ON THE MENU MONDAY~ WEEK OF APRIL 1, 2013

Happy Easter! 
I hope you are all having a blessed and fun day ...

Thanks for joining me for

ON THE MENU MONDAY

Here's what's ON THE MENU...




MONDAY

PORK TENDERLOIN STUFFED WITH GOUDA
SAUTEED SPINACH


TUESDAY
CRAB STUFFED TILAPIA ROLL UPS
CEASAR SALAD





WEDNESDAY~ SOUP DAY
RUBEN SOUP
Crusty Bread


THURSDAY
VEAL SCALLOPINNI WITH BABY ARTICHOKES
Linguine


FRIDAY
STEAKS ON THE GRILL
Baked Potatoes
WEDGE SALAD






SATURDAY
ITALIAN CHEF SALAD
PARMESAN PUFF PASTRY BREAD STICKS






SUNDAY
LOBSTER BISQUE
JORDAN POND POPOVERS

Here is some yumminess from last week's OTMM...


HOW TO MAKE PERFECT ROASTED GARLIC from FLOUR ON MY FACE is a recipe everyone should have. Roasted garlic is a staple in my house!!!











CHOCOLATE AVOCADO MOUSSE from MODERN CHRISTIAN HOMEMAKER sounds so interesting. She promises we will not taste the avocado, but love the creaminess it lends to this "sexy" dessert.












STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE IN SUGAR COOKIE CUPS from THE TAYLOR HOUSE are a must-try for me. I love anything bite sized and fruity!!!












BOURBON BBQ SLIDERS WITH CHIPOTLE AIOLI... oh my goodness... doesn't that sound fabulous? This great recipes comes from FRUGAL FERRET.










Here's what to do with all of those left over Easter eggs... make DEVILED EGG PASTA SALAD from SEE AMY COOK. What a brilliant idea!












HIGHPOINT CIRCLE shared a fabulous SPRING BRUNCH with lots of scrumptious recipes and a great tablescape. SO pretty!












My friend Sam from MY CAROLINA KITCHEN  is the most wonderful cook. Her blog is like the best foodie magazine!!! She shared BISTRO STYLE BLEU CHEESE STUFFED BURGERS WITH A PORT AND CAPER SAUCE. It's already on the Menu for next week!










Now what's on your menu...

Thanks, for joining us and sharing!

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EASTER SUNDAY SCRIPTURE~ I HAVE SEEN THE TOMB!

street sign

I will never forget the first time I saw the TOMB.

It was an oppressively hot and rather muggy evening... in early July. I was studying in Old City Jersualem.

 There were four of us... American women dressed in "holy garb"... head covered, shoulders covered, knees covered. Our head scarves wet with perspiration stuck to the sides of our cheeks and rivulets of sweat ran down our backs...partly because it was stifling and partly because we were overcome with heart racing anticipation of where we were headed

We darted through the very crowded and close Arab market that was alive with strange faces and unusual aromas and brightly colored wares hung on each side of the narrow streets two stories high. The streets were so narrow that we could hardly walk four across...

Arab market in Old City Jerusalem by day

streets in Old Jerusalem

We had ventured out away from the rest of the students to visit and the Church Of The Holy Sepulchre ...the holy burial chamber of Jesus of Nazareth. The four of us decided that we did not want to visit the tomb as a part of a study course... but as a pilgrimage.  

And so it was.

We scurried along... huddled together, grasping at one another's hands and clothing just to make sure we were not parted in the crowd. The streets were a labyrinth of alleyways and passages. The ancient stone buildings so tall on both sides it felt as thought you were in a tunnel! 

Arab market in Old City Jerusalem by day

It wasn't long until we were completely lost! 

At one point in an attempt to find our bearings we stopped at a corner of a ancient stone building. Standing in the middle of the street, I could stretch my arms out and almost touch the building on the other side.  I could feel the panic starting to rise up inside me... I don't like the feeling of being closed in! It mingled with the heat and made me feel lightheaded!

