Guatamalian Chicken

This is my recipe for Guatamalian Chicken. It is yum. Sorry none of the measurements will be exact. (You can look up more exact recipes online, just look for similar ingredients)

For EACH chicken breast you will need to do the following while chicken is a a little thawed but frozen in the middle:

-Squirt juice from at least 2 juicy limes onto both sides of chicken.
-Sprinkle the following on both sides,
garlic salt
black pepper
white pepper (Yes, you HAVE to use white pepper too! It makes a big difference.)
-Lightly Sprinkle both sides with ground cumin. (You don't have some? Get some!)

Continue thawing chicken until thawed. The longer it sits, the better. (I'm sure that you could just thaw the chicken, and then do the above, and then let it sit to marinade. We are always pinched for time.) Cut chicken into strips. Coat with cake flour. Heat about an inch of oil in a pan. Fry chicken until golden brown or until chicken is done, turning chicken once.

Cake Flour:

Put 2 tbsp of corn starch in a 1 C measuring cup. Fill the rest of the cup with unsifted all purpose flour. Sift three times. (This is equal to one cup of cake flour.)

We served it in the above picture with rice, cooked with peas and flavored with Spanish rice seasoning. Cilantro for garnish (and flavor :) ) Even though the chicken is fried, it doesn't taste heavy. I think the lime helps keep it light.

The Ninth World Wonder

Toquerville Utah is one of my favorite places. Not only does it boast beautiful pioneer houses, scenery, and the blossoming spring trees that line main street, it also is home to the wonderous Shoe Tree. Behold it's greatness! A testiment to man's genius! It has withstood snow, wind, lightning, and time. Some of those shoes might have been there for as long as five years! It speaks to us of man's desire to conquer nature. His stubborn desire to bend nature's will to his own! Man has overcome!

Dispite endeavors by environmental city slickers to return the tree to it's natural state, the townsfolk have thusfar prevailed in perserving their monument. "Ain't nobody gonna mess with us! If we want a shoe tree, we'll have us a shoe tree, dangit!" I'm right up there with ya boys!!!! Power to the people.

Alert reader, Shella Reeve, has found a most excellent article about this very tree in the Hurricane Valley Journal. It seems that Toquerville is on the cutting edge of global trends! Find the artical at: http://www.hvjournal.com/articles.php?id=3756 It's funny too! You should read it.

My New Adventures in Sewing

A friend in my ward recently started a sewing class. I decided to take the plunge and buy my very own, and very first sewing machine!!! I LOVE it. I got it for a steal at $118 including shipping. My first project was to alter a shirt that I purchased which was too large. Fourtunately it was a success. I felt very powerful. In fact I still feel empowered. There are sew many things that I can do that I never thought possible because I never thought that I could really sew. (Sorry I just had to throw that sew joke in there. Who could pass up an opportunity like that??? Nate aren't you proud of that one?) I can make pillows, sew on cards, make halloween costumes, mend clothes, alter clothes, etc. The list goes on and on! My current project is sewing my own Clutterbag (http://www.clutterbags.com/). I'll show you what it looks like when I am done. (Nate says that it is going to look hideous. I've agreed to disagree.) I also bought a shirt pattern. We'll see if THAT one ever happens though. Part of me wants to be cool enough to be able to do that, and the other part of me thinks I'm crazy. (Don't worry we don't really have multiple personality disorder.) Anywho, here are some photos:


Okay, pretty much not my best photo, but the shirt looks great. It used to be very boxy.

All I did was take it in by following the lines of the darts that were all ready present. It was easy already having a guide.

I've got to figure out what to do with that puppy picture. Cute, but not quite my style.

Sorry for the lame jokes. It is late and I am tired.

Success!

Well I did try pigtails that night and Ellie liked it!!! She has even worn pigtails to joy school and out to eat!

Here is what she looks like from the front.


Much happier this time! They look cuter in person. It is fun when she is jumping and her pigtails are all bouncy. Very picturesque.

Sympathizing with Marie Antoinette: a tirade

I am sure that we are all familiar with Marie's famous statement, "Let them eat cake!" I think that what she meant by this is actually debatable. Perhaps what she really meant was, "Of course! By all means! Give those poor starving people some bread!" (I like to try to give people the benefit of the doubt wherever possible, because I assume that I'll need to claim mercy for some stupid statement that I'll make in the future.) However, for the sake of this nice little tirade, we are going to pretend that, in fact, she was most annoyed when she proclaimed this infamous statement.

It's been another one of those weeks....Nate had to rework is cursed LP paper to be graded again (all of their papers get graded TWICE, is that not annoying?), William decided to catch a cold, and Ellie, sweet thing that she is, was as demanding as ever. So basically I had to fend for myself to try to meet the demands of my beautiful children. William would not nap, and was clingy and needy, and wanted to be walked around with. Ellie wanted milk, or a snack, or a show, or a story, or a toy, etc. When William would crawl around on the floor he would often cry because the poor thing would hurt himself; it felt like almost constantly, or Ellie would be like, "No Wiwum! That's my toy!" The moment I sat down, would be the instant that I had to get up again. My house is in a messy chaos, because everytime I try to clean it up, I am thwarted at every turn. Anyway, sorry, no need to drone on and on.

