Virtual Running Date No. 44: Ready for Spring and a tip for dredging chicken

Hello!

If we were on a virtual running date, I would tell you that I'm ready for spring. This past weekend, we decided that we are done with winter. Just done. And this is coming from two people who get REALLY excited about snow. You know how cold it was when I woke up this morning? NEGATIVE 3 degrees F. That's cold people.

Currently, it's a whopping 16 degrees F, but the windchill makes it feel like about 5 degrees F. Can we get a 30 please?! It's too cold to run comfortably. Or at least without a lot of layers. Brrr...

Anyway, I decided to "shop my house" a la Kari Anne at Thistlewood Farms for some springy decorations. Remember how I made that St. Patrick's Day wreath last year? Well, I could not find the grape vine wreath that I used last year for anything. I know it made it to the new house, but I'm not sure where. Since it's been so cold, our Christmas wreath still looks pretty green. So I decided to dress that up. I just tore off the pine cones and big red bow and added a few shamrocks. See?

Ridiculous? Yes.
Do I feel like I'm extending the life of my wreath? Yes.
Win-win.

I also decided to take down all the red and white and gold on our mantle from Christmas/winter decorations and lighten things up with some of my grandma's milk glass and tea cups that I inherited.

It's amazing what some fresh white, pink and blue glassware will do for your psyche and mantle!

If this were a virtual running date, I'd tell you that we also figured that we need to put together more baby stuff since our kiddo is due to arrive sometime in the next 5-6 weeks. YES, I said weeks. Yes, that's slightly alarming, but mostly awesome. We're ready to meet our new person, but we're also totally content to wait a few more weeks.

From left: car seat to be installed, pack-n-play, seat/rocker and
hand-me-down stroller that needs to be cleaned up in the background.

We're ready. Heh. Or at least we look ready!

One last thing I'd tell you if we were on a running date? I have been watching a lot of America's Test Kitchen lately. Good old Christopher Kimball and Julia Collin Davison were talking about how to make a really great Chicken Parmesan without it getting soggy or rubbery. They also skipped a step of the flour-egg-flour (bread crumbs/whatever) dredging that you normally do when breading chicken. Instead they whisked egg and flour together for the first step, and then dipped it in the bread crumbs. Um, hello! This is way easier! Plus, it cooked nice and even.

I would show you a photo of that, but mommy-to-be got hungry before she could take a photo. Oops! If you want, head over to America's Test Kitchen and read the recipe. It's so good.

Note: Only the current season's recipes are available online. If you are reading this a few years from now, you'll have to pay to see it. Or you could just trust me and know that it works!

Challenge Accepted!

Every so often, KariAnne at Thistlewood Farms takes a moment to stop and remind her readers that they are rock stars.

This is why I love KariAnne and want to meet her in person someday. Because she's a rock star too.

She reminds us all that there are some days where we don't feel like rock stars. We probably feel more like tired, old, has-been rock stars who may have partied too hard and just feel like crap. But those days are like Jenny Lawson from The Bloggess reminds us: lies. You really are a rock star. You are loved. You are cherished. You are important to someone somewhere even if it doesn't feel like it!

In KariAnne's blog post today, she asks that everyone share some joy today. The second I read that, I was all "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!"

So, here's a little joy to make you smile today. Please feel free to keep spreading it!

1. We babysat for our nieces and nephews over the weekend. Ben, who is 6 and the big brother to two sisters and is therefore all knowing about baby girls, comes up to me and sticks his face right by my now-showing belly. He shouts, "HELLO IN THERE!" After asking if I thought that the baby could hear him, I responded, "I think she heard you and everyone in a two-house radius heard you too!"

2. This weekend is the Christmas Cookie Baking Marathon and my sister is hosting it at her house this year. Four women, 12+ cookie recipes, and the guys at home making rosettes and spritz cookies because they're good at that. When all is said and done we'll have about 500 cookies to eat and share. Sharing cookies = sharing joy!

3. My dad, the hardest person in the world to shop for, actually put together a Christmas list this year. WHOO!

4. We are 10 days away from owning our new home. Steve said he would plant me a tree or flowering bush (magnolia? crab apple?) for my very first Mother's Day this spring. Isn't that the cutest thing ever?

