Lemon Chicken Soup

I have been trying to replicate one of my favorite soups (Taziki's). Here is my version. This is a great recipe for a cold day or when someone you love has a cold:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup white rice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 shake of red pepper flakes
1 Tb dried parsley

Boil 4 chicken breasts in 8 cups of water until cooked through. Remove the chicken breasts and chop; filter the remaining broth into a large bowl (you want to remove the stringy things that remain when boiling the chicken). Return the broth to the pot and add 2 cups of store-bought chicken broth. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and rice and cook about 8 minutes over medium heat. Add the cubed chicken, parsley and red pepper flakes and cook for 3-5 minutes (go easy on the flakes--they can really spice it up).

Miami and Key West

Meghan planned a memorial service for Bob in February 2007. We arrived in Miami on a Thursday afternoon, and stayed with Meghan's friend Art (a former Miami Vice cop). Art took some of our group to the Annual Miami Boat Show where we got to ride on a multi-million dollar fast boat. It was amazing to see the city at night--the Miami skyline was beautiful!

We woke up Friday morning to the news that Britney Spears had shaved her head the night before! We drove to Key West, and because of a wreck, the trip that would normally take 3 hours took about 7. Key West is a beautiful place, and there is so much to do! Meghan planned a scavenger hunt called "Best of the Bars." It was a great opportunity to learn the layout of the city, and we learned some interesting history as well.

The following day, we had brunch at Alice's. It was rainy, but the weather quickly cleared up. We toured Hemingway's home and an art exhibit at the Key West Museum.

Taken from Hemingway's wrap-around second story porch

The art exhibit featured replicas of famous paintings. See below for a picture of Meghan in "Van Gogh's Bedroom."

That evening, Meghan planned a sunset cruise, and everyone shared memories of Bob. There were probably about 25 family members and friends that traveled to Key West for the memorial. We look forward to going back someday!

The group that traveled to Key West

Sunset Picture - Taken while we were "at sea" the evening of the Memorial for Bob

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We hope you get everything you are hoping for this Christmas and so much more!

Love,

Sherry, Welles and Missy Lou

The Missing Piece

On Sunday, Welles and I went to "Worship in the Chapel" at Dawson. Tim Simpson was standing in for Todd Harrington, and really preached an excellent sermon that I think we all can relate to this time of year. He started the sermon by handing out puzzle pieces to each person in the congregation. He talked about how the most exciting part of finishing a large puzzle is getting to the last few pieces, and inevitably, one piece is missing when it comes to the very end of the puzzle. However, in relation to our Christian walk, we need to recognize that Jesus offers the Peace that we may be missing in our lives. The sermon revolved around the following verses:

• Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
  
• Philippians 4:6-7 reads, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
  
• Romans 5:1 states, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Tim talked about how hard it can be to accept the Peace of God and to give thanks in times of trouble--when everything seems to be crumbling around you. He shared that there was a fire in his family home when he was a sophomore in high school, and even as his house burned to the ground, he was able to give thanks (that he and his family got out safely, that he was awakened as the fire started and able to wake his parents and sister, that the fire was not at his elderly neighbor's home as she would not have been able to get out easily, etc.) He talked about how in that time of trouble, he felt the Peace of God. God's peace is available to all of us, and he wants us to seek Him.

We did not send out Christmas Cards this year, but we would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! May you experience God's Peace as you celebrate the birth of His Son.

Wayside Cross at Camp Winnataska

Missy Lou le Poo

I have been getting requests for Missy posts, so here we go! Missy has to be the friendliest dog I have ever known. It's a little annoying when she jumps up and barks at visitors (and we have tried every trick in the book to get her not to jump--any advice would be much appreciated). Still she is a loving, loyal, and happy dog.

Missy knows a lot of words. Several specific words get her fired up to go outside: "squirrel," "kitty-cat," "birdie," and "Who is it? Go Get 'em!" If we want her to come inside, we use one word, "CHEESE." We are assuming that nosey neighbors think we are crazy and wonder why we open our kitchen window, and yell out, "CHEESE!!!!!" However, it works everytime! She also loves to hear "Aunt Mary Anne and Uncle Russell." Aunt Mary Anne was my Grandmother's sister, and she and her husband live .6 miles from our door. They come to visit Missy every Tuesday to let her outside briefly, give her treats, and sing to her on the couch. More Missy stories and pictures/videos to come!

