Chicken Milanese

Today I thought I'd share one of our favorite summer recipes. I was looking up another recipe from Bobby Flay and stumbled across this one. I had a craving for this the other day and didn't remember if I had ever shared it here. There's something about the fresh, peppery salad, thin crispy chicken, and tangy light dressing that makes this the perfect summer dish.

Chicken Milanese

Vinaigrette

1/4 c olive oil

4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp Dijon mustard

freshly ground pepper

Salad

Mixture of arugula, radicchio, spinach, and romaine - I think the original recipe called for just arugula and radicchio, but I usually add spinach and romaine or whatever happens to be ready in the garden.

cherry tomatoes, halved

1 shallot, thinly sliced

a few basil leaves

red pepper flakes -  We also sprinkle some of this on top of our chicken just before serving.
freshly grated Parmesan - sprinkle this on top of the chicken as well

Chicken

4 chicken breasts, pounded into thin cutlets

1 C flour - I add pepper here

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 C bread crumbs - I add pepper, seasoned salt and cayenne pepper

Dredge chicken in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Cook and brown in canola oil. I didn't have any so I used olive oil. Drain on paper towels.

The chicken breasts I bought the other day were HUGE. I don't know what kind of chickens they are raising these days, but good gravy, these are not your average chickens. I ended up only using 2 of the chicken breasts and splitting those in half. This is 2 chicken breasts and that is a 16" platter that they are sitting on

                          

I made enough for 2 meals and we could hardly eat the one cutlet on each of our plates. but my, it was good!

                            

My Sewing Sabbatical Has Been Broken

I haven't a clue as to why I abandoned my sewing machine for over 3 months, but it seems as if we have been reunited:

                              

And after a couple of hours this weekend,

                              

a baby quilt top was born:

                              

This is a tutorial from Amy Smart for the Lone Star Baby Quilt. I made one last year for a co-worker's first grand baby

                             

and I think this is going to be my go-to quilt pattern for a baby girl. At first I thought it might be kind of small (it's 38 x 38 once it's been washed), but my co-worker said it's their favorite gift, the perfect size, and it gets used every single day. That's a winning combination in my book.

It's been a long dry spell, but I've got more baby quilts to make so here's hoping the stitching continues!

Don't Fence Me In Quilt Finished

The oldest UFO on my list is finally finished. I bought this fabric years before I started quilting. I had notions of making valances and a skirt at one time, but year after year the fabric sat on a shelf. Still, every time I ran across it, I found that I still liked it and once I was bitten by the quilt making bug, I was determined to turn it into a quilt. See, 1998 - it's definitely spent enough time hiding in a dark cabinet:

                               

Piecing this so that the horses didn't have 6 hooves or tails growing out of their noses was probably the biggest hurdle I faced, but once I dove in, it didn't turn out half bad:

                                   

And for some reason, I was drawn to using some sort of a Seminole design with this fabric so I put pencil to paper and figured out what I needed:

                                  

At one point, I had started this design and then run out of fabric, and set it aside for a few more years. Once I set my mind to finishing it, I dug back into my stash and chose fabrics of which I had enough yardage.


                                                

Jackie quilted an all over design with a denim blue thread:

                                 

I pieced the back with some leftover fabrics and bound it with a denim blue:

                                            

It measures 85 x 106 and it took me almost a month to bind:

                         

It has now been washed and dried and folded at the foot of the bed for those chilly nights when it is gratefully reached for and snuggled under before dozing back to sleep:

                                              

It's just a simple row quilt, but I like the end result and the fact that these horses have been set free from that dark cabinet after all these years just tickles me to pieces.

                                    

What I've Been Up To

Ya'll probably wonder, if I'm not sewing, what in the heck am I doing with my time?  I've asked myself that same question. I'm certainly not blogging - or spending any time on the computer for that matter. The days just seems to be flying by. I've been spring cleaning. Spending lots of time out in the garden.  I didn't have a garden last year with our trip to Africa, and I'm itching to hover over growing things again this year

                                      

The days are gradually getting longer and I find myself soaking in the incredible desert sunsets. No matter how busy the day is, skies like this tend to stop me in my tracks, give thanks and praise for God's hand in every aspect of my life, and savor the moment:

                                 

. Tis' also the season for bull sales:

                             

Many hours were spent studying the sale catalog weeks before sale day:

                          

And taxes...BOO, and enjoying baby bovines...YAY, as we make our feed runs.

                                   

As well as praying for rain because DH is spending too many hours in the feed truck and he's more than ready to stop making feed runs:

                                     

Our days at the sale barn are long and its between 8 and 9 in the evening before I come home. That leaves no time to run errands after work, making it necessary to drag myself into town for another day during the week.

DH and I are organizing our Africa pictures for a program for the Safari Club

                                 

I'm still pinching myself that we were really there.

We're also plotting out our branding schedule and after a month, I finally managed to finish stitching on a binding so I'll have a quilt to share in the next day or two, but my sewing machine may be about to walk itself  down the dirt road, out to the pavement and see if some poor soul will take pity on it, pick it up and actually use it.