In the Hive

I used this recipe the other day - tastes great! Chicken Marinade "A little sherry makes all the difference in this succulent grilled chicken recipe with an Asian flair." Ingredients 1 cup soy sauce ½ cup vegetable oil 1 tablespoon cooking sherry 3 tablespoons brown sugar 3 cloves garlic, crushed 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves Method 1. In a medium bowl, mix soy sauce, vegetable oil, sherry, brown sugar, and garlic. Pour into a large resealable bag. Place chicken in the bag, and shake to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator at least 4 hours. 2. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil grate. 3. Place chicken on the prepared grill. Cook 6 to 8 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink and juices run clear. Discard remaining marinade. Prep - Prep: 15 Minutes - Cook: 12 Minutes - Ready in: 270 Minutes Source: Allrecipes.com (Servings: --)

We are now up to 5 rabbits relocated!

This came from my Amazon Deal of the Day - gross!

It was the second year anniversary of Mom passing away. I spend some time in the garden, in the rain, laying bricks and thinking about Mom. It was a hard day. I snapped some shots from the garden and between then and today I sewed up some new pillows! My Governor Lupine: My green wizard was one tiny plant last year, now it is taking over! My new baby poppy! Michael picked the fabrics for the new pillows!

Was kind of quiet, hanging around the house and working in the park. I made a chocolate and pear cake for a special dessert! The before and after baking pictures are below, as well as the recipe! Al Di La’s Torta Di Pere [Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake] Source: Courtesy of Al Di La Restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn (12 servings) 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 3 eggs, at room-temperature 4 ounces unsalted butter ¾ cup sugar 3 pears, peeled, in a small dice (I used anjou, but would recommend a softer variety, like a bosc or any other of your favorites) 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chunks, 3/4 cup Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and dust with breadcrumbs (I cheated and used flour), set aside. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside. Using a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs on high speed until pale and very thick. (In a professional Kitchen Aid, it takes at least fiv...

Almond, Pine Nut, Apricot Crumb Cake Source: Everyday Italian (12) ½ cup whole almonds, toasted, plus 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted, plus 1/4 cup 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 4 large eggs 1 ¼ cups sugar 6 ounces unsalted butter, melted ⅓ cup milk ¼ teaspoon almond extract ½ cup chopped dried apricots Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan. Combine the whole almonds and 1/4 cup pine nuts in a food processor. Pulse the machine until the nuts are finely ground. Transfer the nuts to a medium bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine and set aside. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer beat the eggs and the sugar until the mixture becomes thick and pale yellow. Add the butter, and milk. Stir in the almond extract and apricots. Gently stir in the dry ingredients. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle the top of the cake with sliced almon...

Busy getting new TV and such, and playing with the wii! We also had to bail water out of the basement it was raining so bad last night! That has only happened to us 3 times since we moved here in 1998. Another storm is currently brewing, as I type! Great soup for dinner tonight! Santa Fe Ravioli Soup Source: adapted from Health, DECEMBER 2001 (8 servings | serving size: 1 1/4 cups soup, 1 tablespoon sour cream, and 1 tablespoon cilantro) 63 ounces chicken broth, low sodium 18 ounces Wegmans Ravioli, Small Round Cheese 2 cups refrigerated salsa 30 ounces black beans, rinsed and drained ½ cup sour cream ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro Bring broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat to low; add ravioli and simmer 5 minutes or until almost tender. Add salsa and beans; cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat. Garnish with sour cream and cilantro. Does not need the sour cream!

Shots from my garden! Governor's Lupine: English Daisy: Blue and White Winky: Columbine: Our garden mole:

I had my birthday on monday, guild on wednesday, worked on thursday. In between I have been working in "the park" - (that is what we call our backyard) and keeping busy playing house and helping the kids finish out the school year. We also caught and relocated rabbit # 2! This has been the longest period of time Michael has been home in the last month and a 1/2 so, we have been doing a lot of stuff together! While he was away he did get me some fabric from Los Angeles at a quilt shop called Lucinda's Basket. Funny enough, my friends got me a fabric from the same line (it's called Trio) but a different print for my birthday too! Fabric from Michael: Birthday Fabric:

Andrew and Elsa have known each other since their little league soccer days! This year, they went to senior prom together!

Michael got me a teacup planter and Andrew made me a treat tower with teas, chocolates, and cookies!

Pistachio Tart Source: Sunkist® Pistachios (12 servings) 1 ready bake pie crust 2 cups pistachio kernels 1 cup sliced almonds 5 tablespoons butter ¾ cup brown sugar ⅓ cup dark corn syrup 2 tablespoons half and half ½ teaspoon vanilla extract ¼ cup chocolate chips-melted Place pie crust into 9 inch tart shell. Bake as instructed for single crust pie until golden. Pour nuts over crust in a single layer. In a heavy saucepan, melt butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and half and half. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Pour hot mixture over nuts. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until bubbly and golden. When cool, drizzle with melted chocolate.

