MARIE'S MUSES

“For sale. Baby Shoes. Never worn.”

Back in the 1920’s, the great writer, Ernest Hemingway. made a bet for $10 with someone, where he stated that he could write a complete story in six words. He won the bet with the above. Never have six words been so thought provoking or made one ponder more.

It got me to thinking about how could I sum up my own life in six words. What is my six word story? I’ve been so many places and had so many varied experiences . . . some good, some bad, other’s boring and often sad, many happy . . . always exciting, well at least to me anyways.

Trust me, I did my best.
Ray Kemp

Head in books, feet in flowers.
Heather Thomson

Slow lane. Fast lane. Hard shoulder.
Alex Hansen Today.

Conceived, implored, employed, adored, retired, ignored.
Joy MacKenzie

Four Weddings, Three kids, then cancer.
Gillian Johnson

Aspirations compromised by procrastination, then children.
Harry Beighton

If only I had turned left.
Robin Pickering

And so, this morning, I am pondering what would my six line life story be. It’s a lot to take in. (and although that last line is just six words . . . that’s not it!) And then it came to me . . .

That about sums it up quite nicely. I thought about “I came, he saw, I conquered” . . . but that only covers these last 8 years. Tee hee

So now I toss out the challenge to you. What are your six words? Care to share?

Oh yes, I can think of a two word sentence that really make one think even more than six . . . it’s in the bible. “Jesus wept.” . . .

We had a lovely Valentines celebration here at Oak Cottage last night. We did a Raclette (the 21st century version of the fondue party) with the missionary couple, the MacDonalds. They are such a sweet couple. I can’t think of any way to share your love with your partner in life more than serving a mission together. What a wonderful thing to do!  I just know they are building some good and some not so good memories together, as well as some pretty wonderful experiences. I really admire and look up to them.  We had a really nice time together, the four of us. I had some rock and roll love songs from the early 1960’s and late 1950’s playing on the juke box (aka our stereo) and I had decorated the table with love hearts, chocolate hearts and marshmallow hearts. A big bouquet of pink tulips graced it as well. I think it looked really nice. I can’t really share the recipe with you, because it’s not really a recipe . . . just a bunch of cut up food that everyone cooks themselves and then coats with cheese and grills, but I can share  a tasty salad with you that I made for lunch the other day!

Serves 6

This salad is delicious and one that I make quite often. In fact it is one of the Mr’s favourites. The recipe specifies cooking chicken breasts specifically to use here, but you can also get away with using leftover cooked chicken or turkey. It’s a great way to get rid of the leftovers and please everyone at the same time!

6 chicken breasts, bone in, skin on

A drizzle of olive oil

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 ½ cups good quality mayonnaise (I use hellman’s or homemade)

1/3 cup dry white wine or apple juice

¼ cup mango chutney

3 TBS of curry powder

2 large stalks of celery, chopped

¼ cup chopped spring onion, both white and green parts

¼ cup sultanas

1 cup salted roasted cashew nuts

Preheat your oven to 160*C/350*F. Place the chicken breasts onto a shallow baking pan and rub the skin all over with the olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and black pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, just until the chicken is cooked and the juices run clear.

Set aside until cool enough to handle. Once cool, remove the skin and discard. Dice the chicken into bite sized pieces and put it into a bowl.

Combine the mayonnaise, wine (juice), chutney, curry powder and 1 further tsp of salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth.

Add enough of this dressing to the chicken to moisten it well. You may not need it all. Add the celery, spring onions and sultanas. Mix well.

Chill for several hours to allow the flavours to blend. Stir in the cashew nuts just prior to serving.

Serve on chilled salad plates with a garnish of lettuce if you wish. Delicious!