Another Nice Saturday

After finishing our chores we headed downtown to the new Star Trek movie with Angela & Robert H. We sure enjoyed the movie - big thumbs up! Then we had lunch at Audrey's favorite, Sawtooth Grill. I tried a fish sandwich, John had a barbecue pulled pork sandwich, Audrey ordered herself a bison burger, Angela had the avocado burger and Robert ordered the Italian bison burger WITH egg. Yup, that's right. With an egg, over-hard, on top of the patty. It was a special request as it was most definitely not on the menu. I had never heard of such a thing so I went to the Internet when we got home. Evidently having an egg on your burger (over-hard or over-easy) is not that uncommon. In fact, I found a couple diners in the states that are famous for their burgers with egg. Might be worth a trip to Charlottesville to check out the White Spot Diner? I also found that they are very popular in Australia. Another trip in the future!! Thanks for a fun and educational time guys : )Later that day Audrey and I went up to my dad's cemetery to put our flowers at the grave. We explored some of the other headstones. Audrey found some really neat designs and some very old dates. It was a nice, peaceful way to end the day.

Young Women Recognition Night

The Valley Stake had a wonderful Young Womenhood Award Recognition Night. There were 16 girls who had earned their award with 4 of them being from our ward (Audrey, Ellen, Ariel & Daisy). The evening started with a Young Women Choir directed by my friend Cheri Edwards. The music was lovely. Karl Wilkinson (Amy's dad) was the speaker for the evening and boy did he do a good job. Just awesome. Then they had each Bishop and Young Women's President come up to present the awards. They had asked the Bishops to pick one value they thought best described each girl. Bishop Cutler went first and he said that was a lot of pressure, as what if he picked a value and the girl was hoping for a different one. I thought he did well when he said Audrey epitomized the Knowledge value because she learned carpentry skills while remodeling her room and learned how to run the light & sound board at the high school while donating her time for the Dracula play. After the program everyone dismissed to the cultural hall to visit with the award recipients, view their displays and enjoy strawberry shortcake & ice cream. Audrey did such a good job with her display! She was the ONLY girl that actually put labels on the display so you knew "why" each item was there. I think that explained why so many people spent a lot of time in front of her display. She showcased some of her artwork, had scrapbook pages depicting her various projects, brought a couple of school projects and had her recipe book out for everyone to browse through. We are so proud of Audrey and her accomplishments. And my favorite part was when her dad tried two different times to start to take down her display - - she stopped him because she wanted to make sure everyone, including those working in the kitchen, had an opportunity to see it. She did not want the evening to end!

Cottage Cafe

After we woke up bright and early and cleaned the church building at 7am, we decided we deserved a breakfast treat. We had driven past this restaurant a few times when they were closed as they are only open for breakfast and lunch. We pulled in and there was a packed lot. That was a good sign. We waited, but not too long, before being seated. Our food was yummy, we would definitely go back. Prices were reasonable and portion sizes were generous. I tried the french toast & egg & bacon, Audrey had an omelet with hash browns and John had waffles & egg & bacon. Then we headed home to clean our house before we helped John's brother Steve move into his new house. We met up with Angela and Steve around noon and headed to Hauser Lake. Nice house and nice neighborhood. They had moved up from California a few weeks ago but were just now able to get into their new house, so all their stuff was in Angela's sisters' garage in Hayden Lake. So we spent the day shuffling back and forth with truck / van & cars full. When we were all done, we were treated to some very yummy pizza (from Becky & Wade's pizza place). What a full day!!

Mother's Day

This Mother's Day was a nice one. Started out with crepes for breakfast, my favorite breakfast treat. Then great talks during church - loved that they had primary-aged kids speak before the adult speaker. After church we settled in with Chicken Dijon, Pea Salad, fresh pineapple and a couple movies. Did not fit a nap in, but did get some book reading time. Nice day. Audrey gave me this Disney collectible (pictured above) and I got a serving dish that I had asked for. The cat gave me Hexic Deluxe software for my computer. All-in-all a very good day!

Clinkerdagger's Pea Salad

CLINKERDAGGER'S PEA SALAD
1 package (10 ounces) frozen baby peas, thawed & drained well
1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained & diced into small pieces
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1/4 cup red onions, diced into very small pieces
Crumbled bacon
Snow peas, small handful

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
White pepper
Salt

Put the peas, water chestnuts, celery, onions, bacon and snow peas into a large bowl, mix the dressing together and toss well.

Clinkerdagger's Baked Chicken Dijon

CLINKERDAGGER'S BAKED CHICKEN DIJON

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Marinade:

5 teaspoons Dijon Mustard

1/2 cup butter

1 clove garlic, minced

Breading:

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

5 tablespoons fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

1 & 1/2 cups Panko breadcrumbs

Marinade: Melt butter in saute pan over low heat. Add garlic. Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Blend in mustard, stirring well. Remove from heat and let cool enough to touch, but do not let mixture solidify. Whip vigorously until mixture thickens.

Breading Mixture: Mix parsley, cheese and bread crumbs together, blending well.

Entree: Dip chicken breasts in marinade mixture, coating all surfaces, then in breading mixture, packing crumbs onto chicken to coat well. Place chicken in a single layer in a shallow pan. Cover and refrigerate for several hours to set breading. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken breasts on sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes (covered with foil) and additional 15 minutes with foil removed, until golden brown.

Serve with Dijon-Mayonnaise (1 part Dijon mustard to 2 parts mayonnaise)

A Day of Various Life-Celebrations

I was able to participate in 3 "Life" celebrations today. A member of our ward had passed away and his funeral was today at 10am. I was asked to play the organ for the service - an honor. I was thoroughly fascinated with his life story and the adversities he overcame. What a neat man Bruce Lindquist was! Then I attended Marcie Osborn's baby shower (John's sister) at 1pm. Nice event. Anngela Wakan gave the shower & had various people bring food items, so it was a luncheon-style shower. Yummy salads (fresh fruit, chicken salad, berries & cream), gorgeous cake (good job Holly) and my spinach dip was enjoyed along with the veggie tray. I went with my neice Angela Heerdink stopping to pick up 1-hr photos at Costco on our way home. Then John & I headed to Dakota's 12th birthday party at 5pm. (Audrey was already at G-Ma's). It had started to rain by now so the party was brought indoors. We enjoyed pizza and had a good time watching Dakota open his presents & visiting with friends and family. We got home around 8pm and I fell right to sleep.