Chicken and Watercress Salad with Almonds and Feta

Here is a delicious salad that my Aunt Sharon made for us one afternoon. The recipe is from Bon Appetit Magazine, June 2009. I have made it a few times and each time it gets great results from family and friends. The dressing is light and wonderful.

Supermarket roast chicken can be easily dressed up, as in this lovely salad. Look for almond oil at some supermarkets and at specialty food stores.
Yield: Makes 4 servings

1/4 cup white basalmic vinegar
1 large shallot, chopped
3 tablespoons almond oil, walnut oil, or grapeseed oil
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
3 large bunches watercress, thick stems trimmed
2 fully cooked chicken breast halves, meat torn into bite-size pieces
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
4 apricots, pitted, each half cut into wedges (or use peaches)
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Combine vinegar and shallot in medium bowl. Whisk in both oils. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

Place watercress, chicken, cheese, and apricots in large bowl. Add dressing; toss. Divide salad among four plates Sprinkle each with almonds.

I would LOVE to hear your commments on this salad. Hope you enjoy it has much as we do!!

Plaid Giraffe Fall Open House - Saturday, November 7th 2009

Image by DanielJames via Flickr

I am really getting excited for this falls open house at the Plaid Giraffe in my home town of Wichita, Kansas. I will be there all day Saturday with a great trunk show package of Saint jewelry to tempt you!! If you can make the flight or drive to be there, you won't be disappointed. If you are living in Wichita - it is a MUST!! It is the most wonderful store and their open house is more than a delightful experience. I love everything about the Plaid Giraffe and myself and Saint are so happy to be a part of the event each year. The ladies that work there are all blessings - each and everyone. Look foward to seeing you there!! Saturday, November 7th!!!

A Culinary Passion

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My Aunt Sharon is a truly amaaaazing cook. It is always a delight to be invited to her and our Uncle Mel's house for a family meal. We start starving ourselves days before so we can seriously indulge in her culinary talents. I am not kidding. She slaves in the kitchen to prepare meals that are truly fabulous (she loves it and it shows with each bite we take). When I first ate a meal at her home, Art and I were still dating and I had no idea what I was in for. We sat down at the dining room table on a regular weekend afternoon and not only was the table setting astonishingly beautiful and creative - but so was the menu! YES - she prepared a menu of what she was going to serve for each place setting on a handsome card stock. I was really taken off guard. It was such a delight to have such thought and care put into a meal and not on a special occasion. It turns out that she does this EVERY TIME she has guests over. I am telling you WE LOVE TO EAT AT HER HOUSE!! :)

Every time we get together I love how she shares with me little tidbits about the various dishes she has prepared and where she got a certain special spice or things like using agave nectar instead of refined sugar. She truly is brilliant in the kitchen and a lot of fun! I highly respect her creative passion for the entire dining process and that she shows her love for us and her friends through her hours in the kitchen preparing meals that send us into week long comas.

I have been steadily collecting the "easier" recipes of things that she has prepared for us so that I may attempt to feed my family in such an enjoyable manner. I will post some of these lighter fares with you all in future blogs so that you may enjoy them with your family and friends.

Thursdays...

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Well, it is 3:50am and I am wide awake. I just can't seem to sleep tonight - probably too much caffeine.

Thursday afternoons are my "free day" in which I have a sitter and get to spend FIVE WHOLE HOURS ALONE. The afternoon usually includes hitting Starbucks for that bonus cup of coffee (and a biscotti)that my body can't handle. Why do I keep doing that? Oh...I remember...because it is so delicious and I love flying around with all that extra energy!!

I treasure my Thursdays. I spend Monday thru Wednesday PLANNING how I should spend my Thursday afternoon. I never seem to have enough time in that five hours to do all the things I want to do.

Besides getting my Starbucks treat, one of my most favorite things to do is to make the rounds at all the local antique troves to see if there is anything new or of interest. I mainly focus on home and garden items but I seem to routinely stumble across items that inspire ideas for my work - knowing this also helps me to justify how I spent my afternoon - ha!

I love to visit a variety of nurseries around town. I seem to be cultivating a very strong interest in desert plant live and I really enjoy looking at the array of cacti and succulents. On more than one occasion I have found myself spending over an hour at a single nursery just looking at all the plants, flowers, pottery, fountains and talking to staff.

I also enjoy bumming around in a craft store like Michael's or JoAnne's and just looking at all the fun "stuff" that you can do. I seem to never walk out empty handed! :)

Oh- and Home Depot too - I love wandering Home Depot! Is that normal?

Basically, I try to do things that would be challenging to do with two babies! I try to pick activities that relax my mind, rejuvenate my creativity and mosty, help me tune out for awhile. Some Thursdays, I will make time for a hike, but that hasn't happeded lately because it is still ridiculously HOT here!

Well, I think I might be able to fall asleep now - we shaaallll seeeee.

Nighty, Night!