Venezuelan Chicken Empanada

Venezuelan Empanadas

Tonight I experimented with making Venezuelan Chicken Empanadas doing my best to imitate a recipe by my dear sister-in-law, Katyla. I cooked the chicken earlier, shredded it, sauteed onion, garlic, a tiny bit of cumin, cracked pepper and a little tomato and combined it all. I used raw empanada pastries by Goya (found in the freezer section of HEB). I separated them carefully and filled them each with two teaspoons of chicken and a heaping tablespoon of mozzarella cheese. I folded the pastry over to make the traditional empanada shape, sealing it with a fork and then folding the edges over. I fried them in about two inches of canola oil just until the pastry was brown. These are best served hot with a little picante sauce. My SIL prefers Mrs. Refro's however all that I had was good ol' Pace. My husband and son used Siracha HOT Chili Sauce from Huy Fong Foods, Inc... just to give it an even more international flair. Darn delicious.

Liqueur decanter

I love this decanter. I'm not sure if it is old, but my mother had it in her home for a long time.

Liqueur anyone?

So does it look like Dillard's??

I want an interesting design to my china cabinet without looking like a display at Dillard's. The other side of the china cabinet looks about the same... a few different items. Should I change this?

Last week I drove through Austin to my aunt's home. All along my mother and grandmother planned that they would have the same china so that one day it would be "blended" together for me. Wasn't that sweet? So just a few days ago I unpacked the china. It's now all resting together, just as planned.

Murano glass... I love it!

These Murano glass candlesticks have such bold colors to them. It's not much like me, but they were my Mother's so I cherish them. She had them in her dining room. Even though her color scheme was so different than mine, I am doing my best to integrate her beautiful things into my home.