Ingredients

Directions

1. Start a pot of water boiling for the spaghetti.  Cut up the chicken & vegetables and sprinkle chicken with pepper. Combine the chicken broth, soy sauce, and marsala wine.  Sprinkle sauce mixture with pepper.
2. Spray a large skillet with the olive oil spray, and cook the vegetables over high heat for about 1 minute. Add chicken and stir-fry until no longer pink. Add sauce, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer uncovered.
3. Add spaghetti to boiling water and cook for 10 minutes or according to package directions, while chicken mixture simmers. Aftter spaghetti has finished cooking, add flour & water to chicken mixture in skillet, increase heat, and cook until sauce has thickened. Serve the chicken over the spaghetti.

Recipe By :Lisa Clarke
Weight Watchers Points: 9 for 1/2 of recipe

Notes

Here is the explanation I posted to my BBS (The Polka Dot Cottage) on August 4, 1996:

Friday night, at around 11:30, Neil and I packed a bag, hopped in the car, and went to his parents’ Long Beach Island house. They weren’t going down until Saturday night, so we had a nice day to ourselves. Anyway, I decided I was in the mood to cook supper Saturday night for the 2 of us, so I took a quick trip to Shop Rite, and grabbed some chicken, an orange pepper (’cause it was cool-looking) and some scallions. Then I scrounged around the kitchen for the rest of the ingredients. I followed my usual chicken routine, but the flavors were quite different than usual - and very good! I will definitely be making this again sometime.

And I have. Many many times.

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Some days when the boys are home from school, I get all domestic and get in the mood to take care of laundry, clean up the kitchen, maybe catch up on some business email.  This is not one of those days.  When it became clear to me that the guys were hunkering down for a long morning of imaginative play in their pajamas, I decided I wanted to play something myself.  So, I sat on my bed with a pile of fabric, cut out the pieces for my mother-in-law’s birthday present, and I cut out the fabric for a skirt.  I didn’t stitch up my MIL’s napkins, but I did make this skirt - my Thanksgiving skirt.  Yes, I realize these guys are roosters and not turkeys, but I couldn’t find turkeys.  Or pilgrims.  Or cornucopias.  Or depictions of Thanksgiving feasts.  So roosters it is, and I think they’re nifty.  Specifically, the fabric is Alexander Henry’s The Roost.  The skirt itself was made without a pattern.  I just folded it selvage-to-selvage, stitched it into a tube, hemmed it, and made an elastic casing on the top.

I still felt like playing after that, so I colored my hair.   I spent this summer squirting peroxide here and there on my head, leading to streaks of lighter color.  I did have a plan, but I kind of lost interest in pursuing it at some point, and stopped bothering.  And it was starting to look like I stopped bothering.  So, I got my hands on a box of temporary 28-shampoo Chestnut Brown and went to town.  Now I look more like nature intended ;-)  At least for the next few weeks, anyway.

I didn’t make the soup this morning - I did that on Monday, but I did eat the leftovers for lunch yesterday, and that’s when I took this picture.  It’s Turkey Curry Meatball Soup, and despite the fact that it’s full of vegetables, I really like it!  I even liked it for lunch a few days later, and I am not a leftovers fan, generally-speaking.  Good thing it was delicious, because the recipe made quite a bit.  As part of my “get organized” initiative, I’m planning our meals for the week, and giving each day a “theme.”  Mondays are to be “try something new” night and this soup was the first candidate.  I’m so glad we liked it, because I now have three containers of it frozen for future “grab something decent out of the freezer” nights.

Day two and I’m already thinking of skipping the NaBloPoMo festivities.  Not that I won’t post every day, because I might, but I think I’ve lost interest in the idea of being part of the whole organized movement.  Still, being thankful is always a good thing, so I’ll end this post with what I am thankful for today:  Days off from school that we can spend playing (together or on our own) and spontaneously visiting with family.

And with that, I must go and straighten up the living room - my mother and nephews are coming over shortly to join us for lunch at Stewarts (see?  I meant it when I told them “maybe another day”) followed by a little play time.