In the midst of one of these episodes I was trying to eat my lunch. As many of you know, I am quite irritable when hungry. I am really no better than your average hungry two year old, I'm just a little bit better at controlling my temper. I was just sneaking in my third bite when Ellie says, "Mommy!!! Wiwum is eating crayons!" At this point I thought to myself, "Let them eat [crayons]!!!!!" It was also at this point where I thought of our friend Marie. I could totally see it, "Can't you peasants take care of yourselves for ten minutes so that I can think!!!! Here take some bread and go away!" This is much similar to what I was thinking. "So be it! Crayons, like unto wetwipes, are non-toxic! Can't you [sweet, adorable] children amuse yourselves for ten minutes without having a castrophe???"

I would, however, like to say that I DO love my children and YES they usually are sweet and wonderful, but motherhood also comes with frustrating moments such as these.

I also must give credit to Sheri Melissa Weekes Adams and Dave Barry. Sheri because we have talked in a similar manner of Marie Antoinette in the past. And Dave Barry, because, well, Dave is funny and inspiring. Sheri is also funny. The End. Finally.

Ellie's First Ponytail

Ellie had her very first ponytail on Wednesday, March 5, 2008. Took a LONG time to get to that point, I know. I was combing her hair after her bath and sneakily put it in a ponytail and even put in a cute flower clip. I even took a picture for the momentous occasion.


This is what she looked like from the front:

She was not a happy camper! We probably won't be putting her hair in a ponytail for quite some time. I think she would look cute in pigtails though. Pigtails would be more girly. I'll see if I can get away with that tonight after bath. Mwa ha ha! With Ellie you have be sly. She won't let me do her hair at all. After bathtime is my only chance. This is why her hair is never done. But at least I found out that she actually looks more girly right now with her hair down then back in a ponytail.

So I took out the ponytail and managed to calm her down. I did sneak the clip back in her hair, and it stayed put for quite some time before she pulled it out! Aren't you proud of me??

The Green and Gold Ball

Nate was a sweetheart and took me to the Stake's Green and Gold Ball. We had fun. We got to dance some romantic dances and we ate the best spinach puffs ever, perhaps even better than Kronk's!

Bed Time Story: Lyle, Lyle the Crocodile

Nate is such a good daddy! Especially when he helps me put the kids to bed. He is very entertaining to listen to, at least I think so. He loves to do funny voices. That is something that I remember my dad doing (and he still does it :)) with fondness. I'm glad Nate took it upon himself to carry on the tradition. I didn't even have to ask him.

I love how Nate puts in these clever comments without skipping a beat. I missed one of his funniest comments on the video, though. That made me sad. It was something about Lyle eating some of the kids at the party. I said, "Nathan!", in a shocked voice and decided to record a video.

Nathan can't get it through is head that Lyle is a nice crocodile. Obviously, he only eats the most expensive kind of Turkish caviar! He also has some far fetched idea that Ellie is going to try to make friends with a crocodile one day because she has read a Lyle, Lyle the Crocodile book. Nate also says that crocodiles are often portrayed as being friendly in children's books and videos and this concerns him (for some silly reason). He wishes to set the record straight.

I personally think this is ridiculous. Who is going to mix up a real crocodile with Lyle? First of all, Lyle stands up on two feet. What real crocodile do you know stands up like that?? Number two, Lyle looks cute and friendly. What real crocodile looks friendly? Have you ever seen a real crocodile? I have. Ain't nobody gonna wanna make friends with one of those! (Except the people like the Crocodile Hunter. It's people like that who we need to watch out for! They are the type who mislead children into thinking one can swim with crocodiles.) Number three, Lyle is a nice bright green. A real crocodile is not that green.

Well the video won't load. But I am going to post this anyway. If I can ever get the video to work I will post it later.

To Infinity and Beyond!

On March 6, 2004 Meridy and I began a truly epic adventure. She's still with me, and I'm still exceedingly happy about it. Here's to four years of absolute paradise--and infinity more years to come.
Looking at this picture reminds me how the God of Nature smiled upon our union, sending spring a little early to accommodate our wedding plans. Does anyone else remember how beautiful the weather was? It has never been easier for me to smile for so many pictures. After the pictures we met with family and friends for a luncheon buffet, but Meridy and I couldn't eat. I must say that was a unique experience for me. I think I had one small bowl of egg-drop soup.
I would say it was the best day of my life, but my life just keeps getting better. Thank you my dear, sweet Meridy!

Odd's Fish!

Nate and I have just completed the Scarlet Pimpernel. We heartily give it four out of five stars. Well worth the read. It has intrigue, romance, heroism, derring-do, fashion (except I must say if we hear about the lace Sir Percy is wearing one more time, I might just exclaim, "Zooks! What was he thinking!?!?" Really, what hero do you know wears lace? Picture Indiana Jones wearing lace.), and humor.

It also contains the following quotable exclamations:

"Odd's fish!"
"Zooks!"
"Zounds!"
"Odd's life!"
"Lud!" or "Lud love us all!"
"Morbleu!"
"La!"
"Demmed climate this." or "Demmed uncomfortable things, duels, aren't they?" (This word is not to be confused with that other word you are thinking of. It has that word too but it not worth mentioning.)
"Begad!"

I give you my word of honor that the Scarlet Pimpernel contains every one of these phrases. If you hear us use them, it is not because we are weird. It is because we are highly cultured. Why, we are merely quoting England's gentry, so this of course proves my point.