THANK YOU MARCI!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marci who was lucky enough to take a tour of Europe brought me a present!!!!!!!!  I AM ECSTATIC about it!   She brought me a package of Bacetti, which are the cutest things I have ever seen!   My mouth is watering I want to eat them all so bad- but I will pace myself.   Look how cute they are!

THANK YOU MARCI!!!!!!!  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Breaking Dawn Anticipation!!!

I haven’t blogged in forever- I know!

Just wanted to blog and let everyone know how completely excited I am about Breaking Dawn coming soon!

I have re-read the entire series so I am fresh and ready!  And man am I excited!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am going to totally nerd it out and go to the Breaking Dawn party at Barnes and Noble!   I even have the iron on transfer from Eclipse  that I am going to put on a T-Shirt that says “TEAM EDWARD!”

I mean seriously if you had your chance to be with a vampire or a werewolf-  wouldn’t you chose the vampire?  I TOTALLY WOULD!!!!!!!

In other news I watch the trailer for Twilight over and over and over and over………………I am so excited for the movie version!   Go to the link for the official Twilight YouTube page!

YUM-O Chicken Fingers!

Today I was perusing recipes for chicken. I love Rachael Rays YUM-O site. Its her charity and its got a lot of REALLY great recipes. Its also a great cause and I do love Rachael Ray dontcha know. I think I am going to get the YUM-O cookbook soon.

I came across a lot of recipes for chicken fingers- which sounded kinda good. However a lot of them had too many ingredients and not enough spices or ZIP for my kids taste.

So this is JENS CHICKEN FINGERS and HOLY MOLEY they were FANTASTIC!!! Just a very subtle hint of heat and a wonderful coating that kept me making yummy sounds! Just a few ingredients and super fast to make. You can definitely make these on a weeknight after work.  20-30 minutes at the most!

PREHEAT OVEN TO 375

Chicken Breasts (or chicken tenderloins) if you have got them. Slice the breasts in strips.

Soak the stips in a bowl of buttermilk (or plain milk if thats all you have)

Add to that a good palmful of either Cayenne pepper OR hot sauce. Whatever you have. I used my ground Red Indian Pepper. Its SUPER hot like Cayenne. Just so you have a hot peppery milky mixture with Chicken in it. Yummm - sounds appealing ALREADY! Let this stand for 5-10 minutes while you make the breading and whatever side dish.

Grind in your food processor (or a ziplock bag if thats all you have) CORNFLAKES! Yes I said Cornflakes- I know I know but TRUST ME ITS FANTASTIC! Grind them fine and then throw in some more so you have some course.

Then put that on a plate to dredge Chicken in.

Add to your “breading” mixture the following:

Granulated or Onion Powder just a smidgen.

Paprika- dash or two or three

Salt

Pepper

Mix it up well.

Oil a cookie sheet with some olive oil. Dont be too liberal and dont be to skimpy. These WILL stick.

Dredge your chicken in the breading mixture and bake at 375 for 10 mins or until they are done. WHA LA! Thats IT! Dip them in your favorite dipping sauce. Ranch for us!

I was GOING to take a picture of how pretty they were but got distracted and by the time I thought about it this was all that was left out of SIX full breasts! I had to snatch this from Taylor-

You can see it HAD a nice crispy coating

Shoot The Moon- Billie Letts

Time for another Jen book review!!! This time its “Shoot The Moon” by Billie Letts.

You may know Billie Letts by her hugely popular “Where the Heart Is.”

I lOVED this book. There is a bit of a love story, a bit of mystery and a bit of suspense. It will keep you guessing and keep you reading! I could NOT put it down- you will want to read another chapter and another chapter and another……………….and another………………

The Characters are FANTASTIC in the book. You will loathe some of them, laugh at others and love the rest. Its a REALLY great book that you will NOT be disappointed in.

Here is a brief synopsis that wont give the story away:

“In 1972, in DeClare, Oklahoma, 10-month-old Nicky Jack Harjo disappears when his single mother is murdered. Thirty years later Mark Albright, Californian veterinarian to the stars, having just learned he was adopted, arrives in DeClare, looking for an explanation from the mother who gave him away.”

There is a reader’s guide in the back for all of you who belong to book clubs!

GO READ!

Jen

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMY!!!!!!!

