Crispy Onion Chicken

Another new recipe that is a keeper!

CRISPY ONION CHICKEN
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup honey mustard
2 cups French's French Fried Onions, crushed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dip each chicken breast in honey mustard then coat in crushed french fried onions. Place in a baking dish line with foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Cook for 30-35 minutes, or until cooked through.

Orchard Prairie Cemetery

While mom and Audrey did their annual Memorial Day cemetery tour, John and I went to Orchard Prairie cemetery to visit my dad's grave. John felt so bad because when he was taking the arrangement out of the container, it broke in half!!

Bet my dad was laughing : )

So instead of a circular wreath, we improvised:

Dee Rescues Me

So even before I quit my job, I was planning to visit my friend Dee and had already scheduled Friday as a day off. Audrey and I drove to Dee's house on Friday morning. She lives in Selah, about 220 miles from our home. It was wonderful to have a place to retreat to and just chill for a few days.

Friday: We arrived a little after lunch time and got the tour of Dee's house and their gorgeous property. After visiting for awhile and having a bite to eat, we headed to downtown Yakima. Patina, a recycled clothing boutique owned by her friend, was a fun place to explore. Found a cute blouse there. We went to the shopping mall for awhile and then stopped at Papa Murphy's for pizza. We had never had the Chicken Garlic, something Dee's family orders all the time. That was yummy! After dinner Dee made some Pineapple upside down cupcakes (recipe below). And later that evening we watched a meteor shower from her deck. (I looked it up and found it was the Camelopardalids meteor shower associated with Comet 209P/Linear.) Amazing what you can see when you don't have the city lights to distract! We did not stay out all night as the evening got cool. Dee's daughter was sweet and had given up her room for the weekend - thank you!!

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CUPCAKES
20 oz can pineapple chunks (or slices), drained, juice reserved
1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
Maraschino cherries, cut in half

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 regular-size muffin cups with non-stick spray. In large bowl, beat cake mix, oil, eggs and reserved pineapple juice with mixer on medium for 2 minutes.
In small bowl, stir together melted butter and brown sugar. Spoon 1.5 teaspoons butter mixture into each muffin cup. Top with pineapple pieces. Place cherry half, cut side up, in center of pineapple pieces. Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each cup. Bake 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Run knife around edge of cupcakes to loosen; invert onto cookie sheet. Serve warm.

Saturday: We woke up and Dee made homemade donuts for breakfast! They were delicious!!

BAKED CAKE DOUGHNUTS
2 cups cake flour, sifted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 TB butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray doughnut pan with non-stick spray. In large mixing bowl, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Add buttermilk, eggs and butter. Beat until just combined. Fill each doughnut cup approximately 2/3 full. Bake 7-9 minutes or until the top of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Let cool in pan for 4-5 minutes before removing. Finish doughnuts with chocolate glaze or cinnamon sugar, or confectioners' sugar. Doughnuts are best served fresh. Makes 12 doughnuts.

We headed to Selah, but first stopped at the Wenas Cemetery. The cemetery was incorporated in 1880 and is the second oldest incorporated cemetery in Yakima County. It is approximately 7 acres.

We then went to Buhrmaster Bakery, a local bakery where everything is baked fresh daily. I bought some cinnamon pecan bread to take home, but went next door to the Red Apple grocery store to buy milk to go with the bakery items we had to try immediately. Went to The Vintage Shop, an antique store. That was fun! And we also spent much of our morning on my souvenir spoon hunt... seriously a lot of time. We went to store A, asked if they carried, they did not but told us maybe store B carried. So we'd go to store B only to find out they did not carry them either. That went on for quite some time!

We checked out Wenas Lake for awhile. This was just up the road from Dee's house.

Regrouped at Dee's house and then headed back into town and went to King's Row. Audrey and I shared a Garbage Burger (beef patty, ham, bacon, cheese). It was enough for us to share! Audrey also enjoyed that you could order ANY flavor of pop since they would mix them to order. So you could have a raspberry coke or a vanilla orange soda or a pineapple root beer. The combos were whatever you could dream up.

We headed to Yakima for more spoon hunting. Finally found a spoon at Walgreens. Then we went to a super cool bookstore called Inklings. They carried lots of other items besides books, so we spent quite awhile exploring this shop. Afterward we went to Glenwood Square, a refurbished fruit warehouse that was built in 1910. Still had the brick walls, hardwood floors and rough timber beams throughout. The warehouse had restaurants, offices, shops and some cool fish tanks!

Unfortunately it was time for us to head home. We made one more stop (Fred Meyer to pick up road snacks and fuel the car) and we said our goodbyes. Dee - thank you so much for a wonderful visit!!

End of Era

I quit my job at Safeway after 27 years. Below are flowers that Kevin Hallenius (Colville) sent to me (via Kevin Whittle at the Argonne store). What an emotional time.... hard to leave the people that are like family to me. I will miss my friends and co-workers! For my sanity I had to quit. My new supervisor made the last month unbearable and it felt like there was a target on my back.

I got a lot of sweet phone calls and emails and personal visits when I announced that I was leaving. Below is one I got from my retired store manager.

Hi Sam,  In the movie Mary Poppins the children asked how long she will stay with them and she agrees to stay "Until the wind changes." The wind is now changing and you are preparing to leave. Thank you for your help, understanding, guidance, friendship, listening to us and giving us a spoonful of sugar just when we needed it! Mary Poppins would be so proud of you!! You've been such a good Nanny to all of us, we're so sad to see you leave..but we've become better children/people/managers because of your tutelage. I have just one concern, what will Bert..er, Brian..do? Again, thank you for all your patience with me over the years, knowing you're not at the district office makes me a little sad! Your work is done here. 

