best kebob ever...

This week, we wanted to make a special dinner.  You know, one that involves a real recipe and marinating and stuff.  So we perused a grill book called Born to Grill and found a kebob that intrigued us.  It is so delicious that I couldn't wait to share it! 

Apple Chicken Sausage Kebobs
Marinade
1c apple cider or juice
1/2 medium onion chopped
1/4 olive oil
2T brown mustard
4tsp minced fresh sage (or 2tsp dried)
1T minced fresh Thyme (or 1.5T dried)
1T Dijon mustard
1/2tsp salt

1lb chicken breast cut into 1" pieces
8oz fully cooked chicken-apple sausage (it's in the grocery store, but if you can't find it you can use any mild chicken based sausage) cut into 1" slices
4 green onions cut into 1" pieces (which we omitted, but for the sake of you non onion haters...)
1 red delicious apple cut into bite sized chunks so that each piece has some skin on it.  (i used an apple corer to get my slices and then chopped those into thirds)
The recipe calls for metal skewers, but we didn't have any so I used the bamboo ones, with no problem.

At least 1.5 hours and up to 8 hours before you plan to grill, prepare the marinade, combining the ingredients in a small bowl.  Place the chicken chunks in a plastic bag, pour the marinade over them, and refrigerate.

Remove the chicken from the fridge, draining the marinade into a small sauce pan and reserving it

Avoiding crowding, thread the chicken sausage, onions (blech) and apple chunks onto the skewers, beginning and ending with the apple and using just occasional green onion pieces.  Let the kebobs sit covered at room temperature for about 15 min.

fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium

bring the marinade to a vigorous boil over high heat, cooking for several minutes, until reduced by 1/4.  Remove the reduced marinade sauce from the head and adjust the seasoning, if desired.

Grill the kebobs uncovered over medium heat for 8-10 min, turning to cook on all sides, until the chicken is opaque but still juicy.  Brush the kebobs with the sauce in the last few minutes of cooking.

Serve kebobs hot!!

I actually bought almost 2 lb of chicken because it was on sale, and so the recipe would go a little further.  We were able to get 7 kebobs with this (and one of just chicken)  The book says that it'll feed 4-6 portions if you use just the 1 lb.  Grilled apples are just delightful btw!

MSM

Hey!  I’m making stuff AND I’m posting it on Monday again!  This week, I’m sharing how I designed and made curtains with you.  I should start off by saying that I am not a seamstress.  I am terrible at sewing with the machine, but I want to get better at it and the only way to do that is to practice.  What I guess I’m saying is, if I can do this so can you.  Taller curtains are a little daunting to make just due to their size, so you’ll need some floor space and preferably a space that your dog can’t walk across your fabric. 

I know that Wal-Mart and Target offer affordable curtains that can actually be cheaper to buy than it is to make.  However, I am in desperate need for blackout curtains and those can get quite pricey.   Also, unless you’re decorating in the “it” color of the month, finding the color you want in a box store can be next to impossible.  Summer is a great time to take on fabric projects because there are some great deals to be had out there.  I was able to find the blackout fabric, trim, and the white fabric at 50% off, and the green fabric was in the scraps section, which is usually at least half off.  I was able to make 3 custom panels for the price of one! 

When designing your curtains, keep in mind that you want the curtain panels a little wider than your window, and you’ll have to decide whether you want them floor length, of just the height of your window.  Be sure to take seams, as well as how you’ll hang your curtains into account.  (ie if you want to use grommets, or a curtain rod pocket, be sure you allow for enough fabric to do this)

My particular curtains have two blocks of color with a contrasting trim separating the two.  It’s a little extra work, but doesn’t take too much time.   

I just set the green, wrong side up, along the bottom edge of the white fabric, and sewed a straight stitch.  Then, flip the green over and you’ve got a nice seam.  If you’re not great at making a straight line it’ll be ok because it’s covered with a trim!

If you’re just using one fabric for the whole panel, you can catch up here, now that the front of this color blocked panel is complete.  (if you don’t want lining on your curtains, just hem the sides and there ya go!)  There are many seams you can choose from, I went with the straight stitch (like what we did on the color block) because I wanted to maximize the width of my panels.  You can do as you wish on this.

Lay out your fabric as flat as possible, with the sides you want shown facing each other.  (the picture above is not shown that way)  Pin along the edges and sew up the long ends first.  I chose the simplest way to hang the curtain, which is the pocket top.  For this, I allowed about 4” to allow for the rod to pass through, and again used a straight stitch.  Finish the panels by hemming the bottom and there you’ve got a curtain!  You’ll want to keep an iron nearby to press the seams flat if you use this stitch. 

