One of Stan's Favorites

Stan had to work Father's Day, so we had his special dinner tonight. One of his favorite desserts is the Mixed Berry Pavlova. If you don't know, a Pavlova (named after the famed ballerina) is a large baked meringue. It is covered with homemade whipped cream, then topped with a mixture of fresh blueberries, raspberries and strawberries in a homemade raspberry sauce. It is to die for.

Since he requested it I made it for him. Actually, twice. The first one didn't turn out. The second one came out perfectly, but then the heat made it start to crack. As a result, I couldn't take it off the parchament on the cookie sheet; it was too fragile. But it looked pretty good, and tasted even better!

Father's Day

Father’s Day Poem

by Stan Mullis

To all the fathers near and far

You all know just who you are

You who gave and kept on giving

Working hard to earn a living

Putting food upon our table

Doing more when you were able

Willing to go that extra mile

Payment expected? Just a smile

All these things you do and more

Nobody’s even keeping score

What do we owe you for all you bring?

In one simple word -- Everything!

Friday Funny

Graduation Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Rachael Sherwood took some graduation pictures of AJ. I got them today, and I just LOVE them! My son looks so handsome and sweet and sooooo grownup. Obviously, he is grownup, but sometimes I look at him and still see that little baby I had in what seems like just a few months ago. I'm so proud of him and his accomplishments. He earned an Associates of Science, Physics and graduated cum laude. He'll be transferring to the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs this fall. Can't wait to see what he'll do next!

My Never-Ending Quest

I dislike having to come home from church and make dinner. I am constantly on the lookout for meals that I can put together in the morning and cook in the crockpot or in the oven with the timer so that when I come home it takes just a little bit of work to finish up the meal. Now that it's summer and the temperatures are rising, the crock pot is a good way to fix a meal without heating up the kitchen.

I found this recipe online, I don't remember where, and we tried it today. It was easy to do, and I made a couple of adjustments and took a few steps to make Sunday prep smoother. First, I chopped all the veggies on Saturday and put them in a ziplock back. I used a large can of sliced mushrooms rather than fresh ones. Instead of chicken broth, I put in the measured amount of water and added a scoop of chicken base which you can purchase from Sam's Club or Costco. Rather than buy the chicken breasts and slice them up, I used chicken tenderloins (3-4 per person), putting them directly in the crockpot and tossing them with the flour before adding the remaining ingredients.

Serve with mashed potatoes, noodles (more traditional) or rice. We made rice in our rice cooker, again to keep the house from heating up, and it was off the charts amazing. A crisp green salad and you're set!

Slow Cooker Chicken Paprikash

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch strips

• 2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)

• 1 1/4 cups chicken broth

• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper

• 1 cup shredded carrot

• 2 tablespoons sweet paprika

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (I used granulated garlic)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms

• 16 oz sour cream

Combine flour and chicken in a medium bowl; toss well. Add chicken mixture, chopped onion, and the next 8 ingredients (through mushrooms) to an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Stir in sour cream.

Bruschetta

Tuesday we had lunch at a sandwich place where they were giving away loaves of their bread. We grabbed a couple and brought them home, wondering what we could do with them. For dinner tonight we're having barbecue pork chops and salad, and we decided to use the bread to make toasts and serve it with bruschetta with our meal.

This is one of AJ's favorite treats and he made the toasts. Thinly slice the bread (or baquette), brush with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and granualted garlic, then bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. We bought the bruschetta this time, which is a sort of Italian "salsa" made with tomatoes, garlic and basil. YUMMO!

AJ wanted me to post this picture, he's so pleased with how it looks, so here you go! Now we're off to enjoy our BBQ. Hope you are having a great night too!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the holiday where we take the time to remember those who gave their lives to help defend and preserve this wonderful country we live in. I am so grateful to those men and women and their families for their sacrifices. I feel my family has been doubly blessed as I've had many generations who have served, and we haven't lost any in war that I am aware of. Grandparents, uncles, cousins ... all have returned home.

Today we had an early celebration dinner before Stan left for work. Very traditional, very American!

Fried Chicken and my Grandma Lucile Hillyard's recipe for Potato Salad!

Devilled Eggs!

