A visit from Annie

This past week I had a visit from my dear friend Annie starting on Tuesday morning. Annie was my neighbor from right across the street from our first house back when we lived in Northern Ca. We were neighbors for 5 years starting when Kate was 3 years old. Her and her husband Zac have been our very close friends for over 17 years. They are Kate's Godparents and we are their son Andrew's Godparents. Annie and I made a pact when she first moved away that we would get together once a year and we did for many years. However life became very busy for both of us and we had not seen each other for FOUR years. So when she told me she was going to be in our area to run a marathon in a nearby city and could spend three of the six days she was going to be here with me (she spent the other  3 with her Aunt who lives in the nearby city) I was thrilled!

I picked her up at her Aunts late Tuesday morning and we came back to my house where I made us lunch and we spent a few hours catching up and watching Oprah together. I had made a home made pot pie that morning (one of her fav meals) and we spent the evening enjoying a casual meal at home and then we watched a Lifetime movie I had been wanting to share with her which I had previously taped.

The next day I took her on the grand sight seeing tour of our city which included a scenic drive through the wine country and walking through all the shops in the historic down town. We grabbed a turkey burger for lunch at Kevin's and mine favorite down town burger shack and we enjoyed the sunshine as we ate outside in the spring like weather. SoCal has felt like Spring for over 3 weeks with temps in the mid 70's and bright sunny days. The best weather I've ever seen in January in my entire life, it was just perfect for Annie who lives in Minnesota where last week the high was -10 below! Annie loved every moment of the SoCal sunshine and warmth! After shopping, lunching and sightseeing we returned home once again to watch one of our mutually favorite shows Oprah. I had made home made pizza dough that morning and assembled the rest of the pizza for a homemade pizza dinner that evening. After dinner we decided to catch a movie and grab a gourmet cupcake at the cup cake bakery in the same local mall as the movie theatre. We finished the evening sipping tea and watching a show on OWN before turning in at the end of a very full, wonderful day together.

Our time together came to an all too quick end Thursday, when after having coffee and a slice of cinnamon burst bread  at The Great Harvest Bakery and a little more sightseeing of my fine city I drove her back to the major nearby city airport to catch her flight back to MN.

An avid runner (has run the Boston marathon many times) Annie got several runs in through our neighborhood while here. I know it will be difficult to return to the cold weather and icy roads. I could tell  Annie truly enjoyed her time her in SoCal! I'm excited to fly out in the Spring or Summer to visit Annie, Zac, their daughter Jillian and my Godson Andrew. I have not seen my Godson since his baptism before he turned 2!

I am very blessed in life with many wonderful girlfriends, but in many ways Annie is like a sister to me not just a friend. She, her husband and kids feel like family to me. I look forward to seeing her again this year if things go as I plan.

*unrelated to this post is the fact that I will NOT being posting daily as I had mentioned and hoped to do. One or two posts per week makes much more sense with the rest of my busy life...thanks again for reading Definitely Debi*

Recipe: Baked Asparagus (gluten free)

Whenever we barbecue steaks, my husband Kevin asks me to make this asparagus dish to go with it. I've also made it as a side dish for chicken, pork chops and fish. The combination of the asparagus, tomatoes and Parmesan cheese is fabulous. This was my Mom's recipe and I've been making it for years now. My kids have been eating it and enjoying it for years as well. It may not look kid friendly,  but trust me...kids love this dish. I hope you will enjoy making and eating this wonderful side dish.

Here is what you will need:

Ingredients

2 pounds asparagus
2 cloves garlic, minced (I use a garlic press)
salt and pepper
1 t. dried basil
2-3 tomatoes, sliced (I like using hot house or roma)
grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
seasoned bread crumbs (if you are gfree, buy gfree bread crumbs at a health food store or make your own with gfree bread: 2-3 slices of bread in your food processor: pulsed until crumbs form)
2 ounces water

Directions:

Wash and trim asparagus. Here's a tip on knowing exactly where to trim the asparagus. Hold on each end
and bend the asparagus.
 
Wherever it naturally snaps is where you want to trim the rest.

Lay the piece of asparagus that you snapped to use as a guide as to where to cut the rest.

Discard the ends, they will be bitter.

Since it was only the my small family of three I did not prepare 2 pounds of asparagus, I only lined up enough in a 9x13 pan that I knew we would eat with our steak that night.