5. I was just asked to go snow-shoeing with a friend from work. Skiing is out this winter due to baby girl, but I could totally snow shoe! WIN!

6. Hot chocolate

7. Christmas lights

8. Indoor swimming pools at the local high school so prego ladies can stay fit.

9. People who are good listeners.

10. My family and friends.

Go make a list. You might surprise yourself at what makes your day!

Faith-filled Friday: Joy and appetizers

Good morning, Crushers!

As you can imagine, these past few weeks haven't been the most joyous in the normal sense. However, one of my blogger crushes over at Thistlewood Farms, KariAnne, shared her joy in the most random things on her blog today. What great timing for this reminder that there is joy all around us. KariAnne, you're a rockstar.

This made me think of one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 98 (bolded for emphasis):
Psalm 98
A psalm.¹ Sing to the Lord a new song,    for he has done marvelous things;his right hand and his holy arm    have worked salvation for him.² The Lord has made his salvation known    and revealed his righteousness to the nations.³ He has remembered his love    and his faithfulness to Israel;all the ends of the earth have seen    the salvation of our God.⁴ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,    burst into jubilant song with music;⁵ make music to the Lord with the harp,    with the harp and the sound of singing,⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.⁷ Let the sea resound, and everything in it,    the world, and all who live in it.⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,    let the mountains sing together for joy;⁹ let them sing before the Lord,    for he comes to judge the earth.He will judge the world in righteousness    and the peoples with equity.

In keeping with KariAnne's mission to spread some joy today, I'm going to follow suit and list some too.

1. Having my nephew cuddle up with me and lay his head on my shoulder. 
2. Pouring over family photos and remembering what fun times we all had.
3. The look on my husband's face when he saw a photo of me in 5th or 6th grade complete with big bangs, glasses and braces - total disbelief. (No more bangs, glasses or braces now!)
4. One of my friends just rescued 3 baby ducks yesterday - Yay Kristi!
5. Managing a huge contract at work all. by. myself.
6. Planning a getaway weekend to Las Vegas to see our friends get married.
7. Finding this t-shirt online.
8. I haven't chipped or broken a nail all week (this might be a record).
9. Going to lunch today with a co-worker from the past.
10. Finger food. 
11. Despite having our original plans for celebrating our first anniversary totally fall through, we had an offer from friends to spend the day with them on their boat! Hannah, way to be a rockstar!
12. I can see my triceps muscles (and feel them - ouch!).
13. Having friends e-mail you recipes, like this one. 
14. I live near a lot of huge lakes and rivers. Nothing is more peaceful than watching the waves!
15. Having more to be joyful about than I originally thought I'd come up with (this list could go on and on and on, but you have to cut off somewhere!).

I hope you are able to find lots of things to be joyful about today and every day. Have a great weekend everyone!

One more joy for today: sharing ah-ha moments! Here is this ridiculously easy appetizer that I whipped up last night. We don't usually have "courses" for our meals at home, but while waiting for some soup to bubble and making grilled cheese sandwiches, Steve pointed out that we had some cucumbers in our fridge that needed to be eaten pronto! Hmm... what else is in the fridge? Mozzarella, tomatoes and there's basil in the garden? How about a sort-of caprese salad?

Ta-da!

OK, so it's a little heavy on the cheese, but so what? Chop up some tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and cheese and drizzle (or not) some olive oil on it. Delicious and simple. Enjoy!

In a lemon mood

Good morning Crushers!

If you knew me in real life, as opposed to blog life, you would know that I really like the color yellow. I wear it a lot. Yes, I realized that I wore it at the race and it made me look like a highlighter. Anyway, most yellow things make me happy: Post-it(R) notes, lemonade, sunshine, Julia Child roses, my first pair of running shoes, highlighters, my horseshoes, sunfish, and the sweater I'm wearing right now. One of my most favorite scents in the world is lemons.