(for my devilish men)

We also had corn-on-the-cob, which we tried cooking in the microwave for the first time! Someone emailed me a video of this older man demonstrating cooking corn in the microave, husks and all, and voila! It comes out clean as a whistle and perfectly cooked.

Put two ears at a time in your microwave. Whole, just like you bring them home from the store. Microwave on high for nine minutes. Cut off the bottom (careful, they're hot so use oven mitts) then squeeze from the top and they come out without silk or anything. SO easy!

As a treat for Stan we had one of his favorite desserts: Key Lime Pie! Seemed like a Southern meal to me! It was fun, the company was great, and I'm so grateful to all those who give and have given so much so that we may have such a wonderful life.



One Lucky S.O.B.

Today is Stan's and my 24th Anniversary! I woke up to my favorite dark chocolates and a card that had this on the envelope:

Stan wrote me a poem for this anniversary. I love his poems, they make me feel treasured and loved. And as we now are facing a new adventure, this poem is especially sweet to me.

Every day I love you more

Sweeter than the day before

Each hug, each kiss a golden treasure

A secret trove far beyond measure

Years in the making this priceless hoard

Given piece by piece from one adored

Gratefully accepted then stashed away

Waiting silently till this special day

No need to count or weigh these riches

They fill up rooms and halls and niches

They're found throughout, in every part

And the sum of all is in my heart

I am so grateful for the past 24 years, the family we have and the love we share. The future right now is a bit uncertain. but I can't think of anyone I'd rather face it with than Stan. I am one blessed woman. Thank you Mr. Mullis!

May 21, 1988

Summertime Series

Every summer the boys and I pick out an older television series to watch over the summer. We have a lot of fun with this and have discovered that it's more interesting than watching reruns or the summer shows that usually don't interest us. We've had a variety over the years, and as I was preparing to write this post I saw that we seem to have a lot of westerns and mystery shows.

One summer we watched Gunsmoke, and Kevin (who was about 10 at the time) fell in love with the character of Festus. In fact, he went dressed as Festus for Halloween!

We've watched The Avengers, Have Gun Will Travel, The Wild Wild West, Cagney and Lacey, Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War.

I have to admit that I look forward to our selection when school ends. In the evenings when we're relaxing and watching these "new" shows we have fun talking about the characters and what we like about the plotlines and settings.

This year we've chosen two British mysteries. The first one is Murder in Suburbia, a sort of Cagney and Lacey from England. The show is about two female homicide detectives Kate “Ash” Ashland and Emma “Scribbs” Scribbins and their hunky boss, whom they spend a fair amount of time oggling.

The second show we've selected is Johathan Creek, which is a little different. It's mostly a show you have to think about. Not really a detective show, more a "how was it done?" show. Jonathan Creek works as a creative consultant to a magician while also solving seemingly supernatural mysteries through his talent for logical deduction and knowledge of illusionism. He has a female side-kick who adds a little flirtatious interest to the show. It's also really quite funny in spots and so not only are we trying to see how the murders are done, we're also laughing out loud.

I think we're going to have a fun summer!

The New Book is Coming!

My new Maeve and Kate Mystery is coming out May 21st, and here is a brief synopsis of their next adventure. If you are interested in catching up on their previous stories, you can find them on Amazon for your Kindle or Kindle apps.

Their first mystery is What Would Nancy Do? http://amzn.to/hyRpFN which was followed by  Emails: A Maeve and Kate Mini-Mystery http://amzn.to/pnofVT

This second novel is Lethal Prescription which is full of all the fun, excitement and suspense of their previous stories!

SYNOPSIS OF LETHAL PRESCRIPTION:

Best friends Maeve Haile and Kate Hanson are at it again! During a hospital stay Maeve meets Victoria Winters, a young nurse who reveals her concern about something taking place in the hospital. When she turns up dead and it’s discovered her roommate is one of Kate’s clients, the pair set out to unearth what is going on in their small town of Elkhorn.

Nurses, doctors and patients in their hometown and the surrounding area are involved in a drug scam involving prescription drugs ... or are they? As the two women uncover clues they wind up with more questions then they have answers for. Why was Victoria killed, and who is threatening her roommate? A second murder, a threat on Maeve and Kate’s life, and a frightening and intimidating street thug all add up to a mystery that has the friends racing to discover who’s behind it all before some else winds up dead!

I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it!