ericsonhome.net

Bryce must be out there someplace, but it has been a long dry spell since getting a letter on his blog. .  We miss it!

I got a call from church headquarters yesterday. They were wanting to know the wherabouts of Ryan so that they could send his records. It’s funny because just a day or two before, I was wondering why I hadn’t heard from them for that very reason. When I hung up the phone, Erica said, “I am pretty sure that this is the only church in the world where the headquarters of the church will make calls around the world to find a lost member.”  I was excited that they had called, but choked up when Erica put it in that perspective. It is like the shepherd who leaves the ninety and nine to go out to find the one lost sheep. How thankful I am to be a member of this church. Another cool thing is that I can get on the internet and find the bishop who is assigned to Ryan. I am quite sure that no one in Mesa would ever get a call from Rome, from someone searching for their son!

I fixed Susan’s pasta dish for dinner tonight. Delicious. I think I gained 3 pounds. Next time I will try it with less fat.
BTW Susan, you need to call me and give that info.

It really stinks when our low is higher than your high!

I made this Italian chicken for dinner today. Everyone loved it. Well, let me clarify that–Except for the mushrooms and zucchini, everyone loved it. Some ate all, and others picked out that good stuff. I substituted apple juice for the wine and regular salt for kosher salt.

I am also adding a fettucini recipe that we all snarf down as fast as we can. If any is left over, it tastes better the next day. We put chicken in it, but it would be even better with shrimp instead.
TO DIE FOR FETTUCINI

24 ounces dry fettuccini pasta
1 cup butter
3/4 pint heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 dash garlic salt
3/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add fettuccini and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. In a large saucepan, melt butter into cream over low heat. Add salt, pepper and garlic salt. Stir in cheese over medium heat until melted; this will thicken the sauce.
Add pasta to sauce. Use enough of the pasta so that all of the sauce is used and the pasta is thoroughly coated. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving Calories: 973 | Total Fat: 61.8g | Cholesterol: 186mg

ITALIAN CHICKEN

4 Italian sweet or hot sausages
2 zucchini, sliced length wise, cut into two inch
pieces
2 large sweet yellow onions, quartered
4 carrots pelled, cut into 2 inch pieces
6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
½ lb. baby portabella mushrooms or medium
size mushrooms, whole
2 c. chicken stock
1 c. Sauvignon blanc or Chardonnay
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 c. flour
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. black pepper
4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

In large deep frying pan or Dutch oven, lightly brown sausages in olive oil and butter. Remove sausage and retain drippings in pan to brown chicken.

Place flour, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning in gallon-size zip-lock bag. Seal and shake well to blend seasonings. Place chicken pieces in the bag and shake well until well coated. Place chicken in the heated drippings from the sausages and brown on all sides until golden brown.

Cut the browned sausages into two inch pieces and place back into the skillet. Add the quartered potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, mushrooms and the chicken stock and cover. Cook on medium heat for approximately one hour, checking chicken stock so it has not completely reduced.

Add the white wine and zucchini and cook uncovered until zucchini is tender. The juice will reduce to wonderful, savory gravy and is great served over the meat and vegetables. Serve in large shallow soup bowls.

You should have seen how fast I cut up the watermelon that we had for dinner tonight. I didn’t even have to scrape too much off the rind after the initial cutting. =)

I recall all of Doug’s pictures of when Spain won the Euro Cup. Now I kinda wish I could be in Spain on Sunday!

We just had a great extra time with James and Susan. You just left and we are already missing you. All of us love you and wish we could get together more often. We have to try harder in the future. Have a great and save trip back home.

Strange things happen at my house!  For a day and a half I could not get my internet to pull up.  I ;finally called technical support and they walked me through several things (modem operation, etc.) and he finally told me it was not my internet that was causing the problem it was my computer and that I needed to take it to a technician.  Well, that just caused me to shiver so I thought, “I have computer sons coming to my house, I will just wait — they will fix the problem.  Anyway, last night I decided to try it one more time, just for kicks, and LO, it turned on and here I am.  I don’t know what was going on, but I am happy that something is going on now and I am back in business.  Such is the life and cares and woes and blessings of this Grandma.