We had a potluck lunch yesterday, and I must not be the only one who loves lemons. For the dessert section, there were lemonade brownies (need that recipe!), lemon cake slices, lemonade dip with graham cookies and I made lemon bars. Geesh! That's a lot of lemon! And it was soooooooo good...

Ever since we started having nice weather (which is GONE today - rain, rain and more rain), I have been hungry for lemon bars. They are the perfect blend of sweet and tart. They're a great addition to any cookout, too.

I have recently become a huge fan of Thistlewood Farms blog by KariAnne. I dream of a house like her gorgeous farm house. I'm also really excited to see what they do with the gate house. Have no idea what I'm talking about? Go read. I'll wait.

Back? Great! You love her mantle-scapes too?! I knew we were friends.

Anyway, just a little while ago, KariAnne posted about making Lemon Lime Bars. They looked so good that I knew this was what I needed to make for the potluck. There was only one problem. I failed to shop ahead and forgot to buy limes. It was also about 9:15 at night when I started making them and I just couldn't make myself run out to the store. Ugh!

Instead I just made lemon bars, and you know what? I left work yesterday with an empty pan! They were loved by all! No one knew they were supposed to be lemon and lime, so it was a hit just as lemon bars. Phew!

You can follow the link to KariAnne's Lemon Lime Bars (originally from www.bhg.com) if you want the full recipe. Or you can see below for how I made them.

Lemon Bars
Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup butter, softened and cut up (that's a stick and a half)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup milk (don't use skim unless that's all you've got handy)

3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel

2/3 cup lemon juice

Gear you'll need: 13 x 9 inch pan, cooking spray (or use the butter wrappers), measuring spoons and cups, a big bowl, a whisk, and a hand grater or lemon zester.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat the pan with cooking spray or use the butter wrappers to grease the pan. In a big bowl, combine the flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, salt and butter for the crust. Make sure you cut the butter in chunks for easier mixing. KariAnne used a pastry cutter to mix all of those ingredients. You could also use a butter knife to repeatedly "cut" through the batter until it resembles large crumbles. Or, if you're like me and don't have a pastry cutter or the patience to use a butter knife, make sure your hands are very clean and just dig in by taking large handfuls of the mix and squeezing it. Squeeze, and let go. Squeeze, and let go. Repeat that until you have the large crumbles.

Press the crust into the greased pan by hand until it is firmly pressed down. Pop that in the oven for about 15 minutes. It won't look browned when you take it out. Don't let that fool you, it'll be hot!

It's OK if it's a little lumpy looking. You'll pour lemon mix over it and it'll be smooth.

While the crust is in the oven, rinse out the bowl that you just used and dry it. Seriously? Why make one more dish dirty? Anyway, combine the lemon topping ingredients in the bowl in order. Eggs (whisk them), granulated sugar, milk, flour, lemon peel and lemon juice. Here is a tip about the lemon peel or zest: be sure that you are only getting the yellow part and not too much of the white of the peel. In order to do this, only make 2-3 passes with the lemon against the peeler in any spot. One, two, three and rotate the lemon. Repeat until you have enough zest and an albino-looking lemon. 

Another tip: be sure to keep your finger tips away from the grater or you'll need a bandage.

Normally, I'm all, "As long as it makes it in the bowl, who cares what order they go in?" But this time, I suggest that you really do put them in order because it makes stirring each thing easier. Otherwise, the lemon peel gets clumpy with the sugar or the flour gets lumpy. Ugh. Just do me a favor, and save yourself the aggravation! Whisk them all together and enjoy how your kitchen smells while you wait for the crust.

Once you pull the crust from the oven, pour the lemon mix over the hot crust. Don't let the crust cool! Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the lemon mix has set. If you take the pan out of the oven and the lemon jiggles when you shake it, put it back in for a few minutes and check again. The lemon should have an even creamy yellow color. If the edges are a little brown, that's fine! 

Fresh from the oven!

For easiest serving, let the whole pan cool overnight or for a few hours in the fridge. It will slice up a lot easier that way! Sprinkle the top with some more powdered sugar because it tastes good and looks pretty, or keep it more tart and omit the powdered sugar topping. Slice up, serve, and prepare to make more because these won't last long!