What a Difference a Door Makes!

1958

Old Door

2008

New Door

I love pulling up to our house with the new door! It makes such a big difference! WOW!

In Memory of a Friend - Bob Bisher

Welles and I met Bob through Meghan. Meghan met Bob at the airport--which isn't so strange when you realize that they were both pilots. I think that Meghan knew almost at once that Bob was going to be a very special part of her life, but may not have realized how he would touch the lives of others.

We first met Bob when Meghan brought him to a Christmas party--a "Re-gift Dirty Santa" party. It is amazing how quickly we all got along! Meghan and Bob were married in May of 2003, and had weekend of parties in Memphis over Labor Day weekend that same year. It was a fun time filled with parties--including a great reception with an Elvis Impersonator!

In January 2005, Bob was diagnosed with a rare bone marrow disease called Paroxsymal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH). It seemed like there were so many highs and lows as Meghan and Bob faced the reality of life. I have never seen such a loving, supportive wife, and I can only hope that I would be as strong as Meghan was during that time. Bob seemed to have a sense of humor regarding his disease, and always, always looked at the bright side of things--no matter the prognosis.

Sadly, Bob passed away after complications from his Bone Marrow Transplant in July 2006.

The love that Meghan and Bob had for each other was so amazing, and to this day, I am saddened at the loss of such an amazing person. Bob was kind, funny, supportive, and truly loved life. He could cheer you up with a phone call or a smile. Please see the following link to a powerpoint that I put together after his passing in July 2006. It includes pictures and quotes from friends who posted on his caring bridge website.

In Memory of our Friend Bob

Thank you Bob for your friendship, laughter, memories, and your love for Meghan! We miss you, Buddy!

Thanksgiving Recipes

The following are recipes that we cooked Thanksgiving day that were a big hit!

Turkey Roulade with Apple Cider Gravy

We were watching The Food Network one morning and got this turkey recipe-it was very good! I used sour dough bread and didn't use pecans. For some reason, this was un-intimidating and less stressful to me than cooking turkey the old fashioned way! It was delcious.

Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 (1-pound) loaf cinnamon-swirl bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
Cooking spray
2/3 cup fat-free caramel sundae syrup

Sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light-colored corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup bourbon

Preparation
Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add bread, tossing gently to coat. Cover and chill 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Divide bread mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.
To prepare sauce, combine 1/2 cup sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in 1/4 cup bourbon. Serve each bread pudding piece warm with about 1 tablespoon sauce.

Christmas comes early!

Over the weekend, Welles and I decided to shop for Christmas presents early. It hit me on Thanksgiving Day as I was cleaning the grungy old storm door that I NEEDED a new front door and storm door. I mentioned this to Welles, and he said, "I thought we NEEDED a new front door years ago!" OK! So we are on the same page!

Friday evening, we went to our favorite store--Lowe's--and picked out a new door and storm door. Goodbye 1958!

Later Friday, I surprised Welles by saying that I thought it was finally time to look at LCD HDTV's. After researching for several hours, trips to Best Buy, hhgregg, Sam's, Wal-Mart, and Circuit City, a Samsung was purchased. Although we got 4 channels in HDTV (CBS, NBC, ABC, and PBS), we didn't have access to all. After my own experiences with Charter and remembering a blog entry from a good friend, I couldn't bear the thought of dealing with them. SO--I told Welles that it was his responsibility to take care of the additional hassle with our cable company.

For all of you who hate your cable company, make your husband or father call them! He called me yesterday in the best mood because not only did he talk to the nicest customer service rep, we are now receiving several channels we didn't before at no extra charge. In fact, our cable bill will be $25 less! You have got to be kidding me??? Maybe Welles had better luck because he actually made a point to go to the service center in person. I am proud that he thanked the guy for having a great attitude, and that he appreciated his kindness. Charter--if you are listening, you need to hire more employees like the one Welles talked to.

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Silly Video

The following video cracks me up! It's been out a while, so I am sure many of you have seen it. Enjoy...

Charlie Bit my Finger - Again

Happy Birthday Missy Lou!

We love sweet Missy Lou, and today she is 6 years old. She makes every day a happy day--no matter if there is a bad day at work or even dissapointing news. She is always excited to see us when we walk in the door and that makes every day brighter.

