of Glitzy Christmas Wreaths

I just love holiday craft projects. Really, I love any craft in general that deals with plants. The best part about crafting around the holidays is that you can share your spoils with everyone you care about in life. Also be proud of me for posting more than one thing this month! I'm improving. My oldest sister Mandy, whom you may remember recently had a birthday, came up with the idea to make these wreaths for our parents (pictured above), aunt and uncle, and nana and papa after seeing this post. Mandy is a fabulous idea woman but becomes easily overwhelmed with creative projects and so I am often tasked with following (straying from) the directions. We make a fabulous if a little distracted team.

I love having guidelines for creativity occasionally, especially when I have not done a certain project before but I generally try to make each project my own. The wreath in the above post is beautiful, but being a plant and foliage kind of gal I felt I could make a few tweaks to create a wreath more to my liking. The result was so fabulous that I ended up making them for my sisters as well (Katie's is the star of this post), and at only about 12 dollars a pop the wreaths are way cheaper than something you could find in a store. I bet you'll like the finished result better. Plus since you are using all fake stuff you can use this decoration for many years to come. I think it would be fun for older children as well, although I did burn myself on the hot glue many a time.

Todays Cast of Characters:

Christmas glitz abounds today with fun things from Michael's and the Dollar Store. I made three wreaths each go round so I got two sizes of ornaments from the dollar store but you will only need about 8 small and 5 larger ornaments total. It would be nice to use some existing ones if you have those lying around. I also found delightful little sprigs of evergreen with berries. I thought they were exceptionally cute but they only came in a two pack so one lucky family member got two sprigs on their wreath. From Michaels I got a grape wreath (its the brown viney looking one), their plant garland, a few little flowers, and a cute little bird that had a pine cone and sprig attached. As for the garland, I definitely prefered the one I used on my parents to the one I used on my sisters. It was easier to work with, lusher, and much more sparkly. Luckily my mom has a hot glue gun and tons of glue as well as several nice plaid ribbons available at her house so I didn't have to purchase anything. Since ribbon was on sale, I'd imagine it would only add a few cents to a dollar to each wreath price.

What to Do:

To start out, remove the pieces of garland from the chain link they are attached to. I used one third of the garland for each wreath I made which I imagine is roughly 2 feet. You don't have to cut each individual piece if you don't want to but I think it gives you more material to work with in the end. Don't snip too close to the end of the plant, it will cause issues.

Continue snipping until just the chain link is left. Next, place your eye catchers (which in this case are the bird and the sprig of berries) where you think they look nice on the wreath. I like the bird to be perched higher up on the wreath but really it will look good anywhere. The trick is creating a good balance of color and texture on the wreath.

I like to put the little flowers right near the bird or other focal point so I hot glued a few of them at first and then worked my way up to a bunch.

Next fill in between the two focal points. I like to create a layered look so I glue some big pieces of the snipped garland down first and kind of layer up between them. Be sure to leave some room to glue in the ornaments. This was a particularly tricky garland because of the abundance of red berries.

Roughly estimate the size and position of your bow and make sure you have enough garland to fill your wreath until that position.  It doesn't have to be exactly in the center if you would prefer it elsewhere.Then work on filling in the greenery and making it look cheery. This is where I burned myself most with the hot glue so please be careful!

At this point my mom started making the bow. I have no clue how to make it but she watched this tutorial on youtube and had fabulous things to say about it.

Once that fun is done its time to place and glue your ornaments. This takes a lot of hot glue but the end result is worth it. I put them where I find a bit of room and also where I think they look good. It is important to have a mix of sizes and styles in one area. I also like to highlight certain features of the wreath by putting the glitzier ones there.

Finally attach your excellently crafted bow to the section you left for it and take a step back to make sure everything looks kosher. I found that on most of the wreaths I had a little bit of the snipped garland left that I would stick in a place that didn't look as lush.

Your wreath is now ready to share! It can be placed indoors or outdoors but it will obviously last longer when kept inside or at least protected. Enjoy!

of Fancy Chicken and Creamy Rice Casserole

In honor of my sister Mandy's birthday I decided to share a delicious dish I tend to make for special events. One thing I used to be horribly afraid of food wise is rice. When I was a little girl, the absolute only way I would eat rice was in my mom's (but possibly grandmother's recipe) chicken and rice casserole. The way the juices would mix with the French onion soup mix and rice was complex, creamy, salty and absolutely delectable. I couldn't resist that flavor profile. I've grown up a bit since then and have even come to semi even like rice; provided there is some sort of flavor attached. This recipe is by far my favorite way to eat it, heck I've even made the rice recipe without the chicken.

I make fancy chicken and rice casserole in the wintertime when I'm looking for a more stick to your ribs kind of dinner, for friends birthdays, or even for impressing some dinner party guests.  This recipe is a relatively versatile and easy to make stunner that will knock your flavor socks off. The creamy herbed rice creates a kind of French risotto vibe that melds perfectly with the flavorful and juicy chicken. It is at once comforting, interesting, and a nice change for those who usually don't do French because of sauces that are too rich or recipes that are too involved. BTW the fresh herbs make all the difference so try to use those if you can!