Next, mince or press the garlic. Using a spatula or knife, spread the garlic evenly over the asparagus.

Next lightly shake salt and pepper on the asparagus.

then sprinkle basil on...

Slice the tomatoes very thinly. (I'm loving my new ceramic knives...more on that in another post)

lay the tomatoes on top of  the asparagus, covering all

next sprinkle approx. 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese over the top of the tomatoes

Lastly, sprinkle liberally with the seasoned bread crumbs. (approx 1/2-3/4 cup) I just eye ball it.

One last VERY IMPORTANT step is to measure out 2 ounces of water

...and pour evenly over the asparagus. The water creates the steam that will bake the asparagus.

Before baking, cover tightly with aluminum foil

and carefully put into a 350 degree oven.

Bake for 20-30 minutes (these small thin asparagus tips only took 20 minutes, you can test the tenderness with a fork) Remove foil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Remove from oven and serve immediately. THIS IS A MUST TRY DISH.

 Definitely delish.

How to leave a comment

As I discussed in a recent post, my blog is sorely missing comments! This doesn't mean that no one is reading my blog I know because most of you make your comments to me in the form of an email or on face book. I know that several of you have tried to leave a comment but can't figure it out. SO, here is a step by step "how to" on how to leave a comment.

1. At the end of each post you will see small print that says "posted by Debi" with the time and date. Next to that you will see "comments" with the number of comments that have been left. Click on comments.

2. Next you will see "post a comment" and a space to do so.  Leave your comment in the box provided.

3. Last you will see  "select a profile". This is where I think most people get messed up. IF you have a google account, you can click on "google account" and it will automatically post your comment if you are logged on to google. If you use gmail or have a blog on blogger, you have a google account. If you DON'T have a google account then click on anonymous. Then, when you are typing your comment you can tell me who you are. For example "this is Aunt Pat and I want to tell you I think this recipe looks great!"

4. So there you have it...leaving a comment is easy! I have several friends who blog and they get an average of 4-6 comments per post. Recently I tracked my readership and I know I have at least 100 regular blog readers, yet I never get any comments except from Beverly J or Janet! Not only do I enjoy reading your comments, but so do the other blog readers.

5. Now is your chance, leave me a comment at the end of this post. Tell me your first name and how long you've been reading Definitely Debi. Then tell me what is your favorite thing about my blog.

I can't wait to read all of your comments!

Recipe: Curried Chicken and Rice Salad (gluten free)

So here is my first recipe of 2011. As I mentioned in yesterday's post I'm trying out lots of new light and healthy recipes. This recipe comes from my Best One-Dish Dinners Weight Watchers cook book I purchased last year. I can not begin to tell you how many WONDERFUL recipes I have discovered in this book.  This recipe is so easy and is great as a main course for lunch or dinner. Tonight I'm serving this with a spinach and fruit salad for dinner. It's been like spring time here in So Cal for over two weeks now so a light dinner of salads will be wonderful tonight.

Here is what you need:

Ingrediants
1 8.5 ounce packaged precooked Uncle Ben's "Ready Rice" Basmati rice
1/2 c. light mayonaise
1/2 c. reduced-fat sour cream
1 t. curry powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (I use a rotisserie chicken)
1 1/2 cups chopped Fugi or Gala apple (I large or 2 small)
1/4 c. golden raisins
3-4 green leaf lettuce leaves (optional)
1/4 c. sliced/slivered almonds, toasted

Directions

1. Microwave basmati rice 30 seconds according to package directions.

 2. Combine mayonaise, sour cream, and curry powder in a large bowl. Set aside.

 3. Using an apple corer, core your apples.

 4. Slice the apples in thin, small bite size pieces.

 5. Here's a TIP for you regarding apples. Want to keep them from turning brown? Let them soak for 5 minutes or more in a carbonated lemon lime drink like 7-up.  Strain and they will not turn brown for up to a week in your fridge!

 6. Remove the breast and thigh meat from the rotisserie chicken and cut up into small bite size pieces. This equalled exactly 2 cups of meat. Once cut up, add to the dressing.

7. Next add the apples & golden raisins

 8. and the rice

 8. Toss/Stir all well making sure dressing coats all the igrediants.

 9. For a pretty presentation, take 4-5 green leaf or romaine lettuce leaves and line a medium serving bowl. Spoon Chicken salad evenly onto the lettuce leaves.

