CHICKEN PICCATA

I just tried this recipe this past weekend and absolutely wanted to share since it's so dog gone tasty!  I had been looking for main dish recipes since I had some guests coming to town and this recipe was one of two that I was considering while they were here.

As it turned out, I chose not to make this one since it took a little bit more prep time and I wasn't sure with everything else we had going on during their visit if I would have time to pull it off.  Instead, I chose to make it for my husband and me... but gosh, my guests totally missed out!!!

As it turned out, it really didn't take all that long to put it together.  So now I know.......

INGREDIENTS:

4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied, pounded thin and then *cut in half

1 cup all purpose flour, for dredging

salt and pepper

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

¼ cup olive oil

2 lemons, 1 juiced, 1 sliced

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup chicken stock

1 bouillon cube (I used one Swanson chicken flavor boost packet instead)

2 Tbsp. capers, drained

1/3 cup fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

On a cutting board, filet each chicken breast and trim off any fat.  Place two pieces of chicken at a time between two pieces of parchment paper,.  Pound with a flat mallet, until the cutlets are about ¼ inch thick.  Set aside and repeat until all the chicken is pounded thin.   (*While the instructions/ingredients indicated to cut the butterflied breasts in half I chose to leave them as is.  If you were cooking for a larger group, I could see taking the time to make additional portions)

Season each side of the chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge each cutlet lightly on each side with flour.

Heat olive oil in a skillet.  Brown the meat for 3-5 minutes on each side until golden.  Once brown, place the pieces in a single layer cookie sheet with a rim or a glass casserole dish.  The chicken will continue to cook in the oven.

After all the chicken has been browned, turn up the heat and pour the wine into the pan and boil down for a minute so the alcohol cooks off.  Add the lemon juice, stock, bouillon, butter and then the capers.  Allow the sauce to cook for a minute or two.   At this point, the recipe indicated to pour the sauce over the chicken, place the lemon slices on top, cover with foil and place in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  I felt the sauce was too thin, so I placed  a heaping Tbsp. of cornstarch and about the same amount of cold water in a cup and stirred to make a thickening agent.  I added that to the sauce and it thickened to just the right consistency.

Before serving add fresh parsley.

Because I was making such a small batch, I actually eliminated the oven stage and did everything in the same pan; simmering the sauce and chicken on the stove top for approximately 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

GIFT TAGS

As I get more and more comfortable with my Silhouette machine, I attempt all sorts of different projects both for myself and for others.  I'll be able to share several projects that I've done for upcoming summer wedding in the months to come......

In the meantime, these cute gift tags were a prototype for a friend of mine, so I snapped some pictures along the way to share.

The first step is to work within the software to develop the design and layout......this particular project is called a print and cut since I first send it to my printer then I feed it through my silhouette to have it cut out the shapes for me.

Those who have used a silhouette recognize the look on the right which is an actual snapshot of my computer screen when working within the software.  Basically, I perfect the design and then I can easily duplicate as many as I'd like to fit on one sheet of paper with a simple click of a button.

The red line in the picture is the "cut line"....as you can see from the picture below, the blade cut around that line and left the inner decorative frame line that I added as part of the design.

Once they were cut, which is amazingly fast....... I punched holes in the tags and placed some colored baker's twine through the holes so they can be attached to a gift.

I've now made gift tags, greeting cards, vinyl wall designs, heat transfer designs, and labels for candy wrappers and jars.  I'll keep trying new things, and undoubtedly make mistakes along the way, but that's where the learning comes from.    So fun.....and the designs are endless!

SPINACH AND SAUSAGE CRUSTLESS QUICHE

My daughter had shared a crustless quiche recipe a couple weeks back and I chose to make a few changes as I was putting it together......It turned out so yummy that I had to share!

It's also reasonably "lite".... no crust, skim milk and reduced fat sausage.

Obviously, there are all sorts of combinations for the ingredients....here's how I put it together......

INGREDIENTS:

1 pkg. Jimmy Dean reduced fat breakfast sausage

½ tsp. minced garlic

½ bag fresh spinach leaves ( 10 oz. bag)

4 large eggs

1 cup skim milk

2 oz. feta cheese

¼ cup grated parmesan

½ cup shredded mozzarella

¼ tsp. rosemary 

salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown sausage in a medium size skillet; add spinach leaves and cook just enough to wilt the leaves.  

Spray a pie dish/casserole with non-stick spray.  Spread the sausage and spinach leaves evenly on the bottom of the dish.  Next add the feta.  

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs until fairly smooth.  Add the milk, parmesan, rosemary and a sprinkle of pepper.    Pour this mixture over the spinach, sausage and feta.

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top.   Place the dish on a baking sheet for easy transfer to the oven.  Bake until golden brown on top and the center is solid; approximately 45 minutes.  

Enjoy!

KISSING BALLS (POMANDER BALLS)

Looking for something a bit different than a basket for your Flower Girl(s)?  How about a "kissing ball/pomander ball" instead?

I made these for an upcoming summer wedding....aren't they just adorable?

They begin with a styrofoam ball, so they're nice and lightweight.....easy for little ones to carry down the aisle.

For this particular wedding I used burlap, lace and an embroidered tulle for my base fabrics; I tossed in some silk flowers and strands of pearls and you have a great alternative to the traditional flower girl basket.  I can see all sorts of possibilities based upon the theme of the wedding and the color palette.

