The Whole Chicken

I did not expect so many of my friends to be "turned off" by a whole raw chicken. I suppose if I was dealing with it, trying to cut it up, etc....that could get a little yucky.
But a whole chicken is an amazing thing.
You can buy them at a regular grocery store or your healthfood store (whole foods or earthfare type). But soooo much better are the ones raised even in your county! Find these little (or big) jewels at the farmers market.
So I'm going to share with you a chicken story and how many different (and not yucky) ways you can use this uber- versitile animal.
Begin with a huge stock pot. With my frozen chicken (most farmers market birds will be frozen since they keep better), I added 2 and a half gallons of water. Turn the burner on simmer and leave it for at least 12 hours.
Here's my chicken all frozen and docile. Once it cooked for a few hours, it no longer was weighed down by it's frozenness so it appears to be trying to escape. After it cooks further, it settles back down into the pot. Notice that deep rich yellow broth. That is some excellent-tasting, highly versitile, healing stuff.
That's day one of my chicken story.
Love, Carra

America's Got Talent, yes I auditioned...

So Saturday I tried out for America's Got Talent reality TV show.  Mainly as a dare, but for sure to help my sister Abbi get a shot.  My dad is the instigator of this whole thing.

I was going to type up (actually started to give you a play by play) my day's experiences.  However, I just reread my release agreement so I can't say a whole lot. LOL!

It was fun. Make sure you watch the show this summer on NBC.  You might just see me! Watch for the hat!!

Trees

I just hung brown curtains in a green room.  I'll take a photo and show you sometime,  But that's just paint and fabric.  As far back as I can remember I have loved trees. I climbed them, fell out of them, sat in them and  under them.  I used to stand at the edge of the pine woods behind our house even in the elementary grades and look up at the trees.  I was fascinated and terrified as wind blew them into each other making huge cracking sounds.  I used to lay back in the leaves and listen the million "crinkles and crunches" as my body settled into the pile.  When I was in middle school I memorized "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer. When we were deciding where to go for a visit, my Gracie asked, "...but does it have trees?" Praise our Father who is so bountiful as to provide us with trees.

Love, Carra

Trees by Joyce Kilmer

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,	5
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.	10
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

 

Scrabbo (uno & scrabble)

So my family (sister, cousins, dad) invented a new game on Christmas day. We had to leave early so I missed this creative experience. So here it is New Year's Day. My family came up to visit and right now we are playing "Scrabbo."

Highlight:
Horrible racks of all vowels.
Just when you strategize the next word, you have to pass the rack to the person on your left.
Just when you can do nothing at all, you receive a rack of worse letters!

This is a hilarious game. Wanna play? All you need is a Scrabble game and a set of Uno cards.

Begin Scrabble like normal (7 tiles each). After each turn, the individual picks up an uno card to tell how many tiles they get.
* red - 1 tile
* yellow - 2 tiles
* green - 3 tiles
* blue - 4 tiles

Yes, that means that after the first round, everyone has different numbers of tiles. But regardless of number of tile, if a person uses all of their letters on one round they get 50 extra points.

The coolest part are the crazy "other" cards.
Wild- get to place a word anywhere on the board on a subsequent turn.
Wild, draw 4 - pick 4 tiles and place a word anywhere.
Draw Two - give back 2 tiles
Reverse - hand over your entire rack one person clockwise.
When one person runs out of letters, the game is over & scores should be added up. Hilarious!!! You should try it!

Happy New Year!!
Love, Carra