Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God.”
~Joseph Smith
This Moment…
A Saturday joy. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from our world.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to savor and remember.
If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for us.
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Happy Birthday Jillian!
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Please tell us your favorite Comfort Foods~~click HERE
The Master of Words
Rick Walton has a new picture book coming out this summer. As always–it’s clever and witty and sweet and wise. I hope you’ll view the book trailer and clap like mad. Seriously, did you know they made trailers for books? I had no idea.
At any rate, every time he has a new book, I just want to shout, “Hey, I know that guy!”
Congratulations again Rick!
Check out some of Rick’s other stuff.
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Please tell us your favorite Comfort Foods~~click HERE
Little Pioneers…
Long ago and far away when the kids were little–well, little-er, we went on a trip to Martin’s Cove, Wyoming. We hiked around and kids even got to see what it was like to pull a real, live handcart. I took off my shoes and walked the whole way barefoot just to get a feel for it.
On the way up to the Cove, as we were making the long, dreary drive through the Wyoming plains we did everything we could think of to make the trip fun, but I have to say, this part of the drive was incredibly boring. Really, there was just nothing to see…nothing. In fact the view outside the car windows was even gray/brown and dull–like nothing. There were no other cars and no animals and no houses or farms or birds–I’m telling you that it was a slow day in this part of the country. After about 30 miles of this, from out of nowhere, up pops what appears to be a small, abandoned grocery store. We pulled in out of shear boredom and crawled out of the car to stretch. One of the kids went up to the door and peeked through the tinted windows and hollered, “It’s a real store! There’s a person in there!”
Well, she was right. It was a real store and it was open. We were so happy to see the the planet did indeed, still have people on it that we all went in. In our excitement, the kids were given permission to each choose a full-size package of cookies or chips for the rest of the drive. This was big stuff, something that they never really got to do. But seriously, in this dry, dusty, gray, hot, and really really dead looking part of Wyoming, we were ready to do anything to help the kids remember that life was still good and that the end of our long drive was coming soon.
Little bald kid–the one in the front of the picture, was so excited with his very own package of Nutter Butter cookies that when we got out of the store he kept jumping up and down and giggling–squealing really. He was so happy that he almost couldn’t contain himself. With one mighty leap, he threw his fist in the air and shouted, “I just LOVE Hawaii!”
Someday, maybe we’ll take him to lovely, lush, green Hawaii so he can see how funny that really was.
Alo-ha.
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Coveted Chicken Salad
The Coveted Chicken Salad. Sit up now. Pay attention.
I promise, there are people in my family going…”No. WAY!” right this minute. Because, you see, sometimes I can be just a tad…
selfish…
with certain recipes. This is one of them. I’m working on being a better person, so here it is. Use it quick before I have a panic induced relapse…
or buy up all the chicken in the world to make this only for…
me.
Oh, I could too.
:}
Coveted Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
5-6 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
1 Tbsp. onion flakes
3/4-1 cup Miracle Whip
5 stalks celery, diced
salt
Instructions:
Boil the chicken breasts in water, with salt, until cooked through–about 30 minutes.
Remove from water and refrigerate until cold enough to handle.
While you are waiting, dice up the celery and place in a bowl. Sprinkle a ridiculous amount of salt over the celery. Don’t worry, we’ll be rinsing it off in a while. This will help the celery lose the bitter taste it has sometimes. Set aside.
When chicken is cold, cut it into bite-sized pieces, being impeccable about removing everything but the actual white, breast meat. Discard fat, veins, gristle–nobody wants to eat that…trust me on this.
Place diced chicken in a medium bowl. Add 3/4 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing. Please note that I did NOT say mayonnaise. That is because this is recipe MY recipe…my famous recipe…so if you want it to be right, then just plain do what I say. Miracle Whip. No discussion here. The end. Phew. I feel better now.
Mix the chicken and Miracle Whip well and decide if you need the extra 1/4 cup of salad dressing. I usually do. Now, sprinkle the onion flakes and bouillon granules evenly over the top and set aside.
Pour the diced and salted celery into a colander and rinse thoroughly. Let it drain for a few minutes then add to the chicken mixture. Again, mix very well. Understand that the real flavors will be much better distributed if you leave the salad covered in the fridge for a few hours–or better yet, overnight. Then mix again, and salt to taste. You may proceed to serve it to your guests on a lettuce leaf or in a puff pastry shell. They will genuflect.
Now somebody should write me a check for a million dollars.
Seriously.
Get on that.
*********
Coveted Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 5-6 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
- 1 Tbsp. onion flakes
- ¾-1 cup Miracle Whip
- 5 stalks celery, diced
- salt
Instructions
- Boil the chicken breasts in water, with salt, until cooked through--about 30 minutes.
- Remove from water and refrigerate until cold enough to handle.
- While you are waiting, dice up the celery and place in a bowl. Sprinkle a ridiculous amount of salt over the celery. Don't worry, we'll be rinsing it off in a while. This will help the celery lose the bitter taste it has sometimes. Set aside.
- When chicken is cold, cut it into bite-sized pieces, being impeccable about removing everything but the actual white, breast meat. Discard fat, veins, gristle--nobody wants to eat that...trust me on this.
- Place diced chicken in a medium bowl. Add ¾ cup Miracle Whip salad dressing.
- Mix the chicken and Miracle Whip well and decide if you need the extra ¼ cup of salad dressing. I usually do.
- Now, sprinkle the onion flakes and bouillon granules evenly over the top and set aside.
- Pour the diced and salted celery into a colander and rinse thoroughly. Let it drain for a few minutes then add to the chicken mixture.
- Again, mix very well. Understand that the real flavors will be much better distributed if you leave the salad covered in the fridge for a few hours--or better yet, overnight. Then mix again, and salt to taste.