fondue.

Let the festivities begin!  Tonight Gregg and I made fondue for everyone at my parents house.  Yummy.  We  made two cheese fondues and two chocolate fondues.  Pictured above are coconut covered donut-holes for the chocolate fondue.

 This is one of the cheese fondues although I am not sure why someone is dipping a dount-hole in it.

 My brother Ant and his son Ira, visiting from Michigan.

Truman and Ira watching a little pre-bedtime movie on the ipad.

Excellence.

We had our Young Woman Evening of Excellence tonight.  It was a chance for each of the girls to show off the Personal Progress experience they have been working on this year.  Back in January when we did our New Beginning they each set a value goal they wanted to work on.  Tonight they were recognized for what they have accomplished.

I worked on faith all year.  My value project was to plant, care for and harvest a vegetable garden.  I took pictures of the garden this summer and shared those along with a few of the last tomatoes that I harvested.

 Each of the girls were responsible for setting up a display table about their projects along with a picture of themselves.  One of the advisers made the wood blocks with the girls names on them as a gift.

 One of the highlights of the night was a picture slide show of all the activities we have done this year.  The girls love to see pictures of themselves!  We served fruit, veggies and sweet breads.

Next year we will do some better planning.  We had Time out for Woman in Salt Lake all day yesterday, Evening of Excellence tonight and all the planning and prep that goes with Thanksgiving this week...and next weekend we are incharge of the ward Christmas party.

time out for girls.

We took our young woman to Time out for Girls today.  It was great.

friday flashbacks.

 Nathan and Anthony Quinn | July 1990

We knew you would go far in life!

Color.

Truman loves to draw and color.

This is the picture he has been drawing lately.  It's a soccer field with balls.

two teeth.

 Bodie turned eight months last week and he official had two bottom teeth.

cousins.

 We had a 'boy party' this weekend with our cousin Enoch.  

As you can see Truman loves Enoch!

They had a blast playing and laughing together!  Good memories.

friday flashbacks.

Anthony, Paul and Nathan Quinn | Fall 1987

Lindsey {Trent} Schank | 1987

This Friday Flashbacks is dedicated to the birthday kids this week!  Happy Birthday to Nathan last weekend and to Anthony and Lindsey TODAY!

Thai Chicken Pizza.

Thai Chicken Pizza

1 Batch of pizza dough {here}

Toppings:

Chicken, cooked and shredded

Fresh bean sprouts

Carrots, shredded

Red onion, sliced

Fresh basil, chopped

Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Peanuts, chopped

Peanut Sauce:

¼ cup smooth peanut butter

1/8 cup soy sauce (or fish sauce)

Sugar to taste (about 2 teaspoons)

Thai chili paste

Water to thin (about 1/8 cup)

Roll out the pizza dough and drizzle with olive oil.  Top the dough with toppings.  Bake at 500 degrees until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the crust is golden brown.  Drizzle the peanut sauce over the pizza right before eating.

Chicken Cordon Blue Strata.

Chicken Cordon Blue Strata

Phyllo dough, thawed

Butter, melted

Chicken, cooked and shredded

Ham, diced

Swiss Cheese, shredded

Gruyere cheese, shredded

Spinach

Tomatoes

Salt and pepper

Remove a sheet of phyllo dough from the package.  Brush with melted butter and place in the bottom of a spring form pan.  Repeat, layering the sheets of phyllo to form a base on the bottom of the pan and edges up the side of the pan.

Make strata layers inside your phyllo crust.  Layer chicken, ham, cheese, spinach and tomatoes.  Repeat layers and press down of filling ingredients as you go.

When spring form pan is full of filling ingredients, finish by making a phyllo layer on the top.  Bring outside edge pieces of phyllo over the top, and also layer new pieces of phyllo dough and tuck them into the sides of the spring form pan.

Bake for 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool.  Slice into wedges to serve.

*{I saw this recipe made on a local morning show and decided to try it.  It was really good - but the recipe is written horrible, with no measurements.  If you are interested in making this recipe click here to see the segment}.

Macadamia-crusted mahi mahi.

Macadamia- Crusted Mahi Mahi

1 cup panko (Japanese) bread crumbs

¾ cup macadamia nuts

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon white pepper

1 egg

2 tablespoons water

1/3 cup flour

4 mahi mahi fillets (4 ounces each)

¼ canola oil

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons fresh ginger

Please the bread crumbs, nuts, salt and pepper in a food processor; cover and pulse until nuts are finely chopped.

