Happy Wife, Happy Life!

Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years. ~Simone Signoret

"I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." ~Rita Rudner



     This week will mark the 31st wedding anniversary for my husband and me.  I brought a quilt out of storage that my mother and grandmother made for us so many years ago.  It's made up of embroidered blocks that have the state flowers on them; each block lovingly embroidered by my mom and grandmother.  At the time I didn't appreciate all the time that went into making this quilt.  I so adore this quilt now because I know the sacrifice of time and talent that was put into it for me. 

 

This recipe comes from the book of my husband's relative.  It's an easy to make recipe and tastes great.  I plan on making it this week for my husband. 

 

 

Poppy Seed Chicken

1 can cream of chicken soup                          1 cellophane sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

1 ½ cups sour cream                                        1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

3 cups cooked chicken, diced                         4 Tbsp. melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, mix together soup and sour cream until well blended.  Stir in diced chicken.  Spread creamy chicken mixture into a 9x9” baking dish.  Add poppy seeds to crushed crackers in a medium bowl.  Stir in melted butter.  Sprinkle cracker mixture over chicken.  Bake at for 30 minutes.  Serve over cooked rice.  Serves 4-6.

 

• Apple Cinnamon Bread

 

 

Ingredients:
-1/3 cup brown sugar
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-2/3 cup white sugar
-1/2 cup, butter softened
-2 eggs
-1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
-1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
-1/2 cup milk
-1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped into small pieces
Directions:
1. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl.
2. Beat white sugar and melted butter together in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time until smooth and then add vanilla extract.
4. Combine flour and baking powder together into a bowl and then mix into sugar mixture, mix until combined.
5. Add milk into batter and mix until batter is smooth.
6. Grease loaf pan and lightly flour.
7. Pour half of the batter into the loaf pan.
8. Sprinkle half the apples and then half of the cinnamon/brown sugar mixture onto batter in pan and pat lightly into batter.
9. Pour remaining batter on top.
10. Sprinkle remaining apples and cinnamon/brown sugar mixture onto top of batter and lightly pat apples down and then swirl the cinnamon sugar mixture around on top.
11. Bake at 350 for 40-55 minutes, until a fork comes out clean.
 

    

This is a sweet, gentle love story.  At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon is a wonderful book about a minister in a small North Carolina town.