Ginger

I tried a new recipe for dinner. We were having chicken and even though I own the “365 Ways to Prepare Chicken” cookbook, chicken gets old. I went to my friend the internet and did a search on chicken and honey. I found a recipe that was tweeked a little. It was so yummy. The next time I make this I will take pictures.

3.5 lbs chicken (I used the chicken breast tenderloin pieces.) I doubled the recipe so here is what I used.

• 1 cup of honey

• 1/2 cup of pineapple juice

• 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard* (missing ingredient)

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 3/4 teaspoon of curry (original calls for 1 teaspoon but my kids are not great fans of curry.)

• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

• 1/4 red pepper flakes

• I placed the salt, curry, cinnamon and red pepper flakes in my morter and pestle to break up the red flakes a little more and really blend the spices.

• Mix everything together.

• In a baking dish add 4-5 tablespoons of butter and put dish in the oven to melt. I pre-baked the chicken for about 20 minutes in order to pull of the excess water from the chicken so it wouldn’t thin out the honey mixture.

• I poured off the excess liquid then poured the honey mixture over the chicken and baked for another 30 minutes. I also added the pineapple chunks. I would wait to add the pineapple until about the last 15 minutes. I added the pineapple when I poured the honey over the chicken and it absorbed a lot of the curry. It was still quite delicious. I could even smell it cooking from outside.

• Depending on the type of chicken you use (bone in) cook for an hour at 375-400.

I served our chicken with basmati rice and a cauliflower/broccoli mix. It was a hit with everyone.

Well…..with the minor exception of the broccoli mix……….

My son’s plate minus the rice……..

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I have never believed in coincidences or accidental meetings.  I have always felt that if I meet someone new that God has brought this about for some reason.  His purpose will always be served and He will be glorified.

I had the privilege of spending $700 today.  I would have enjoyed it much more if I could have really spent $700.  I had to purchase 6 new tires, 4 for the truck and 2 for the van.

This was all done locally at a neighborhood store  down the street from where we live.  We had gotten a quote from the owner and then priced it out.  His was the best quote for what we needed.

While there I had an opportunity to visit with the owner.  He has been dealing with some serious illnesses, hospitalized and several major surgeries.  Yes…this would have been classified as a “Ginger Moment.”

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The smartest Lady I know figured out how to add a border on my photo using the free photo editing software GIMP. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You’re instructions made it so simple to follow Donna…. You are the BOMB!!! By the way…….have you looked at the matting and framing? I think the instructions are missing a step….

I finally had a few minutes to sit and play around with the instructions. I chose a photo we had taken at Assateague Island National Park located on the Eastern Shore in Virginia. I adjusted the white balance and used the color enhancing tool. Cropped and scaled the photo. Then followed Donna’s instructions.

This was so simple to do…….Now my friends won’t have to worry about me ever going back to black…

Here are two more pictures that were taken on Chincoteague after a bad storm rolled through. The sun was just starting to set. I left one picture as is with just one minor adjustment. The other two were run through the color enhancing and I also tried different colors on the borders. I don’t know that I necessarily like them….? It alters the image and gives it a different feel. You choose….which would you prefer…..

As far as the color border goes…..I was just messing with the background color to see if I could figure out how to change it out on my own….. I think it is interesting (at least to my eyes) that the different colored borders feel as if they are altering the color in the photo when the three images are exactly the same.

For those who had difficulty reading the blog in the previous theme…..I changed…..again

I admit to being lazy. I chose the black theme strictly for the photographs. I have not learned how to make frames for the photographs using GIMP. (Yet!) I prefer to put my pictures on a black background.

Warren….I hope this is better, after reading your sunglasses post, I felt empathy. That is why I have a pair of glasses for the house, the car and my prescription sunglasses.

I couldn’t actually locate a pair of them at this very moment.

Oops…Now that I look around me I can say yes, I do have a pair sitting  on my peeper keeper. This is not good. That means the pair that are to stay in the van are in the bathroom. No…not for reading…I cannot read with my glasses on. I took them off to brush my teeth.

I don’t know what it is….but for some reason I cannot brush my teeth with my glasses on….Elaine…I think that would apply to the “7 weird things about me” post.

It is a rather cute frog…..all though I think it resembles a lizard more than a frog.

Is he a lizard or is he a frog? The sticker on the box said frog. The more I look at him…..he’s a lizard…

We were in the middle of a Winter Storm Warning….expecting snow and a little ice. The ice I could do without but the snow…..we are begging for snow.

I have friends who will think we are mighty strange. We love snow. I grew up in Windham Ohio. I know all about snow. Even at my age I still love the snow. I don’t mind driving in the snow. It is however, the other drivers that scare me. Especially living in Northern Virginia. Most of the people that live here do not know how to drive in snow. It is such a transient area with three military bases plus the Pentagon.

I am just as giddy over a good snow as my children. I love the freshness and silence of a snow fall. I love making snow cream. I enjoy sledding down the hill with my kids. We are sad today.

The snow missed us….someone is getting our snow and we really wish you would send it back to us. Typically in our area our good snow comes in the months of January- March. Well, February is slipping away on us so we will have have to hope March will be better.

The only consolation to this winter is that we have had enough below freezing temperatures that we are hoping for a low bug summer.

My husband and I often talk of moving. If you live in an area that receives a lot of snow….would you please let us know? We would move there….My criteria for moving to your snowy area isn’t much mind you. I only require a good hill to sled down. Temperatures that are not too cold. There is no sense in having snow if it is too frigid to play in. We must have four distinct seasons but the summers must not be too humid. We would like a lot of trees. Preferably not too many oak trees though. My son is allergic to oak trees. Please no day mosquitoes. We have the Asian tiger mosquitoes that are out all day. They go to bed and the evening mosquitoes make their appearance. I would prefer a region that does not have tarantulas. I cannot handle an area that has tarantulas. Sorry about most of the midwest. I heard all about tarantula mating season in parts of Colorado. My husband likes to tell me the story of walking to school….Fulbrook High School in California. A friend that was walking with him saw a tarantula and stomped on it. He heard a scream from behind him. He stopped, turned and looked. There was his little brother covered in tarantula. Nope!!! After waking up with the gigantic wood spider that resembled a tarantula…..I am sorry to say I can never live where you live.

We don’t mind wild life. We have guns. An average snow fall of say five to ten feet of snow in a season would be doable. I could not do Oswego, New York. Their snow fall last year was twenty-five feet. That is not fun!!

I would like to have snow in heaven. Imagine having snow in heaven and being able to run and play in the snow and not have to worry about mittens, scarves or hats. How nice it would be to play and run in the snow and not have to worry about frost bite or hypothermia. I am not trying to be irreverant but it would be fun to take sling shot lessons from David. Instead of stones we could throw snow balls.

If you have our snow…please make a snowman for us. We would also like you to go sledding on a really fast hill if you wouldn’t mind. A request has also been made for a snow fort or igloo. Please make plenty of snowballs. We would like you to have a rip roaring snowball fight in our honor. If you make snow cream make an extra batch. You also need piping hot mugs of hot chocolate for the children and tea for me please. Enjoy our snow please…….we will have to enjoy it vicariously through you.