dancing through life: January 2009

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

martha moments: chicken 'n dumplins!

and not just chicken 'n dumplins, chicken 'n dumplins in the crockpot.

crockpot=easy.

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 onion, finely diced
2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Directions:

Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.
Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.

a page is turned

i'll be the first to admit i didn't vote for him, nor do i agree with all of his views, but it is exciting to see the pomp and circumstance going on today as obama gets inaugurated. i don't know that i've ever in my lifetime seen so many people so passionate about a new president. the footage so far has been very moving, just knowing that history is being made right before our eyes.

no matter what our beliefs, we must all join together and pray for our new leader and for our country. no matter what.

below is a link to the belief net blog with a prayer for our new president:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2009/01/a-prayer-for-our-new-president.html

ps--i'm diggin' michelle's yellow dress.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

do you know what tomorrow is?

of course you do!

it's Elvis' birthday!!

and if you know me, you know i'm all about celebrating it. believe me, if i lived closer to memphis, i would so be at graceland tomorrow.

so, this post is devoted to all things Elvis. january 8th would have been his 73rd birthday.

some fun things i've come up with that you can do to celebrate his birthday:

take a virtual tour of graceland via the live gracecam (or heck, if you don't have anything else to do, get in the car and drive up there...but beware, it is in the ghetto...pun intended.)

walk around all day with the top corner of your lip curled up (if you are talented enough to do it, that is.)

play elvis trivia here (have your volume turned on...it's fun)

write "ELVIS LIVES" in a bathroom stall at Wal-Mart. (just kidding, let's all try to keep Wal-Mart's bathrooms spotless, as we all know they are....ha.)

listen to sirius radio channel 13 all day or listen to it at your desk.

call everyone you see "lil' darlin" and whenever someone does something for you say "thank you, thank you very much" in "elvis" style all day tomorrow. you'd be surprised at the reactions you'll get (or maybe you won't.)

stay home in your elvis pj's and watch Turner Classic Movies all day, or watch E! True Hollywood story, which will be about Elvis, or download his '68 Comeback Special on your iPod. nothing's sexier than "black leather Elvis."

eat a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich (or 3 or 4, as he would have!....)

or if that's not your fave, make one of his other favorite recipes below. zack and ashton gave me a great cookbook for Christmas this year called "Are You Hungry Tonight?: Elvis Presley's Favorite Recipes." So all of these recipes come to you courtesy of that cookbook.

Red Eye Gravy

for you yankees who've never had red eye gravy before, you must try it! i know that most of you who live north of the mason/dixon line won't eat grits at all, much less with red eye gravy poured into them, but you can pour it on some hot biscuits. it was one of Elvis' faves (and one of mine, too). but beware, lots of red eye gravy will make your white rhinestone jumpsuit real tight.

Cook up 1 lb. bacon.

Take the drippings and heat in a large skillet (preferably a cast iron one.) Add 1/3 cup strong black coffee. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Pour over hot grits or biscuits.

MMMMM!

Fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

1 small ripe banana
2 slices white bread
3 T. peanut butter
2 T. butter

In a small bowl, mash the banana with a spoon. Slightly toast bread in a toaster oven (LIGHTLY). Spread peanut butter on one piece of toast and add mashed banana on the other side.

Fry the sandwich in the butter until each side is golden brown.

Elvis liked his sliced diagonally. :-)

Blueberry Pie

I'm not going to be very Martha Stewart on this one and tell you how to make your own pastry crust. just buy a 9" one and use this recipe for the filling. :) (besides, you're going to be too busy watching Viva Las Vegas and Jailhouse Rock all day to be stuck in the kitchen making homemade pie crusts, right?)

1 c. sugar
2 T. flour
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
5 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1 T. powdered sugar
vanilla ice cream or whipped cream to top (optional)

Combine sugar with the flour and cinnamon. In a large saucepan, toss sugar mixture with 3 cups of the berries. Cook over medium heat until it thickens. Cool.

Spoon into the crust. Spread remaining 2 cups of blueberries over the top.

Serve dusted with powdered sugar and topped with ice cream or whipped cream.

ENJOY and, Happy Birthday to ELVIS!

Friday, January 2, 2009

every rose has its thorn

cool quote...

found this one engraved in one of the huge fireplaces at the grove park inn...and how true it is!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Christmas 2008

where did it go?

this year, Christmas seemed to just come and go so quickly. maybe it is because we are getting older or maybe it is because i have worked so ridiculously hard that it just passed me by. (NOT a good thing.) regardless, the celebrations were wonderful and the memories priceless.

this year, jeff had to work on Christmas day, so we took off to Asheville for a mini-vacation the weekend before. we found an AWESOME cabin on a little river and had ourselves a grand ole' time...we got our shopping done (shopping in Asheville is awesome), we baked cookies, we played Scrabble (which is a first...I don't think we've ever sat still long enough to play Scrabble together!). Oh, and we went to the Grove Park Inn.

bleh.

I am so glad we decided against staying at the grove park for the long weekend because based on our experience with the Sunday brunch there, we were less than impressed. It was overpriced, okay food, and HORRIBLE service. i would not go back. we ate quietly with empty tea glasses next to a dust covered window sill, went and checked out their Christmas trees and gingerbread houses and got the heck out of there. it was not on the top of my "good" list. and to think it is rated one of the nation's top 10 hotels...... ish! give me cracker barrel any day!

Christmas Eve was at our house with my family, complete with a big spaghetti dinner and too many presents.

I spent Christmas Day by myself since Jeff was working. It sounds lonely and all "woe-is-me," but it was actually quite nice. I slept in, enjoyed my coffee (multiple cups) and made myself a good breakfast. I got to sit still and that was the nicest part of it all.

Christmas night was spent at Jeff's aunt Becky's house, where we had a fabulous dinner (thanks again, Becky!!) and played some of Bryce's cool games. and of course, MORE presents!

we usually do the day after Christmas at my grandparents house in westminster, but Papa had bronchitis this year, so we postponed it till the weekend. The tradition is that Grandmama makes her wonderful vegetable soup and we have all kinds of other goodies--weenies in the crockpot, ham, sausage balls, dips, mmm mmm.

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas and we hope yours was, too!