sangria blanco & spiced chicken

New recipes! The first is one of my favorite drinks, Sangria! But red wine always gives me a headache, so I searched for a recipe that used white wine. I found a few different ones that I liked, but I ended up making my own with the ideas I found. The second is a chicken recipe with sweet potatoes and carrots. You could substitute a white fish or even seared tofu. Enjoy!

Sangria Blanco
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1 bottle dry white wine
1 cup brandy (use pear flavored if you can find it)
1 can pineapple chunks(frozen)
1 orange(sliced)
1 bunch fresh mint
1 bottle club soda


Directions
Combine juice, brandy and wine. Stir in orange slices, mint and frozen pineapple chunks. Top each glass with a splash of club soda. (You don't have to add the club soda. Some people just thought it was a little strong. I liked it without!)


Spiced Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Carrots
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1/2 t. each ground ginger and paprika
1/4 t. each coriander and cumin (or 1/2 t. Harissa spice)
S&P
1 large sweet potato cut into chunks
2 medium carrots cut into chunks
1 orange cut into wedges
(I added red potatoes too, because the sweet potato I had wasn't very big, but you don't have to do this)


Directions
Preheat oven to 425. Season chicken with S&P and spice mix. (If you have Harissa use it, it's so much better!) Place chicken in a roasting pan with oranges, potatoes and carrots. Drizzle with olive oil and cover. Roast 20 min. Remove cover and roast another 10 min. 

uncle fun

I was going to have a long post with recipes today, but I'm coming down with a sinus headache and I have to go to bed before it gets too bad. I'll post the recipes this week sometime. In the meantime here are a couple of pics from our babysitting night with Emma. 

Flying to the moon with Uncle Fun

Ready...set...gooooo!

oh tulsa

I'm doing a show in Tulsa this summer and the theme is "O Tulsa". Apparently it was a musical from the 50's or something like that. I had never heard of it, so I tried to look it up, but I didn't have much luck finding anything. Pretty much the piece I end up with has to have something to do with Tulsa. So...what do I think of when I think of Tulsa? First of all half my family lives there, so I think of them. But that doesn't really work. The second thing is Cain's Ballroom. We've seen a ton of concerts there and it's a really great venue, but I'm not sure how to incorporate that. I don't know if I can use their logo or not. The other thing I think of is the downtown area with all the trees, so I thought I could maybe do a skyline/tree-line. I'm racking my brain trying to think of something different that I could do. There are 50 artists in this show, so I want to stand out and have something original. If you have any ideas or know something interesting about the town let me know....please! I just keep putting it off because I'm not sure what to do. Here's the original print design I was going to do when I was first asked to be in the show. It's split up into 3 panels on wood. I just think it's so cliche to have a skyline of the theme city, I don't know, maybe not. Grrr! I wish it could just be about OKC!

zumba zumba and lots of news

So it's been a while since my last post because we started going to the gym a few weeks ago. I've never been a fan of gyms for reasons that I probably don't need to elaborate on. But I am absolutely loving this! I've been going to yoga 3 days a week and ZUMBA 3 days a week, and when I have Wednesdays off I go to yoga evolution (pilates and yoga mix). The pilates kicks my butt every time, I love yoga as usual, and zumba is my new favorite activity. I've never been good about doing cardio things for long enough periods of time. I just get bored. But this class is an hour of dancing around like a crazy person! At the end of it I'm soaked in sweat and so tired, but I find myself wanting to keep going! I go home to cook dinner and I'm still zumba-ing around the kitchen and then I zumba to the shower. It is so much fun, and I'm still shocked that I love it so much. I'm going tonight and I can't wait.


Well since my last post a couple of exciting things have happened...


Kevin found out he got into grad school at OU! We are both excited for a change and this next step in our lives. The next 3-4 years will be interesting for sure. 


Last Friday we went to a Bed & Breakfast in Guthrie. We used our tax return money to treat ourselves. It was a lot of fun, but I wish it was longer. Our cabin had an island theme, it was called Parrot's Cove. Our favorite was the hot tub on the screened in porch! We also had a jacuzi inside and a giant his and hers shower with double shower heads on either side. We brought stuff to make dinner and fondue, and they had breakfast for us to cook in the morning. We were in the middle of the woods surrounded by trees. It was pretty close to paradise!

everything was personalized for us!

the wine we had on our
honeymoon

Our giant xxxlarge robes

oh ya, there was a sauna too

strawberry hearts with whipped
cream on our morning waffles!

So I've been sending in entry forms, fees, and artwork all over the place. Hopefully I will be in some great shows in the near future. I have one Saturday at OSU-OKC. I almost decided not to do this one because they have the artists set up and break down for a one day show (pain in the butt). But it will look good on my resume which I will be sending in for another internship soon. Also, I sold a three year old drawing to a customer at work who saw my website! That was random and awesome! I have both pics up on the doodles page.


And last but not least I can officially call Priscilla my sister (in law) and Georgia my niece! I'm so happy Kevin's brother David and Priscilla decided to get married. They made a day of going to city hall, had a fancy dinner and went to a concert. So so happy they are officially part of the family now!

I will leave you with a recipe...a really great and easy one.

Baked Coconut Shrimp
Ingredients
1/2 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp
2 1/2 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. cayenne
1 cup coconut flakes
1 egg
cooking spray


1/2 cup orange marmalade
1/2 T. horseradish
1/2 T. dijon mustard


Directions
Preheat oven to 400. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Pat dry the shrimp. Mix cornstarch, salt and cayenne in one bowl. Whisk the egg in another bowl. And put coconut in another bowl. Dredge shrimp in cornstarch mixture, then egg, then coconut. Place on baking sheet and bake 12-15 min flipping halfway through. Mix remaining ingredients for dipping sauce.

new prints

"Shine" mixed media monotype screen print with colored pencil,
graphite, charcoal, ink & water soluble crayon. 11 x 14

"Oh The Cold" self portrait hand painted screen print
w/ mixed media: water soluble crayon, colored pencil,
conte. 10.5 x 14