• 1 cup onion, minced
• 1 cup carrot, minced
• 2 (10 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup cooking sherry
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• fresh chives, minced
• salt
• 1/2 lb raw lobsters, chopped or 1/2 lb lump crabmeat
Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

1. 1 Saute onion and carrot in 2 tablespoons butter until soft. Set aside.
2. 2 In 4 quart saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter and add flour, whisking constantly over medium heat until roux becomes light brown (about 5 minutes). DO NOT BURN!
3. 3 Slowly add chicken broth, whisking constantly to ensure mixture stays smooth.
4. 4 Add onions and carrots, cover, and simmer for 1/2 hour.
5. 5 Add cream, sherry, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, salt, and lobster or crab and simmer an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
6. 6 Garnish with fresh minced chives if desired.

Nara loved it too!

 

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Coming in Second

This originally started as a letter to my in-laws, but I decided to follow their advice and UPDATE MY BLOG!
In short we are moving and I have been getting ready and packing all day...every day...day after day... Here is the letter that I was writing:
So we've been packing today and I thought I would take a moment to rest and drop you a note. So I was packing Chris' shirts today, and may I say...Holy cow! When did his shirts start to grow and multiply? I would think they are trying to replenish the earth, something I thought not possible. I also  think that he alone could keep the entire cotton industry going by purchasing his shirts. Actually they are cotton/poly. I wonder if there is any worth in the stock?  His shirts (just T-shirts) took up an entire box. To illustrate, I am [posting] a few pictures four your pleasure. 

If Chris' shirt box and my were to get into a fight, who do you think would win?
 I do believe that I would come in second on this one. My cute little dainty box would be swallowed whole and destroyed by the ominousness of the Goliath towering over it. You know Chris, everything has to be big. 

While I was pulling out all the shirts from the closet, I laid them out on the back of the recliner. the weight was so much that the back of the chair actually reclined. Silly me, I didn't get a picture of that. Anyway, when I was finished I came out to see Nara in her chair reading a book. I love this girl so much. I love Chris so much too, I just have to give him a hard time about his massive T-shirt collection.

P.S. There may have been a little forced perspective used in this post to illustrate a point...   :D

Chicken Strips

I made tasty chicken strips tonight for dinner and thought I would share the result.
Combine
Smoked Paprika
Salt & Pepper
Garlic
Onion Powder
Crushed Corn Flakes (fine)

Preheat oven to 400o
Dip the chicken strips in veggie oil,eggs or butter.
Then dip into the dry mixture.
Place on a greased pan and cook for 25 min.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

The hills are alive with the sounds of handbags

Recently, in a magazine, I saw a picture of a really cute hobo bag. I immediately had an idea of replacing my (way cool) Tinkerbell Diaper Bag with this new, mod bag. I figured it would be a little bit more hip than the previously mentioned.

 So I started doing some research on "Hobo" Bags. The price, for the ones I liked, were about $30. Yikes! For a bag! Okay, so it's not that bad of a price but it is one that I can't afford. Well, with times being what they are and money being what it is, I decided to make it myself. So viola! After $6 drape fabric and a little bit of time, it's done. Chris calls it my "Sound of Music" bag. What do you think? Not too bad for not having a pattern, eh?

Sunken Bread

Congratulate me, audience! I successfully (kind of) made a loaf of bread maker bread. Can I say that I made it? It did in fact come from the machine, so technically, I guess, the machine made it. Regardless, it wasn't bad bread. The crust was delightfully crunchy and the inside was soft and chewy. The most fascinating part was that the top, rather than rising, sunk. Therefore and verily it looks more like a dormant volcanic crater rather than a luscious loaf of billowing bread. Still, slather on some jam, jelly, and or butter and it's a fair snack. Next time I try it, hopefully I can make it the way it should be. Until then, I think I will stick to the old fashioned way, machine free.

Hey Look At That!

Ladies and Gentlemen who read my blog, I have some news! I POSTED!! Not only that I think I have finally figured out how to put videos from our video camera onto the blog. Let me preface that it wasn't that hard, I just figured out how to do it. Needless to say, a lot has been happening since I last posted about Nara's birthday. She has been having so much fun exploring and getting into everything. I love to see her reaction when she finds something new. One of her favorite things is to help me in the kitchen. I often find her in the drawer (yes I said IN the drawer) pulling out bowls or pots, and unloading the dishwasher. What a help she is!Yes I had a stuffy nose when I took this video.

She has also taken an interest in feeding herself. I have to include a video (check the next post) we took when she was having fun with 'Aunt Stacy'. She is such a funny little girl. I need to write all the things she is saying and doing down because she is saying and doing new things all the time. 

Nara found a new spot to hide and visits it often. I couldn't find her the first time because she was tucked so far into the corner. She came out with a big smile.

I am having some trouble adding the last two videos and am going to try to add them in a new post so be sure to read or see both. Enjoy the videos. More to come!

