Link Party Round Up

Holy Cow! Once again you have blown us away with all the fantastic projects and recipes that were linked up to Super Saturday #40! Thanks so much for sharing your talents with us each week. We have so much fun each week seeing what you've been working on. There are sooooo many good recipes that get linked up every week--we feel like we want to spend days in the kitchen cooking up a storm to try out every single recipe that you link up. But it's fun to see a growing number of non-cooking projects being shared, too. So this week, we'd like to feature some fun ideas for your home that were part of our most recent Super Saturday Link Party. Enjoy!

DIY Mirrored Window from Salt & Pepper Moms

Spring Shelves from What Meegan Made

DIY Dry Erase Marker Sewlicious Home Decor

Teeny Tiny Mini Zipper Pouch from So Sew Easy

Thrifted Photography Props from Garage Sales R Us

Mossy Washi Tape from Day2Day Supermom

Old Deck Wood Laundry Crate from My Love 2 Create

Crate Coffee Table from Anything & Everything

Thanks again to everyone who participated in our linkup! Please come back for our next Super Saturday Link Party, starting at 7 P.M. EST on Friday night! And keep an eye on your social media over the weekend, too. We like to showcase links that catch our eye during the party via Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. You might see your link featured there!

Super Saturday Link Party

 

Thanks for coming to our party! We are so glad you could join us and are really looking forward to seeing what you've been working on this week. The linkup is live and ready for you to share your projects, just make sure you follow the guidelines below:

When you link up, you are giving us permission to feature your project on our blogs and social media with a link back to you.

We'll feature our favorite projects from this weekend's party next Thursday! (Click HERE to see features from last week's party.)

Weekly favorites will also be pinned to our Link Party Favorites Board on Pinterest!

In your post, on your blog, add a text link back to MyKitchenEscapades.com

You can link up any post you've created during this past week.

We're excited about your handmade items, but this link party is limited to blog posts only. Please don't linkup your Etsy shop.

Share the love and comment on two of the other projects that are linked up. We all love comments!

This party starts every Friday at 7 P.M. EST, and keeps going until the following Tuesday evening. Feel free to invite others to join in the fun!

Mediterranean Skillet Chicken

Hello again, MKE readers! Sherri here, one of the trio of sisters from Made From Pinterest and Carole's favorite.  Just sayin'.  I am glad Carole has let us keep coming around to share what we are doing. We are having so much fun learning all kinds of new things by testing out pins from Pinterest and sharing our results. We are sure that if we can do it, you can do it!   But today, I am sharing a recipe of my own making.  I am tooting my horn here, but I just have to tell you, I am a pretty good cook.  For me, cooking is a way to relax, it is one of the ways I express my love, it is about creating memories, and last but not least, it is about my deep and abiding love for food!  This Mediterranean Skillet Chicken has become a regular in our weeknight dinner rotation.

 

Right now I am a little obsessed with the Mediterranean. Can you tell by the beautiful colors and flavors here in the photo? Artichokes, olives, tomato, garlic, basil, and feta combine to make an easy weeknight meal even kids will like. My teenager said it tasted way too good to be healthy. My hubby doesn't love leftovers for lunch, but I noticed he had no problem packing this up to go. Why am I so stuck on the Mediterranean right now? I am taking a class on Early Christian and Byzantine Art and loving it. As a result, I have acquired a new skill I am pretty proud of. I can make a model of the Hagia Sophia with a grapefruit and an orange. But that's another story. Still, all the things I am learning have given me a taste of Mediterranean life that I can't satisfy. Until now. Well, not really. But kind of. Until I can afford a trip to see all the wonderful things I have been learning about, I am going to console myself with bit of comfort food. Or a lot of comfort food, because this was rather tasty and so I served myself a generous portion. Enjoy this mouth trip to the Mediterranean! 