Above is a picture of the day I got Missy. I had never intended on getting a dog--in fact, I was scared of dogs due to an incident at a friends house in the 3rd grade. My sister-in-law Ashley was "trying" Missy out for a few days, and realized that it wasn't going to work. She invited me to her apartment that day to meet a sweet puppy that was going to have to go back to the family that she got her from. The minute I saw her (Dixie was her original name), I fell in love. I once babysat for the family that owned Missy's mom, and I called them to ask if Missy could come home with me. I can't imagine life without Missy Lou-lou, and I hope we have many more years to come!

Chicken Lasagna Roll-ups

This is a recipe that I sort-of made up and sort-of borrowed from a chicken lasagna recipe. I love that the roll-ups are easy to serve and they make a great presentation on the plate. See below:

• 6 chicken breasts--cooked and cubed
• 1 8oz pkg cream cheese
• 1 8oz pkg ricotta cheese
• 1 cup Alfredo sauce
• 1 pkg frozen spinach--thaw and pat dry
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 pkg lasagna noodles--cooked according to pkg directions
• Your favorite pasta sauce (I use "Classico" 4 cheese tomato sauce, but have also used Alfredo sauce for those that cannot eat red sauce--it is very good!)

1. Mix the first 6 ingredients.
2. Place a thin layer of the mixture on a lasagna noodle and roll up.
3. Place the roll-ups in a greased 9 x 13 glass baking dish.
4. Pour some pasta sauce over each roll-up.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
6. Top each roll-up with mozzarella cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes. ENJOY!!!

I will add pictures next time I cook this.

Jekyll Island, GA

At the end of February 2008, we traveled to Jekyll Island for my friend Jennifer Powell's wedding. Instead of driving, and to maximize our time in Southeast GA, we flew to Jacksonville, FL, rented a precious red Toyota Rav-4 and drove 45 minutes to Jekyll Island. We stayed in the Jekyll Island Club Hotel in the Crane Cottage.

Jennifer could not have done a better job at planning her beautiful wedding to Mark. The rehearsal dinner was in the lobby area of our Cottage, and the atmosphere was so warm and welcoming. The wedding was held the morning of March 1 in the chapel just across the street from our cottage, and afterwards we walked to the garden next to Crane Cottage for a lovely brunch.

Rehearsal dinner:

Brunch in the Garden:Everything was picture perfect! Congratulations Jennifer and Mark!

After the wedding, we had time to explore Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island. We made sure to get our signature Sunset picture while on St. Simons Island. We ate at a very cute mexican restaurant called Bubba Garcia's with some of the wedding party and guests.

We also toured Christ Church on St. Simons Island. It was built in 1808, and no nails were used in the building of this beautiful chapel! There were several stained glass windows that were absolutely gorgeous--one an original Tiffany.

Halloween 2007 and 2008

Welles and I have dressed up for Halloween the last couple of years. Our friends the Stembridges have the most amazing Halloween Party each year - and we have to admit--each year the decorations get a little bit better and the costumes improve. Last year, we were Buddy the Elf and Jovie (his girlfriend in the movie.) If you haven't seen Elf, you must watch it this holiday season. I think we have seen it at least 201 times, and I laugh out loud every time. Will Ferrell is hilarious in this movie! See below for some pictures from the 2007 party.
Jennifer was Beth from Dog the Bounty Hunter, and her husband Steven was Dog.

We had so much fun dressing up that we showed up at my parents house Christmas Morning at 6:45 AM in our Elf Costumes!

Missy also dressed up as a reindeer. I have to say, with her coloring and sweet black nose she almost looks like a reindeer. If it weren't for her short corgi legs--Santa might just sign her up!

On to Halloween 2008. We love the movie the Incredibles. Again--if you have not seen this movie, either--it is a MUST! See below for pictures. Welles was Mr. Incredible, and I was Elastagirl.This year, the Stemmies were Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf! Very cute, guys!

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

This is a 5th grade math problem.


This is not a trick question. This is a real math problem so don't say that a bus has no legs. There are 7 girls in a bus. Each girl has 7 backpacks. In each backpack, there are 7 big cats. For every big cat there are 7 little cats. Question: How many legs are there in the bus?

Scared of Thunder

This rainy day today reminded me that I am glad Missy went to daycare. Above is a picture of her normal reaction to a thunderstorm--hiding under the bed. Missy will spend hours under there. Welles and I have determined that this is her "safe place" as described by our local weatherman James Spann.