Since one of the girls is several years older than the other two, I chose to make hers a bit larger.
Which meant starting with a larger styrofoam ball.

You can see in the picture to the right, I even rolled some roses with the burlap and lace trim I used for the handle.

I literally couldn't stop once I got started.

I think I might have to make some other varieties and put them in the Shea Marie Etsy shop.

RUSTIC CANDELABRA

Okay....It's time for a "His" project don'tcha think?

So, I'm taking credit for providing the inspiration for this project, but the rest was all my husband.  I had spotted deer antler candle holders in a store which had a number of tables all decorated for the holidays.  I was so taken with it, that I snapped a cell phone picture.   Knowing that my husband was making his annual trek to Texas for deer hunting this past December, I shared the picture with him in hopes that he would be able to bring home some antlers.

Not only did he come back from his trip with all sorts of venison (yum), but he actually had several "sheds".  He had been inspired by the picture and wanted to try his hand at making something.   I call it a candelabra since it holds multiple tapers.

So far, he's made two of these babies....learning important techniques along the way and coming up with some pretty impressive pieces.

Here's the steps he took along the way......................

after the sanding process

His first step was to sand the antlers with sand paper and steel wool to "clean them up" a bit.  After that he lightly stained them for a little deeper color (sanding again after that), but still natural looking.

We found the candle cups at Hobby Lobby, but actually they were only the wooden outside. Rockler Woodworking and Hardware in Denver had the wooden cups and brass inserts which gives a nice finishing touch and helps hold the candles snugly in place.

The cups are unfinished, so he played around with three different shades of stain he had on hand to find the one that would best blend with the antler color.
The cups are secured on to the antler with screws; you'll notice he even notched the bottom of one of the cups so that it sits securely on top of the antler.

These particular antlers are from Axis deer.    He was also able to get me one other type of shed (Fallow deer) that I plan to work with to make a matching set of rustic candle holders, similar to those I spotted.

That however, will have to wait until after wedding season (I have too much sewing to do right now).   I'll share a post about those once they're finished.

CARROT MUFFINS WITH SURPRISE FILLING

This recipe all began when I ended up with a half a bag of shredded carrots leftover from a veggie casserole I had made.  I started looking at recipes that would use up the carrots and found a healthy carrot muffin recipe.   I used the ingredients from the recipe I found, but chose to add two of my own personal touches; a surprise filling and streusel topping.

I also chose to make them in these cute little tulip cups I found at Cost Plus World Market.

The cups allow you to add a bit more batter than the standard cupcake liners and really make for a special presentation.   I think they add a nice touch and would be worth the extra effort for a brunch or baby/bridal shower!

INGREDIENTS:

Batter

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour 

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

½ cup honey

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

¾ cup finely shredded carrots (about 2-3 medium carrots)

Streusel topping
¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp. all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. wheat germ
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. softened butter
½ tsp. cinnamon


Filling
*orange marmalade
*you can use another type of fruit spread if you don't like orange marmalade, but I loved the way the orange tasted with the carrots!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place the tulip liners inside a cupcake pan (I watched an episode of "Martha bakes" where she just used these on a cookie sheet, so I started out that way.....thank goodness I checked them after about 6 minutes; they had totally spread apart, so I quickly put them inside the cupcake tin and saved the batch!)

2.  In a large bowl whisk together, the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. 

3.  Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, honey, egg, vanilla and applesauce.

4.  Stir ingredients together until just combined and there are still some spots of flour remaining.

5.  Fold in the shredded carrots just until combined (don't overmix or the muffins will be dense)

6.  Fill each muffin cup approximately 2/3 full of batter; spoon approximately 1 Tbsp. of orange marmalade over the top of the batter; add another large spoonful of batter over the top of the marmalade; it doesn't have to cover the marmalade completely.

7.  Sprinkle the tops of each muffin with the streusel before baking. 

8.  Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

9.  Remove to a wire rack and cool completely.  These muffins freeze wonderfully. 

Enjoy!

ALCOHOL POUCH

Okay...so this project is about as easy as they come, but it adds a whole lot of charm to the overall gift.

My son-in-law enjoys Grand Marnier, so I knew I wanted to gift him a bottle for Christmas.  But, I didn't just want to put a bottle under the tree.  So instead, I chose to make a pouch for the bottle and and added a brandy snifter to go along with it.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, his family is from France.  So I chose to use a burlap print with references to France on it.

I tied the bag closed and attached the snifter with Baker's twine to finish it off.

Obviously, you could use any liquor, but as I said he enjoys sipping on Grand Marnier from time-to-time.

Simply measure the height of the bottle and add approximately 2 ½ inches to that measurement. That provides a nice finished edge for the top and a ½ seam allowance on the bottom.
 
For the top edge,  fold over ¼ inch and stitch it down (or use a serger to finish the edge), then fold over another 1 ¾ at the top and stitch that edge down.

I like to have three seams to my bag.....one on each side and one at the bottom.  I can then fold that point in at each corner (at the bottom of the bag) and create a nice square bottom by stitching across the points.  (there are several good  You Tube videos for "boxed corners" if you're unsure how to do this)

So that's it.....maybe consider it for Birthday, Graduation or Father's Day this year!

Have fun!