Trip to Chicago and Lena's Blessing

This was my favorite picture from my trip. Me and baby Lena, my newest granddaughter smiling for the camera. 

 We went to her baby blessing in Chicago last weekend. It was neat to also hear Devin Moss give a talk at church. He's an awesome speaker. It makes a mama proud!

Here is Grandpa Moss, Lena and Devin Moss, proud papa. 

 
 Caitlin prepared an excellent lunch for us all, pulled pork sliders with cole slaw, potato salad and strawberry green salad with raspberry vinaigrette. It was super yummy!

 She is a really good cook and the apartment is decorated super cute. I loved it. 
On Monday we decided to go brave the light snow in downtown Windy City Chicago and go see the Shedd Aquarium.

But when we got there here was the line coming out the door with about 200 people waiting outside!!. Little did we know it was discount day at Shedd Aquarium. Boy was it crowded. But we still had fun. And we got a $40.00 discount! Woo Hoo! 

The view of Lake Michigan and the cityscape right outside the museum and aquarium complex. 

My son Devin is super handsome. He looks cute in his snow hat doesn't he? Yes he's a cutie.

I was just captivated by these beautiful Amazon rainforest tree frogs. We study these in my 2nd grade classroom but I haven't seen such colorful ones in a long time. So tiny and cute! 

And these sea horses were just adorable! Would you love to have these for pets? 

 
 This crab not so much, it was HUGE! Well, I might like it steamed on my dinner plate! 
 They had a huge exhibit of Jellies. I got a few good pictures. 
 We enjoyed sauntering around. It was a neat aquarium. And Lena slept almost the whole time we were there. What a good baby!

I think this was a chameleon. But we saw geckos too. 

 
 A charming big green iguana. I am fascinated by reptiles that can't hurt me because they are behind glass. lol.

 Oh HERE is the gecko. He was super cute.

 I think this is one of the jelly fish exhibits I took a movie of.

 We went out to eat at a few places. This one was of course, an Italian, Chicago style pizza place.

We walked everywhere. Parking is like $31.00 for a DAY! Can you believe I saw a squirrel in this tree in the city? 

The blessing dress was a family heirloom from the McCain side of the family. It was very beautiful and handmade by Cait's grandmother, Lena's great grandma. I loved it. 

It was great to see these two doing well in a town all on their own, no family. I'm very proud of them. And Devin just got a raise and promotion after 7 months on the job! Woo Hoo! 

Little Lena is the perfect baby. Pink and sweet smelling and she didn't make a peep the whole  time we were there.  Good Job Caitlin and Devin. We loved seeing your city and your new little one. 

St. Patricks Day Decorating

St. Patrick's Day is coming up SOON! 

This is one my favorite months of the year. My family were all IRISH! And my mom was an Irish Catholic. We REALLY celebrated St. Patrick's Day every year. I remember dinners where she would actually give us kids a bit of wine with 7 up to toast to some of her favorite SAINTS. 

Those are happy memories of sitting in the formal dining room with my 5 siblings cracking jokes and eating yummy food. I love St. Patrick's DAY!  

I don't have very many decorations for it but I always do at least my entry table and my dining room table in honor of my mother and her love of St. Patrick's Day.  I also decorate my classroom in Shamrocks, leprechauns and GREEN, glittery stuff and of course GOLD wrapped chocolates! 

So in honor of the lucky leprechauns out there, I turned my kitchen and entry hall into a bit o'green today!

And here is my classroom....we've gone green there too. 

My kitchen table is very lucky too. But alas, I have eaten all of those peanut butter cups you see there. I'm not very good at avoiding the gold when I know there is chocolate stuff inside! 

 Happy St. Patrick's Day! And may the LUCK of the IRISH always be with you!

Valentines Decorations are Done

Valentines is coming soon so I got out my bins of February Valentines Decor and got busy today...

It's amazing how much stuff I've got stashed in those flippy white and red bins! 

This is my coffee table.....I love this little stained glass heart box....

This is great little pillow for a Hot Potato Game....for a kid's Valentines Party

I can't believe how much stuff I've accumulated.....This fake plant I put different stick decor in it for each holiday and different ribbons. 

Living Room Valentines Table decor.....All my candleholders I just change out the color of candle for each holiday.

 I worked at Kohls while getting my Master's Degree in Education....so I got great discounts
on lots of their fun decorations at holidays..... It's hard not to go overboard though....:D

So anyway, here's inside my front door......

My dining room picture wall....each season I change the black metal cone contents.....and
hang some new ribbons or a swag of some sort on the wrought iron bar.....

