Chicken Crepes

"Would you like a shmoke und a pancake. You know, a flapjack und a shigarette? No? Shigar und a waffle? No? Pipe und a crepe? No? Bong und a blintz? No? Well, then there ish no pleashing you."

For Valentines Day I decided to make my hubby a very yummy dinner. I pulled out my recipe books and found a dish I have never made but eaten tons of times and loved: Chicken Crepes. I'll be honest, they were amazing :) And I made them again last night which is kind of crazy because they take a lot of work--nothing in the recipe is very hard but there are several steps to complete. Next time I will be smarter and make the crepes and boil and shred the chicken in advance (either the day before or in the morning the day of). Of course that's what I said after the first time I made them...Here's the fabulous recipe:

Crepes: (from Lionhouse Cookbook)
3/4 C flour
3 eggs
1/2 C milk
1/2 C water
3 T butter

Double the recipe if you're making a full serving of chicken crepes (about 12-14 wrapped crepes) and make the crepes about twice as thick as dessert/breakfast crepes.

Chicken Crepe Sauce: (from Cecily Horsley)

1/2 C butter
1/2 C flour
1 & 1/2 C half & half
1 can chicken broth

Heat flour and butter until bubbly. Stir in cream and broth. Cook until it boils and thickens. Season with salt and pepper. Divide sauce in 2 bowls (2/3 of it in one bowl and 1/3 in another).

To bigger portion add:
1 & 1/2 lbs diced or shredded chicken
1/2 C mushrooms and/or 1 large diced zucchini (I prefer it with just zucchini)
Fill crepes with chicken and sauce mixture and line them up in a greased pan.

To remaining portion thoroughly mix in:
1/2 C sour cream
Spoon over crepes. Heat dish in the oven at 350 for 15-20 mins.

**anyone recognize the quote from the top? it's from a movie and as B class as it is it makes me laugh--a lot...

**and who doesn't love a picture of Caroline right? Thought I'd throw one in from the weekend. While I cleaned the house on Saturday Joseph entertained the kids--guess he and Bentley were playing target practice on Cares--but she LOVES that "seat belt" and feels quite stylish in it!

Cabin Fever

We heart the new cabin! We spent our very first weekend up there over President's Day and loved everything: the gorgeous views, comfortable furniture, huge kitchen, new toys and old toys, fun cousins, snowy sledding hills, our own little primary lesson and plenty of time for playing princesses :) Cec and I even found time for a little bit of crafting making wood-burned patterns in some kid-friendly stools for the tall sinks in the bathrooms.

It was a wonderful weekend and we returned home worn-out and even a little bit sun-kissed from our playtime outside--love that sunshine against the snow!

7 Little Royals

4 matching princesses and 3 matching princes attended Sisi and Tillie's birthday party this weekend. They had a jolly old time making their own crowns, dancing around and playing ring around the rosie, cuddling with Nanny, opening gifts, and snacking on cupcakes and macaroni and cheese. Princess Tillie was quite pleased with her beautiful costume and visage while Princess Sisi did her best to enjoy the fun despite her longing to just rest on daddy's shoulder. Thanks for the fun party Mary, Krista and Nanny!! We have been loving our party favor mix CDs--what a great idea :) Oh--and thank you Luci for making the prince costumes--they are adorable and you are one amazing seamstress!

Happy Valentimes!

Yes--Valentimes. It has double relevance: a) all the preschoolers in Bentley's little crew said "valentimes" and never "valentines" during our school time together today. It cracked me up because of 2) last year's 30 Rock episode with Rachel Dracht as a bunk, drunk, foreign "lady of the night." To make a long story short--she and Jack (Alec Baldwin) hit it off and she keeps saying "happy valentimes." It's been a silly inside joke for Joseph and me ever since.

So, tonight, said hubby and I had a fun little date to see the movie Definitely, Maybe. And, I loved it. It is exactly my kind of movie. Super sweet, very silly, and full of several love stories--cute. Plus, I heart Ryan Reynolds. I kind of think he is my husband--especially at certain times in that movie. His curly hair, witty remarks, and tall frame remind me so much of Joseph. Anyway, our date tonight was extra special because it was our first in Joseph's new car, the Cadillac CTS (click here to check it out until I post an official picture. Oh, and Joe's is black with the cashmere (fancy word for tan :) leather interior). We're so excited to have it instead of the slowly deteriorating Subaru. Don't get me wrong--I have tons of love for Subey but it will have to be noted in another post at another time.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Blog Tricks

After a year of posting I am finally figuring out little blogging tricks here and there. And often it's because someone smarter and more html savvy has clued me in. Usually, I just wait until my hubby has a free moment to tinker around a tiny bit and make fabulous changes for me. My latest discovery is "post dating" my entries so that they stay in chronological order. I have been doing this with my Hawaii posts since it took me about a week to finally blog about our trip (and I'm not quite done yet :) Therefore, for anyone interested, I have new entries that just show up farther down the page--right amidst all the pictures of blue skies, sunshine, happy kids and the gorgeous islands. Ahhhhh--anyone want to go back with me--right now?!

