My Martha Stewart Moment

Man oh Man oh Man....do I have great tip for you.

If you are a part of the culinary challenged club as I am, and comments from your kids like "Mom, it was great, not as great as Nana Jo's, but still great" makes you feel like you just won the Mother of the Year award, then you may enjoy this tip. Now...if you are a great chef, you may not see the point in this, or if you cook well, this may be a Well Duh moment, but either way, I am still impressed with myself and I want to share it with you.

We are experiencing a beautiful, much anticipated cold front here in South Louisiana and that only means one thing....Gumbo Weather.

I planned on making a gumbo yesterday because of the cold weather so I put my chicken pieces on to boil. A side note....I decided a while back that I would no longer just use chicken breast in my gumbo because no matter what I did, the chicken always seemed to be dry. So, now I am using thighs, wings, and legs. Sometimes I use a whole fryer but I just can't stand to debone a chicken. Anyway....

We had friends invite us to go Trick-or-Treat at a campground last night, so instead of finishing my gumbo, I just took all of the cooked pieces of chicken and put them in a container and stuck them in the fridge. I also took all of the chicken stock and put it in another container and stuck it in the fridge also. Boy am I glad I did.

Here is the tip....
Deboning cold chicken is so much easier than dealing with a hot chicken. The meat just fell off the bones and the cartilage separated so nicely, it was easy to set it aside. Not only that, what little chicken stock that was in the container with the chicken congealed a little so I didn't have chicken liquid running down my arms. Genius! Why didn't I think of this sooner.

This morning, I just started my roux and while it was browning, I cut up my sausage and started chunking it in the pot. It cooked while the roux was browning and the grease from the sausage cooked down with the roux. That saved having to make the roux with unnecessary amounts of oil. Once all the sausage was cut up and in the pot, I started deboning the pieces of chicken. The chicken shreds easily and shreds alot, so if you are a chunky chicken kinda gumbo eater, this may not work for you. I am a little bit of everything in each bite kinda person, so this works for me. And voila!!!! I was done, everything cleaned up easily because chicken juice wasn't dripping everywhere and now the gumbo is slowly simmering away to be eaten at lunch.

Now, this may not be the prettiest gumbo I have ever made, but in my house as long as it is edible and doesn't kill you later on, we are good. That's how I roll.

 

Happy Halloween from the Spradling's

Hello Y'all

I know it has been quite awhile since my last post, but life is crazy at the Spradling house. New school year, volleyball, play practice, piano lessons, and voice lessons has left me little time to craft. I have managed to get in a few projects and wanted to share them with you.

I have been trying my hand at vinyl yard signs. Not an easy undertaking, I assure you, and I still have a ways to go before they are up to par, but here they are. Well, here one is, the other apparently got away before I took a picture.

And here is my girl in her first spike of the season.

Go Kaitlynn

 

 

Back in August, we had to evacute because of Hurricane Issac. Here are a few pics showing our adventure.

Having a little fun while on the road. It was quite an adventure. My sister was nice enough to allow us to park our camper in her backyard.

 

I was able to make a few signs for my office at school with the new cartridge my mom gave me for my birthday. They came out so cute.

 

And finally, Halloween projects. We have had a little fall break (long weekend) so I have been able to find some time to sit down and make some cards for the girls' teachers. All 12 of them.

I know, it's just 11, but I managed to forget to take a picture of the 12th one.

And lastly, an upcoming Halloween Neighbor Meet and Greet. My mom sent me an email with the folllowing idea for sharing some Halloween fun with your neighbors. I decided to change it up a little and do a little meet and greet at my house. We have so many new houses coming up in our neighborhood, that it is hard to keep up with who is moving in, so this is an invite to a little gathering. On the back, it reads:

Ghosts and things that go bump in the night

A ghoul left you this terrible fright

 Halloween is in the air

It’s your turn to share some scare.

First hang this BOO upon your door

So you won’t get BOOed anymore.

Take a few days to work on your spell,

Keep it secret and hide it well.

 

Dig up two gifts in boxes or bags

Then copy this message and put on the tags.

 

To deliver your BOO is all in good fun,

Find someone without one, drop the warning and run!

Join in the fun. The season is here.

Spread some BOOs for Halloween cheer.

 

To pick up your special Trick or Treat

Meet me up, or down, or across the street

We will exchange (boxes or bags) at a neighbors meet and greet

(my address) on Halloween night for some Halloween Treats.

8:00 pm (after Trick or Treating)

 

 

Well, there you go, lots going on. So glad I got to share them with you. Until next time....

 



 



I haven't forgotten about you all, but these days, I just can't seem to find the time to get in my craft room. By that I mean I can't stand to go in there because it is such a mess. This week I am home alone. Mark and Kaitlynn are at Mission Fuge and Mallory is hanging with the grands in Texas. I will get the room cleaned out this week (maybe). I have so many projects I want to do around the house but it is just too hot to do anything. By noon, the heat has zapped all the energy. My poor air conditioner is working overtime to beat the heat and humidity. Until next time.....

Operation Art Room

Wow! It has been quite awhile since I last posted any projects. That's only because my art room has been taken over by all the things that don't have a home in my home. Well, enough is enough. Operation clean art room has begun. I am taking back my space from this junk so the creative juice will return. Say a prayer....I'm going in. I will post pictures later of my efforts. Wish me luck.

It's nearly Mardi Gras time

I have searched and searched for the perfect pair of purple glittered heels to wear to a Mardi Gras ball only to find they either had too high of a heel or too high of a price. So......I made my own. Comfortable shoes to dance in and they match my dress perfectly.

Then I had to paint the clutch to match. Even better....the clutch was $2.00 at a second hand store.

Hello Y'all

I bet you thought I would never post again, huh? It's funny how all of a sudden the inspiration stopped, and I just didn't know what to do. Or is it that I have so many ideas in my head that I didn't know where to start? Either way, I am back, and the Christmas crafting has begun. I started making cards for a Christmas Bizarre I have been invited to participate in, but I have so many other Christmas projects that I want to try, that I just can't seem to focus. Here are some of the projects I have been working on. Hope you enjoy.

My first attempt at Subway art. I wasn't very happy with this one, so I started researching How To videos and learned the proper technique (I think)

Christmas Card set #1

Christmas Card set #2

Such a cute little snow scene. I also tried a little embossing on this one.

Gift Tag #1

Gift Tag #2

Gift tag #3

Gift tag #4 (it's a heavy little sucker with all the buttons)

Gift tag #5

Gift tag #6

Gift tag #7

Gift tag #8

Gift tag #9

Oh so many more tags........

My fist snowman made of foam balls, yarn, ribbon, and wire. (The hat and arms need work, but he came out so cute!)

Attempt #2 at Subway art. This is just phase one. I will paint the canvas today, remove the stickers, and see what kind of results I get. I sure hope it looks good. This sucker is going on top of my piano for the holidays.

The Scrapping Spot

Go visit Lisa at the Scrapping Spot and follow her blog. If she gets 50 followers, she will draw for a give-away. Scrapping Spot