Birthday wishes and recipes

Happy birthday to my cousin Stacy today!



Isn't he...um, interesting?

 In other news, I have been trying to make an effort and become a better home cook, which means trying new recipes. Last night I made a dish called "cheesy chicken rollups" that I got from another blogger's website. It wasn't until we sat down to eat that I realized our meal was really a play off of chicken cordon bleu. Duh. D and I both liked it so the recipe will stay in rotation. While I cooked D made his banana bread - I haven't had a chance to try it yet but will cut a big slice when I get home tonight!

Cheesy Chicken Roll-Ups
4 chicken breasts (pounded to 1/4")
4 slices thin ham
crumbled feta cheese
1/3 c. milk
1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs
10 T. garlic and herb (or veggie) cream cheese
1/2 c. light cream or half-n-half

Preheat oven to 350.  Place 1 ham slice on each piece of pounded chicken, top with feta cheese.  Roll chicken to enclose filling.  Fold ends under and secure with toothpicks.  Dip chicken rolls into milk, then breadcrumbs to coat.  Place rolls on greased baking sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Bring cream to simmer in saucepan over medium heat.  Add cream cheese; blend well.  Pour sauce over cooked chicken rolls. 
AND, if you are not pulling recipes from Ree Drummond's website (The Pioneer Woman Cooks) you need to get over there ASAP and start browsing her archives. The cinnamon rolls are probably her most famous dish, but I made her chicken parmigiana earlier this month and it was delish! Happy cooking!

My new addiction

What a nice weekend! Lots of sunshine and the days are getting longer. D went snowmachining and hunting up north while I stayed home to do housework, errands and take the dog on a nice long walk. The streets are all clear but the trails still have snow and are fairly muddy in some places. I wore my xtra-tuffs and they were a mess by the time we got home - Drift was too, so he slept in the garage.

The quality of these photos isn't the best - they were taken with my iPhone...

Taking the shortcut.

You can see the difference between springtime and winter in these two photos. Same area - even the dog is in a similar position! Unfortunately the tree couldn't handle the weight of the snow and broke off.

The snow melts in mysterious ways. It's like a snow Stonehenge.

I usually bring my phone with me on hikes, just in case - and also like to listen to my iPod on my phone. For part of the trek we were back in the woods and the bears are starting to wake up. I ended up removing one earbud and turning the music down so I could hear any unusual forest sounds - like a charging black bear or angry moose. It's ideal to make noise and not sneak up on wildlife so singing out loud to Katy Perry seemed like a good idea.

I got Drift to run at a gallop down this long stretch of road near the Campbell Creek Science Center. We were both pooped afterwards. Need more exercise (the both of us).

Pretty blue skies - no clouds! This was around 8 p.m. Pretty glorious to have the sunshine back.

So, I have recently seen the light and joined the ranks of scores of Alaskan women who swear by their Danskos! Friends and coworkers have sung the praises of these clog-like shoes but I always thought they were a little ugly - still do actually. :-) But some styles are less awful and I have been needing really comfy shoes for those days that I am on my feet all day at work (e.g. health fairs).

REI had a sale last month and I used the 20% coupon plus a gift card and merchandise credit to get the brown pair below (the Marah mary jane's) for $16...they're normally $115! Even the checkout person was impressed. And then last week a Dansko vendor was in my workplace lobby and I purchased a black patent-leather Professional pair. They are SO COMFY. The height and clunky-ness take a little getting used to (they're clogs, after all) but now my other work shoes feel so uncomfortable after wearing these. I've heard that Danskos and Xtra-Tuffs are some of the most popular shoes sold in Alaska today.