A Purple Christmas Chicken

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.                                              ~Stanley Horowitz

Yesterday was rather run of the mill day - nothing new, nothing exciting.  But sometimes sameness is a good thing - restful, steady, and comfortable.  I did have a good lunch with my BFF at the Village Grill - Spicy Meatball Soup and salad.  Definitely was a soup day.

Photo Of The Day:

PURPLE

Purple is royalty. A mysterious color, purple is associated with both nobility and spirituality. The opposites of hot red and cool blue combine to create this intriguing color.  Purple has a special, almost sacred place in nature: lavender, orchid, lilac, and violet flowers are often delicate and considered precious. Because purple is derived from the mixing of a strong warm and strong cool color it has both warm and cool properties. A purple room can boost a child's imagination or an artist's creativity. Too much purple, like blue, could result in moodiness.  Deep or bright purples suggest riches while lighter purples are more romantic and delicate. Use redder purples for a warmer color scheme or the bluer purples to cool down.  A deep eggplant purple with neutral tans or beige is an earthy, conservative color combination with a touch of the mystery that purple provides.  Green and purple can be a striking combination in deep or bright jewel tones or use lighter shades for a cheerful, springlike feel.  Pink and purple has feminine appeal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday I was assigned my first partner in the Christmas Quilting Block Swaps Australia.  Her name is Robyn of Robyns Home In the Mountains.  She requested a Christmas tree in either patchwork or applique in colors of red, green, gold and cream.  The block I made will be going out in today's mail.  I don't want to show the block until Robyn receives it but here is a peak:

I hope Robyn likes it

By the way, the Christmas Quilting Block Swaps Australia is still looking for more participants.  If you are interested you can click either the link above or the block on the right sidebar.  Come join us - it's fun!! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't get to any other sewing yesterday, but I did get a little bit more done on the SIL Christmas Stocking.  I'm so close to being done - next week is the goal.  So, since I have no more craftiness to show you, I will share a recipe I tried this week.  I found this a few weeks ago in the Parade section of the Sunday paper.  It stated "Here's a 21st-century take on a '60's TV dinner staple".  The recipe is by Bobby Flay.

OVEN-FRIED CHICKEN

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

3 Tablespoons canola oil

Sal and freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients minus the chicken

Directions

1.  Whisk together the buttermilk, mustard, paprika, garlic and onion powders, salt, and cayenne in a large baking dish.  Add the chicken breasts; turn to coat. Cover; refrigerate for 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

Ready for the frig

2.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position.

3.  Pulse 1 1/4 cups of bread crumbs in a blender until fine. Pour them into a shallow bowl, add remaining ingredients, and mix well.

4.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a baking rack on top.  Liberally spray the rack with nonstick baking spray.

5.  Working one breast at a time, remove chicken from the marinade and dredge in the crumb mixture. Place on rack. Bake until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the breast registers 160 degrees F, about 25 minutes.

Coated and ready for the oven

A nice golden brown and ready to serve

Personal Notes

1.  If you are worried about the taste of the buttermilk, it really doesn't come through.  Believe me, I don't like buttermilk!

2.  I used vegetable oil instead of canola oil

3.  I ended up cooking the chicken for about 40 minutes total.

4.  Reheats well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAYS

I am behind once again on reading all of the great blogs out there but here is one giveaway I did find:

Joy Studios is giving away a bunch of fun fat quarters and a patch panel. This giveaway ends October 13.

And, of course, don't forget to enter my Fall Into Fall Bloggers Giveaway by clicking on the link HERE.  You can check out all of the other participants by clicking on the scarecrow in the right sidebar.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Final Thought

It's finally Friday. Another week coming to a close.  Did you get all that you wanted accomplished?  I pretty much did.  Do you have any plans for the weekend?  My Saturday will be sort of busy but I think Sunday may truly be a day of rest.  So I leave you heading into the weekend with this quote:

Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless. 
                                    ~Bill Watterson

Have a fantastic, festive, fabrictastic Friday!!