the pattyo

***QOD

“He’s a good Christian, yet hardly dull at all.”

-Father Mulcahy referring to Colonel Potter, M*A*S*H, The Price of Tomato Juice, Episode 87

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***QOD

Amazing that the human race has taken enough time out from thinking about food or sex to create the arts and sciences.

-Mason Cooley (b. 1927) U.S. aphorist
City Aphorisms, Eighth Selection, New York (1991)

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***Important Days to Remember

July 28 is . . . . National Milk Chocolate Day

July 29 is . . . . Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day

July 30 is . . . . National Cheesecake Day

July 31 is . . . . Parent’s Day

***Dan’s Pictures
from his trip are absolutely spectacular! Visit the page he set up and you’ll see those as well as the description of the pack trip. Wow.

***Today
I begin the reed making classes. This is a first for me, and it has taken a good amount of preparation; I went through my reed making books and searched sites and have now put together my own little book. I also put the book online for any interested folks to see. It’s nice to have photographers in the family; Dan and Kelsey took pictures for me. (Thanks, guys!)
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***Dan is on the Phone
right now with Brandon!

***Sunday
night through Monday: Brandon is now in Pennsylvania. They went to Baltimore, and then breezed through Philadelphia, which sounded as if it wasn’t great … fairly dumpy from what he said.

They are spending the night in a campground in Pennsylvania.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) they are going to Cooperstown (yay, Baseball Hall of Fame!) and then will land in Boston to visit with some friends of Matt. HOW they will get into Boston will be a challenge … they say that the Democratic Convention has caused roads to be closed. I hope they can figure it out! It sounded as if they might stay in Boston for a while, or at least use that as a “base” for a time.

Anyway, I only chatted for a minute so that he could then chat with Dan; up until today Dan hasn’t been home when Brandon has called.

***Back Home

I enjoyed my little break, but somehow it’s not all that great to go out to dinner by myself.

The performance went okay, but it wasn’t perfect. (Rats!) I muffed the first note, which just ticked me off. But that’s show biz, folks.

Anyway, it’s good to be back home.

***Brandon and the Trip

I emailed Timothy and he said, as I expected he would, that Brandon and Matt are quite welcome to stay at the Brooklyn house when Timothy & Margaret get back on the 2nd. This is great news since I doubt very much that the guys could afford to spend money on a hotel in NYC!
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Ingredients:

• boneless, skinless chicken breasts (if you don’t have boneless that’s okay but it will take longer to cook, and if you don’t have skinless just remove the skin and toss it) — one half breast per person
• olive oil (I use garlic flavored)
• onions, chopped
• celery, chopped
• mushrooms, sliced
• carrots, sliced
• other vegies that you like, chopped or sliced
• some kind of pasta sauce — I use Prego

Put the oil in a pan and heat it up. When it’s hot (but not burning!) put in the celery and onions and saute until soft. Remove from pan.

Add chicken to the pan and brown a bit in the pan. Remove from pan.

Saute mushrooms in more olive oil until you’ve reduced them to those nice looking sauteed mushrooms your mom and dad love.

While you are doing the saute stuff, you can also put the carrots in a steamer and steam ‘em for about 5 minutes just to make sure they will be completely cooked after everything is baked.

Put the chicken in a glass baking dish. Cover with all the veggies. Cover everything in the sauce. Cover the dish in foil

Bake in a 350 degree oven until done. This is usually about 45 minutes or so.

Have leftovers? You can chop everything up, freeze or refrigerate the mix, and later turn all of it into a yummy soup. Just add more sauce, water and bring to a boil. Add more veggies if you want to, and you can also add pasta if you prefer.
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Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken breast split in two
• mustard (I use Dijon or something similar) – 1 good sized spoonfull
• butter — about 3 T
• honey — about 1/4 cup

Melt the butter and honey together, then mix in the mustard. Pour over chicken.

Put the chicken in a glass baking dish. Cover with the mustard/butter/honey mixture. Cover the dish in foil

Bake in a 350 degree oven until done. This is usually about 45 minutes or so … maybe a little less than that, actually.

I serve with rice. Yum! (Don’t forget your vegetables.)
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Mom’s Easy Recipes

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These aren’t fancy, but they are quick and easy and they are things that my kids seem to enjoy, so I’m posting them slowly but surely so that the kids can easily make actual meals!

• Chili
• Chicken Cacciatore
• Double-Chocolate Cookies
• Corn Bread
• Grandma Mitchell’s Last Flight of the Bird
• Honey Mustard Chicken
• Kelsey Cookies
• Parmesan Chicken

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Ingredients:

• boneless, skinless chicken breasts (if you don’t have boneless that’s okay, and if you don’t have skinless just remove the skin and toss it) — one half breast per person
• butter, melted
• parmesan cheese (I use the freshly grated stuff, but you can always use the Kraft canned junk if you want to settle for less (smile)

Put the breast(s) in a glass baking dish. Pour melted butter over the chicken and then put a lot of parmesan on.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until done. This is usually about 45 minutes or so.

I serve with baked potatoes, and if you prepare the potatoes first (just clean ‘em, poke ‘em, and stick ‘em in the 350 degree oven) and then prepare the chicken everything will be done at the same time.
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Ingredients

boneless, skinless chicken breasts (if you don’t have boneless that’s okay, and if you don’t have skinless just remove the skin and toss it) — one half breast per person
butter, melted
parmesan cheese (I use the freshly grated stuff, but you can always use the Kraft canned junk if you want to settle for less (smile)

Put the breast(s) in a glass baking dish. Pour melted butter over the chicken and then put a lot of parmesan on.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until done. This is usually about 45 minutes or so.

I serve with baked potatoes, and if you prepare the potatoes first (just clean ‘em, poke ‘em, and stick ‘em in the 350 degree oven) and then prepare the chicken everything will be done at the same time.
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