Random September

I loved getting this photo by text when Mama and Daddy and I were on our trip out west.  Scott and Anne were enjoying the evening at the hot air balloon festival in Brookfield when they ran into Jackson, Brianna, and Megan.  How fun!  I think they all had a fantastic time.  :)

This was cute - this is Hannah and Megan at Downing Appreciation Days.  (Correction!!  These photos were taken at the Unionville Labor Day Celebration!)  Their photo was taken by a friend of Hannah's Aunt Mary who was excited to see young visitors in their town for the celebration.  :)  They had been dancing on the piano keys crosswalk just before this - making quite an entrance to the little town.  :)

Zan, Megan, and Hannah at Unionville Labor Day Celebration

This was the sight that greeted me when I arrived home after the wonderful trip west with Mama and Daddy.  Marvin was out on the tractor in the front field.  A sight for sore eyes, indeed!!

I don't usually get photos of Chester and Marvin working on the horses hooves, but on this day I stepped out to the barn to say hi.  We sure do appreciate Chester's skill at trimming the hooves.  He and Marvin have kept our old horses going for a lot of years through this quality farrier work.

Bella with Chester and Marvin 

I enjoyed a fun evening in the pool with my friend, Tammy, who was in visiting from St. Louis.  However, we didn't get a picture that evening!  I was super glad to see her again the next day at Red Barn Arts and Crafts Festival where we snapped this photo together, along with our fellow classmate Katrina.

Tammy, Laura, Katrina

Lyn and Amanda came to town for the Red Barn Arts Festival

Amanda, Marvin, Mama, Daddy, Julie, Lyn, Jonathan

I participated in a workshop at church one Sunday evening where we looked back at the history of our congregation as part of a process of looking forward.  It was an interesting evening of remembering markers in the history of the church, heroes of faith from the church, and moments when God 'showed up' in the church.  All designed to see 'who we are' as a church.  What our core values are an how we want to move forward.  I took some photos of the board at the end of the evening - a lot of great memories recorded there throughout the history of the congregation.

participants that evening 

Just a few photos of the end of summer, beginning of fall out here at Willis Creek Ranch. I took these photos on the way to church.  A storm was coming and it looked pretty.

Then I noticed something big and white on the pond.  I couldn't get a good photo of it from this distance, but it looked like a swan!  However, I was corrected at lunch and it was a white egret.  It was huge!

We went to the first Lyceum program of this season.  It was Rocket Man, an Elton John tribute show.  It was pretty good overall.

Creamy Chicken Piccata (IP)

Creamy Chicken Piccata in the Instant Pot
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast sliced horizontally into halves.
            (I use Schwans 4 oz. chicken breasts)
¼ cup flour
salt and pepper to taste  (a pinch and a dash)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup chicken broth
½ cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
¼ tsp. salt to taste
2½ Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. capers in a jar.  Use capers only - no juice
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley

Mix the flour, salt and pepper in a dish.  Dredge the chicken with the flour.  Turn on the Saute mode on the Instant Pot.  When the pot is fully heated add the olive oil and butter.  Brown the chicken on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side.

Add the garlic and cook a bit.  Add the chicken broth, heavy whipping cream, grated Parmesan cheese, salt, lemon juice, and capers.  Cover the pot and press Cancel, then Manual high pressure and set for 10 minutes.  Allow a 2 minute natural pressure release, then do a quick release of pressure.  When the valve drops remove the cover.  Turn to Saute mode and cook for a couple of minutes more to thicken/reduce the sauce.  You may add more salt or lemon juice to taste.  Top with the parsley and serve with plain pasta.

Garlic Shrimp Scampi

Garlic Shrimp Scampi
8 oz. pasta (recipe called for angel hair, I only had linguine on hand)
½ cup butter
2 cloves garlic, diced
1½ pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
⅓ cup white wine
¾ cup dry bread crumbs
3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta according to package directions.

Then in a large saucepan, melt butter and saute garlic until tender.  Add the shrimp and cook until they turn pink.  Stir in the white wine.  Use the bread crumbs as thickening so just add them a bit as a time until you get the thickness of the sauce you desire.  Serve the shrimp over the pasta and top with the parmesan cheese.

Sourdough Trials

I have been experimenting with baking sourdough bread.  I have been a bit hit and miss but thankfully, my dear friend, Kristina, gave me a starter for sourdough that even I can't kill!  It is historic in that it has been alive since the late 1800's so is very stable.  Right up my alley!  :)  I'll share recipes another day, but here are some photos of some of the things I have tried so far.   

This one I liked a lot.  It was a long fermenting bread with an overnight rise.

This one was a faster, no-knead bread that was good, but not my favorite.  However, it was a quick one - start to finish in a few hours.

I even tried my hand at sourdough biscuits.

And this was a really good sourdough sandwich loaf.

Celebrating Brianna

We celebrated dear Brianna's 23rd birthday a couple of days early with a family lunch after church.  (Back on Sept. 15)  Love this marvelous young woman so much!  She is a spectacular teacher, a wonderful daughter-in-law, and she is going to be a magnificent mother.  :)  Here is to a great year ahead for Brianna.