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As you may know, I’ve been up to my eyeballs in so much stuff this week, but I needed some moments of brainless activity to help keep me sane.  Sewing a series of straight lines is brainless enough for me, so I worked on my non-seasonal everyday napkins.  I did a few every day this week and finished up the last of them this morning.  I really like them - they go nicely with the navy blue and white color scheme in my kitchen.  These are all patterns from Susan Branch’s Martha’s Vineyard Watercolor collection.  I already had the navy blue fireworks and the white/navy toile patterns, which I had made 4 napkins and an apron out of a while back, but I wanted more (in quantity and in variety).  I’m so happy with the way they came out!

I’m less happy with the success rate of my brainless activity at keeping me sane…  I spaced-out on two commitments today.  It’s bad enough to forget one thing, but two?  At 1:30 today I remembered Aidan was supposed to go to a birthday party from 12:00-2:00.  He missed it.  And at 2:30 today, as I was driving to the store to buy orange thread for my next napkin project, I remembered I had committed to making pumpkin bread for the MOMS Club bake sale at our town’s street fair this weekend.  The bread was to be dropped off at 4:00 today.  Needless to say I blew it there, too.

I am feeling so overwhelmed this weekend with things that I have to do and things that I want to do, and things that I don’t really have to do, but feel like I should do.  Normally, I am the queen of lists, but I haven’t written any of this down.   Maybe that’s why I feel so much like I am juggling - and why I keep dropping the ball.

It’s already 11:00 and I still have three important things to accomplish business-wise before I hit the sack.  It’s Saturday Night, for crying out loud.   I should be sitting on the couch with my sweetie watching almost-unwatchable comedy together and maybe sharing some pumpkin biscotti (a treat I haven’t made but really wish I did today).  I should not be answering email, processing orders, or planning what to bring to tomorrow’s guild meeting.

Executive decision time:

• I’ll process the orders that are necessary for tomorrow’s meeting.
• I’ll just bring an armload of Judy Belcher’s new DVD with me to the meeting and not worry about any other titles.
• Answering email can wait until tomorrow.

There.  Thanks for being here while I brain-dumped.  I feel a little better now.   I’d feel a lot better if I had a pumpkin biscotti to munch on, though

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It seems that my favorite time of year has arrived. The house is filled with the quintessential smell of fall - fresh-baked pumpkin bread. If your house doesn’t smell like this today, why don’t you take my recipe and see if you can rectify that, hm?

I welcomed autumn this morning with the very first hot apple cider of the season, and I nursed that mug all afternoon, refilling and re-heating as necessary.

The cornerstone of the First Day of Fall Ritual is, of course, the baking of the pumpkin bread. I was hoping to have some little helpers, but they preferred to watch a Netflix movie. That’s ok. I cranked up the music and enjoyed myself anyway.

Much to Neil’s chagrin, the other very important aspect of the First Day of Fall Ritual is the giving away of the baked bread. Lest you think I am heartless, I’m letting him keep the muffins The four little loaves, however, are destined for gift-giving. I have been doing this every year for at least twelve years, and ever since the kids have been school-age, the recipients have been teachers. I have to admit that I often drop the ball on end-of-year teacher gifts and some of the other more traditional holidays, but I always have a First Day of Fall loaf of bread to give, and maybe that makes up for it somehow.

This year’s loaves are going to three teachers and a bus driver. The teachers are also getting polymer clay pens and the bus driver is getting a polymer clay leaf pin - all in the Autumn color scheme, of course I made little gift cards from orange computer paper, and a computer sticker. I used some pigment inks to add a little interest, and then doodled on them a little bit with an ultra fine point sharpie. Then I tied everything together with a length of twine.

Before we know it, there will be crunching leaves underfoot, knitted sweaters, cozy blankets on our laps, brilliant foliage, and that crisp smell in the air that only fall can bring. I look forward to drinking in all of those wonderful autumn treats and savoring them as long as I possibly can, until winter arrives.