Today is not TECHNICALLY his birthday since its on 04/05/2008- however today was the day we had to celebrate it here at the office.

Here are some pictures from the celebrations- sorry my cell phone doesnt take the best quality but you get the picture? Ha ha! What a stupid lame pun!

Here is the cake!

Here is Jeremy looking adorable cutting the cake!

We then decided he needed to take the first swing and the festive Pinata Desiree brought-

ummmmm well…………it did not go so well for poor ole spongebob. Just one swing and the poor fella got it “Coming and Going.” There is something really different about him here I can’t quite put my finger on……….

And the aftermath………..

Poor Jeremy………..he looks so sad holding his shattered limbs.

All in all it was a fun filled day! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Natures April Fools Day trick!!

Mother Nature can be a cruel bitch sometimes!!!!!! Look at what I saw today in front of the office! I had to snap a picture!

YEP! Right there among the ice melt and cigarette butts…………..FLOWERS!!!!! It the first one I have seen this year that wasn’t Pansy’s artificially put in place. No offense to the Pansy but its just not impressive. It doesn’t have to survive and fight the cold winter! It sits in a warm greenhouse until someone buys them and places them just so in the dirt. The flower above had to sit out in the cold all winter and then fight to poke its head out of the ground just to be snowed on again and again by Mother Nature! It had to survive ice melt, spit and cigarettes! I dont even want to think of what else.

It makes me think “YES!!!!!!! SPRING IS HERE!!!!!!!!! HALLELUJAH ITS HERE FINALLY!!!!!!!!!” Then I remember its April Fools day and Mother Nature is TOYING with me again. I bet it snows again tonight just to rub it in my face!

UMMM UMMMM GOOD! Quizno’s Flatbread Sammies!

Oh Man……….I had the most tasty thing today I HAD TO SHARE!!!!!

Quizno’s Flatbread Sammies!!!

I had the Alpine Chicken and the Sonoma Turkey. I have to say I loved them both equally- however I am going to give Sonoma Turkey my two thumbs up today! It was slightly spicy- not too much- yet warm and bready and cool and crispy from the lettuce and tomato. PERFECT combination of YUM!!! And for $2 you can NOT beat that!

GO HAVE ONE!!!!!

FULL RIDE BABY!!!!!!!!!

HURRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

My incredibly smart and gifted son just got a letter from the University of Utah. He got the “Honors at Entrance” Scholarship!!!! I AM THRILLED!!!!!! Not to mention Brad is thrilled!

I can’t believe he is really going to college soon! Its sad yet thrilling at the same time! When we found out Taylor just stared in awe and said “Your going to change the world Brad!” I honestly believe he is right……..Brad will change the world- for the better.

The scholarship even pays for his housing! The only thing he will have to pay is books and meal plan. I am happy to see all his (and my) hard work has paid off! HURRAY!!!!!!!!

A GREAT book- Is there anything better?

I just finished Friday Night Knitting Club last night. I LOVED this book! It was really a great story and I did cry at the end. I never cry at movies, few things bring me to tears. Books on the other hand make me cry, probably you are SO involved in a book.

In this book I really connected with the character Georgia. I just really felt an instant connection to her. First there is the fact she has a baby and the father is a deadbeat- we all know that story in my life and the deadbeat I refer to

Then there is her close bond with her Grandmother. This book made me miss my Grandma, most things make me miss her though. I can’t believe its been a year

Then there is that whole scenario with Georgia at the end of the book- WHICH I WONT GIVE AWAY. Made me think of all my recent surgeries. I loved Georgia, she was a real woman! STRONG AND INDEPENDENT!

A lot of knitting in this book (obviously) which made me wish I knew how! I want to learn! I thought a lot about Dorise while reading this. Dorise is amazing and talented knitter! I am thinking of hitting her up for lessons- HINT HINT DORISE!

Great book- GET OUT THERE AND READ PEOPLE!

On a side note……….today is Alex’s 16th birthday. I can’t believe I have two sons over the age of 16 now. Time sure does fly doesn’t it? Next thing you know Taylor will be 16 and doing who knows what!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX- I LOVE YOU TO DEATH!

GREAT AUNT JEN!

Here is a picture of my “Great Nephew!” His name is Nixon and he is ABSOLUTELY the cutest baby EVER!!!!! Wow I feel so old with the “Greats” in front of my name!