Open-Faced Chicken Sandwich with Basil Mayonnaise

Open Faced Chicken Sandwich with Basil Mayonnaise
adapted from Bon Appetit

I found this recipe on Bon Appetit and thought it sounded fantastic. I wanted to try the recipe the way it was written with ground chicken, but I couldn't find ground chicken? I didn't look really hard, though, so it may be out there somewhere. It tasted fabulous with my go-to chicken marinade on some chicken breasts. I was afraid my family would hate it because they are hard core fans of mayo like I am. I cannot open a jar of mayonnaise without bringing it to my nose to take a whiff. I was right about the girls, but Bobby actually liked it. This is a great way to use up some home-grown basil and tomatoes! Enjoy it! I think we'll be having this again soon.

Ingredients

• Olive oil (for brushing)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/4 cups chopped fresh basil plus 8 large leaves, divided
• 3 tablespoons chopped drained cornichons or dill pickle plus 1 1/2 tablespoons brine from jar (I left these out because everyone else in my family hates pickles- I'd like to try it some time though)
• 4 chicken breasts marinated in lemon-thyme marinade (scroll down a bit for the grilled lemon chicken recipe)
• 4 1/2-inch-thick slices country white bread (I used this recipe)
• 4 1/3-inch-thick slices from large red or orange heirloom tomato

Preparation

• Brush grill with oil; prepare barbecue (medium heat). Mix mayonnaise, 1 cup chopped basil, cornichons, and brine in small bowl. Season basil mayonnaise with salt and pepper.
• Grill marinated chicken.
  
• Grill bread until crisp and golden, about 1 minute per side. Transfer bread to plates. Grill burgers until firm to touch and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
• Spread bread slices thickly with basil mayonnaise. Top each bread slice with tomato, 2 basil leaves, chicken breast, and dollop of basil mayonnaise. Garnish with remaining chopped basil.

Back to School and Baby Sue

The girls started their school year and so far things are going great. From what I can tell, they seem to have excellent teachers and are enjoying their classrooms. The first day of school Franny came home from a letter from her teacher asking me to tell her about Franny in "a million words or less." I liked her immediately. Today Sophie's teacher said, "I'm sure you know how bright and what a delight Sophie is in the classroom." I hoped as much, but it's always nice to hear. It's been two weeks now and Sophie just wore a pair of shorts yesterday for the first time. She only wants to wear skirts or dresses.

As for Claire, I'm really enjoying the one on one time I have with her and I think she is, too. We go on a walk together every morning, then we come home and she watches Elmo (she calls it "Elwo") while I get organized and cleaned up for the day. She has become very attached to Sophie and Franny's dolls. She has about four baby dolls she carries around and she calls them all "Baby Sue." She started pushing them around in this triplet toy stroller we found at a garage sale this summer. It is the cutest thing! Today she wanted them to come with her to watch "Elwo." Here she is giving them both a hug-



And this is the face she makes when she talks about them. She scrunches her face up like she might cry and says, "OH! BABY SUE!!!"

Miss King

Franny had two fabulous teachers her first grade year! I couldn't have asked for better. We had one of them, Miss King, over for dinner last night and since it was the day after her birthday we celebrated with her and served ice cream sundaes. It was great to see her and Franny was so excited. She chose the menu and helped us get the house cleaned up in preparation for her visit. She loves Miss King so much!

You suck, July 14

I really hate that I have a day of the year that I can't be happy on. At least for the time being. It's just a day. Something really sad happened to me and my family four years ago on that day, but it's still just another summer day. As the day approached, I actually felt like it wasn't going to bother me this year. Then I woke up at 4:00 AM to Bobby's R2D2 notification message on his phone, and then Franny was up using the bathroom at 4:30, and that was it, I couldn't fall back asleep. Neither could Franny, as it seems, because she thought it would be a good idea to wake Claire up at 6:15. I'm finally drifting off when I hear Franny saying over the monitor, "Good morning, Claire! Time to wake up!" And I knew it was game over. The worst day of the year for me had started four hours earlier than usual. (My kids have been sleeping in until 8:00 AM ever since we got back from California and it's awesome!)

I told Bobby that day felt a little bit like walking into a brick wall when you're not paying attention. And then you're flat on your back looking up and that brick wall thinking, "Man, I should have seen this coming." I also feel like summer betrayed me by taking my Mom in July. Summer is supposed to be happy and carefree! Something like this should have happened in January or February. I can't say this around Bobby or Franny because their birthdays both fall during this time, but those are my least favorite months. So cold, so quiet- a perfect time to wear sweats all day and no makeup and bake a lot of treats and do nothing.

