sitting on the walk

I realized Rachel no longer need her car seat for walks. How fun is the world when you can see it better. How great is this smile.

Praying mantis

It was in our laundry area last night. How cool. It wasn't the normal green kind....preparing for autumn?

Tummy sleeping

Rachel is really funny. She likes sleeping on her tummy. You can start her wherever but she will flip to her tummy. The funny part is that when I put her down for the night give her a few minutes ann she is on her tummy and her knees. She is sleeping with her knees tucked under how funny??

first scare

Rachel and me had our first scare. She has been getting pretty wiggly so I have set up a play square of blankets on the floor. Our floors are pretty hard so I layer. Anyway I still put her on the couch with me when she is fussy for company. Tonight she was next to me on the couch and I turned to get a sip of my drink and she managed to wiggle off. It wasn't very far but it was a bit traumatic for both of us. I guess she is a permanent resident of the floor now. She also managed to wiggle enough while on the floor to get a receipt when I wasn't looking and chew on it for a minute without me noticing it. She is starting to get around a bunch!

park video

Just a clip of Rachel on her blanket.

day in the park

It was a really nice day yesterday overcast and cool. It rained pretty fierce and then clared up again for the late afternoon and evening. I took Rachel out and she enjoyed being on the quilt sarah made for her for awhile.

Mother sauces

I have been teaching myself about the mother sauces in a quest to better understand and master cooking, sometimes they refer to the four mother sauces and sometimes five. I have seen mayonnaise or vinaigrette as a sixth sometimes but here is what I learned.

The mother sauces date back to the early 1800's when a frenchman by the name of Antonin Careme categorized all sauces as coming from five "mother sauces" they are as follows:

1. Bechamel-a white sauce

2. Veloute - a blond sauce

3. Espagnole- a brown sauce

4. Hollandaise- a buttery sauce

5. Tomato - a red sauce

If you look at the actual recipe for these sauces you would be amazed at how often you are using them and not even realizing it. The first three use a roux as a basic part which is really cool to know. Roux=1 part flour+1 part fat(usually butter)

Rachel has a voice

Rachel is very talkative when she is happy. This was a week or two ago and she rolls onto her tummy now....a lot.

Lemon Thyme Chicken

Tonight I tried a new recipe it was from the taste of home cooking light that I have. I love cookbooks! It was really good. It had a pretty strong lemon flavor but I like that. It reminded me a little of mom's shish kabobs (the lemon and herbs). We had it with roasted red potatoes, fresh green beans and juice. Altogether a pretty good meal. Josh even said it was pretty good and he is not usually a huge lemon fan.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt and pepper. Set aside 4-1/2 teaspoons for sauce. Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture over both sides of chicken. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chicken in oil over medium heat for 7-9 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Remove and keep warm.
• In the same pan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add thyme and reserved flour mixture; stir until blended. Gradually stir in the broth and lemon juice, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve over chicken. Sprinkle with parsley. Yield: 4 servings.

A puffed up penguin Poses Pompously for a painted portrait

These were painted as a trio meant to framed together for like a child's room. I think they are really cute. The colors are more vibrant in person especially the blue. I might give it away for christmas if some really really likes it.

more art

More past art

This is a lot of my past art. I'm posting it mostly so family and friends can see.

cooking with iron

If you dont cook with cast iron you should so try it. I only have a small skillet. I had trouble finding a full sized one(let me know if you see one). I find cooking eggs in them is the best!!! I can now make a perfect french omelette every time. I learned the technique is to pull some cooked egg away from the sides as you cook and when the egg is almost done add the filling and fold over. Slide the omelette out of the pan onto the plate. Thank you food network. I have only been using it occasionally but it is already really good at not sticking. They come pre-seasoned but its never quite the same as really cooking with them and they get better with age and last forever. The other way cool thing is they actually impart iron in the food and therefore your diet. If you didn't know that Caryn that was for you. Great for all us girls who need to make sure they have their iron. Go cast iron cooking.

Rachel

It is really cut though this video is no the best. Rachel is now sticking out her tongue when she is happy. She is immitating us when we make noises to make her happy and laugh. She tries to make the sound but mostly makes spit bubbles.

sun conure watercolor

I think that the sun conure is so cute. I painted this long painting of 12 doing various things. I think my favorites are the third from the left and the one cleaning his wing. the closer shots are detail of those two.

nativity

A woman in my ward is making nativity advent calendars shew wants to sell the problem was she couldn't because the simple figure were from someone else so she asked if I would design some for her. I haven't heard yet if this will work for her. I know there are 4 wise men. Joseph is the one with the shepherds crook.