Happy Tuesday friends! Hope you all had fantastic weekends! Not to get off topic, but I am learning things about blogging, since this is my second time around. When I first started blogging, I truly felt the need to blog everyday (and I knew bloggers that even posted twice, maybe three times a day), with three small children and a tween, it was a task, that was fun at the beginning, visiting bloggy friends and checking on what was going on in their corner of the blogosphere. Then after a while, I wouldn't say it got harder to keep up, and it wasn't burnout, I think it was just trying to balance family with blogging. I'll admit, that while this is my online journal, and while it's my inspiration, I hope that it also inspires the tens of readers that my small blog has. Even though I really wanted to blog yesterday, it just wasn't meant to be, and I'm ok with that. There is a time and a place for everything, and yesterday's post, is today's inspiration. That your blog is your blog, and you can write when you want, how you want, and those loyal readers will be there for you! With that note, onto today's post!
Today I am sharing our weekend visit up in Prescott, and my search for a rose bush. There are some rose bushes left here in the Valley, but as we get our shipment in at the beginning of the year, by this time, picking are slim, and as I mentioned one of my favorite nurseries in Phoenix, apparently closed at the end of 2014!
Our first stop was
Watter's Garden Center. As we walked through the front gates, roses were arranged by color, red, purple, orange, yellow.
Other than for the obvious reason, that Neil Diamond is one of her favorite singers, this striking rose has stunning blooms with unique speckled and striped patterns of various shades of red, from Cherry, to dark raspberry and then to blush white, or maybe it is the roses sweet fragrance she's after.
For me, my favorite is and always has been yellow roses. This one, I remember in my mother's garden growing up, it always reminds me to keep the 'Peace'!
My daughters and I meandered down the whimsical paths, admiring all the gorgeous and strange plants, I say strange, because in Phoenix, we rarely get to see delicate plants like peonies, camillas, and pussy willow trees, which my daughter, kept running her fingers over the blooms, saying how soft they were, there was even a pink jasmine plant that caught my eye. These plants are chosen by Watters that are specific for Prescott only. The staff at Watters are very helpful and friendly. They also offer Saturday garden classes. My mother even emailed me one of their 'Taking care of roses newsletters'. Other plants we were investigating were all the colors of snapdragons, stock and violas.
Personally, I could buy these plants at Lowe's, HomeDepot or Walmart, for half the price, and as the roses were a little more than I was willing to pay. We left, for our next stop to have dinner with my mom, her husband and my grandparents at
Genovese's .
Genovese is a charming fine Italian restaurant in Prescott's town square, specifically on the famous Whiskey Row. It being Saturday night, you can imagine the place was packed. The room was filled with conversations and laughter, as the dining room guests were enjoying not only their delicious meals, but the pleasure of their dinner company! I can't tell you how long it's been since, I had an enjoyable dinner out with family. After we ordered, and around the time our salads were served, that's when the real ambiance started, as the lights were dimmed, as I wasn't able to get a really good picture of my meal. I ordered the Chicken Alba. The chicken breasts were cooked to perfection and covered lightly with a wine sauce that had capers, red peppers, artichokes, and mushrooms. On the side I had large macaroni pasta with the most amazing alfredo sauce I've ever tasted. The only two things, that we had to criticize were the garlic bread, was pretty crunchy, and I am used to ceasar salad dressing being very creamy, and I was surprised when the dressing on my salad was mostly olive oil, with a ton of garlic. Thank goodness my husband didn't come on this trip, because I seriously doubt I'd be getting a kiss good night from him!
My mother's husband ordered the lasagna, Katelyn ordered, the cheese tortellini with marinara, my mom and grandfather ordered pizzas that they bake fresh to order and shared with Lindsay. My grandmother and I have very similar tastes, I almost ordered the exact same thing, except that I had made Chicken Piccata for dinner last week. Of course it came with angel hair pasta, and had a strong lemony flavor, that makes it so wonderful. Dinner was perfect, and the staff were extremely nice and very attentive, making Katelyn's birthday dinner a very memorable one.
For today as well, I am sharing my quick recipe for Chicken Piccata!
Chicken Piccata
Ingredients
1 pound chicken breasts
salt and pepper
flour for dredging
3 Tbls. unsalted butter
2 1/2 Tbls. extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon (more if you prefer)
1/2 cup white wine ( I used chicken stock)
1/4 cup brined capers
Pound of pasta, cooked as directed (angel hair, fettuccini, thin spaghetti)
Directions
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.
In a large skillet over medium high heat, 1 Tbls. of the butter with half of the olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 5 minutes per side. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 5 minutes minutes. Check the internal temperature of the chicken should be 175F with a thermometer, and the juices should run clear. Remove and transfer to plate.
Melt the other 1 Tbls. of butter and half of the olive oil. And repeat, cooking the remaining chicken in the same manner.
Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken.
Until next time, I hope you all have a great week!
Happy 12th Birthday to Katelyn Rose!
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