In a shallow bowl whisk egg and water.  Place flour and nut mixture in separate shallow bowls.  Coat fillets with flour, then dip in egg mixture and coat with nut mixture.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat; cook fillets for 304 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, and ginger.  Heat until sugar is dissolved.  Drizzle over fish.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Bars.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Bars

1 package (18 oz) German chocolate cake mix

1/3 cup canola oil

1 egg

Filling:

1 package (8 oz) reduced- fat cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl combined the cake mix, oil and egg.  Set aside 1 cup for the topping.  Press remaining crumb mixture into a 13 inch baking pan coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until set.

For filing, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Add egg; beat well.  Spread over crust.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips and reserved crumb mixture.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until set.  Cool on a wire rack.  Cut into bars.

1 bar

187 calories

9 grams fat

25 grams carbohydrates

3 grams protein

chair.

The big reveal!  I picked up this chair at a consignment shop a few months ago.  I knew when I first saw it that I wanted to paint it red {it reminded me of a red rocking chair I had as a child - seen here}.  The chair is handmade out of oak and had a brown hand pieced seat.  I had the hardest time deciding what to do for the seat fabric.  When my super talented aunts Ilene and Christine where in town last month I picked them up from the airport and we all went to the fabric store {so fun}.  We found this cute nursery rhyme toile fabric.

I can not take any credit for how cute this chair turned out.  My aunt Ilene did all the work.  She quilted the fabric and reapolstered the chair for me.  Oh, and she also made two pillows to go along with the chair.  Thank you Ilene for sharing your talent with me, and my boys.  Truman and Bodie love the chair.  I have not taken it to their room yet... I think I am going to keep it in the living room through the holidays.  I sat Bodie in it last night and he was rocking away!  I can already picture the boys sitting in it next to the fire place looking at the lights on the Chrimstas tree. 

I was positive I took "before" pictures of the chair but I can not find them anywhere.  This is the best I could do - Truman is sitting on the rocking chair "before" the makeover. You can see the original oak stain and a little bit of the homely brown seat.

update.

No joke, Truman picked up this magazine while on the toilet at grandma's.

Successes: he stays dry during nap time. Failures: he still can't do a number two on the toilet...ideas? How do we conquer this one?

Pecan Chicken with Blue Cheese Sauce.

Pecan Chicken with Blue Cheese Sauce

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

¼ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

¼ cup flour

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

¼ cup butter, melted

1 tablespoon brown sugar

¾ cup finely chopped pecans

Sauce:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 tablespoon finely chopped green onions

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  In a shallow bowl, combine flour and rosemary; in a separate shallow bowl, combine butter and brown sugar.  Place pecans in another shallow bowl.  Coat chicken with flour mixture, then dip in butter mixture and coat with pecans.

Transfer to a greased baking sheet.  Bate at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, place cream in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 8-10 minutes or until thickened.  Stir in the cheese, onion, salt and pepper.  Serve with chicken.

Peaches and Cream French Toast.

Peaches and Cream French Toast

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup butter, cubed

1 can (29 ounces) sliced peaches (drain them but keep the juice)

1 loaf (1 pound) day-old French bread, cubed

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed

12 eggs

1 ½ cups half-and-half cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small sauce pan combine the brown sugar, butter and 2 tablespoons of the juice drained from the peaches.  Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved; pour into a greased 13x9 baking dish.

Arrange peaches in dish.  Place half of the bread crumbs over the peaches.  Layer with cream cheese and the remaining bread.  Place the eggs, half-and-half cream and vanilla in a bowl.  Mix until smooth.  Pour the egg mixture over the top.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake uncovered for 50-60 minutes – until the top is golden.  Cool slightly and enjoy!

 

 Serves 12

470 calories

23 grams fat

52 grams carbohydrate

1 gram fiber

13 grams protein

friday flashbacks.

Gregg and Brad Simons | Medicine Bow Wyoming 1999 {?}

Potty Time.

It's true, we are fully invested in potty training this week.  It all started last night when Truman successfully used the toilet before going to bed.  When he got up this morning we put on the under pants {which I keep mistakenly calling panties} and we were on our way to potty training.

We had lots and lots of special drinks all day!

 And these awesome soccer ball underwear... 

{what a ham he can be - I have a feeling this picture could embarrass him very easily some day}

Now he is just getting down right silly after being in the house ALL day.  Poor guy.

 This potty training thing will wear you out!  I am pooped {he, he, he - no pun intended}.

I would say it was a successful day one with only a few minor accidents this morning as we were getting started  - no accidents after that!  And tonight there is one worn out boy tucked in his covers holding on tightly to a new red golf club {wish I could somehow get a picture of that!}

Here's to more success tomorrow!