I put my hand against the wall in front of me to steady myself  and touched something etched into the building... a cross and the word NIKA... which means "victory". 

I knew exactly what this was.  We had stumbled on to the VIA DELOROSA... the way of the cross and were standing in front of the eighth station of the cross! We were unknowingly walking the path that our Savior walked over two thousand years earlier as he carried His instrument of death to Calvary!  Right there in the midst of the market... and the noise and the smells and the heat and the crowds of strange faces was the Way Of The Cross!

Because of my early religious background I was able to remember the eighth station on the Via Delorosa... 

JESUS MEETS THE WOMEN OF JERUSALEM.  

At this point I was totally overcome by the divine appointment that brought us to this exact place!

As Jesus walked to His death, a group of women met Him and were grief stricken. Jesus tells them not to weep for Him...but to weep for themselves and their children. As days would be coming that would be very hard for them. He felt great love and compassion for them even though He was steps away from His own death.

We were these women! We were out to meet our Lord!  And we were strengthened by the  peace and comfort those thoughts gave us!

When we finally got to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre it was dark.. and the church not overly crowded.  

How could I ever explain this "church". Think of a fortress the size of a football field. Nothing to me resembled a church... or Calvary or a garden tomb... which are all in such close proximity that they are housed inside the "church".

The church was lit by hundreds and hundreds of ornate oil lanterns in different jewel toned colors and  shapes hanging from above... and the whole huge place smelled like burning oil and incense! There was nothing western or familiar about this place. It was old and oriental and orthodox!

We made our way to an area in the huge complex-of-a-church that was the tomb where Jesus was buried.

Of course it looked nothing like a garden and nothing like a tomb. It was a small church... inside the big fortress church. A church inside a church!

The tomb by day

I decided to sit on a bench near the opening of the church-tomb to reflect and get myself in a worshipful place.  My sister-in-law sat with me.

I spent a lot of time weeping quietly... the magnitude of it all... of Jesus' supreme sacrifice for me and the extreme and lavish gift of life everlasting at my God's expense pierced my heart!

Just before the Church closed for the night, four American women in holy garb got in line to go into the tomb... into the holy sepulchre!

There are just some things about the tomb visitation I still want to keep locked in my heart... things that I ponder and treasure. Things I don't want to share because if I do I'm afraid they will slip out of my mouth and float away into thin air and I won't get them back inside me again!

Things between me and God!

But this you must know...

I was in the inner tomb... inside where you could see that it was actually a cave. Where they laid the dead body of Jesus of Nazareth.  It was a small cramped space. Only a couple of people could fit in at a time. I could not stand upright. It was a real tomb.

 I knelt down at the stone slab where my Lord's body once was.  I draped my arms over it and laid my cheek against it and the thirsty stone drank up my tears!

The tomb was empty! Jesus was not there!

Again, I thought of a few women over two thousand years ago who came to this very tomb looking for Jesus

 ... they found it empty too!

An angel met them and said. "Why are you looking for the LIVING ONE among the dead? He is not here...

HE IS RISEN". 

He is risen, indeed!

 I have seen the empty tomb with my own eyes!

SPRING IN THE CUPBOARD

Do you have a place in your home that you love to decorate seasonally? I sure do...

It's a little built-in cupboard in my dining room.  It's quite tall and thin and has curvy shelves, but it can hold some of the most festive seasonal vignettes.

Here it is decked out for Spring...

I took these pictures early in the morning when the sun was playing with the crystals on my chandelier... together they made some pretty rainbows splashes across the cupboard...

Each shelf holds pretty white plates and spring flowers planted in dishware.  Don't you just love tete a tete daffodils? So happy and cute!

Alyssum flowers are potted in my cabbage tea cups. All the plants will be potted outside eventually!

Nests and eggs play an important role too...

Happy Easter... Happy Spring!

