Well the holidays are finally over for me. My parents had a wonderful visit and we hated to see them go. They had a rough start to their trip though. After travelling roughly 1 1/2 hours they realized that they had forgotten the Christmas gifts. So they turned around went back to their house, picked up the gifts and then started off again. They arrived very late that evening and were very tired.
The following day started off in the morning where we exchanged Christmas presents and had some wonderful muffins (see below for recipe) and coffee. Next we set off to show them around the neighborhood and to the Louisiana Boardwalk to do some shopping and have lunch. I am planning on going back because there were some wonderful sales going on and after talking to the sales people they told me that by next week they will be marking the items down further! Yeah for me! We ended our time at the Boardwalk with a ride on the Merry-Go-Round and a trip to The Chocolate Crocodile . Dad also purchased us a delicious apple from there for us to have for our dessert after dinner that evening. Then we went across the river to do some shopping for my nieces birthday. After we were done with all the shopping and showing them around town we went back home for dinner. I finally got to have my Christmas Dinner. A little late but by golly I was going to have it! I have a wonderful formal dinning room that I have been wanting to use and I finally did. I had made a Roast Sticky Chicken from a recipe (again see below for recipe) that my sister had given to me and we all just couldn't get enough!
For their second full day with us we took them to Sci-Port . The place is just wonderful and we all had some fun exploring. When we were done there we went back across the river to do some more shopping and to have dinner at a Chinese Buffet. Afterwards it was back to our house and Sam and my dad put together his new toy. It is from Rokenbok and is so cool! Sam will have fun with this for years to come. We said our goodbyes that evening as Mom and Dad wanted to get an early start so that they could get one more birthday present for my niece. They have arrived home safely and we are looking forward to another visit from them.
Now I need to start packing back up all the Christmas decorations and take down our tree. Then it will be back to the regular unpacking of all the boxes I have yet to touch. Sam finally will go back to school on Tuesday. Such a long break and I think we are all ready for him to go back.
Recipes:
Cape Cod Berry Muffins
3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons of sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1/2 cup dried blueberries, mixed with 2 tablespoons of sugar
In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and 6 tablespoons of sugar. In a small bowl beat the egg, milk and oil together. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in dried berries. Fill greased, low, flat muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 13 minutes or until they test done. Watch that they don't burn! Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan to a wire rack. USE DRIED BERRIES ONLY.
My Note: I did not mix the berries with 2 tablespoons of sugar or sprinkle them with coarse sugar and they came out just fine.
Roast Sticky Chicken
4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp White Pepper
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 Large Roasting Chicken
1 cup Chopped Onion
Combine all spices in a bowl. Clean and pat dry chicken. Rub spice mixture inside and out of the chicken including between the skin. Place in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate overnight. Next day stuff with onion. Cook uncovered for 5 hours at 250 degrees. Once the pan juices appear start basting the chicken every 1/2 hour.
My Note: I did not use any white pepper. Instead I used 1 1/2 tsp of black pepper. Also I used 1 tsp of Ground Red Pepper instead of the 1 tsp of Cayenne Pepper. I also did not use the chopped onion. Either way it comes out as the tastiest chicken!
I have posted some slide shows below that show some things that we did.
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