This year July 14 started off kind of rough, but it got better. I took one of my pie crusts out of the freezer, rolled it out and filled it with raspberries and peaches and then put a crumb topping on it. Delicious! It felt to good to bake.
Then Claire went down for a nap and I put a movie on for the girls and gave them instructions not to wake Mommy up for anything less than an emergency. And not a bathroom emergency. Franny did come in once to tell me that Sophie pinched her but not before I got a good hour of sleep in, and I was satisfied with that. It made such a difference. Then we spent the afternoon outside eating popsicles and visiting with our neighbors Lydia and Amanda while the girls played in our inflatable pool.
The day just got better and better. After that we ate calzones for dinner- those really hit the spot- and off to Sophie's last T-ball game of the season. This was her first year and she did so well! I was so proud. This was our first time participating in a sports team of any kind. It was all very new to me because I never played sports of any kind growing up, aside from P.E. "I'm not very athletic." I felt a little nervous and awkward the first few games, but by the end, I felt pretty comfortable. I think for sure we'll do it again next year. Sophie payed close attention and chased after every ball and caught more than her share. We were very impressed. And by the end of the season we noticed she was hitting the ball much farther than at the beginning.
I am hoping that at as the years pass, it will get a little easier to face July 14. My cousin told me that they call the day his father passed away "Happy Deathday." He said because his Dad was such a fun happy guy, it made sense to get together for a party even if he couldn't be there physically. I hope I get there sooner rather than later. I know my mother would prefer that.
Raspberry Peach Pie with Crumb Topping
from Equal Opportunity Kitchen

For the Filling:

6-7 ripe, but firm white or yellow peaches, washed and chopped with skins on. (You can also remove the skins (if desired) by blanching the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds and then putting them in an ice bath. The skin should peel off.)

1 pint raspberries

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup brown sugar (depending on the sweetness of the fruit and your taste)

3 tablespoons cornstarch or potato starch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

For the filling I chopped up 6 or 7 peaches. Toss them with a pint of raspberries and the lemon juice.

Combine the brown sugar with the cornstarch, salt and ground ginger in a small bowl. You want to mix all of these ingredients until they are well combined before sprinkling over the fruit.

Crumble Top

3/4 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Walnuts (optional – I didn’t add this)
1/2 Cup Oatmeal
1/2 Cup Butter (cold)
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

I just mixed the ingredients together with a fork and spread it evenly on top of the filling. Actually, I had too much crumble, so I only used about 2-3 of the crumble mixture for the pie.

I then put the pie in the oven at 350 F for about one hour. Serve with ice cream.

Elizabeth's wedding

We were invited to a friend's wedding yesterday. I can't remember the last time I was able to attend a wedding for someone not in my immediate family. It was fun and I think the girls really enjoyed getting to watch a wedding. It was for our friend Liz, who was one of the first of Franny's implementers when Franny first started therapy back in 2006. We felt so honored to be invited and it felt so wonderful to be a small part of her special day. Franny got to sit and the very end of the pew and watch all the bridesmaids and finally the bride walk in. Liz was an absolutely gorgeous bride.She tried to get every one single member of the wedding processional to wave at her until I finally told her to cut it out.

Here is Franny giving Liz a little hug.
We were going to head over to the reception to eat dinner, but we decided since we didn't have Claire with us (she was home with a sitter), it might be fun to go out to eat without having to entertain a rowdy baby. So we all went out to eat together at Colton's before heading to the reception.

We do love that baby Claire, but it sure was nice to have a family outing that didn't involve one of us chasing a busy toddler. I mean, does this look like the kind of baby who could sit still during a quiet wedding ceremony?

Taco Bell

I can't believe I haven't posted this on my blog yet. It's not like it's some big secret. I think I hoped I'd come up with some fun and creative way of announcing it, but that's not likely to happen, so I'll just tell you:

About three weeks ago at 10:15 in the morning I found myself in the parking lot of a Taco Bell, eating a chicken soft taco smothered with mild sauce. I think the last time I had Taco Bell was 2007. That was only because we had just moved into a new house and Franny was hungry for tacos and the kitchen hadn't been unpacked yet. Prior to that the last time was probably sometime when I was in college. So as I sat eating Taco Bell in the parking lot at 10:15 in the morning (I was too embarrassed to ask if I was their first customer of the day, but I assumed I was), I thought to myself, "Pregnancy is so weird."

Lucky for me, now that I'm out of the first trimester, I'm craving fruits and vegetables and NOT the same food I ate when I was in junior high. Phew.

Expecting A BOY in November!

Dance Recital 2011

I took a picture of Franny at her dance recital the other night and she said, "Maybe you should put that on your website." I thought it was so cute that she would think to suggest that. Then of course I felt guilty since it's been nearly two months since I've posted anything. It was a really fun night. Bobby brought flowers for the girls and Franny's school teacher came and gave her a flower, too! We hired a babysitter for Claire and I'm so glad we did. What a busy baby! It was nice to just be able to sit and enjoy the show without having to worry about entertaining a restless new walker on my lap.

Here are a few pictures we took that night. After the performance, we took the girls out for ice cream. They looked so pretty and danced so well! Sophie's little preschool class did a dance called "The Ladybug Club." It was so adorable. She has so many little friends in that class and they were adorable, too!



Here are the girls' individual and class pictures. I think they turned out great!