San Francisco

This is a tribute to my favorite city! Welles and I traveled to San Francisco in January 2005. I was in town for a conference, and we explored the city when I was not in meetings. See below for the list of things that we did in SF:

Great Places to eat
We went to Les Joulins Jazz Bistro for dinner one night—they had a live jazz band that was incredible! Then, we woke up the next morning and went back for breakfast—amazing croissants and coffee!

There are several North Beach Pizza locations—this Pizza was rated on The Travel Channel as one of the best and has been featured on the Food Network.

Sodinis—a must if you like Italian. It is at the corner of Grant and Green Streets in North Beach. It is reasonably priced, and isn’t too hard to get to. Our friends who used to live in SF loved this place, and they insisted that we go…it was so worth it. It is a “hole in the wall”, but they have great food. It was also recommended by several of the locals I met at conferences and training sessions.

The Stinking Rose--Welles and I really liked this restaurant. Most everything is made from garlic, but it is very good, and the restaurant has a cool atmosphere. The hummus dip was out of this world! They have several dishes that do not have garlic in them, too. After you visit the Stinking Rose—walk down the street to the City Lights Bookstore.

Hotel
We stayed in the Marriott property b/c that is where my conference was. You might want to see if you can find a place to stay that is close to a cable stop or near Union Square as this is a convenient area to stay. http://www.unionsquareshop.com/

Fun things to do:
You must spend a few hours at Pier 39 in the Fisherman’s Wharf area. Make sure you see the sea lions! They are so fun to watch (and for some reason, they make me miss my dog!?!?)

You can walk from Pier 39 to Ghirardelli Square—fun to see at night. They have a little shop where you can get a fudge brownie Sundae—out of this world! If you want to buy some chocolates—don’t get tempted. They are way overpriced at the stores in Ghirardelli square. There is a World Market in Fisherman’s wharf that will beat their prices by 2/3 on the same product.

There is a kiosk—you can’t miss it at Pier 39 sells tickets to the Blue and Gold Fleet Bay Cruise /Alcatraz tours.

This is also close to where we rented bikes. We rented from Blazing Saddles
Check out the video that shows the bike path from Pier 39 across the Golden Gate and into Sausalito. The video is pretty accurate. MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HELMET! I made the mistake of saying we didn’t want one, and I wish we had worn them. Not that anything happened, but the 2 mile bike into Sausalito is very steep, and I would have felt more comfortable with a helmet.

If you decide not to rent a bike—make sure you take a ferry to Sausalito. I think it is only between $3 and $5. In Sausalito, you will find cute shops and many art galleries. I checked online, and Raphaella Vaisseau moved her art gallery from Sausalito to Petaluma, CA! You can still view her art online at the Heartful Art Gallery.

The Legion of Honor was really cool…it is a museum with all kinds of cool exhibits. It is a little complicated to get to, but you can ride the busses and figure it out. Ask the concierge to help you plan this part if you decide to go.

Wine Country We visited Wine Country. When we drove, we were with Welles’ friend Amy and her husband, and they knew where to go and how to get there. We went to the following wineries: Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola’s winery—they have a lot of memorabilia from his movies); Grgich Hills and Rutherford Hills. Really, you can’t go wrong with any winery you go to. You will basically pay between $5 and $10, taste 4 different wines, and get a souvenir glass.

Muir Woods We also hiked around in Muir Woods and saw the big sequoia trees---amazing to see! You can do this on your way to Wine Country.

Other tips:
o You will be walking A LOT! Make sure you have comfortable walking shoes.

o Take a jacket, even if it is going to be 70 degrees outside. It gets cold with the breezes from the bay.

Cable Cars/Street Cars
See if you can get a map that you can use to familiarize yourself with the city. If you can get oriented to where things are, you will be so many steps ahead of everyone else.
Check out rates on a pass for all MUNI transportation. This will include busses, streetcars, and cable cars. You will be better off buying the 3 day passport or even the week-long passport to the MUNI than paying for one-way bus/cable car passes ($ for Cable cars has gone up to $5 each way!! OUTRAGEOUS). Make sure you get the passport, because they include fares on the cable cars whereas passes don’t.

You may even decide to get the citypass—check out the tickets it offers to be sure that you will have time to do everything it offers. It may be worth it just for the bay cruise and muni/cable car passports.