Thursday, May 31, 2012

Garlic & Lemon Grilled Chicken

I am always looking for quick meals.
Lately, grilling seems to be the 
way to create quick meals.

I love grilled chicken,
(if you haven't noticed).
It's so easy and forgiving.
There aren't many spices you can't sprinkle 
on chicken that ends up non-edible.
Well cinnamon would be, of course,
within the chicken seasoning family
is what I am trying to say.

So I grabbed a bowl and some measuring
spoons and tackled yet another
grilled chicken recipe.



 Juicy, garlic flavor with a hint of honey.



 Pair with red potatoes and baked beans.


Garlic & Lemon Grilled Chicken

5-8 chicken thighs, boneless
1/2 cup oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp. vinegar 
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Mix together marinate and reserve 1/3 cup for basting.
Pour remaining marinate over chicken thighs.
Stab chicken with a knife so the marinate
will soak into the fibers of the chicken.
Let set 30-45 minutes.
Grill and baste with reserved marinate.

Enjoy,
Hope

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Summer Centerpiece

I don't know if any of you made
my Christmas centerpiece from a log
but if you did and still have the log-
it also makes a great summer centerpiece.


  Just fill it with whatever greenery and flowers you have.


Happy Tuesday!
Hope

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Summer

I love this time of year.
It's still not too hot to work outside
in the garden in the middle of the day.
Things are just a growing in
our garden (including weeds)- we are 
enjoying lettuce, onions and radishes.

I took my camera outside this evening and 
snapped some photos of things
that are growing around here.

"So then neither is he that plants anything, 
neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase."
1 Corinthians 3:7


The raised bed my hubby made for my Birthday last year.
I absolutely love it.



Our little garden.



Flowers we have been enjoying.



Super cool window boxes Josh made.


We were invited to my sister, Charity's, house for dinner.
As you can see it was delightful.

Happy Summer,
Hope

Monday, May 21, 2012

Cajun Steamed Shrimp

Wow, last week was a busy one.
We were invited away for
dinner two nights in a row.
Hence- no cooking, no posting.

Tonight was kind of a date night.
I bought some shrimp at Food Lion
and wanted to steam them.
At the last minute I decided to 
use Cajun seasoning instead of Old Bay.
It was tasty and good for a change.









Cajun Steamed Shrimp

2 lb. shrimp, raw
1 cup vinegar
2 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 T. Cajun seasoning
1 T. raw sugar or brown

In a kettle mix together vinegar, water, lemon juice,
Cajun and sugar. Bring to a boil and add shrimp.
Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Remove shrimp
immediately. Don't over cook- they will get tough.
Sprinkle lightly with a little more Cajun seasoning
and toss. Serve hot with cocktail sauce.

Enjoy,
Hope

Monday, May 14, 2012

Strawberry Meringue Cake

We had our Mother's day meal
for my Mom tonight.
I wanted a special dessert-
so I looked online and found
this strawberry meringue cake.
 It was delicious.
I will be making this again.



 Mix up meringue and spread in circles on parchment paper.



Ah... crispy meringue, creamy filling and fresh strawberries.

Go here for the recipe.

Alterations I made-
Used one pack of cream cheese instead of (2) mascarpone cheese.
For the filling- I added a little lemon juice and used 
about 2/3 cup powdered sugar instead of granulated.
Baked it at 300 for an hour and let it cool while we ate.
Then put it together. It doesn't need to sit 2 hours like it says.
I tossed my strawberries in a little strawberry jam to sweeten them.

Enjoy,
Hope

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Mushroom & Onion Topping

Grilled hamburgers seem to be on
the menu quite often this year.

I love hamburgers, just not
McDonald's- I like to know where
my hamburger came from.

Well, If you get tired of plain
ole' hamburgers, try topping
a hamburger with this.
It's delicious.



Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in skillet and slice an onion.
Throw in some diced jalapeno peppers (if you like heat).



  Once the onions are soft throw in some mushrooms
and sprinkle with salt and pepper.


Add remaining ingredients and simmer until hot.



Top your hamburger with this savory goodness.



Mushroom & Onion Topping


2 Tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2-1 jalapeno pepper, diced
1 Tbsp. rum
12 oz. box of mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp. apricot preserves
1/3 cup Sweet Baby Ray's sauce
2 tsp. mustard
salt and pepper


Melt butter in a skillet. Add onions and jalapeno peppers.
Cook until onions are soft. Add rum and simmer for
a few minutes more. Throw in mushrooms and sprinkle
with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until mushrooms
are soft. Add apricot preserves, Sweet Baby Ray's,
and mustard. Simmer until heated through.
Serve over grilled hamburgers.
Will top 6-8 hamburgers.


I added a whole jalapeno pepper and it
was spicy. If you don't like heat-
add a half of jalapeno pepper or less.


Enjoy,
Hope

Monday, May 7, 2012

Timothy & Diana

Saturday we headed to Delaware
for Joshua's first cousin, Timothy's, wedding.

It was a beautiful wedding,
with family and friends to help make
a wonderful time of fellowship.

I was asked to take a few
reception photos.
So... here they are!

Congratulations Timothy and Diana!
You guys are so cute together.






























 






The masterpiece Aunt Polly made for them.