Fröhlicher geburtstag, Gratulerer med dagen, Feliz cumpleaños, Manuia lou aso fanau, Tanjobi omedeto

....Any way you say it, it means HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you!
Happy birthday, Nara Jane. She turned one year old today. What a happy birthday she has had too. We have had a few parties so that everyone could make it and be involved.
Her first one was a week ago with Nenna and Uncle Heffe along with Mel, Jack and Grandma Great. It was a nice little party with a few gifts, laughs, and a very red ladybug cake. Needless to say, the red and chocolate of the cake looked like Nara was participating in some act of bloody carnage.

Another party we had took place on Friday, the day before her actual birthday. It was full of pizza, cake, friends, and laughing. Jon and Tamina were so kind to  let us do it at their house. Our house is just too tight for more than a few people at a time, let alone several very active kids. Nara loved playing with her friends Noah, Adam, Ari, Sarah, Sam, Maylee, and Liam (So glad our friends Tyler and Anne could come). Nara had so much fun riding zebras, climbing up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs, playing chase, playing with toys, and especially sneaking bread sticks from the pizza boxes as well as others plates.
While she was playing, I took a seat by Ari and Tamina. Ari was playing with my arm, something I didn't really think about. Soon she was stroking my arm, or so I thought. Tamina soon said "Well hello, Jen!" I look down and see that it was Tamina who was stroking my arm, not to her knowledge of course. Ari had a hold of  my arm and Tamina's hand and she was puppeteering the act of Tamina petting my arm. Come to find out, Tamina thought that it was Ari's arm while I thought it was Ari's hand. So funny!
Here is the birthday cake from Friday. It kinda turned out like a hat, but it was really good, a scratch Hershey's cake that looked similar to red velvet. Nara sure liked it. She is a huge fan of chocolate chips so, naturally, we had to add some to her own cake. She wasn't as messy as with her ladybug cake, but she still got it all over herself.

Saturday night we went to Tucanos, with Uncle Anthouny and Aunt Elisha, where Nara got a free birthday dinner postcard in the mail. She loved the olives, rice and beans, cheese, and pao de queijo (that's my favorite too) along with different meats and abacaxi (brown sugar and pineapple grilled). Yummy.

The last birthday celebration is on Sunday when she gets to have ice cream with Grandma and Grandpa Morgan. Lucky girl. Happy birthday, sweetheart. She is such a joy and delight and the best thing that could happen to Chris and me. Chris is such a proud daddy and I'm such a proud mommy of our baby girl. Love you baby, happy birthday.

A Season of Crafts

This fall, I have had an explosion of creativity. From it has come two (soon to be three) advent calendars, neigh unto two quilts, a tutu, and new recipies that fit into the South Beach diet plan. I'll let the photos do the talking and explain as I feel inspired to. Special thanks to the sisters and husband for all of the ideas and feedback on the projects.

Boo! Just for kicks I thought it would be cool to make a quilt for all the major holidays to go on my couch. This was the first one I have completed. I designed it myself and had a lot of fun making it. I admit, it took a little while, but that is mostly because I had another project going on at the same time. Which, I have pictures of my Halloween advent calendar on my hard drive, so as soon as I get those off I will post them as well.

It is made of a combination of cotten fabrics, two different satins, fleece, and glow in the dark. The back is polk-a-dot in black white and grey. I should have taken a picture of that too...Oh well, who wants to see the back anyway. I like the front better.

I tried a new technique of sewing the seams out instead of down. Then I snipped them to create a frayed look. I thought it was really cool, especially on the "haunted house"

Different fabric patterns I used.

The black stitching was Chris' idea. I like how it turned out.

Almost done with Mr. Turkey advent calendar. Every day, the kids can pull off a feather until Thanksgiving when he will be "bald". I designed him so that the kids can feed him felt food everyday as well. His tummy sticks out so there is plenty of space for lots of yummies. (More pictures of that to come as I make them.)

Egg cups. Love them. Talk about breakfast on the go. Just pop a couple of these spinach, ham, cheese filled lovlies in the microwave and you have breakfast on the go. Easy to make too. 15 eggs and whatever else you want in a bowl then divide into cupcake liners, bake for ...30 min? They get gilden on the top and are really good. South Beach friendly too.

Another fun S.B. diet food that Chris made. It's a pumpkin pie with Splenda in it instead of sugar and a pecan crust. It was pretty good. It's even better when you have after not having any sugar for two weeks in phase one of the diet. After that, anything tastes good :) But this is tasty. A little heavy on the Splenda, but next time we are going to cut back on that.

While I have been doing all this fun stuff, Nara has been a doll. She plays and helps and gets into everything just so she can be involved. So cute! This picture was taken on Halloween night- hence the pumpkin on her pants.

I had to include this photo. She loves rice and beans and this is what she looks like afterward--covered in beans on every piece of exposed flesh she has. I'm not going to mention what her diapers looked like. :P Love this girl!