Today's Cast of Characters:

Kind of involved ingredients wise today which I enjoy immensely, I always like to give myself ingredient challenges every now and again. We have chicken, rice, chicken broth and fat free half and half of course (you could sub in some cream for a dreamier treat); but we also have a little bit of sour cream and dry white wine hiding out in the sauce. Salt and pepper lend some taste to both the sauce and chicken while Herbs de Provence or Italian seasoning  provide a little something for the chicken to love.  We also have fresh herbs; I usually get the poultry mix at the grocery store because I am not special/talented/responsible enough to grow them all in my house. I always have fresh basil on hand though due to my trusty basil plant Milton, the one who tries to take over my life. Things continue to get interesting with Cremini mushrooms, paprika, garlic, onion, and olive oil. All of these ingredients work to give this casserole such an incredible depth of flavor that the whole dish should make mouths very happy indeed.

What to Do:

First, as always recommended when using the oven, preheat the oven to 375°F. This dish takes awhile to bake and you won't want to wait around as soon as you smell how good this baby smells.

Next, heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium high or high heat. The pan should be hot enough to brown but not burn. If it helps, I usually use medium high because I'm horribly afraid of burning anything.

Season the chicken pieces all over with salt and pepper and Herbs de Provence or Italian seasoning. I use Herbs de Provence usually but sometimes I mix it up.

Working in batches, brown the chicken pieces on two sides. Since you are not cooking it through it will only take about 1-2 minutes per side per batch. Add a little olive oil if needed after every batch. This will help prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan but if you are cooking it right, the chicken will not be sticking. Remove chicken pieces and set aside in a bowl with paper towels.

In the same sauté pan lower the heat to medium, add the onions and a bit of oil and cook until translucent. This generally takes about 3 minutes on my stove. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and just starting to brown. Remove onions and garlic to a 9x13 casserole dish.

Raise heat to medium high, add the sliced mushrooms. Do not add any butter or olive oil to the pan and dry sauté them, allowing the mushrooms to brown lightly and release some of their moisture. Add the mushrooms to the casserole dish.

Add the dry white wine to the pan to deglaze the pan, scraping off the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the wine reduce to about 1 Tbsp which can easily be eyeballed since the mix will reduce by 3/4.

Then add the chicken stock, and remove from heat. Stir in some salt, a bit of pepper, the fat free half and half, and the sour cream. Whisk or beat with a fork until the sour cream is evenly dispersed.

Add the uncooked rice to the casserole dish. Mix the rice with the veggies. Then add a little extra Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence to the casserole dish if you want. I generally don't add any more seasoning because I prefer to let the fresh herbs shine however I was unable to find the fresh herbs today so I added a bit more Herbs de Provence and a good amount of fresh basil.

Chop up about half of each of the herbs included in the poultry mix. I usually do this by snipping them into the rice mixture but today was an epic failure in the fresh herbs department so I just did the basil. I then pour the stock, white wine, cream, sour cream mixture over the rice. Stir the rice, onion, mushroom, herb mixture so that everything is evenly distributed in the casserole dish.

Place the chicken pieces on top of the rice mixture in a single layer if you can, don't worry they will be crowded and sprinkle a bit of paprika on the top. Bake in a 375°F oven for 45 minutes if the casserole is still too liquidy, let it cook a few minutes more, still uncovered, until the excess liquid has evaporated away and the chicken reaches an ok temperature to eat. I often find that this takes about 50 to 55 minutes instead.

Finally, remove from the oven, serve it up on a plate and you got yourself one nice meal. Enjoy!

 Ingredients:

Fancy Chicken and Creamy Rice Casserole

 2 1/2 lb bone in chicken legs and thighs connected (6 per pack)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ lb cremini or button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 ¾ cups* chicken stock**
3 or 4 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 cup fat free half and half or cream
1 cup raw, medium or long grain, white rice
1 ½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
about 1 teaspoon of Herbs de Provence
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
About 2 teaspoons each of fresh sage, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium high or high heat (hot enough to brown but not burn). While you wait, season the chicken pieces all over with salt and pepper and Herbs de Provence seasoning.
2.Working in batches, brown the chicken pieces on two sides, about 1-2 minutes per batch. Add a little olive oil if needed after every batch if needed, if the chicken is cooking correctly, this will not be necessary. Please note that the chicken does not have to be cooked through, only browned. Remove chicken pieces and set aside in a bowl with paper towels.
3. In the same sauté pan lower the heat to medium add the onions and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, cook 30 seconds more. Remove onions and garlic to a shallow (9 x 13 x 2) casserole dish.
4. Raise heat to medium high, add the sliced mushrooms. Dry sauté them with no additional butter or oil, allowing the mushrooms to brown lightly, and release some of their moisture. Add the mushrooms to the casserole dish.
5. Add the dry white wine to the pan to deglaze the pan, scraping off the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, since I use nonstick there are never any bits. Let the wine reduce to about 1 Tbsp, then add the chicken stock, and remove from heat.
6. Stir in 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, the cream, and the sour cream and mix until well blended and smooth looking.
7. Add the raw rice to the casserole dish. Then pour the cream mixture over the rice. Add all of the fresh herbs. Stir the rice, onion, mushroom, herb mixture so that they are evenly distributed in the casserole dish.
8. Place the chicken pieces on top of the rice mixture in a single layer if you can, don't panic they will be crowded. Bake in a 375°F oven for 45 minutes uncovered. If the casserole is still too liquidy, let it cook a few minutes more until the excess liquid has evaporated away, this dish usually takes about 50 minutes in my oven. The chicken should be a safe 165 degrees by then.
9. Enjoy!