Wordless Wednesday

Five Days of Fun!

How much fun can you have in five days?  Last week I spent a few days in the city with the Ponderosa Princesses and my favorite boy.  We had some great fun doing all sorts of things like St. Patrick's Day festivals, picnics at the lake, soccer, Chuck E. Cheese, putt putt golf, shopping and eating frozen yogurt just to name a few!  I'll let my photos do the talking!

Friday Night's Menu

Since I now have time to plan meals ahead, I've been trying new recipes and adding variety to the otherwise quick and plain Ponderosa menu.  One of my favorite places to look for these new dishes is on a blog called Tasty Kitchen.  Tonight our supper menu consisted of:

Chicken nuggets

Baked potatoes

Baked beans

Tossed salad

Rolls

Here's how to make these tasty chicken nuggets:

Sweet Chicky Nuggets

• 1 whole large egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 whole skinless and boneless chicken breasts
• 1-¼ cup flour
• 1-½ tablespoon powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 4 cups peanut oil or canola oil, for frying

Preparation Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg and stir in the milk. Trim any fat away from the chicken. Cube chicken into bite size pieces. Place chicken in the milk mixture and cover. Let it marinate for 2–4 hours in the fridge. This will make the chicken very nice and tender. In a gallon size resealable baggie, combine flour,powered sugar, salt and pepper. Seal and shake to combine.

Place about 2 inches of oil in a medium deep pot. Over medium high heat, heat oil until hot. If using a thermometer let the temperature reach 375°F. Using a fork or tongs, remove the cut chicken from the milk mixture and place into the flour mixture. Seal and shake until nuggets are completely coated. Place about 6 to 8 nuggets into the hot oil and let them cook until golden brown, turning halfway through once the edge of your chicken starts to turn white, about 1 minute each side. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Repeat until all nuggets are cooked.  

  I used chicken strips to make the nuggets and a fry daddy to cook them. They were very tender after marinating in the milk/egg mixture for about two and a half hours.

Contemplating. . .

The rain drove me into the house about lunch, but I have spent the the past two and a half days outside! The unseasonably warm weather gave me the opportunity to rake and burn leaves, plant flowers and potatoes and strawberries and do general clean up on the Ponderosa.  I even had time to visit with my oldest friend and her son when they stopped by Monday afternoon.  We enjoyed a couple of hours out on the deck with some fruit salsa and chips!

While I was working, there was time to contemplate how great it is to be retired.  The work I was doing was hard and dirty, but no one sassed me, not once did I have to tell someone to stop running or hitting.  I took a break when I was tired, just sat right down and had a rest.  I ate lunch when I was hungry regardless of the time.  And at the end of the day no one needed to evaluate my ability to do yard work and there will not be a test!

 

If you have time to spend with some friends or to contemplate the world from your deck here's the recipe for fruit salsa and cinnamon chips.  It came from my friend Misty.

Fruit Salsa

1 bag frozen strawberries

1 navel orange

2 kiwi

1 Granny Smith apple

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 Tablespoon apple jelly

Mix everything in the blender!

Cinnamon Chips

Get flour tortillas and spray lightly with water

Sprinkle on a mixture of cinnamon and sugar on both sides

Slice into triangular pieces

Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees

Wordless Wednesday

Spring on the Ponderosa

The first full day of spring brought blossoms to the Ponderosa

 And the promise of more beautiful blossoms

But best of all, it brought out the tractor so we can get ready for the growing season

 

This is all very exciting to everyone, except Piper!

How Do You Catch a Leprechaun?

I'm visiting with the the Ponderosa Princesses and Parker for a few days and there has been lots of St. Patrick's Day excitement.  Last night while Parker slept soundly those pesky Leprechauns made their way in

  and played tricks all over the house. They made a big mess leaving footprints behind,

threw Parker's clothes around

and had parties with the toys. . .

When he woke up this morning he ran around looking to see what kind of tricks the leprechauns had played.

 When he found his shoes in the fridge, he thought it was hilarious!

 We cleaned up the mess and went out for a while only to return to even more trickery.  This time the chairs were turned over and the footprints and balloons were back and the milk was green!

He has to go to soccer practice after while, but this time he will be ready.  We have a plan.  Using a balloon and a lollipop, there is a trap set  for those darn leprechauns and when we catch them a pot of gold will be ours!

 

I Found Gold!

Some things just sneak up on you so gradually that you just don't notice, like the expiration date on your coupons or a few extra pounds or gray hairs or your birthday, you get the idea.  This happened with the hardware on my kitchen cabinets.  The cabinets are originals to the house which makes them about 35 and they look very 70's and need painting or re-staining. Yes, they are a sorry sight.  Just recently while prowling around looking for bargains I found a giant bottle of Brasso for just $2.00.  It made me remember my mom using this product years ago when a set of brass/glass doors covered the fireplace in our home.  She polished up the edges with Brasso, so I bought a bottle and brought it home to see if I could improve my kitchen cabinets! The grime on the hardware had gradually turned into this

I know it is bad--it just happened.  It was one of the jobs no one ever had the time to do.  Both of the Ponderosa Princesses said to me (at different times) just take them off and buy new ones. (This is something I admit they learned from me).  But look at those, how would you ever find something the same size or shape.  There is probably an indention on the wood behind them.  So following the Brasso instructions I shook it well and applied with a clean, dry cloth and a lot of elbow grease and I found gold!

"Nice" Mail

Several years ago I was visiting with my niece Emily and I mentioned that I had some pictures to send her.  I handed a piece of paper across the table and ask her to write her address on it.  She wrote her e-mail. Passing it back, I explained that I had copies of the prints and I wanted her mailing address.  Emily exclaimed, "Oh, nice mail, all I ever get is bills!"  Nice mail began and expanded into other family members.  Now the list includes the Ponderosa Princesses and  my niece Aimee.  Parker and even the son-in-laws like to receive nice mail.

Nice mail is usually a card with a note and sometimes there are pictures, recipes, games, or coupons included.  On some holidays, the girls all get festive socks!  I even have special postcards for grandkids. Other people sometimes get nice mail for their birthday or a get well card if they need it.  Since I have retired I have been a better nice mailer, using the calendar from our church to send birthday and anniversary wishes to friends.  Facebook helps too since I can see who is having a birthday a week ahead.
Our church sends cards to people every Sunday.  Some weeks there are 12-15 cards.  Just yesterday it was mentioned how important the cards are to the receivers.  The idea that someone is thinking of them and taking the time to prepare a card makes them feel special.
Today was nice mail day on the Ponderosa.  I had a  birthday card and a get well card ready when the husband left for work,  After I  prepared more mail and the rain stopped for a few minutes I decided to drive to the Post Office so everyone would get some nice mail tomorrow, but when I got there it looked like this

The entire parking lot was flooded.  It was dry near the big blue box I need to get to, but the water was deep in the driveway right in front of it.  Just like the postal service I was not going to be stopped by high water, so I hightailed it to Gibson Tax Service where the owner took me in his four wheel drive to deposit my mail before the 3:15 deadline! He,of course, is a big fan of everyone on the nice mail list so he saved the day!

So take some time to send someone some "nice" mail but do it on a day when the sun is shining and you don't have to ford the post office parking lot.

Looking out my Back door. . .

The Wind. . .

A great wind is blowing and that gives you either imagination or a headache.

~Catherine the Great