Bruschetta Baked Shrimp

I made this for wine night in September.  It was simple and delicious and I will definitely make it again.

Bruschetta Baked Shrimp
1 ½ pounds raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 cloves, garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. dry white wine
½ tsp. salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
½ cup Panko bread crumbs
4 Roma tomatoes, cored and diced
¼ cup fresh basil, julienned
¼ cup (1 oz.) Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a 9x13 baking dish toss the shrimp together with the garlic and wine.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss well, and spread evenly over bottom of dish.  (I used my Pampered Chef RockCrok pan.)

In a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave.  Add the Panko crumbs and mix well.  Sprinkle over the shrimp mixture.  Bake for 7-8 minutes or until shrimp are just beginning to turn pink.  Switch oven to broil at 550 degrees and continue to bake for 2-3 minutes, watching carefully to not burn.

Remove shrimp from oven and sprinkle evenly with diced tomatoes, basil, and Parmesan.  Serve immediately.

Find the recipe here...
https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/bruschetta-baked-shrimp/

Marinated Mozzarella Melon Salad

I made this for wine night in September.  It went really well with the Rosé.

Marinated Mozzarella Melon Salad
8 oz. fresh mozzarella balls in water, drained
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lemon, juiced (I used ReaLemon)
1 lime, juiced (I used ReaLime)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil plus extra for sprinkling
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp. dried oregano
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (I omitted)
2 cups watermelon balls (about ½ large watermelon)
1 ½ cups cucumber balls (about 3 seedless cucumbers)

Place the mozzarella balls in a bowl.  In a smaller bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon and lime juice, basil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.  Pour it over the mozzarella balls to marinate while you fix the rest of the salad.

Use a melon baller and scoop out the watermelon and cucumber.  (Note - I used the melon baller on the cucumber, then sort of chunked up the rest.)  Place watermelon and cucumber in large bowl.  Pour the mozzarella and dressing (marinade) in the bowl and toss well.  Keep in refrigerator before serving, or serve immediately.  Top with more fresh basil and/or herbs if you like.

Find the recipe here... https://www.howsweeteats.com/2017/05/marinated-mozzarella-melon-salad/

September Wine Night - Rosé

September wine night (2019) was our first time going it alone with the book as our guide.  I think we did pretty well considering!!  :)  We decided to study Rosé wines since that wasn't covered in the book 'The Wine Club'.  We didn't have as large a crew (fall is harder for a lot of people) and so didn't have as many wines to sample.  I think we all felt that Rosé fell a bit short of where we wanted it to be.  We may have to try this one again with some new and different selections...

Hannah, Andrea, Judy, Laura, Donna, Megan

Beautiful!  

yummy pasta salad

Marinated Mozzarella Melon Salad

Bruschetta Baked Shrimp

Cheese Fondue with bread

Cheese and grapes platter

Prosciutto, Goat cheese, and hummus

Olive platter

strawberries for the cake

angel food cake

It was Judy's actual birthday  (and anniversary, too!!) and we were so happy to get to celebrate with her!!  Of course she had to blow out candles on a birthday cake!  :)

Hannah, Andrea, Judy, Laura, Donna, Megan 

2018 Grande Alberone Rosé Italia #1 on wine tasting sheet

2016 Voluptueux Malbec Rosé #2 on wine tasting sheet

2018 Chloe Rosé #3 on wine tasting sheet

2018 Rosé-Vous #4 on wine tasting sheet

2018 Ava Grace Rosé #5 on wine tasting sheet

2018 Cotes de Provence Rosé #6 on wine tasting sheet

Arosa Sparkling Moscato Rosé #7 on wine tasting sheet

My wine tasting sheet for Rosé

Chiara, Julie and Lisa dropped by later in the evening

I haven't posted about the main resources we have used for this study in awhile... will post them below FYI.

This is the book we used to get started.  It is out of print but we have been able to pick up used copies for about $5 each.  It provides all the info we need including which wines to study each month, what types to purchase, recipes to go with... and etc.  Great resource!!

The Wine Club:  A Month by Month Guide to Learning About Wine with Friends   https://amzn.to/2MEfurk

This little wine tasting kit has been a good investment.  It provides the bags we use to cover the wine bottles so that we are 'blind tasting'.  It also has nice laminated sheets that give an overview of what we are looking for in each wine and the pages we use to record our tasting notes.  
The Wine Game Kit
https://amzn.to/2Trtp6Y

This book is by our favorite 'wine lady' of all time.  :)  It is a great resource to have on hand and is chock full of charts and graphs and information.   
Wine Folly
https://amzn.to/2WuYLeJ


Finally, here are links to video clips we watched for Rosé.


Let's Explore Rosé - Wine Folly




All About Rosé - One on Wine




Everything you need to know about Rosé




Rosé Wine Guide



Wine and Food Pairing