A quote from Bert in Mary Poppins: "Winds in the east, mist coming in./ Like somethin' is brewin' and bout to begin. / Can't put me finger on what lies in store, / But I fear what's to happen all happened before."

For all of us the wind will eventually change, our work will be done and we move on. It should not be sad, we just open our umbrella, catch the wind and move on to other places to begin another chapter! Here's to happiness on wherever the wind sets you down. Always, Rick.

Wicked

Since we enjoyed ourselves so much the last time we saw Wicked, we had to buy tickets when we heard they were coming back to Spokane. I contacted the box office on 12/2/2013 and was able to purchase seats in row A - yes, row A!  Our seats were 27/28 which were as close to the center as was available. I loved sitting in the first row behind the orchestra pit since there was no one's head in our way - plus we could see them sweat!! Definitely worth the splurge!

We went early so we had time for dinner at The Onion. Audrey enjoyed her buffalo burger and I enjoyed a chicken salad sandwich. We walked over to the INB Performing Arts Center, (I will always call this the Opera House....), and checked out the souvenirs before heading to our front row seats....sorry, could not resist saying that again!!

Audrey said these performers were the best she has seen, second only to the original production cast. Kara Lindsay played Glinda and Laurel Harris was Elphaba. It was just as magical as the first time we went. We are fans of the "Popular" song and of course "Defying Gravity". Great cast - great performance!!

Mother's Day 2014

After such a fun day yesterday, I was not needing anymore pampering. But Audrey and John took care of me anyway!  Crepes, cantaloupe and green smoothies for breakfast and then chicken, crab salad and jello for lunch. Audrey bought me two culinary mysteries (Beef Stolen-Off and Murder for the Halibut), Sidney got me "Ever After" on blu-ray and John got me the "Modern Family" series on blu-ray. What a lovely day. I love my family!!

Mother's Day Saturday

Today we went to the Browne's Addition neighborhood for the annual MAC (Museum of Arts and Culture) Mother's Day tour. Each year they choose a different neighborhood to highlight and provide the historical details of the homes. We don't go every year, but when we do go - it is a treat!

This year's tour featured six homes in Browne's Addition. Established in 1883, Browne's Addition was Spokane's first neighborhood and considered one of the oldest in Washington. For decades this neighborhood was the home of the city's elite residents. The tour included a wide array of architectural styles:

• The Campbell House (2316 W. 1st) was built in 1898 for Amasa B. Campbell, who made his fortune from the mining industry in Idaho. The home was designed by Kirtland Cutter and features elements of the Tudor architectural style including its steeply-pitched roof, wood shingles, decorative bargeboards on the gable ends, half-timbering, and diamond-paned windows. 
• The Reid House (2315 W. 1st) was built in 1899 and designed by architect Albert Held for Charles Hoffman, a real estate and mining broker. Reid House is a Craftsman Bungalow with elements of Tudor Revival. Notable features include a clinker brink living room fireplace and inglenook, a wraparound front porch, a butler's pantry and a second floor sleeping porch.  
• The Page-Ufford House (364 S. CDA Street) was constructed in 1896 for Alba and Flora Page. Page was a wealthy financier who specialized in loans, investments and mineral properties. The home features Queen Anne style including bay windows, wraparound porch, steep-pitched roof, and a turret. It was one of the earliest homes constructed in Browne's Addition.
• Westgate Apartments (2306 W. Pacific Avenue) were constructed in 1908 for the Kaminsky family and it a three-story multi-family building with six Pullman-style flats. The Pullman style is names after sleeping car trains designed by the Pullman Company in the early 1900s. The space is a long and narrow, and commonly seen in Chicago and other Midwestern cities. Built in the Spanish Colonial architectural style, the Westgate features small arches on the second floor frontal facade to each side of the large central arch above the entrance.. 
• Clark Mansion (2208 W. 2nd) was designed by Kirtland Cutter in 1898 for Patsy Clark, an Irish immigrant who made his fortune in the mining industry. The exterior of the 3 and 1/2 story home suggests Spanish and Moorish influences, including rounded corner towers and arched loggias. A few of the rooms include a French drawing room, a foyer with Moorish style influences, a dining room constructed in an English Medieval theme, and a Chinese-inspired gambling room. The home housed the Patsy Clark Restaurant from 1982-2001. Today the mansion house a law firm, but the main level is available for private events. 
• The Loewenberg- Roberts House (1923 W. 1st) was designed in 1889 by architect W.J. Carpenter for Bernard Loewenberg, owner of Loewenberg Mercantile. The stock market crash of 1893 bankrupted Loewenberg and by 1898 he agreed to trade houses with Empire Builder E.J. Roberts, the chief engineer of the DC Corbin Railway Systems and founder of Union Iron Works. The home is an example of the Queen Anne design with features such as decorative spindle work, square-cut granite foundation, a second floor gallery extending out to create a porch, and a round turret. The home is now a bed and breakfast. 

Afterward we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory downtown for lunch. I ordered the baked lasagna, John got a Roy Rogers and pasta with meat sauce while Audrey got an Italian soda and pasta with marinara sauce. We love the spumoni that comes with the end of the meal!  What a wonderful day before Mother's Day!!