A Forgiving Friend

You wouldn't know by looking at this picture that underneath all that snow there are weeds waiting to be pulled... a hole ready to be filled... and a pile of bricks waiting to be laid out as a patio. So for that I am thankful for my faithful, forgiving friend, snow for covering up my misdeeds from a season that has past.

Hot Wings In A Bowl

If you love Buffalo wings and all that go with it; the hot sauce, the celery sticks, the blue cheese sauce, you can have it all with this wonderful soup. I just love it and hope you will, too.

Buffalo Chicken Soup

2,1/4 to 2,1/2 lbs. deli- roasted chicken, skinned, boned and coarsely shredded (or 40 oz. can chicken)
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 14oz. cans reduced sodium chicken broth
1,1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. bottled hot pepper sauce
1,1/2 cups mozzarella cheese (6oz.)
1,1/4 cups crumbled bleu cheese (5oz.)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (2oz.)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Bottled hot pepper sauce (optional)

In 4-quart Dutch oven melt butter over medium heat. Add celery and onion; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in broth, milk, and the 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce.
In bowl toss together mozzarella, 1 cup of the bleu cheese, Parmesan, and flour. Add gradually to soup, stirring after each addition just until melted. Stir in three-fourths of the shredded chicken; heat through. Top with remaining chicken, bleu cheese, and hot sauce. Makes 6 servings.

Hand in Hand

Thrifting and craftiness go hand in hand. I purchased a skirt from the fifty cent room at one of these stores because it matched my office/guest room. I covered an old pillow with the outside fabric (you can see it goes nicely with the pair of pillows I bought here for a buck). And my next project is to cover another pillow with the lining of the skirt.

Welcome

During this slushy season we've been directing guests to enter our house through the garage. It's just a little easier to remove shoes and such avoiding sloppy wetness on our hardwood floors. It's not a big deal to get a paper towel and clean up such messes, but let's face it, as a guest you don't want to go sloshing mud and snow into someone's house upon your arrival and I don't want our guests' first emotion as they enter our home to be embarrassment. Enter...



This area used to be where I kept all my cleaning supplies. Not exactly welcoming. I've since added some rugs under the bench and chairs at the suggestion of my husband so that you don't have to step on the cold concrete after you've removed your shoes. Sigh. Much better.

Zane's Top Ten List

My son has had better luck with books in this past first year of his life than his mama. He definitely has his favorites and if he could talk or write I'm pretty sure he would agree with the list I'm about to present to you, or list it himself.

10. You Are Brave by Todd Snow
9. You Are Important by Todd Snow
8. You Are Friendly by Todd Snow
7. Care Bears Nighty Night by Quinlan B. Lee
6. Buzz Buzz Busy Bees by Dawn Bentley
5. I'll Find You, Kitty by Richard Powell
4. Garden Colors by Anne Geddes
3. Where Is Baby's Belly Button? by Karen Katz
2. Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? by Dr. Seuss
1. I Smell Honey by Andrea and Brian Pinkney

The Salvation Army

... is my new favorite store. Today I bought 5 sweaters, one short sleeved shirt, and a pair of Gap jeans for $27.43. Of the five sweaters one is from J. Crew, one from Old Navy, one is a mohair wool sweater from Italy. I have to say I don't usually have good luck in these stores, but as I walked through the parking lot I asked God to put a special blessing on my time in the store and to help me find things I would know for sure I wanted. Side note: some of you may know I have a hard time purchasing anything without tremendous calculated thought. Also, to be successful at scoring the jackpot like I did, you need to have patience and a good chunk of time to weed through all the goods to get the goodies. Probably why I never had much luck before, lack of patience. Well, it was well worth it. Retail therapy has hit a new high. There will be no buyer's remorse tomorrow!

Here are some more thoughts on the matter.

10 Reasons I Love My Job