Taylor's Birthday

My husband's birthday was this past weekend. We had lots of fun. First, I made him a special birthday breakfast. However, I did not have any birthday napkins on hand so I had to make do. LOL.

He requested that we go fishing for a fun birthday activity.

We drove to a nearby lake and rented a small boat. We attempted to catch a fish for about four hours, but instead all we caught was quality time together.

HaHaHaHaHa

A very tall pink strawberry cake for the birthday boy!


I love you, Taylor. I can't wait to spend many more birthdays together!

Having Fun with Wedding Gifts

My husband and I went to a wedding over the weekend. The wedding was for one of Taylor's co-workers. Normally I don't give theme gifts, but this idea just popped in my head and sounded like fun.

Over the last couple of months I have made a tasty dish, Malaysian Chicken Pizza. My wonderful sister-in-law gave me the recipe that was published in Cooking Light.

Taylor's co-worker had a chance to taste the pizza when he took some leftovers for lunch one day. The co-worker loved it and kept asking Taylor when I was going to cook it again. Of course I felt very flattered, although I just followed the recipe. Anyway, I decided to give the happy couple a pizza stone, holder, pizza cutter, two of the liquid ingredients, and the yummy recipe for the pizza.

The pizza is wonderful. Especially if you enjoy ethnic food, which I do! If you try this wonderful dish, let me know what you think.


Malaysian Chicken Pizza

Ingredients

3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
Cooking spray
1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat, reduced-sodium Swiss cheese (such as Alpine Lace)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 (12-inch) Basic Pizza Crust
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Preparation

Preheat oven to 500°.

Combine first 8 ingredients in a bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add chicken, and sauté 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.

Pour rice vinegar mixture into pan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook mixture 6 minutes or until slightly thickened. Return chicken to pan; cook 1 minute or until chicken is done. (Mixture will be consistency of thick syrup.)

Sprinkle cheeses over prepared crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border, and top with chicken mixture. Bake at 500° for 12 minutes on bottom rack in oven. Sprinkle with green onions. Place pizza on a cutting board; let stand 5 minutes.

Yield

6 servings

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 293(22% from fat); FAT 7.3g (sat 2.9g,mono 2.6g,poly 1.2g); PROTEIN 18.2g; CHOLESTEROL 33mg; CALCIUM 151mg; SODIUM 487mg; FIBER 1.8g; IRON 2.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 38.3g Jill Melton , Cooking Light, MAY 2002

Out of State Family Wedding

The Church

The Doors

The Simple Beauty

The Design

The Sun's Light

Taylor's Reflection

The attire

The Cousins

The Flowers

The Food

I'm a Winner!!!

I can't believe I'm a WINNER! Thanks to Beth at In the Lap of Loveliness , I am now the proud new owner of a wonderful three tiered serving dish. I have never been so excited about winning something in all my life. I remembered today was the drawing and so I checked her blog about three times this morning until she posted with the giveaway results. When I saw my name, I think I started saying "I won, I won!" and the girl that I work with started laughing at me! I owe many thanks Beth. The serving dish will find a happy home at my house. I will use it as often as possible and I will be sure to post about it's new adventures at my home. Thanks again Beth.

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Sorry that it has been a few days since I have posted. I have been spending almost every waking hour in preparation for a gigantic yard sale this Saturday. I am hosting/helping/participating in the yard sale with my wonderful mother. The amount of items that can pile up over decades is quite amazing/terrifying. I hope to post a few more pictures/video of the piles of stuff in our basement very soon. And don't worry, I will also post about the actual yard sale.

My "Not so baby" Baby Brother's Birthday

My baby brother turned 24 on St. Patrick's Day. I suppose turning 24 should mean that you are not a "baby" brother, but to me he will always be the younger brother.


He requested a German Chocolate Cake. Having never made this type of cake, I turned to "The Joy of Cooking" cookbook. I used a store bought cake mix, but I used the above cookbook to make the icing. I have to admit that besides a lot of stirring, the recipe was easy to follow and tasted very rich.


Happy Birthday, baby brother. I love you!!!

A Sunday Afternoon Ride

It was a beautiful Sunday. I could not resist a short afternoon ride.

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Saturday night we hosted a surprise 30^th birthday party at our house for Tay’s cousin. It was tons of fun. We squeezed over 35 people in our small 1950’s house. The party included: excellent finger food, birthday cake, karaoke, and Rock Band.

Far East Birthday Fun

Every year for my sister-n-law's birthday we go to the same Japanese restaurant. It's a fun place to eat. They have several special rooms. These rooms contain tables that are nearly on the floor. You sit on the floor and your feet actually go into the floor. My favorite things to eat at this restaurant are the garden salad with a special peanut dressing, miso soup with pieces of tofu, and yummy sushi. It was a fun night with friends and family.




My sister-n-law orders the same cake every year for her birthday. This special sweet treat is a Bavarian cream cake with a fresh fruit topping. Yum!!! I am actually a chocolate lover, but this cake gives chocolate a run for its money.