Jacque Made: a place to share my creative side.

Things have been a bit crazy at our house lately, as we are preparing to move in a few days! We knew Avery girl's birthday was coming up though and she'd been talking about having an Ariel party for quite a while now. I decided Tuesday of this past week to throw a party together for her since her birthday was yesterday! Somehow, I got it all done. I think I work well with a short time limit - I make decisions faster, and I am able to simplify (well at least a little bit). Here's a photo of Ariel I used for color inspiration in planning this party. I originally thought I'd use turquoise, purple, and yellow (for Flounder) in the color scheme. But as I started gathering what I'd found around my house (the seahorses) and from Target and such, I quickly realized that I wanted to stick with purple and turquoise with white as the neutral. I took these few photos the night before the party when I was staging the food table. I didn't do a whole lot for décor....

I have to admit that I've been in a total cooking slump lately... cooking the same ol' stuff over and over. Thankfully Jaime introduced me to this recipe. And I have to say, I am in love. It's so tasty and so worth any extra time put in to making it. Try it soon! You'll fall in love, too. Rachael Ray's Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders with Tangy Maple Syrup Dressing Ingredients: Vegetable oil, for frying 1 1/3 to 2 pounds chicken tenders Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 eggs, beaten with a splash of milk or water 1 cup plain bread crumbs 1 cup pecans, processed in food processor to finely chop 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated or ground 1 orange, zested Dressing: 1/4 cup maple syrup 1/4 cup tangy barbecue sauce 1 navel orange, juiced 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 hearts romaine lettuce, chopped 6 radishes, thinly sliced 6 scallions, trimmed and ch...