Happy Fall, my friends!

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I am completely incapable of having one of anything, wardrobe-wise.  If I find something I like, I need to have it in several colors.  This was true of me when I was a teenager and buying GAP pocket tees, it was true of me a few years ago when I was all about the Old Navy perfect fit tee, and this year I developed a liking for Target’s Mossimo tees and Old Navy tank tops.

This personality quirk of mine has manifested itself in my sewing.  Just see the 12 skirts I made this summer, if you don’t believe me.  It’s insane.  I really didn’t think I’d go overboard with sewing shirts, because the pattern I’ve been using isn’t super simple like the Sew What! Skirts have been.  It takes me at least twice as long to make a shirt, and if you know anything about me at all, you know Instant Gratification is my thing.  Still, I found myself buying fabric for another one last week, and stitching it up last night.  I took a page out of Lindamade’s book and made the sleeves about an inch longer than usual and omitted the elastic.  I like it better this way.   The elastic got a bit wonky in the neck this time around, and I am going to have to spend a little time finessing it so that  the kink ends up someplace unnoticeable.  If I’d been on the ball when taking these pictures, I’d have done that first  so you’d all think I was perfect   Still, I got complements while dropping a reluctant Eamonn of at school this  morning, from people who didn’t realize  it was a homemade deal, and that was pretty cool.

Speaking of dropping a reluctant Eamonn off at school…   I wish I knew what happened to the boy who ran into the classroom with nary a goodbye a few days ago.  Today, as soon as we got inside the building, he started playing “hiding” games, and by the time we were at the classroom door, he was physically fighting me to keep from going inside.  He was like this off and on last year, too.  He loves school - comes home happy, telling me stories of all of the great things he did, etc.  He just can’t deal with that initial separation.  He’s got a tougher teacher this year (not that preschool teachers are ever really tough) and I don’t think she’s going to baby him into the room.  As much as I would prefer to sweet-talk him into being happy about the situation, what he probably needs is a strong arm telling him matter-of-factly “this is going to be a nice time, now take off your jacket and go get a puzzle to play with.”

Leaving your kid behind when he’s clearly unhappy is never a fun feeling.  It’s magnified by the general malaise this month has brought to me.   I’ve always considered September to be my favorite month.  I love the feeling of getting back into a routine, and I love the crispness in the morning and evening air.  I love picking apples, making pumpkin bread, sipping hot cider…  I usually make a big deal out of the First Day of Fall and have the kids bring little loaves of pumpkin bread and polymer clay leaf pins as gifts to their teachers.  I don’t know if I can do it this year.  Part of me is in mourning.  And the part of me that isn’t feels like it should be.  I guess I just need to go with that second part of me and make a conscious effort to really do those things that have traditionally made me happy this time of year.  I hate to wallow.  But there’s a fine line between not wallowing and unhealthy bottling of emotion.  I have to find my balance.  Maybe I’ll just give October permission to be my favorite month this year so that I don’t have to feel like I’m missing out while I deal with my September issues.  Nothing like a head game or two with yourself to make everything all better

On a completely different note, I thought you might like to see some of the entries in this month’s color challenge.  I love the diversity.  What are you going to submit?  You’ve got another couple of weeks to Get Your Olive On…

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I never liked grilled cheese growing up. In fact, I was nearly 30 years old before I realized I could actually enjoy eating it. The trick for me was to avoid processed American cheese and instead use a slice of yummy, spicy pepper jack. Additionally, I found I liked using homemade bread. My favorite for this purpose? Zucchini Bread from Beth Hensperger’s Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook. Have I mentioned yet how much I love this book? If my bread machine and I were stranded on a desert island with only one book for company, it would be this one.

