. . . this one's tasty, too . . .

. . . the parade of summer salads continues . . .

. . . because i know of three people, personally,

who made the last one . . .

. . . here's the deal . . .

. . . i'll tell you what's in it . . .

. . . you take it from there ~ amountwise . . .

. . . let's call this one . . .

glorified caesar salad

• chicken tenders {drizzle with olive oil, kosher salt & fresh ground pepper; bake, dice}
• penne pasta {cook, drain, cool ~ i used gemelli, instead, which means "twins" in italian, fyi}
• shredded baby carrots
• grape tomatoes {only because all my neighbors' gardens are officially fried now}
• croutons {i used the good ol' store-bought garlic flavored focaccia bread kind}
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade {learn how here [for fun] & amaze your friends}
• 1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• mixed greens {i used that fancy schmancy european mix like you can get at costco, but truth be told, my family'd rather have romaine ~ plain}
• caesar dressing {i used litehouse™ brand ~ buy it in the produce section}
• crumbled feta cheese
• fresh ground pepper

start with a large bowl

throw in the pasta, carrots, tomatoes, croutons, basil, parsley & garlic

toss with dressing ~ more than you think you'll need

then add the greens & toss again

transfer to cuter platter

top with chicken, feta & fresh pepper

serve, of course, with nice, buttery garlic bread

. . . fresh herbs really brighten up the flavor of this salad . . .

. . . don't leave them out . . .

. . . good luck & report back . . .

. . . when abc closes one door . . .

. . . fox opens another . . .

. . . jillian may have {finally} chosen ed . . .

{any bets on how long it'll last?}

. . . not to worry . . .

. . . let *the fatchelor begin . . .

. . . what else am i supposed to do? . . .

. . . i mean with no life and an infected root canal and all . . .

{*credit to my funny husband for coining this phrase}

{edit #1: nice try, husband. this sadly inevitable nickname is all over the interweb}

{edit #2: if you missed the first episode, you're in luck.

PLEASE click through to the comments below to read shellene's recap.

it might be better than the actual show!}

. . . what's more fun . . .

. . . than a root canal? . . .

. . . pretty much everything . . .

. . . i'm just glad i lasted almost fifty-one years

before actually testing this theory . . .

. . . excuse me while i go eat some more ibuprofen . . .

. . . quiltspeak . . .

. . . a quilt begins with a trip to your LQS . . .

{local quilt shop}

. . . or in this case OQS . . .

{online quilt shop}

. . . where i ordered this stack of FQs . . .

{fat quarters}

. . . by a favorite designer . . .

. . . then from each print . . .

. . . and from solid white, cut 5 inch strips WOG . . .

{width of goods}

. . . then cut the strips into squares . . .

. . . this step could've been skipped

if i'd purchased a charm pack instead . . .

{precut 5 inch squares - 1 of each print in a collection}

. . . draw a diagonal line on each white square . . .

. . . pair with a print RST . . .

{right sides together}

. . . sew scant quarter inch seam on each side of line . . .

. . . cut on line . . .

. . . forming HSTs . . .

{half square triangles}

. . . press seams toward print . . .

. . . trim dog ears . . .

{seam allowances sticking out}

. . . chain piece pairs of squares . . .

{don't cut thread between pairs}

. . . good idea to have floor relatively clean . . .

. . . put two and two together . . .

. . . forming pinwheels . . .

. . . also good idea to watch monk reruns while sewing . . .

{especially since gilmore girls just started over again}

. . . route 44 is a given . . .

. . . raw blocks ready to be trued up . . .

{squared/trimmed to size}

. . . fabric spaghetti . . .

. . . look! there's mr monk again . . .

. . . cleaned up blocks . . .

. . . lay them out six by six . . .

. . . stand back and squint . . .

. . . rearrange . . .

. . . stand back and squint . . .

. . . repeat . . .

. . . decide this one . . .

. . . and this one don't blend in . . .

. . . remove them . . .

. . . and make replacement blocks . . .

. . . settle on this arrangement . . .

. . . sew into rows . . .

. . . then sew rows together . . .

. . . add narrow white border . . .

. . . boring . . .

. . . decide it needs another border . . .

. . . this one's called piano keys . . .

. . . miter/mitre {if you're british} the corners . . .

{join at a 45 degree angle}

. . . regrets? i've had a few . . .

. . . should have mitered/mitred the corners of the white border, too . . .

. . . play favorites . . .

. . . love this stripe . . .

{pardon random threads}

. . . also love this print . . .

. . . it's pink, of course . . .

. . . another regret? wish i'd known the large scale of these prints . . .

. . . hard to tell with OQSing . . .

{remember? online quilt shopping}

. . . because, no doubt about it . . .

. . . you lose the awesomeness of these fabrics to some degree . . .

. . . when you chop them into little pieces . . .

. . . inspirational credits to vanessa christenson . . .

. . . and our fearless quilt group leader . . .

. . . stay tuned for part two . . .

. . . when it's quilted/bound/named . . .

. . . and the thunder rolls . . .

. . . okay, fine . . .

. . . i give up . . .

. . . i'm awake . . .

. . . and not to sound ungrateful or anything . . .

. . . but the next time we have a thunderstorm . . .

. . . could it please begin around six in the morning . . . 

. . . instead of four-ish? . . .

. . . that'd be a lot more convenient for me . . .

. . . and where's maria's room when i need it, anyway? . . .

. . . scary . . .

{side note: back in the day, our first child to "von trapp" 

was almost always amber ~ the one who can't hear. 

she was far more sensitive to light than the others were to sound. 

flashes of lightning woke her out of sound sleep 

way before claps of thunder would wake the others. 

now you know.}

. . . it's what's for dinner . . .

. . . make this . . .

. . . it's delicious . . .

BBQ Chicken Salad

• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce - cut into 1/4" strips
• 1 large bunch romaine lettuce - remove ribs & cut into 1/4" strips
• 1 cup jicama - dice into 1/4" cubes
• 1 cup frozen white corn kernals - rinse under cold water & drain
• 1 can black beans - drain & rinse
• 2 cups pepper jack cheese - coursely grated
• 3 medium tomatoes - dice {grow at home or beg for some from neighbors' garden}
• 1 or 2 avocados - dice
• juice of 1/2 lime - drizzle over avocado
• 1/4 cup cilantro - mince
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup Best Foods™ mayonnaise
• 1 package Hidden Valley™ ranch dressing mix

• 2 lbs. chicken tenders
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce {we love Sweet Baby Ray's™}

Make ranch dressing. Chill along with all ingredients except chicken.

Place chicken tenders in a Ziploc™ bag and marinate in olive oil, soy sauce, garlic and salt for 1 hour. Place tenders on broiler pan and season with fresh ground pepper. Broil 4-6 minutes per side. Watch closely. Let rest 10 minutes before dicing into 1/2" cubes, then toss with barbecue sauce.

On a large platter, layer lettuces, jicama, corn, black beans, cheese and tomatoes. Top with warm barbecued chicken and avocadoes. Sprinkle on cilantro.

Serve immediately with ranch dressing and garlic bread.

Easily serves eight, but six of us ate the whole thing tonight.

. . . don't matter if you're black or white . . .

. . . of course the tv's on 

in the background while i sew . . .

. . . how else could i justify "watching" 

the real housewives of {fill in the blank} marathons? . . .

. . . bless their hearts . . .

. . . apparently, my sewing was inspired by 

the memorial service for mj last week . . .

. . . which is great, 

since what's not to love about all this 

scroll-y, harlequin-y, paisley-y, vintage-y, 

zebra-y, chenille-y goodness . . .

. . . and in the words of 

paul mccartney and stevie wonder . . .

. . . ebony and ivory . . . 

. . . live together in perfect harmony . . . 

. . . it never gets old . . .

. . . things i loved this time include . . .

. . . experiencing it with parents . . . 

. . . especially dad who taught me to love theater . . .

. . . sign language interpreters 

who played exclusively to amber . . .

. . . exquisite vocals . . . 

. . . seriously ~ why couldn't i have been born a soprano? . . .

. . . appreciation for creative/clever dialogue and lyrics . . .

. . . i just love the whole thing every time i see it . . .

. . . snips/snails . . .

. . . and puppydog tails . . .

. . . polkadots . . .

. . . baby blue . . .

. . . and wild animals . . .

{the giraffe stack is, of course, super tall}

. . . there are retro dots . . .

. . . manly stripes . . .

. . . preppy stripes . . .

. . . and refreshing stripes . . .

. . . all in the interest of equal opportunity burping . . . 

. . . drooling . . .

. . . runny noses . . .

. . . and spitting up . . .

. . . i bring you the newest collection of oops! for boys . . .

. . . fifteen/nine . . .

. . . raise the roof for that teeny, tiny, 

single-digit second number up there, 

shall we? . . .

. . . this month's post celebrates all in the family . . .

. . . cousin zach is coming home next month from 

brazil porto alegre . . .

. . . cousin brad just left for 

washington tacoma . . .

. . . cousin justin is going great guns in 

the west indies . . .

. . . cousin kyle is spreading the word in 

california . . .

. . . while drew is holding down the fort/pueblo in 

mexico city north . . .

. . . next up is cousin josh . . . 

. . . as of 30 september 2009, he'll be serving in 

{drum roll, please} 

mexico city ~ wait for it . . .

. . . west . . .

. . . so close, and yet so far . . .

. . . molly is merely reacting to the fact that 

josh is the oldest of five boys . . .

. . . she'll get to do this four more times, at least . . .

. . . because who knows? . . . 

. . . little sister angela might want to serve, too . . .

. . . congratulations, cousin joshy . . .

{in other news . . . please say a little prayer for drew's dad 

who's undergoing emergency surgery 

~ involving chipping and drilling ~ 

this morning. 

that darned mrsa infection is back . . .}