Before:

After:  Ahhhh…nice and dark :D

Make something Tuesday

Hey look, I'm making stuff (other than converting oxygen into carbon dioxide) again!  Actually I've been making quite a few things, but have been terrible about documenting them, so I haven't made them into MSM's  but I'll be better about that!  Just what have I been up to you ask?  Well, since moving here 2 months ago (yeah, already!) I've done a couple of paintings, made some curtains, 3 cakes and an idea center for my craft room.  All that after I unpacked pretty much everything since poor Brandon was off getting tortured.  Hey, it's the least I could do!  "An idea center for your craft room?  I want one of those! Even without knowing really what you're talking about"  See, I know what you're thinking, scary huh?  If you weren't thinking that then, well, I'm not so scary anymore. 

So, my craft room has kind of gotten the shaft since unpacking.  I focused mainly on getting the bedroom, study, kitchen and living room to a point that they were livable and comfortable enough.  Now, I want my craft room to function for me.  The room itself is actually supposed to be the dining room, but we only have one table with a set of chairs and have no need nor desire to get another one.  So, I put my hand-me-down table and bookcase in there.  The bookcase is great to store my cook/cake books (since that's what it's designed to do and all) but it's also fantastic to house my fabrics, paints, and papers.  Down below in the cupboard portion, I have more things tucked away, such as batting and larger less attractive craft supplies.  Just like high school.  My favorite and newest addition is my custom cork boards!  Michaels is having a fantastic sale on frames right now, so I picked up a few cheap ones.  I like square frames.  Probably because they're harder to find, and less likely to be on sale.  However, these were and so I was happy!  Then, I made my way over to the office supply center of the store, where they have cork.  I opted for the contact paper roll of cork, because it was the cheapest and easiest to cut to size to fit the frame.  They have nicer looking cork already in 12 X 12 squares, but the corresponding frames...not on sale.  If you don't like the look of the cork, you can always cover it with fabric.  This cork is thinner and so you can't really use normal push pins in it.  I just use sewing pins stuck in at an angle, so don't worry about the thickness not being able to handle your stuff.  Now then, empty out the frame, cut the cork down to size and adhear it right on the front side of the back of the frame (the part with the hangers.)  Fancy pants cork boards in no time!  As for the left over glass...I'm still trying to figure out what to do with that.  I'd like to make them into floating frames, but I don't know how to do that.  I suppose if you've got extra frames lying around that use the annoying tab backs (the metal ones that fold down) you could use that, and nail a hanger into the wood of the frame.  Anyhow, that's what you can make this week!

* my mom suggested that if you use the sticky backed cork, that you can put it on 1/8" foam board and then put that into the frame so you can use push pins!

Happy 4th of July!

So, apparently it is illegal in Florida to set off fireworks that go airborne.  However, Georgia doesn’t have such laws, so since we’re close to the boarder, I’m guessing some people crossed over to get some contraband firecrackers.  I’m glad they did.  I always am.  I understand places where it’s dry and thus setting off little sticks of fire could cause some slight problems.  In Florida, especially in the summer, it rains practically every day, no dryness here.  So, I’m not sure why they don’t want them, but whatever.  So, after taking the scenic route, the ending destination was for me to say that Brandon got legal (aka lame) fireworks and some of our neighbors apparently are quite wealthy and have connections in Georgia, because we got a heck of a show from our very own rented driveway!  Let’s compare shall we?

Theirs:

Ours:

Theirs:

Ours:

Theirs:

Ours:

Theirs:

Ours:

Theirs:

Not that ours weren’t fun to shoot off, but we definitely contemplated driving around to find that party!  Apollo would have opted to stay home…party pooper. 

oh blogger! Oh update!

When I started blogging over 2 years ago, I think I chose Blogger because that is what Kenzie used and since she suggested I blog, I thought I'd just steal borrow her idea.  (I am an Aggie after all, I don't steal) Anyhow, I didn't know then, and heck, I don't even know now of many different blog creators but I wasn't such a fan of Blogger.  Since it was free though, I didn't want to complain because that's rude.  Recently however, it has been growing on me since they've been making improvements.  Have you noticed that you can now "design" your blog!?  Yeah, they've made it really easy, so you don't have to make sense of their html jargon anymore to customize it.  It offers many  more options than before, which I like.  (but not too many options that I freeze and can't make a decision like how I am in the shampoo aisle.  You'd think it was an important life decision the way I shop for shampoo.  I know it's not, but I find the task difficult.)  Anyhow, just thought I'd share that.

As for me, well not too much is new.  We're adjusting to our new home and I'm trying to set up my craft space to a more functional situation.  Considering it was just set up where the furniture was thrown in...pretty much anything is an improvement.  I've also made curtains for the bedroom.  I have one more curtain to go, but the store didn't have enough of one of the fabrics, so I need to go back and get some more once I get a new coupon.  Once I have that one done, I'll share those with you.  They're not super great, but they work, and they have blackout fabric, so the sun doesn't pour in at the very wee hours of the morning.  Natural light is nice and all, but just not at 5:30 am.  Brandon has started school, and I've started job hunting.  Status quo there.  We're looking at churches to get involved with and we may have found one.  Thats always a load off my mind!  The worst part about moving is the process of finding your life again.  Where to get groceries, where to go to church, where the craft stores are, groups to get involved with.  So, that's that for now.