This Zucchini Bread is not the quickbread most people think of when they hear that name. It’s actually a yeast bread made with a combination of white and wheat flours. I like that it’s got a vegetable built right into it, because I really don’t get enough vegetables. And the best part? You can’t even taste the zucchini

Here’s a version of the recipe that I made today. It’s slightly different from the Zucchini Bread as written only because I wanted to use what I had and save myself a trip to the store.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups milk
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups white wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon gluten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Directions

Dump the ingredients in the bread machine in the proper order, set for the basic cycle and let it do its thing. (I’m paraphrasing here…)

So. School starts tomorrow. Can’t say I’m that upset… We had some nice times this summer (and I’ve got the pictures to prove it, LOL!). The natives seem to be restless here, though, and I think going back to school is going to be good for all of us. My laundry routine has always been very closely tied into the school bus schedule, so if nothing else, our clothes will be a lot cleaner this Fall than they were in the Summer

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Ok, when I say “we” I actually mean “Neil.” My contribution is to keep the children from touching the wet walls. That is a surprisingly difficult task. As soon as they know that they can’t touch it, it becomes a serious problem for them. Just walking through the room, they are inexplicably drawn to leaning on the wet wall, or using it to hold themselves up. You’d think they were 87 years old, the way they need to manhandle the walls just to get from one room to another…

Anyway, for the nearly 10 years we’ve lived here, our living room has been the same off-white shade that it was when we moved in. We decided it was time for a dramatic change, and we chose two colors for the room - pea green and the brown you see above. I really like it! I can’t wait to finish it, put our furniture back and re-hang our decorations on the wall, including a few “new” hand-me-down prints. I think a new living room rug, and new upholstery on the dining room chairs would really complete the look, but that might be a little longer in coming.

As part of my “keep the kids out of the paint” duties, I took them to my parents’ house for a little impromptu Labor Day cookout. They got to spend the afternoon with their cousins instead of in their father’s hair, which was a Good Thing for everybody. We had conversation in the back yard, lunch in the patio, and a shirts vs. skins football game in the front yard. Sort of. The three youngest kids, only one of which knew a football from a hole in the wall, were the skins. My oldest nephew, my 23-year-old brother and his friend were the shirts. Not exactly an even match, and it didn’t last very long, but it was funny.

I almost forgot - I made baked apples for breakfast today. It was a nice change of pace from my usual Fiber One bar, that’s for sure. I used this recipe from Simply Recipes, minus the nuts and raisins because Neil is not a fan of either and I generally don’t have them in the house anyway.

I have to keep reminding myself it’s Monday today. I hope I get my week straight before Thursday - I’d hate to forget to walk Aidan to the bus stop on his first day of school

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Mmmm, looks delicious, doesn’t it? Let me assure you, it is

After yesterday’s issues, it was nice to have a day of productivity. I got a big pile of orders packed up last night, charged cards, printed postage, and got them out the door this morning. I did a little shopping for things like a new stapler, packing tape, printer ink, and snaps (so I could make one more bib for my friend). And I went to see the end-of-week presentation that the boys were doing at their third (and thankfully final) VBS week in a row. I’m really ready not to be schlepping them back and forth to one church or another every morning so we can have some spontaneous summer activities (or laziness, depending on what we need at the time!).

I belong to my local MOMS Club, and one of the things we do is take turns bringing meals to members who need them. Usually we do this in response to a new baby, but there are other reasons a family might appreciate not having to think about what’s for supper. Anyway, one of my friends has a new baby girl and tonight is my turn to bring dinner. In the past, I’ve whipped up a batch of crock pot meatballs and bought some rice at the local Chinese restaurant, but having been the recipient of some MOMS Club meals that completely put me to shame earlier this year, I decided I really could stand to put in a little more effort So I spent this afternoon in the kitchen. I made a skillet dish a lot like this one, except I also added chicken to it. I also made a Summer Fruit Crisp. I got the recipe from abbytrysagain. The only real difference between mine and hers is that she used blackberries from her alley, and I used wineberries from my yard. I also think I used more fruit in mine. I made a little extra (about half the recipe extra) and baked it in a small loaf pan for us to keep, and the main recipe is going to my friend. So, that makes a potato/onion/pepper/chicken main dish, a fruity dessert, and three bibs. That beats a bucket o’meatballs, I think…

As soon as I finish here, I have to go deliver my meal and then do a quick bit of food shopping. As it turns out, I didn’t make enough of the potato chicken stuff to keep any for ourselves and now we have nothing to eat There are many things I’d rather be doing at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon, but we really do need to restock some things around here. Friday night shopping beats Saturday morning shopping in my book, so I think I’d better suck it up and get going. Busy day!

