Found in Fishers

Check out my new Tats

 While up in the region for my nephew's birthday, he opened a Tattoo parlor. Always   an entrepreneur or should I say trying to get money out of his aunt, he set up a stand at the dining room table with his friend Katie. How could I resist that cute little face asking for some business? And only one dollar! Liam did not draw as many details as you can see on the left but Katie was very interested in putting as many details in my tattoo as possible meaning more ink on my arm and later on my sleeves. The best part of the whole deal was that it would wash off in the morning. Liam and Katie both practiced their art on my arm drawing Greg from Diary of a Whippy Kid. Liam has been reading that book series lately and felt I needed a souvenir of his story. I guess it is worth it to keep him excited about reading the entire series.

 After dinner that day, Liam opened his birthday presents and got a Nerf gun.

Immediately all the boys, big and small started a Nerf gun fight. Katie joined in the fun too. There were Nerf bullets flying through the house for quite some time. 

I guess the Nerf fight was not enough entertainment because we started a group hula contest on the Wii. I laughed so hard that tears were pouring down my cheeks. It was so funny to see people trying to hula hoop and catch even more hoops as they were moving their hips. Sarah is still the champ! No one was able to knock off her first place title. Great time for all.

It's Liam's Turn to Celebrate

 Tell an eight year old that he has to wait to open his presents. Yikes. Liam's birthday is the day after Sarah's on the 13th. Of course little kids think of presents, that's what makes birthdays so much fun. When he heard that the party was not starting until dinner at 4:00, he was a bit miffed hoping that Sarah would reconsider a birthday lunch party instead and invite people over at noon.

It did not take Liam too long Saturday morning to call his neighbor friend over. She came over right away and ended up staying about 10 hours enjoying the day with us. We had a tattoo parlor running, there were some Lego events, and something about playing post office before the guests started to arrive. The kids were having fun while Sarah and I napped. We did one of those half sleep half awake naps. I was on the recliner, Sarah on the couch. We promised to nap until 2   when I heard a clanking noise in the kitchen and told Sarah she promised we would nap until 2 and yelled that she should get back on the couch. Oops, it was not her but the kids trying to find something to drink. That was pretty funny. After fully I was

 awake, I actually felt 10 times worse than before that quasi-nap. I should have just put on my walking shoes and went outside for some exercise. Guess I was just too lazy.

It was a great party. The food was delicious even though Sarah makes what I now call "Lazy Lasagna".

Happy Birthday Sarah!

What a great day in region as we celebrated Sarah's Birthday. She talked for weeks about wanting a white cake for her birthday but I only agreed to bringing a cake if she played Happy Birthday on her guitar.

I have not really found a bakery of choice in central Indiana that matches Calumet Bakery in the region so I did some research and found Encore in Fishers. The cake I ordered was called a Serendipity Cake; White cake with almond flavored icing, cheese cake and strawberry filling. It was only 6 inches in diameter but 4 layers high!

At guitar lessons during the last month, guess what she was learning? Happy Birthday of course. She did a good job with it too.

Next up was giving her the gift. Last weekend she was in Fishers visiting with Liam and we all went shopping. During the trip, Sarah made mention a couple times about wanting the Twilight Movie and Bella the Barbie. She has become a Twilight fan after watching the movie with my parents and then reading the books.

Funny how that book series was intended for teen-aged girls but has become the craze of 30 and 40 something women. Plus, I was told by my staff that knowing the details of the series was a must for good lunch conversations and something about being a Jacob or Edward fan. Don't know enough yet to decide. All was fun. Friday was Sarah's party, today is Liam's.

Come to Fishers and get a Great Meal!

 Sarah and Liam came to visit me for the weekend. I cannot believe that I have not seen them since the first week of January. The weather has not been cooperating so getting back and forth on I65 was just not possible. She and Liam were treated to a gourmet meal as I continue to practice my cooking skills. Sarah loved my Chicken Marbella, Mushroom Risotto, and Roasted Root Veggies. Liam did not. He had some of the chicken and a roll. Funny thing was Mark was trying to get him to taste the veggies but he would not because he saw dill on them. Mark trying to get someone to eat veggies? Now that is a miracle.

And of course it being Sunday today was my day for a "fancy" meal. Juan was in the medical clinic for 4   hours waiting to confirm that he indeed has a hernia that needs immediate attention. I made a chicken dish that I honestly just made up while standing in the kitchen. I started to make Chicken Marsala. As I was getting my ingredients organized I realized that I used all the mushrooms and there were only canned mushrooms in the house. No way, no canned mushrooms in my Marsala. I decided to take a couple techniques I learned and created as I was prepping. I coated my chicken breasts with some seasonings and cornflake crumbs. I browned the chicken in some olive oil in a skillet and put them in the oven. While they were baking I was thinking about how boring that was so I took the skillet I was using and carmalized an onion, added some garlic, white wine, chicken stock, flour and lemon juice. As it reduced, I added a couple tablespoons of butter and created a lemon sauce for my chicken. Once the chicken was done, I plated the breasts in strips and poured some sauce on the strips. I steamed some snow peas and served potatoes. It sure was yummy! In the end my Marsala turned into lemon chicken giving me quite a bit of confidence that I do not always need a recipe to make a good meal.

Next week cooking Mexican! Give me a call and RSVP, the more the merrier!