Heidi's Baby Shower

This weekend we hosted a baby shower for Miss Heidi and "Baby Beidi." It made for a busy week last week but it was fun to have a project and brave the cold mornings to meet up with my mom and Cec at Gardner Village and JoAnn's to get all our decorating, food and favor ideas in order. It ended up being a fantastic evening with a great turnout. I especially loved seeing Heidi's cute friends and adoring family who have so much love for her and genuine excitement for this new phase of her life. Women are phenomenal like that (if I do say so myself :)--so supportive, loving, encouraging and filled with generosity.

Check out Heidi's blog for more pics...
Now here's to 10 more weeks Heid--hope all your new gifts will be fun to organize until you can actually "play" with them as you bring your baby boy home!

I Think I Can...

Yesterday was the big SYTYCD audition--scary right? Well, I grabbed some last minute courage, drove downtown in the early morning, sat around FOREVER, finally had 25 seconds to actually dance, and then it was over with a simple "thank you...next!" And that was it. But I don't have any regrets. It just turns out that in my group of 10 auditioning together there were 3 break dancers who totally rocked. We each had a brief time to show off our "tricks" and my modern dancing just doesn't compare. The 3 breakers --along with others they selected--will now perform for the "judges" on Wednesday (the stuff we get to see televised in the audition episodes). So, I still kind of DO think I can dance--even though it isn't in a flashy or trick-laden way :) And when the SYTYCD auditions air on TV, call me and I'll share the inside scoop and tell you if I met any of the finalists during my 6 hour wait yesterday. It's just so sad that none of you will get to see me dance on TV but don't dismay--I have several tapes of my dance career since the age of 8 if you are really eager to see my moves :)

Thanks for all your calls and emails concerning my "life experience" audition--I have great friends and family who make me feel very loved!!

Oh--and I did get to see Cat Deeley filming some TV segments during the big snow storm in the morning and she is just one cute girl. Fun celebrity sighting!

Our Last Day

On the last day of our trip we headed out on a catamaran ride to see dolphins, more whales, and do a little bit of snorkeling. We left from the Ko Olina harbor which was very convenient since it was only a mile or so away from our hotel. We loved this cruise--there were only about 8 other people on the boat with us so it felt very relaxed and open--plenty of space for the crazies to enjoy themselves! Just as we left the dock we hit a classic Hawaiian rainstorm which got us a little bit wet for 5 minutes or so and then provided a glorious, full rainbow across the sky. Gotta love those Hawaiian views--so beautiful!
And of course--one last chance to golf...
All good things must come to an end and so it was with our perfectly fabulous Hawaiian vacation. 13 days between Maui and Oahu were just what we needed during the cold, stormy, dreary days of January. We heart Hawaii!!

Waimanalo and Waikiki

Wednesday was our busiest day on Oahu. We started the morning in Waimanalo at Sea Life Park for our big dolphin swim adventures. Guess who absolutely hated the idea of leaving Daddy's side to swim with Grandma and Grandpa in the dolphin pool? And guess who was extremely brave and kissed a dolphin right on her nose? At least both the children love, love, loved running around in the rope pull showers--a random but funny little highlight of the park for us (and several Japanese tourists who couldn't help but giggle at our sillies running into and out of the sudden waterfalls :)

After our long but fabulous morning at the park we headed to Waikiki for an early dinner at Duke's and our last visits to Honolua Surf stores just to make sure we didn't miss out on buying more cute digs! Both of the children fell sound asleep in the car on our way down the coast. Cares was so worn out that she just kept on sleeping for another 30 minutes or so right on Grandpa's shoulder in the middle of busy Waikiki--so sweet.
And she woke up as one happy Hawaiian baby!
The sunset that evening was stunning (as always :) and we loved that we were right on Waikiki beach with the band at Duke's playing White Sandy Beach (from our Maui mix CD) right at dusk. Makes my heart yearn for the islands just to remember it!

Haleiwa

Haleiwa--home of the famous North Shore and surfers by the dozen. We spent an hour or so just before sunset on the beach watching the impressive waves, skilled surfers, beach combers (including my mom :), stunning sunset and happy kids. Cares absolutely loved the lifeguard house and kept saying "life jacket again."

one of the many rainbows we photographed on our daily drives