

Ramen Salad

Do you sometimes misplace the recipe that you are used to using? I have found the Allrecipes.com website helpful in those situations! We were having company over and I wanted to make the Ramen Salad. I could not find the recipe I normally used, but found this one. Thought the title a little different, I'm sure it means something.

LAP SALAD
2 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
2 oz sliced almonds
2 green onions, chopped
1 TB sugar
2 TB Sesame seeds
1 package ramen noodles, crushed
1/2 medium head cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
3 TB rice vinegar

Combine chicken, nuts, onion, sugar, sesame seeds, noodles and their flavor packet and cabbage in large bowl. In small bowl combine oil, salt, pepper and vinegar. Pour oil mixture over noodle mixture. Let stand a couple hours in the refrigerator and then serve. (I think John also added some pine nuts, because he likes them...)

Friends and Family Day

A friend from Young Adult years had gotten in touch with me, told me she would be in town and invited me to join her for lunch. I had not seen her in 20 years so said an enthusiastic yes. We had a great time catching up. Thankfully my boss told me to take longer than my normal one hour lunch as Lori (Erickson) and I spent a good amount of time talking. I'm glad we got together!

After work we prepared for our dinner guests, the Heerdinks. We prepared Hawaiian Style Chicken over rice, Ramen salad and egg rolls. Angela brought homemade cinnamon rolls for dessert - YUM! We had a great time during dinner and then relaxing and just visiting afterwards. We originally were going to play board games, but got to talking and never stopped. We will have to get together again. What a fun day getting together with family and friends!!

YW Activity: New Beginnings

Our New Beginnings was held tonight with "Carnival of Values" as the theme. Everything was decorated with balloons and in the value colors (of course). Each leader was in charge of a station and the girls and their parents rotated through all the stations during the evening. My station was Knowledge. I was instructed to have some type of trivia game ready, so I brought our laptop and had a Jeopardy game loaded. I got the idea off a website, but then created some of my own questions so that some questions were church related and some were not. My ending line each session was to remind everyone that we can spend a lot of time gaining knowledge, but that some of the knowledge we gain can be rather trivial and we should choose wisely. The other stations were Faith (they did the Faith Fall), Good Works (they tied a quilt), Divine Nature (nail polish booth), Choice and Accountability (a game where they flipped a coin and then made their decisions), Virtue (a memory game), Integrity (a board game) and Individual Worth (a game where they raced to finish certain tasks). They had popcorn and drinks for the refreshments.

Quiche Lorraine

I was hankering for some quiche so we decided to make a double batch. It was yummy!

QUICHE LORRAINE
Pastry for 9-inch one-crust pie
Bacon, crisply cooked and crumble (12 slices)
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (4oz)
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
4 eggs
2 cups whipping cream (or Half and Half)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion in pastry-line pie plate. Beat eggs slightly; beat in remaining ingredients. Pour into pie plate. Bake uncovered 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. Bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes longer. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.