The birthday girl!

Anna had her 9th birthday last week, so I can finally unveil the apron-on-model photo of her and Kit. They look even better with Anna's cute smile and her new sassy haircut!

You will want this for dinner!

Last night was cooking night in Leah's apartment. The blessing/curse of living solo is that most recipes make enough for the whole week, hence the singular cooking night. As a child I would have grumbled and whined about eating the same thing every night (my mom can attest). In my older & wiser years, I think, "well at least there's something to eat!" Oh, and I'll take any excuse to wear an apron. :)

So yesterday's lucky pick was Carrie Reed's Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad. "Delish" I say and always a favorite. I love making recipes that remind me of my friends. I've got:

• Blair's Chicken Enchiladas
• Laura's Banana Nut Muffins
• Heather Beth's Couscous Salad
• Annie's Falafels
• Mom's Jambalaya
• Ashley's Fancy Grilled Cheese
• Julie's Spinach Salad

Anyway...here's the recipe for Carrie's salad. Yumminess!

Chicken Sesame Pasta Salad

Salad:
1 pkg (12 oz) wide egg or bowtie pasta
1 bunch green onion, sliced
chopped red, yellow & green peppers
3-4 chicken breasts
1 bunch lettuce or spinach
¼ cup sugared almonds (almonds + 3 Tbs. sugar)

Dressing:
¼ cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
½ cup canola oil
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 Tbs sugar

Directions:
Sugar almonds by placing almonds and sugar in fry pan over medium heat. Stir while cooking until almonds become golden brown (be careful not to burn them!). Cool before adding to salad.

Prepare pasta according to package. Rinse with cold water. Add green onions and peppers. Toss to mix.

Saute chicken in oil, sprinkle with lemon pepper and slice into bite-sized pieces (I cooked chicken in soy sauce instead of lemon pepper). Add to pasta mixture.

Mix all dressing ingredients in blender or food processor. Pour over pasta and refrigerate. Add almonds just before serving. Serve over a bed of lettuce or spinach.

True love

When I walked into the Primary room yesterday, I was greeted by a very excited Miguel who proceeded to present me with a branch of flowers he had "picked" from a tree out in the parking lot and a strand of plastic silver beads (which of course I wore). He told me the flowers made him think of spring! I love getting flowers from boys...especially when they are four years old!

Just call me Queen of Pleats

I know this is dangerously close to boasting, but I made an apron and mastered pleats! Sure, the key really is to have a great iron, and probably anyone can do pleats, but I felt pretty proud of myself. And I just love the "pleatiness" of them. So exact and crisp and right. Hmm what does that reveal about me?! :) The buttonholes on the other hand? Well, not my best work, but it'll do. I made the apron for my niece Anna's b-day (T-minus 9 days and counting). I also made one for her doll. I'll make sure and finagle a picture of the b-day girl in her apron-glory.

My Way Fun Job

I had another First Tuesdays event at the Museum this week. Our theme was Ready, Set, Read in honor of Dr. Seuss' b-day which was the day before. It was a crazy fun day--storytellers, art-making, yoga for kids. Strollers everywhere, toddlers having more fun going up and down stairs than anything we had planned for them, little kids racing around...my kind of f-u-n. At one point in the morning, one little boy informed me "I like art, but not that much." Maybe I'll win him over eventually.

In the afternoon I gathered families in one of our galleries and we took a closer look at self-portrait busts made by Janine Antoni out of chocolate and soap (you can see them in the background of the picture above). We smelled chocolate, passed around some soap to touch and smell, and then imagined what it would be like to make a picture of ourselves out of chocolate (yum!). We finished up with the kids filling in a Mad Libs to create a silly story of visiting the Museum and then turning into food. They were all pretty proud of their stories, and I just had fun watching them!

Wise, Wise 4-year Olds

I teach the 4 and 5 year old Primary class for children at church, and can I say--it is such a blessing in my life! These kids are great. Last Sunday only the three boys were there (the girls were sick). So we had a very rambunctious class. But at the end, we were all sitting on the floor getting ready to color, and Tyler said a prayer. It was so sweet and sincere and real, I was just filled with love. We said "Amen" and I told the boys that I thought we needed a big group hug--which of course ended up being dogpile on me. But I loved every minute of it. Every now and then I wonder how much of our lessons they really take in, week to week. We talk about prophets and scriptures and prayer, but it seems like any time I ask a question (no matter WHAT we are talking about), they enthusiastically answer "Jesus!" The more I think about it, the more I realize they are on to something. The Savior really is the answer to every question and every problem we have. Good thing I have these kids around to remind me of that!