For my birthday dinner this year I have decided to make Citrus Salmon Fillets, Roasted Potato Salad, and snow peas. For dessert, I made a chocolate pistachio and almond tart! Doesn't it look yummy?

Yesterday was Moms & Muffins day at the elementary school. We mothers go into school and have a muffin with the children. (Don't worry, there is also Dads & Donuts Day each year). During the morning, we also take a tour of the school. Thomas showed me the computer lab - boy have times changed! - we were just starting to get computers in school when I was in high school. Our computers were very slow and very slow. We all had to write a program about what we did for our morning routine as an example of how computers think. And, of course, we did "Hello, World!.

I relocated a rabbit today - there are just too many munching in the Park and making it into a buffet!! I felt a little guilty, but at least I am just relocating them - I know some lovely mild mannered quilters who shoot theirs! Official score Melissa 1, Rabbits 0.

The Spring Concert was great! I cried, I was so proud of my boys! This is Andrew and the Jazz Ensemble singing "Under the Sea": Andrew and Hannah singing their solos during "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me": The last song was "Why We Sing" - Andrew and Thomas both sang in this song - Can you spot them?

Thomas won 2nd place in the 100 yard dash at field day today!

Blank Textiles Morning Call:

Andrew sings lead a lot of the time in this song! They are frustrating the music teacher, just a bit! Click the top video for best quality. I am still not sure why blogger adds a quicktime version to the bottom!

In spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt - Margaret Atwood I was spreading dirt, mowing, and weeding today!

I opened my birthday chocolate early! Look how pretty it is!!!

Summer Fun! by Deb Strain for Moda

On the way to retreat we stopped at Martin's in Morgantown and we also went on a trip to Zook's. I will show the fabrics I picked up over the next couple of days: these are two neat black and white prints I found! Safari III by Blank Flower Power by Windham

My Dad has clearly been reading my blog! He and my stepmother sent me a early birthday surprise from Oregon - yummy! Maybe it will distract me from the fact I will turn 40 this year! Thanks Dad and Sue!

Mother's Day is hard for me since Mom passed. Today I was just getting home from retreat, and was bummed Michael has been traveling so much... Anyway, Andrew got me flowers and made a cake. Karl made me different chocolate covered fruits (we ate them before we took the picture) and got me a singing card, Thomas made me a card, and our neighbor gave me a rose since we help them out a lot! Michael also worked like a little mole while I was on quilt retreat and added two beds to our park, so we now have three vegetable beds for planting. The boys helped me out and we laid the brick paths down in between the beds!

readingeagle.com Berk's Best Andrew Velik Andrew Velik - Finalist 5/10/2009 Andrew Velik Kutztown High School Parents: Melissa and Michael Velik Activities highlights: Debate squad leader, National History Day, STAND (treasurer,) show choir, jazz ensemble, chorus president, school musicals, student forum. Awards and honors: Hugh O'Brien youth leadership seminar, high honor roll. Career or life goal: To continue learning German and French, eventually becoming fluent enough in both to live, work or conduct business in Europe. Teaching in the United States or foreign countries is a consideration. Post-high school plans: Attend a four-year college or university for one or more bachelor's degrees, with a definite preference for international business and possibly German and French minors or majors. What others are saying: "Andrew has distinguished himself by his enthusiasm, his sincere desire to master the target language, and above all, his eagerness to practice his...

Retreat house -- Honeybee Quilter on the road

-- Honeybee Quilter on the road

-- Honeybee Quilter on the road

MOOO! -- Honeybee Quilter on the road

We are on quilt retreat! These black angus live in the field surrounding the house we are renting! -- Honeybee Quilter on the road

Southwestern Chicken and Rice Ingredients 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces 2 cups frozen corn kernels 15 ½ ounces black beans, canned 1 ½ cups instant brown rice 1 ½ cups salsa 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese Method Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the corn, beans, rice, salsa, chili powder, cumin and 2 cups water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the cheese until melted. Serve in individual bowls and top with sour cream, if desired. Source: -- (8 servings)

Andrew and Hannah will be singing "Don't let the Sun Go Down on Me" at the High School Spring Concert this week! Please play the top one, Blogger keeps adding a bad sounding quicktime version to the post! I am not sure why!

So far, this has not been a stellar couple of days for my family this week...the boys are disappointed they did not move on in National History Day past the state level, the husband found out he has to go to California again, and I made a big mistake on my quilt block! This is a block for a sampler at the shop - I figure I will just leave it go in as is to remind me of this week! It would have been too much work to re-applique and re-piece it! So, I present, my droopy sunflower block - maybe a bird landed on it and crushed those petals or it could have been that darn rabbit in my back yard up to no good again! You can decide!

I am starting to get enough pieced half square triangles to start my cheddar cheese civil war quilt!