Wristlets and Another Chicken Dish

Hi everyone and happy Sunday.  We have some pristine, sparkly snow here after being on the outskirts of Nemo Friday night.  I actually enjoyed a snow day Friday from school-it was a miracle!  My heart does go out to the people suffering hardships and losses of property and worse from this storm.  We were fortunate not to get the brunt of it. 

I know I mentioned that my oldest son turned 22 on Friday.  I made him Twinkie cupcakes for his celebratory dessert.  They were off-the-hook amazing.  I wasn't as big a fan of Twinkies as a kid as many other people were.  I am a frosting girl and Twinkies just were missing that extra sugary oomph frosting provides in my book.  Well this recipe from the Lady Behind the Curtain's blog solved that problem for me!  I didn't get all fancy with the swirl to the frosting that she did, but they were oh so tasty and definitely satisfied everybody's sweet tooth.  You should try them. 

 On to my creative endeavors of the week.  I don't know if you ever watched Knitty Gritty with Vickie Howell, but I have seen every episode.  I loved that show, even though I tend to be a chicken knitter-making only flat projects.  I saw these wristlets designed by Marnie MacLean and I wanted to try them.  I bought the self-patterning yarn eons ago for the project and being a true sufferer of crafting ADD, I jumped to a different project.  Fast forward many years later, I came across the yarn and remembered what I wanted to do with it.  I searched for the instructions(in the above link) and cranked them out.  I am pretty happy with them.  They were fun and I am using them.  When I am on my computer in the early morning, my craft room where my computer is can get chilly.  Besides being on the computer, they keep my hands warm when I am knitting or crocheting, which I am on a major kick of right now.  I have 2 scarves on the go and another one I want to start(but I am resisting).  If you like to knit at all, you should check out Knitty Gritty reruns if you get the chance.  Vickie is a riot and she makes you want to pick up some needles and go!  Also, right now I am taping on my dvr a show called Knit and Crochet Now! which is on my local educational channel.  There is alot of inspiration out there, just look around! 

Lastly, I want to share yet another chicken dish-I swear Sam's Club should hire me to spread the word about the millions of things to make with their rotisserie chickens!  This is a hash brown chicken casserole I made.  It is easy to throw together and very good.  I took a 32oz. package of thawed cubed hash browns and cooked them in butter in a large frying pan.  I spread them in a sprayed 9x13 pan.  Then I sprinkled with salt and pepper to taste.  Then I layered some shredded rotisserie chicken over the potatoes.  Meanwhile, I combined in a large bowl: 8 oz. sour cream, 2 cups chicken broth, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules, dehydrated onions to taste and a clove of minced garlic.  I stirred and poured over the chicken and potatoes.  lastly, I sprinkled with 1/4 cup slivered almonds and baked for 55 minutes at 350 degrees.  You could jazz this up by adding vegetables or mushrooms in the layers or roasted red peppers would have been nice too.  I was serving this to my oldest who doesn't like any of what I just mentioned, so I left it relatively plain.  It was even better the next day after all the flavors had a chance to meld. 

I am counting down to my next school vacation which is the week after this one.  I am hoping to do some sewing.  I hope you all have a fabulous week.  Take care.   Nancy