Scrapin' California and Cooking Up Some Chicken

I think it is kind of funny how many of us can be motivated by a coupon or a gift card. I recently received a free book coupon from Shutterfly, my favorite personal photobook printer and it has sent me into a creative spin. At first I was going to try their new simple path series. However, while the page backgrounds were beautiful, I could not control the placement of the photos and text enough to be happy with it, so I am creating them in Photoshop. I have the first two done, but I might yet change out the backgrounds. Those were based on the simple path pages I was hoping to coordinate with.

The girls had such fun. I want to capture that. I find it a challenge to work with photos that they took. It helps me see how much framing and composing I do in my head.


About a week ago my friend Laura gave me a huge bag of chicken thighs. I've been making yummy dishes with it all week long. Here are two you might like:

Honey Mustard Chicken
from Aunt Lynne

2 TBl. Butter
4-6 Chicken Breasts (I used 8 chicken thighs)
1/2 cup Apple Juice (Aunt Lynne buys a small amount in the baby food section of the grocery store)
3 TBL. Honey Mustard (I often substitute 3 TBL. Dijon Mustard mixed with 1 TBL. Honey)
3 TBL. Peanuts, finely chopped for topping (optional)
3-4 TBL. Flour
1-1.5 cup Chicken Broth to extend the gravy

Saute the chicken in the butter. When they are nearly done add in the apple juice and the mustard. Mix well. Cover and let it cook until it is done. Add in the chicken broth. Mix the flour with a small bit of cold water. Add this to the gravy and stir. Add more if it does not thicken enough.

This is a very fast dinner. I can usually get it on the table in under 30 minutes.

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Chutney Chicken

1 bottle Chutney (I used an apricot chutney that I mixed with left over cranberry relish this time. You can also get a nice slightly spicy result with Major Gray's Chutney.)
8 chicken thighs
A small bit of water
1 envelope Onion Soup Mix powder (optional)

Put the chutney into a bowl and add a small bit of warm water to make it more manageable. You can also add in the onion soup mix powder, if you like. I did not have it this time and things worked great.

Line a 9"x13" pan with foil for easy clean up. Remove the skin from the chicken thighs. Divide the chutney topping over the chicken thighs. Cook for 20 minutes. Then check the chicken and teaspoon over any topping that may have slid off. Cook for another 30 minutes, or until done. If you are in a hurry, you can start off by browning the chicken in a skillet. This warms it up, pulls out much of the fat that you would drain off later, and shortens the oven cooking time.

This was very popular with my family. It was also extremely easy.

Enjoy!