Happy Friday everybody! I’m going to do some claying this weekend - wheee!

Lisa

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If you haven’t been watching the comments to my previous berry post with rapt attention, you probably aren’t aware that the berries have been identified and I decided to make a cake out of them.

My neighbor Diane let me know that the berries  growing wild in our yard (and much of the rest of the neighborhood) are wineberries and more information about them can be had  here.  I went ahead and used them in the Blackberry Cake receipe I found at allrecipes.com.   The verdict?  Yum!  It’s kind of like gingerbread with the occasional juicy-tart bite of berry goodness.

I still had about 4 cups of berries left after making the cake, so I froze them.  They should keep for as long as 18 months in the freezer, so if  I have a hankerin’ for wineberry jam sometime this winter, I can defrost a batch of berries and enjoy a taste of summer in front of the fireplace.  I may even pick more today.

Lisa

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Ok, not really playing, but I liked the way it contrasted with the title of yesterday’s post

Today’s Color Week color is green, and I thought instantly of this larger-than-life fixture in my family room:

It’s a bag of packing peanuts, taller than I am and several times as wide. Fun, eh?

We’re spending tomorrow evening at my in-laws’ house. They live down the street from where the fireworks are set off, so there’s always a nice easy view there. I want to bring a dessert, and it will probably just be a Cool & Easy Pie using strawberry Jello and garnished with these strawberries & blueberries in a shortbread crust. Anybody have any good dessert recipes using the berries that are just as easy (or easier) and high on the red, white & blue appeal? They actually look nice just plain like this, but I don’t think the strawberries are long for this world, and might do better in something that requires them to be mashed up

If I don’t blog tomorrow, Happy 4th of July!

Lisa

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A summer staple around here is the Cool ‘n Easy Pie.  Made with Cool Whip and our current favorite Jello flavor, it’s easy to make, and we always have enough filling left to make a couple of bonus desserts 

Son #1 picked Lime for this go-round.  I also really like Lemon, and some of the weirder flavors out there.   Berry Blue makes a good July 4th pie, especially if you garnish it with a dollop of whipped cream, some blueberries and some strawberries.

Mmmmm… summer sweets.

OK.  Time to put some boys to bed and get to that email!

Lisa

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We spent the morning & early afternoon visiting my parents. My mother dug up a couple of tiger lilies to share with us, and when we got home, Neil started digging so he could add them to the lily garden he put together for me. It’s a beautiful summer day here, and maybe a touch too warm to be digging in the garden, so I thought I’d don my apron and make my man a refreshing, summery drink. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com last summer, and although I’m not the type to bite into a plain strawberry, I love ‘em like this!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (12 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate
• 3 cups cold water
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen sliced strawberries

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pitcher, stir together the lemonade concentrate and water. Place strawberries into the container of a blender, and puree until smooth. Pour in some of the lemonade if necessary to facilitate blending. Stir strawberry puree into the lemonade. Pour into frozen mugs and share immediately.
   

Makes 4 mugs, with a little bit leftover for slurping directly out of the bowl

We enjoyed these together, while sitting on the front steps, watering the flowers (and the children) with the hose.

In about 3 hours, the jello pie I also made will be ready for photographing eating, and maybe there will be another post from me then. But for now, I am off to answer email and start getting those book orders ready to go out (I love it when highly-anticipated items show up in the store, but the act of actually getting them out the door isn’t exactly my favorite… if I didn’t understand the addiction and the “wanting it NOW” factor of these books, I’d probably put the whole thing off until next Tuesday! Good thing I’m a clay book junkie too, and I totally get it.)

Lisa

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