 

Mediterranean Chicken Skillet
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and rough chopped
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup pitted olives, roughly chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
2 Tablespoons fresh basil sliced into ribbons

Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken breast to taste. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and brown chicken about 4-6 minutes each side. Remove from pan and set on a plate. Saute onions in pan drippings until soft and translucent. You may need to add a little more oil. 1 Tablespoon or so. Add garlic, petite diced tomatoes, artichoke hearts and salt. Heat over medium heat until warmed through, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Place cooked chicken on top and garnish with feta cheese, olives and basil. May be served over pasta. Great with salad and breadsticks!

Thank you Carole and My Kitchen Escapades readers for letting us come share a little of what we are up to with you. This is a great place to hang out.  Here are a few of the other things we have been up to lately:

Sweet Brown Sugar Baked Ham| Healthy Banana Bread | DIY Anthropologie Bowls

Link Party Round Up

Thanks to everyone who shared recipes, projects, and ideas with us over the weekend during our Super Saturday Link Party!  We're always so intrigued by the wide variety of links we get to explore each weekend.  And we're really thrilled by the way you are helping this party to grow.  With Easter just around the corner, we couldn't help but select favorites this week that gave us good ideas for our Easter Sunday menus.  Check out some of the recipes we found that will be perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner this Easter.

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Waffles with Cream Cheese Whipped Cream from Baking a Moment

Easy Crockpot Ham from Practical Stewardship

Barley Pomegranate Salad from First Time Foods

Bunny Buns from Amy's Cooking Adventures

Paprika Sour Cream Red Potato Salad from This Silly Girl's Life

Jello Easter Eggs from Butteryum

Easy Easter Egg Cookies from Space Ships and Laser Beams

Passover Honey Almond Cake from True Blue Baking

Fancy Carrot Cake from Simply Suzanne's

Orange Supreme Pie from Serenity Cove

Hopefully these tasty recipes will help you get ready for any Easter or Springtime celebrations you may be having. Make sure you come back for our next Super Saturday Link Party, starting at 7 P.M. EST on Friday night!

Almond Meltaway Cookies

Last week, I had the privilege of driving across the country for a quick weekend visit to my alma mater, Brigham Young University.  Every time I return, my heart aches a bit to go back and relive that amazing time in my life.  It was so much hard work to survive, but those four years were wrapped with the best people, professors and atmosphere you will find anywhere.

This return trip back "home" was to show off my school to my oldest son.  He has been there multiple times before, but this was an official visit as a prospective student.  You see, my son has been given the chance to skip his senior year of high school and head straight to college.  His college of choice?  BYU, of course!  Our trip was at his request as he tries to decide what he wants to do next fall.  It is a big decision and I think going out there and seeing it all from this new perspective only reaffirmed to him how big of a decision it really is :)  

In honor of my future BYU Cougar (just waiting for his decision if that future will be 2014 or 2015), I whipped up these non-chocolate cookies.  For as brilliant as this young man's brain is, he has some messed up taste buds.  He can't stand chocolate...and yet, I still love him :)

These cookies truly do melt away in your mouth, hence the name.  Buttery and soft, plus the delicious glaze on top makes a perfect bite!  They are delicious, although my kids said next time I should put sprinkles on top instead of almonds.  What is it with kids and sprinkles?!?

Almond Meltaway Cookies
(makes 32 cookies)
recipe from The Novice Chef
1 C butter, room temperature
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
2 tsp almond extract
2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Icing:
1 C powdered sugar
1-2 Tb milk
2 tsp almond extract
sliced almonds, optional

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides occasionally.  Add the egg and almond extract and beat to combine, again taking the time to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients and with the mixer on low, allow the dough to combine completely.
2.  Roll dough into 1" balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten each ball into a disc using the bottom of a glass dipped in flour.  Bake for 8 minutes then allow them to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before removing them to a rack to cool completely.
3.  While the cookies cool, mix together the icing.  You want a thick, but spoonable icing so adjust the amount of milk accordingly.  Spoon onto the top of each cookie and sprinkle on a few almonds.  Allow the icing to dry before storing in an airtight container.