Another Week, Another Snow!

Well, I spoke too soon.  No sooner than the second snow melted, we got a whopper 10" snow that stuck to everything.  It's still out there ~~ sigh~~

It's pretty though!  Funny, we've had the best weather all winter until mid-February.  Then the snow started.  

My seeds are all up and growing.  I know it won't be long now.

I went to the Genealogy Conference in Kansas City with my sister and thoroughly enjoyed it.  We learned quite a bit about the search.  Ancestry.com has a lot of search bases that make searching for loved ones easy.  Not only can you search census, birth and death records, but you can search things like court records, land records, deeds, probate records, passenger lists, military & pension records,and the list goes on and on.  

We lost another uncle last week and our opportunities are running out for first hand accounts.

If you haven't already started searching your history, I encourage you to speak with older members of your family and write down family history & memories while you still have them around.  

Those are priceless memories!

Spring is in the Air!

The weather has finally turned around I think.  The snow is almost gone.  You know, I bought a bunch of seeds a month ago since the weather was so nice all winter and THEN we got 2 whopper snow storms.  Figures, huh?  I jinxed myself.  I did start a bunch of seeds in flats and they are positioned in front of my living room windows.  No sprouts yet but they should be there any day.  I am so ready for a garden.

I'm being really lazy these days or shall I say domestic, and the designs are on the back burner again.  Maybe it's my old age or maybe just the winter blahs - I must be ready to get outside.  I decided to go through my recipes.  I have piles and piles of paper printouts with great recipes on them, some from Martha Stewart, some from food.com- you know the routine - before you make something, you search it and print out what you find.  Most have been tested and the pages are no longer clean anymore, if you know what I mean.  So, I decided to retype them and put them in page protectors in a binder.  It's a huge undertaking but moving right along.  Someday I will have a great, organized binder full of favorite recipes.

Here s a favorite for Chicken Taquitos (from Chevy's Tex Mex)-

Chevy’s Salsa Chicken 

5 tomatoes, cored & halved

1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, halved

1 yellow onion, peeled & quartered

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp Fuego Spice Mix (see below)

3-4lb cooked chicken, skinned & chopped

¼ cup chopped cilantro

Broiler: half an onion, tomatoes & jalapenos cut side down, roast 8-10 min or until almost blackened.  Transfer with liquid to blender, pulse until thick & chunky.

Dice remaining onion, garlic & sauté for 5 min. Add spices mix & sauté 4 min longer.  Add chicken & sauté until chicken is heated.  Add tomato mixture & cook. Add cilantro & simmer 10 min.

To make the Chicken Taquitos

16 corn tortillas                      Make the Salsa Chicken above

*** Preheat oven to 375°.  Heat tortillas for 3-4 min.  Put ¼ cup of chicken mix down center in a line.  Roll up into tight cylinders and line up parallel.  Cut skewers in half and use to attach four cylinders together.  Do not let them touch each other.   Heavy skillet: heat 3” oil to 350°, place one set of skewered cylinders in pan,  deep fry 2-3 min until crisp.  Remove, drain on paper towel.  Serve with jalapeno jelly.  YUM!

Chevy’s  Fuego Dry Spice Mix/ Rub

¼ cup paprika

2 tsp cayenne

2 tsp ground white pepper

2 tbsp salt

2 tbsp black pepper

2 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tbsp chile powder

2 tbsp oregano

**Combine, mix well. Stores airtight for 6 months

This weekend I'm hanging out with my sister in KC.  We are visiting the Ancestry Days Conference and taking a few classes on genealogy.  It should be a fun time.  This is her birthday gift from her husband so I get to go and enjoy also!

I've had trouble getting Steam-A-Seam light- Warm Company is completely out and don't have a date for receiving more.  I have a few of the regular 4 yard cuts left but I'm completely out of the light.  The fabrics are just about gone now also.  Thanks to our regular customers, we are moving out a lot of quilts and runners.  

It's like spring cleaning around here.  I actually wake up thinking about what to clean! Next I'll want to paint the house.  Actually, I'm thinking about those kitchen walls.  Hmmm.  Any suggestions?