Great Room entry......I love this jingle bell heart.....

Hanging from the dining room chandelier...lots of hearts here....

I got some heart suckers for my grandbabies....

Kitchen table....I love placemats and runners.....and I change out the candle colors each season....

This little plate rack in my kitchen I've got Holiday plates for every season now....
Well....except for 4th of July...Maybe I can find some red, white and blue ones....hehe....

Valentines Picture Wall of my family and grandkids....

Outside on the front door I hung a heart ornament on a beaded wreath....I'm so crafty...hehe....

Front entry table....I love this light up LOVE lamp....it stays on all season long.....

My 3 sons and my darling first granddaughter....some of my fav peeps.....

My grandkids love all of my candy dishes...only thing is....these conversation
hearts are like a year old....I buy them after the season...they are for looks only! I actually think they might break your teeth if you chomped down on one of em......

I love this little cupid lamp.....Got it at Kohls after Valentines Sale.  

 I've got Valentines Decorations all up now! Ye Haw! 

Buffalo Chicken Tenders with Wingers Copycat Sauce

Buffalo Chicken Tenders...with Copycat Wingers Glaze and Buttermilk Ranch Dipping Sauce....

 I LOVE Buffalo Chicken. But I like the sauce to be a bit hot and a bit sweet. After some trial and error, I think I have the perfect, delicious Super Bowl Party food!  These Buffalo Chicken Tenders are soooo yummy! They will really be a crowd pleaser...and they are not hard at all. You probably have all of the ingredients at home right now, except maybe for Franks Hot Sauce and Buttermilk.

Yummy Buffalo Chicken Tenders....Perfect for party food!

INGREDIENTS for BUFFALO CHICKEN TENDERS in Wingers Copycat Glaze 
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk 
2 chicken breast fillets cut into 1/2 inch strips OR 8 to 10 chicken tenders


 Yummy Buffalo Chicken Tenders....homemade! 

2 ingredients I had to purchase to make the Buffalo Chicken Tenders...Buttermilk for the dipping sauce and
Franks Red Hot Sauce for the Buffalo Glaze on the Chicken....

I used a leftover chicken breast sliced into strips  and some purchased chicken tenders for this recipe.....

Wash and pat dry the Chicken Tenders before breading them....

Directions: 

Combine flour, salt, peppers, and spices in a bowl. Whisk together egg and buttermilk in another bowl. Dip chicken pieces in buttermilk/egg mixture first and then roll into the flour mixture. 

Dip chicken strips into the buttermilk and egg mixture....then dredge into the flour and spice mixture....

Flour and spice batter for dredging the  Buffalo Chicken Tenders in after dipping in the buttermilk egg mixture.  

 Set the plate of chicken tenders in the fridge for 30 minutes. Heat up a frying pan with oil  (1/2 inch in pan) and add a few Tablespoons of real butter just before frying. It makes the flavor better. Then fry chicken a few minutes on each side till it's golden. 

Lay fried chicken pieces on a napkin to soak up excess oil. Then mix up your Buffalo Wing Sauce. 

Put the Franks Hot Sauce into a pan and add the brown sugar and real butter.....mix it up!  That's it! 

 Then pour it over the fried chicken or toss in a large salad bowl with the chicken....either way works great.

I read this cool review on taste testing the top 4 rated hot sauces to decide which one to buy for my sauce recipe. Here it is from Serious Eats.

All 4 hot sauces were in my local market but this is the one recommended by Serious Eats! 

Boneless Buffalo Wings Glaze (like Wingers)
1/2 cup Franks Louisiana Hot Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar (or use 1/3 cup if you like heat more than sweet)
2 Tablespoons Real Butter

 This is very similar to the flavor of Wingers Buffalo Wings....very sweet and a hint of heat.

Dipping Sauce for Veggies and Boneless Wings 
1/3 Cup Greek Yogurt
1/3 Cup Ranch or Blue Cheese Salad Dressing
Mix it up and use for a great dipping sauce

All I do for dipping sauce is mix half greek yogurt (plain) and half ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing depending
on who loves which dressing! My hubs is a blue cheese man. I love the ranch flavor.

Put celery, cucumbers, red peppers, carrots out in bowls to dip with your Boneless Buffalo Chicken Tenders with Wingers Copycat Glaze. 

In the meantime, I wonder WHO WILL WIN THE SUPER BOWL? Here is my class' graph and it looks like the 49ers have it. We shall see. 

This would be a perfect football game food or a party appetizer of any kind. How about for the Super Bowl? Yum. Dig in!