Saturday Stuff....

I was up before 6:30 this morning, so off I went, after I fed the cats (who woke me up). Today's yard sales were better than yesterday's... maybe because it wasn't such a dreary morning.

I found a very nice brass lamp for $15, new but antique-looking.... sort of a desk-lamp style that has two glass lampshades, one on either side of a brass center. I will bring it up to the cottage the next time we go and use it on the sideboard that's in the living room. The brass lamp that's already there is bigger, and I can use that one near the sofa.

I also bought some beautiful Christmas candles, still in their boxes, so I've put those away in the storage closet and they will make a very pretty centerpiece for next Christmas. I guess the lady giving the sale this morning got them as gifts and decided not to keep them. She also had some Pyrex bakeware and a pretty blue and white Currier & Ives platter...... I bought all of that for the cottage as well, for just a few dollars.

And last year, I was looking for one of those large mirrored globes to hang up over the dining room table for New Year's Eve... couldn't find one large enough, no matter where I looked. Well, I found one at a sale this morning, for just fifty cents. I have no idea what we'll be doing for next New Year's Eve, but if I ever need one of those mirrored globes as a decoration, it's ready and waiting in my storage closet. I swear, sooner or later, everything you're looking for turns up at a yard sale.

I've got everything ready now for tonight's dinner with C and R.... I'm making a "quick" Chicken Kiev recipe that I had cut out of a magazine about 25 years ago. I've made this chicken dish from time to time, and it always comes out great. Rather than stuffing the chicken with the "Kiev" ingredients, you dip the boneless chicken (breasts or thighs) into beaten egg, then into bread crumbs seasoned with oregano, pepper and grated cheese. Into the oven it goes for an hour. (I've got it prepared... it's in the fridge getting happy, and I'll put it into the oven to bake later on this afternoon.) After it bakes for an hour, you pour the Kiev sauce over it and bake it for another 15 - 20 minutes. That sauce consists of three tablespoons melted butter, one diced-up medium onion, crushed garlic, parsley flakes, 1/3 cup white white, and 1/3 cup water into which you've mixed a bit of powdered chicken boullion. (I usually simmer the sauce a little bit before pouring it over the chicken.) As the chicken bakes for that last 15 or 20 minutes, it's absorbing that sauce and it's really delicious.... the chicken comes out moist and tender every time. I'm not much of a chicken fan, but I'll probably take just a very small piece of the chicken tonight to taste it.

I used my new food processor to grind up the hard cheese into a finely grated consistency, and then I used it to dice the onions. So simple, so quick...... why did I wait so long to get one of these things!? My husband used the food processor last night to chop up the onions for his oyster stuffing, but he pressed that little button one or two times too many and ended up with what looked like chunky onion-sauce. Of course, it doesn't matter too much if you're mixing it into a stuffing, but he wasn't thrilled with the consistency. So I was careful this morning to resist hitting that button more than was necessary, on the advice of my friend F who has had a food processor for years.

Warm day today... the sun was out before and now it's hiding. Hopefully, we'll have a pretty day here on the first Saturday of the new year.