Almost Walking!

Jane stands up like this regularly...
we are just waiting for her to be brave enough to take her first step!

Merry Christmas

Hu-wah?

Jane is really into phones these days. Everything is turned into a phone... especially items with buttons such as calculators, remote controls and timers. She has a little play flip phone that she holds up to her ear (or shoulder... or back of the head) and talks on a alot. She says "hello" which sounds like "Hu-wah" and "Bye Bye" which sounds like "Ba-ba"...

Oven Fried Chicken

I have tried a number of recipes for fried chicken in the past... but something always turns out wrong... either the outside is beautifully golden and crisp... but the inside is not done, or the outside is burnt and the inside is perfect. Or I'll finally get one or two pieces of chicken (out of the whole batch) fried correctly, but it's either way too salty, or doesn't have enough flavor.

At long last, I found a recipe that works for me! The flavoring is perfect (not too salty, not too bland) and frying it first for a couple minutes crisps the outside beautifully while putting it in the oven afterward ensures that the inside meat is cooked all the way through. Why didn't I think of that before??

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 2 chickens (3 pounds each), cut in 8 serving pieces
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil or vegetable shortening

Directions

Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and pour the buttermilk over them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Take the chicken out of the buttermilk and coat each piece thoroughly with the flour mixture. Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed stockpot to a depth of 1-inch and heat to 360 degrees F on a thermometer.

Working in batches, carefully place several pieces of chicken in the oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side until the coating is a light golden brown (it will continue to brown in the oven). Don't crowd the pieces. Remove the chicken from the oil and place each piece on a metal baking rack set on a sheet pan. Allow the oil to return to 360 degrees F before frying the next batch. When all the chicken is fried, bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Serve hot.

One Year!

Our Little Girl is one year old now! She has brought us such joy. We can't believe how fast this year has flown by... in one sense it seems like she was just born... but then again, it seems like we've had her forever because we can't imagine our lives without her anymore!


It is increasingly difficult to get any good pictures of her these days. She hardly sits still for a minute... This is what happens now during our photo shoots...

(she escapes)




We had a little party yesterday to celebrate her first birthday (which was on Dec 15th).



We can't believe how big she has gotten. I think she'll be walking within a month or two... she is getting very brave!



We're excited that she finally has enough hair, that now a "real" bow can actually be attached to it!

While we were in VA last week visiting Aaron's family, we had a little family party for her, where she ate her first cupcake. She really enjoyed it, but she got overwhelmed because we were all watching her and laughing....

...but she did look very cute with chocolate all over her face.

What a precious blessing our little Jane is to us!

It's a BOY!!

We are thrilled to announce that our baby is a boy! We've decided to keep our son's name a secret until his birth... so hold all inquiries :o) Here is your first sneak peak at our adorable addition to the Montgomery family!

Christmas Cookie taster

I gave Jane her very first taste of a Christmas cookie today. She tried our family's traditional "Hidden Kiss Cookie".... it was so fun to watch her discover and enjoy it!


"So... what's all this white stuff?"

"Mmm... it's pretty good....."


"...oh yeah, it's REALLY good!"

"I gotta get another taste... " "Mmm.... I want some more of this stuff..."

"ooh, I think I'll cram the whole thing in my mouth...."

"oh yeah..."
"CHOCOLATE in the middle!!! YUM!!"

All that's left is crumbs...


We spent Thanksgiving with Aaron's parents in VA... and Jane enjoyed her first Thanksgiving meal... with all the delicious trimmings. Needless to say, our girl LOVED it.

She really likes food.