Tuesday night was Ladies Game Night at my house.  When we went to our annual Ladies’ retreat in April, we had so much fun playing games at the coffee shop, that I decided then and there that we needed to get together and have a night of fun like that every now and then!

I invited all the ladies from church and ended up with a dozen here in my living room.  There were many that were kept from coming due to the stormy weather, busy schedules or husbands working.  I plan to do this again sometime this summer to include many that wanted to be here but couldn’t.

I used the Game theme for my table decorations, as you can see from the top picture.

We started with Taboo and Telestrations.  This was a new game to most of us, and was a lot of fun!!!  The picture below is a shot of us playing it.

We also played Jenga.  It got very quiet in the house when the tower got shaky!  It was so quiet, in fact, my husband, who was upstairs, thought we were having a time of devotions then!  We dared not breathe, lest the blocks tumble!

We had lots of good snacks to share!  I mean, snacks and board games just go together, right?  I made the Almond Toffee Popcorn I posted about here, but substituted honey-roasted peanuts for the Almonds.  I liked it even better!

My daughter Alli shared a challenge from God’s Word from what the Lord has been teaching her in recent days.  She shared from Proverbs 15 about those that have a merry heart have a continual feast!  The choice to have a merry heart is thinking what we know to be true about our God and dwelling on Him! Good truths!

It’s so great to get together with other women to fellowship, laugh, have fun, and talk about the Scriptures!  When was the last time you got together with friends to just have fun?  Maybe you need to be the one to instigate that time!

With love from my country porch,

I love have friends over for lunch – especially when it’s just girls!  I can dress up the table a little more and make little sandwiches and cute, little desserts.  For the most part, guys don’t really care what the table looks like, or how pretty dessert is – they just want to be filled up!

I recently had some ladies over and I really enjoyed trying a new version of a southern favorite –  Chicken Salad.  There are lots of different ways to make it, and I like changing it up a bit.  This recipe calls for Rosemary and Dijon in the dressing.  Also, instead of the normal addition of pecans, you add almonds.  It was very good!  Here’s  a picture of the plated lunch:

Menu:

Rosemary/Dijon Chicken Salad
Corn and Tomato Salad
Fresh fruit salad
Tortilla Chips and Salsa
Individual Chocolate and Raspberry Trifles

 Rosemary-Dijon Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 3/4 pound)
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped smoked almonds
1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 slices whole-grain bread – I used Ciabatta

Directions:
Combine first 9 ingredients, stirring well. Spread about 2/3 cup of chicken mixture over each of 5 bread slices, and top with remaining bread slices. Cut sandwiches diagonally in half.

 

To accompany the sandwiches I made a Corn and Tomato Salad.  This takes few ingredients and is a great salad for summertime because it contains no may.  Feta Cheese is added right before serving.  I served it on the side, in case someone didn’t want it on theirs.

 

Corn and Tomato Salad

Ingredients
5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn, thawed
1-1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup finely chopped cucumber
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions
In a small bowl, whisk 4 teaspoons oil, lime juice, salt and pepper sauce; set aside.
In a large skillet, cook and stir corn in remaining oil over medium-high heat until tender. (I didn’t cook my frozen corn.  I simply ran it under cold water to thaw it and then added it to the other ingredients) Transfer to a salad bowl; cool slightly. Add the tomatoes, cucumber, onion and basil. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat.
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving or refrigerate until chilled. Sprinkle with cheese just before serving

Ina Garten says dessert will be remembered, so make it delicious!  I LOVE chocolate and raspberries together, so I layered a simple dessert of:

Chocolate brownies, crumbled
Fresh Raspberries
Cool Whip with 1 tsp vanilla added
Chocolate Sauce

After it was all layered in the dish, I dusted it with cocoa powder.  This dessert was the perfect little bit of sweetness for the end of the meal!

This is a fun summer menu; I hope you’ll try these recipes for your next “Girl-y” get together!

With love from my country kitchen,

 

 

When vacation time rolls around you’ll be packing your suitcase with all your daily needs. If you use a curling iron or straightener it can be a problem.  I don’t know about you, but it seems whenever it’s time to head out the door, my curling iron is still hot from use!  If I pop it into the suitcase it could ruin anything leather if it touches it!  Yikes! Even daily storage of a hot iron can present a problem if it hasn’t cooled sufficiently.

You could buy one of those cute little insulated bags to put it in, but the easier solution I’ve come up with is to take a sport sock and slide it over the hot iron part.  Now I can put it in my suitcase without worrying that it’s going to melt a shoe or my makeup bag.

Also, be sure to clean your curling iron or straightener regularly, so it will work at its potential.  A friend of mine who was a hair stylist told me the best way to clean them is to unplug the iron and use a cotton ball with a little rubbing alcohol on it.  The hair spray will come right off and make the iron look like new!

Any other curling iron or straightener tips from you readers?

Have a wonderful weekend!  Find your place in a church that preaches the Gospel from the Bible so you can be challenged and changed!

Stay refreshed,

Denise