10. Refrigerate for several hours up to overnight. Right before serving sprinkle on the toasted almonds.

                                     This salad is not only pretty, it is DELICIOUS! 

Yields 5, 1 cup servings. Enjoy.

Valentine's Day Decor

Recently I moved our little oak desk back into the house after it sat in our garage since moving here. I could't find anyplace for it in the house until NOW. I hated seeing this piece sitting so lonely and collecting dust out there in the garage. It is typicaly the place where I display a lot of my holiday decor and I have missed it for that purpose too. I've decided the perfect place for it is in my office. As can be seen I wasted no time displaying my Valentine Decor on the shelves of this fabulous little antique. In fact I decided to put all of the Valentine Decor in my office this year. For my long time blog readers most of my Valentine decorations are not new to you, but I try to change it up ever year.

I made the "Be Mine" blocks a few years back.

I bought this wall hung curio cabinet several years back at Michaels. It is the perfect place to display my favorite stamps year round. I switch the stamps depending on the season. AS can be seen above, the current
theme is LOVE and HEARTS in honor of Valentine's Day.

This little book case found a new home under the window since I moved the desk into it's original spot.

Here is another hand crafter decor item I put together a couple of years ago. The heart ornaments are made of chip board covered in patterned paper and embellished with ribbon and stickers.

I'll say again how fortunate I feel to have this very own space of mine. A place to create, a place to pay bills, a place to...sleep! LOL Not kidding, often times I'll be working in there late at night and can be found asleep with my head down on my desk! I just love my office.

Stamp Club Valentine projects

As ALWAYS, I had a great time at stamp club last week. We made some darling valentine related paper goodies including a box, and a few cards. Here is what  I made:



This box is fun and EASY to make. Fellow crafters let me know
if you need the dimensions to make this fun box.



Fellow SU! stampers we made this using the new cupcake punch from the new Spring mini catalog.
So fun! Also learned this new ribbon technique.



I love this Love card! We cut out the O and replaced it with
a kiss! Too cute..

...and here is the inside of the LOVE card.




This is the card I made at home and took as a swap with the other girls. I've had this stamp set for years,  but
always find fun new ways to utilize it!

                 Here's to a fun and love-filled Valentine's Day that is less than a month away now!

Our bedroom decor

Recently I was looking back at all my blog posts from 2010 and realized I posted pics of all the rooms in our new house except for OUR room! Since this is one of my favorite rooms in the house I must share! I'm in the process of making a slight change to the decor in the bathroom so I won't show any pics of that attached room, but will share once complete. So here it is folks....the bedroom!



Our room is really big and spacious and we love the wood floors and blinds. I wanted to have the blinds open to show the backyard and slider that takes you out to a small patio....but all the light streaming in made the picture too dark.



Due to the mostly red paisly wallpaper in the bathroom that you can clearly see
 from all over the bedroom, it was clear our blue bedspread was not going to work
in this house! We are not going to remove the wall paper at this point so we
decided to get new bedding. After looking for WEEKS Kevin actually
found this at Walmart! Their Canopy collection for bedding
 and towels etc is actually very good quality.



We didn't want to spend a lot of money on a new piece of art work for over the
bed so I found this fun rub-on at Target. This has been a rule in our marriage
since the beginning along with "Never go to bed mad at each other"



We bought this mission style furniture when we moved to Vegas in 2004. We loved it then and
still love it just as much. Mission style never goes "out of style". This big entertainment
cabinet with cuiro cabinets on either side houses our television and my collectables.




One of my gifts from Kevin's parents this year for Chirstmas
 was a gift card to Pier One Imports. Kevin and I LOVE candles and I've
 been keeping my eye open for a candle art piece for this small wall. This is a little
 more funky/artsy than I usually go for...but I just LOVE it!
When it is lit at night it is so beautiful and romantic.




Here is a peak into one of the curio cabinets. I collect small shoes, and here
 is my collection displayed. Also a pic of my Mom and two of her silver items
 that used to be in her room along with my Princess Di books and a small ceramic
box with a cross that was a gift from my Mom right after I got married. It has
 a handwritten note in it from her that I treasure.



I adore these little shoes!

More candles. I think candles are the perfect decor item for a master bedroom.

                                            Stay tuned for pics of the master bath soon.