February Color Challenge

 It's February and it's beautiful! 

Life really is all about how you choose to look at things. 

This month's fruit is lemon.

You can choose to think about how sour it is...

or you can choose to think of all the wonderfully sweet foods that start with lemons.

Me? 

I'm going to choose to look at the good things about lemons... 

The delicious sweetness of lemon desserts

(lemon tarts, lemon cookies, lemon meringue pie, etc.)

The refreshing taste of lemon chicken

(see recipe below)

The wonderful health benefits of lemon 

(source of vitamin C, helps prevent kidney stones, good for digestive health, etc.)

And of course, its beautifully vibrant color - yellow!

How can one not love working with this color in the middle of the winter? 

It is so bright and cheery and reminds me that the sun WILL shine again soon. 

I am not alone in how I think about working with yellow. 

Check out what internationally color expert Kate Smith has to say about 

this beautiful color.

Now I know why I felt so good while making this month's block! 

   I love this block and all the yellow in it. I chose to use the same green in this block as I did in last month's. It just worked so well with it, that I couldn't resist. 

I didn't have a yellow mosaic fabric that I liked for this month, so I chose a yellow from my stash and paired it with the light-bright mosaic background. I am very satisfied with my choice and like how it looks. 

 

I have decided that any month for which I do not have the proper mosaic color fabric, I will use this light-bright mosaic as the background. It goes with just about any color and will work beautifully in the finished quilt that is in my head. :-)

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Thank you to the First Quarter Sponsors!

Let's show them our appreciation and check out their products.

Jen has a complete list of the sponsors HERE. 

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It's recipe time!

We love this quick-to-make meal and hope you do to. 

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Serves 4 - Ready in 30 mins.

Ingredients

4 - chicken breast, pounded to a 1/3" thickness

salt and pepper

1/3 cup flour

1 Tablespoon olive oil

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons minced garlic (more if desired)

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh minced parsley

lemon slices, optional for garnish

Instructions

1) Season pounded chicken with salt and pepper

2) Place flour in a shallow dish and dredge both sides of chicken breasts

3) Heat large skillet over medium-high heat

4) Add olive oil and 1 Tablespoon butter

5) Let butter melt, then add in chicken breast, in a single layer

6) Sear until golden brown on both sides (4-5 minutes each side) 

7) