Cooking with Pinterest

After feeling quite proud of how many pins I had collected on my pinterest boards, the realization hit me that I never do any of this stuff.  Here I was pinning happily away but as soon as I pinned, I forgot about it and moved on to the next pin.  This behavior made me think about our new pinterest culture.  Is it simply like collecting stickers like we did as kids?  While I love all my pretty boards and being inspired by images that I want in my life, I decided I needed to take action on some of these ideas that I saved.  So I gave myself a new challenge - every couple of weeks, I will attempt to do something on pinterest. Most likely it will end up being cooking, photography, or wedding related but I am taking action with my pinterest board!

Last night was my first time to attempt my challenge.  I wanted to do something special to recognize one month of being engaged so we decided to cook together - something we always love doing.  I found a recipe off of pinterest and tweaked it slightly.  Ed tried it and said that I knocked it out of the park and asked me to please not forget what I did.  So below is the recipe - it is definitely worthy of not only pinning but actually cooking!  Enjoy!

 Chicken and Mushrooms in a Garlic White Wine Sauce

• 8 chicken tenderloins, 16 oz total
• 2 tsp butter
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1 golden onion, sliced in strips (the original recipe did not call for onion but I cook almost everything with onions!)
  
• 1/4 cup white wine (used Middle Sister Drama Queen)
  
• 1/3 cup fat free chicken broth (added a little more as it cooked down)
  
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

Add olive oil and butter to skillet and heat.  Add chicken to saute.  Throw in the wine.  Toss in the garlic.  After the chicken is half way cooked, add the onion that was cut in strips by fiance (sorry he is not on loan so get your own to help).  Add chicken broth. After onions have started to soften, throw in the mushrooms cleaned and sliced by fiance (he is the knife handler in the relationship). You may want to add a little more chicken broth if needed and one more tbsp of butter because that tastes good.  Cook until the liquid is almost gone and after fiance pokes at the chicken to make sure it is done.  

Serve over brown rice with english peas! Yum!!!

 If you want to see the changes I made, go to the original recipe that I pinned and tweaked.

Ed's favorite type of white wine is Sauvignon Blanc so I picked up a new bottle for us to try.  If you want a citrus, unique flavor of passion fruit kind of wine then try this one. The taste was very refreshing and we will definitely be getting it again.  Ed loved that it had a screw off cap but I missed the experience of uncorking the wine. Overall we gave the wine a 7.5 out of a scale of 1 to 10.

Kim Crawford 2011 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Indulging My Inner Belle: Pottery Obession

I never actually knew it until now but looking back I suppose I should have seen the classic signs.  Any clay piece with swirls of blues, greens, and browns always made me detour to stop and inspect. Yes, I am talking pottery.  Being recently engaged with all kinds of tips coming my way about everything including registries have allowed me to fully understand my obsession with pottery. Most brides-to-be want to talk flowers and centerpieces but I bypass those items to daydream about clay masterpieces.

I am not a china girl nor do I care about expensive bouquets at our wedding. Thankfully Ed could care less about these things....but then again what groom-to-be is obsessed about dishes that stay in a cabinet most of the year and flowers that will get thrown at the end of the night? I thought because those details lose their importance on me that I was super low maintenance when it came to wedding planning.  Then pottery walked into my life....well not really walked....but you understand what I mean.

Supposedly as a Southern Girl, I am told that I am to own a certain type of pottery, which for the purposes of avoiding slander shall remain nameless.  This unnamed pottery is quite lovely but was relatively unheard of in South Mississippi where I grew up. Okay, I will admit it - I never even heard of this type of pottery that graces every household until I moved to North Mississippi.  I actually had to have someone explain to me what it was.  Yes, I am making some of you Southern ladies shake your heads in disgrace right now.  And it only gets worse....even after it was explained to me about this precious clay collection, I can't identify it with 100% accuracy.  But my inability to be able to tell the difference between this line and other lines led me to my new favorite.

Last week, I went into a local store to gauge if future hubby and I should register for the "unnamed" pottery.  I picked out some gorgeous pieces that made me think I might just buy into the tradition of having  a few of these required pottery items. Feeling quite southern belle, I flipped over the piece to look for the signature marking at the bottom to realize that I had fallen head over heels for - gasp - another collection! Trying to convince myself to find the "unnamed" collection, I did some online research but no matter how hard I tried I could not quit going back to the beautiful designs of The Good Earth.

I called my matron of honor, who is truly a modern day Southern Belle, to ask her how many pieces of the required "unnamed' pottery she had.  And her answer confirmed another reason why we are meant to be friends: "Oh, I am a Good Earth girl."  Now, I know I am getting a tad ridiculous about pottery and North Mississippi tradition but the little belle came out in me and I decided I wanted to be a Good Earth girl too!  (Insert: Squeals and over the top girly jumpy right here!).

Yes, I know I am having a bonafide Legally Blonde moment right now but see for yourself in the picture below.  But I promise it is not all superficial desire for pottery. On the serious side, the pottery reflects what the South prides itself in - artistry.  By supporting our local artists, we aren't just giving into the required,  "Well the Jones have it so I have to have it," mentality. It actually goes much deeper into a support for Southern culture and our artists.  Ed always tells me he loves to buy cds, books, art, etc. to support the act of creating.  I agree.  Without art we wouldn't have beautiful things that surround us and help us celebrate life.  So I am proud to say I would love to surround myself with the following beautiful things while supporting our Southern artists. And, yes, I really really think it is so pretty! (Insert: Another girly squeal!).

The Blue Heron Pattern(from their website)

My favorites are the bluebird, the highlands, and the blue heron. 

If you have fallen in love with it too then you need to go to their website:
The Good Earth Gallery

ENGAGED!!!!!

Allow me a moment to be a gushing Southern Belle because I just got engaged to the most amazing guy!  The proposal was a complete surprise. After months of me asking if we were ever going to get engaged, I did not think he would be able to surprise me because I was looking for every hint possible.  However, he did and the proposal was perfect. He even managed to get the moment caught on camera so we will have these memories forever. 

We were on our second day in Destin and I had given up all hope that this would be the weekend he was going to propose. If it was to happen, I assumed he would not be able to wait longer than a day because he would be too anxious.  I also guessed that he would behave differently in some way.  Ed proved me wrong because he is a much better actor than I knew.  Saturday passed and he acted completely relaxed.  By Sunday morning, I was trying to convince myself to just enjoy the vacation and maybe we would get engaged sometime this summer.

Setting up the surprise
Ed told me he wanted to set up early on the beach because of it being so busy on Memorial Day Weekend.  This wasn't an unusual plan because both of us like to get the fun started fast!  So we got our stuff set up and I ran back up to the hotel to grab some things for the rest of the day.  During that time, Ed introduces himself to the couple in the chairs next to us. Luanne and Grant had traveled from Texas to Destin to celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary and were incredibly friendly.  After chatting with them for a moment, Ed asks Luanne for a favor.  He tells them that his girlfriend was about to come down to the beach and at some point in the morning he was going to propose but that he would tell me we were taking a picture for Facebook. Luanne agreed to take a picture for Facebook as well as be ready to really take the pictures of the big moment! 


I came down and just thought Ed had made friends with our "chair neighbors."  He introduced them to me and I suspected nothing.  I settled into my chair and started taking pictures of my coffee against the background of the ocean.  Obviously, I was relaxing into my morning!  After finishing my coffee, I decided it was time to go play in the ocean and asked Ed if he wanted to go too. He said sure and acted as if he was going to get up but when I looked back - there he sat.  Looking back, I guess he had a funny look on his face as he said that he would come to the water later but I missed any clue that he was sitting there with a ring in his pocket!  I was also oblivious that he was still wearing his shirt in the hot sun and not getting in the water which was completely unlike him.

Not just a regular Facebook photo
After I came back to my chair, he told me that he wanted to get a picture for Facebook.  He suggested that I ask Luanne so we could get a good picture instead of the ones we usually try to get with one of us holding the camera.  I did not know that I was asking someone who was already in on this plan.  I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story....

Just taking pictures and not expecting what is about to happen.

Ed is telling me to take pictures of our trip. I love pictures so I am happy to do so!

Us being us....completely silly!

Ed tells me that he wants to get a good photo for Facebook. I asked the nice woman next to us to take the photo.

She takes the photo and several more....then Ed asks for one more photo.

The moment I realized this was more than just a regular photo!

"You know how I tell you that my job is to make you happy?  Well, I want a promotion...will you marry me?" I am not sure if he finished the question before I told him yes!caption

I always thought I would cry if this moment came, instead I shook for two hours!  I would not take the ring because I was shaking so much that I was afraid I would drop it!

True happiness!

So excited I can't quit talking even for a kiss!

We are ENGAGED!!!!

The sweet couple who was in on the plan and took the pictures!!! So grateful for the moment caught on camera!

Spring Break!

I am taking a spring break (aka my computer is broken) for  a few weeks. Come back in May because Modern Day Southern Belle will return with exciting ideas, stories, pictures, and tips!  See y'all in a few weeks!

St. Patty's Day Parade!

It is that time again! Time for Jackson's St. Patty's Day Parade. 

Little Ways

As I was getting dressed this morning, I was thinking about mindfulness and being in the moment which led me to the thought about how being in the moment can lead us to recognize opportunities to help others.  Even the smallest of actions, when recognized and genuinely acted on, can make a difference that can last a life time.

I use to compete in dance competitions as a child. Dance was my world and I thought would one day become my career.  The commitment to the art helped me overlook that around 8th grade none of the girls in my dance class liked me.  The dislike was little petty childlike things that we all go through and they never were outwardly cruel to me but I was ostracized and isolated from their friendship.  Not being a member of their clique never bothered me during dance classes because we were so busy rehearsing but traveling to competitions highlighted that I was definitely not their friend.  Now we have all got passed the silly things that make children rude to each other. But as an 8th grader, it hurt and one stranger's kind yet simple gesture eased that pain. His small way of helping has lasted as a lifetime reminder of how powerful a small action can be.

We were at a dance competition in New Orleans in January.  The hotel was a happy place and decorated for Mardi Gras.  I was happy to be at the competition and relieved that my mother had made the trip as a chaperone because her presence meant I did not have to be completely alone. But of course, as a 14 year old girl, I wondered what was wrong with me that the other girls did not want me around.  Obviously this sadness must have been evident.

We were getting on a elevator and just as the doors were about to shut, a man dressed in a suit jumped on. With just three of us on the elevator, we did the typical elevator behavior and looked at the numbers.  He broke the silence, "I want you to have this."  I looked at the man who was looking at me holding a perfect tiny four leaf clover out to me. I had never seen one before then and I have never found one since.  I told him that he needed to keep the clover because they are rare but thanked him.  The man insisted saying that I might need it more than him.   I thanked the man as I took it and asked him where he found the delicate clover.  He said, "When I got out of my car, I looked down and there it was."  Then he got off the elevator.

I looked down at my little clover and felt happy because someone had taken the opportunity to say, "You matter."  The man cared. As mom and I got off the elevator, we were both perplexed about a four leaf clover in the middle of winter but even more confusing - the hotel parking lot was a parking garage.  Did the man really find it like he said he did?  As we walked into the room, the first thing I saw was someone's angel pin lying on the dresser.  I still smile thinking how at that moment I thought I had encountered an angel.  And while he may not been an angel in the heavenly sense, his actions were angel like.

I am sure that man has long forgotten that tiny action, unless of course he actually was my guardian angel, but I have not.  I was not a kid in any type of crisis, I was just feeling a little sad but that man's action changed my day.  His action now serves as a reminder that while large gestures are helpful and needed, small things make up our life and can have just as much impact. When I teach my students what to look for in their job search, I tell them one of the most important questions to ask is what is done on a daily basis.  I tell them not to be wooed by a large event or a task that sounds fun but only takes place once or twice a year.  That event will not be enough to make them happy because what they do on a daily basis makes up their life.

Several years ago when we became Catholic, my mother and I both chose St. Therese of Liseux as our saint name.  We chose her because her approach to serving God is one everyone can follow and it takes away the stress of having to do anything grandiose to matter to God.  She is known as the Saint of Little Ways because she felt that she could not do anything large for God given life circumstances but she could do thousands of little things to serve God.  As I think about being in the moment during this Lenten season, I pray I identify the moments I can reach out to help others. Just like that man did when he reached out that tiny four leaf clover out to me.  That little clover is still with me - pressed between two pages in a scrapbook.

Can I be Mindful with Wine and Chocolate?

In my pursuit of being more mindful, I started off with my usual first step: Google.  Google and me are definitely best friends.  We are just that tight.  Anyway, what did I Google?  I type in "easy tips for mindfulness." I know that mindfulness is not a quick fix but I am a beginner so I have not quite accepted this journey might involve work.  I am still hoping for a quick top ten list of what I should do. Surprisingly with those search terms I did find an article and I half way read it before starting this blog entry. Yes, I understand switching from reading to writing shows a lack of focus or maybe a moment of inspiration that cannot be passed. Either way, I plan on finishing the article after I write about the first tip I just read.

The author says to first sit up straight. Easy enough, I can practice good posture. But then she suggests being quiet for five to ten minutes. Do what?!?  Okay, that does not sound like fun but I can manage five minutes. However, it gets worse, the author thinks that I can work up to 25 to 30 minutes of this quiet nothingness.  Why would I want to do that? I think being quiet that long is called a nap.

At this point in my journey (all of five minutes in), I am doubting this mindfulness thing. I did not know inner peace came with a ban on talking.  But then again maybe that is why I don't have the inner peace of mindfulness...I don't shut up long enough.

The author goes on to say I need to quiet the inner chatter.  I am not even convinced I can quiet the outer chatter because my mind does not know how to stop so that will be a challenge.  A challenge she addresses in tip number 7 where I am suppose to just bring back my attention when it wanders making it sound so easy and relaxing except I am going to need a leash for my mind. Lately, all it seems to know how to do is wander.  Yep, I am going to need a strong leash.

The article concludes (yes I made it to the end!) with meditation takes practice so be kind to yourself. I can definitely be kind to myself. Although, I am not sure if wine, chocolate, and The Real Housewives of Orange County is what the author had in mind.

On a serious note, I will give meditation a try because I am anxious to be calm. Yeah, I know you noticed the contradiction in that statement.  I will start off with the five minute challenge and if I can manage five minute of blank quietness then it will be quite a success.  And maybe those daily five minutes will give me the promised benefits of a stronger immune system and a lifted mood....although I still think wine and chocolate lifts my mood just fine. 

To access the original article: http://goodlifezen.com/2011/02/22/simple-guide-to-mindfulness-meditation/