BUDGET DECORATING PARTY

PRETTY THINGS

HERBED CHICKEN SALAD

I must admit that until I made this chicken salad, my homemade chicken salad was nothing to brag about.

My local grocer made much better chicken salad than me... UGH!

Oh, but how things have changed!!! I now join the ranks of culinary mavens who make good chicken salad!

Here's how I do it...

I called on my favorite cooking celebrities to see how they made such great chicken salad... Martha, Ina and  Anne (as in Burrell).


I chose INA'S method for cooking chicken... some of  MARTHA'S add ins ... and ANNE'S sassy love of cooking ("Look at you, beautiful chickens!")!

I am not a fan of all the fruit and nuts and whatnot in chicken salad. I am a classic kinda girl... but if you like those things I'm sure they could easily be added in!

I think this is a chicken salad you could love too!


STONEGABLE'S WITH-A-LITTLE-HELP-FROM-MY-COOKING-FRIENDS HERBED CHICKEN SALAD

4 split chicken breasts
good olive oil
salt and pepper

1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1/2 ~ 2/3 cup celery, finely diced
salt and pepper
2 TBS fresh parsley, chopped
1 TBS fresh dill, chopped
1/2 tsp thyme, leaves
1~ 1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 TBS lemon juice
a  few dashes of hot sauce

*tarragon can be substituted in place of thyme... I find tarragon overpowering, so I don't use it.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place chicken skin side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Liberally rub with oil and salt and pepper.
Roast until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. I use an instant read thermometer instead of using cooking times. It makes a more perfectly cooked piece of chicken. No dry chicken here!

Remove the chicken from oven and let just cool until you can handle it.

When cool enough to handle remove the skin and bones and chop the meat to your preferred consistancy. I like mine a little more shredded than most. Save the skin and bones for soup stock.

Put the chicken in a mixing bowl along with the red onions, celery, a little salt and pepper, parsley, dill and thyme.

In a second small mixing bowl add mayonnaise, lemon juice and hot sauce. Stir well. Mix the mayonnaise into the chicken until incorporated. Adjust for salt and pepper.


I served this chicken salad in puff pastry cups for a recent bridal shower. They were such a hit!!!

To see the the puff pasty culinary tutorial, click HERE.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS #41

WELCOME TO

 TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS # 41

It looks like a Spring Fling here at StoneGable! You have to take a look at all the creative spring DYI's and Recipes and Tutorials and Crafts and wonderful things to show-off! I may not be able to comment on each entry... but you know that I am lovin' all of them!!!

Here are some great features from last week's TTT...

SPRING WREATH DYI from ZU HAUS AT HOME... so pretty and welcoming!

Let's do another beautiful wreath.... this SIMPLE SPRING FRONT DOOR PORCH from MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS is another must-try! So lovely!!!

TEN DYI VINYL STENCIL PROJECTS from DYI VILLAGE will make you want to do a few yourself!

GUSTIVIAN ARMOIRE DYI from Divine Theatre is a SPECTACULAR transformation!!!! You really need to see it!

CINNAMON ROLL LAMB from LIVING A COTTAGE LIFE is so adorable and perfect for Easter!

IT'S A HOME TOUR.... NO PLACE LIKE HOME'S MASTER BEDROOM... we love these!

WORK ART ON TV TRAYS from LAKE GIRL PAINTS is a wonderful way to remember in words things like... where you have lived! BRILLIANT!

PLANTING SEEDS IN EGGSHELLS is a great posted guest posted by HOUSE PRETTY over at BACK TO BASICS. I'm trying this!!!












DYI PHOTO CANVAS from CLEAN AND SENTSIBLE has a fabulous tutorial for making these wonderful and expensive canvases we all love!!!

If you have been featured at TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS please grab a "Featured" button from my sidebar.

Now let's see what great TUTORIALS, TIPS AND TIDBITS  you have for us this week!

Remember, any little tidbit will do!

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