RIP Avis......

Eric's grandmother Avis left us 09-14-10. We attended her memorial service this past weekend held in Ellsworth, KS. I have waited until today to blog about her death, because i honestly didn't know Avis very well. I had only met her 3 or 4 times myself, and it's really hard to get to know someone in only a few visits. But this weekend, i saw what kind of women she was, simply by the people that attended her service. Based on what people said about her, she was a wonderful women who like so many of us struggled. She suffered from depression, I learned this weekend, that took a toll on her family. But, even through this sickness, she did the best she could, as we all try to do. She was a great cook, having the best fried chicken ever. She loved to read. She cleaned incessantly. She will be missed greatly.

I am sad that i didn't get to know her better, that i didn't take that step to get to know her better. I would have loved to talk to her about her life, where she grew up, how she lived, how she met Irvin.....everything. I love to hear old stories from people that were there, it makes it extra special when they are family. I guess the lesson in this is, talk to your family, learn all you can, soak it in, write it down.

RIP Avis.....you will be missed

And although this was a very sad occasion, i did get a great picture of four generations of Spillman men. And one of Father, Son and Grandson.

Wednesday Dinner

I like to watch the Foodnetwork, so much so that i have no idea what else is even on TV. We watch Disney and Foodnetwork that's it. Which for me, is great. I like to get new ideas and see how my favorite chefs make my favorite meals. Last Wednesday Brianna came over for dinner and i shared 2 new recipes i had seen on Giada and Ina Garten. I was not impressed with either recipe and i probably won't make them again. But it was fun giving new things a try. I will post pictures and the recipe in case you want to give it a shot. I think the salad would have been better with a diffrent citrus fruit (MAYBE and orange) and i wasn't crazy about the sandwich, it was to big to eat as a sandwich, and very messy to eat with fork and knife. Giada diffentily made it look better on her show.

Avocado and Grapefruit Salad

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil
4 ripe Hass avocados
2 large red grapefruits
Directions
Place the mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified.

Before serving, cut the avocados in 1/2, remove the seeds, and carefully peel off the skin. Cut each half into 4 thick slices. Toss the avocado slices in the vinaigrette to prevent them from turning brown. Use a large, sharp knife to slice the peel off the grapefruits (be sure to remove all the white pith), then cut between the membranes to release the grapefruit segments.

Arrange the avocado slices around the edge of a large platter. Arrange the grapefruit segments in the center. Spoon the vinaigrette on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve.



Grilled Chicken and Avocado Napoleons

Ingredients
2 (9 by 10-inch) sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed and cut into 12 (3 by 5-inch) rectangles
4 (4-ounce) boneless and skinless chicken breast halves
Kosher salt
Olive oil, for drizzling
3 tablespoons reduced fat mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 large avocado, thinly sliced into 8 pieces
2 cups baby spinach leaves
Directions
Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.


Place the pastry on the prepared baking sheets. Using the tines of a fork, prick the top of the pastry all over. Cover the pastry with parchment paper and place another baking sheet on top. Bake for 25 minutes until golden. Remove the top baking sheets and parchment paper. Set aside to cool.


Preheat a grill pan or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Season the chicken with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Grill until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool.


In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise and cayenne pepper.


To assemble the Napoleons: Place 4 pieces pastry on a work surface. Slice each chicken breast diagonally into 6 (1/4-inch thick) slices. Place 3 chicken breast slices on each piece of pastry. Place 1/4 cup of spinach and 1 avocado slice on top. Spread 1 teaspoon of the mayonnaise mixture on the underside of another 4 pieces of pastry to create the middle layer of each Napoleon. Place on top. Repeat the layering. Each Napoleon should be completed with a piece of pastry as its top.

You've taught him well Aunt Becky.....

You've taught him well........

Happy National Talk like a Pirate Day

From the Spillman Family

Oh how he loves a photo.....

No....not really, but he does it for me.

Happy 1st Birthday.....

Today all of us celebrated 1 year at the Edge Church. We had service followed by a picnic complete with a bouncy house, snow cones, popcorn and lemonade for the kids. For the adults they had a chili cook off, and there was some pretty stiff competition. But in the end Eric's Whiskey Sirloin Chili WON!! He won bragging rights for having the best chili out of 14 others WAHOO!! Good Job!! (it was pretty awesome, i had to admit, even if he weren't my husband i would have voted for it) They also had a tattoo booth, Rohan and i both got new "ink" I am actually kind of happy i got it where i did. I have been debating on getting a 1/2 sleeve tattoo for a while, and this "tattoo" helped me decide.

It was a great time, we met some new friends and got to reconnect with some old ones. As i took pictures today, i was amazed at the number of people we can call friend, that we have met at this church. We are blessed!! Happy Birthday EDGE!!

A couple videos from today

Critters.....

We live by a park, which is next to a field, which is next to a highway. We have a ton of animals that come into our yard, which are the bain of Eric's existence, if he were superman these animals would be his kryptonite. Not only have they destroyed the yard, they seem to be immune to all types of traps. We triied almost everyhthing this summer, if we can't get rid of them, I fully expect Eric to go caddy shack on them next. We also get a ton of creepy things, snakes, rodents, bugs. Today as we were cleaning up toys from the backyard i heard Eric yelp followed by

"UGH SNAKE"

he was actually very calm, which shows he has gotten better as a father. By not freaking out (as he normally would have) he was able to get the snake a good distance away from all of us. Now, upon inspection of the snake, he really wasn't anything to be afraid of, but we are trying to teach the boys that all snakes could be dangerous and we don't want them messing with them. We all kind of woo'd and ahh'd over him and i got a couple shots of him (from a distance) as he curled around trying to make himself invisible. I think he's kinda cute. (he looks a lot bigger in the picture than he was)

And then there are the bugs we have. Yesterday morning Eric went outside to leave for work but came back in and said

"Sam, there's a walking stick by the front door"

I grabbed the boys and headed up he was all kinds of cool hanging out on the side of the house.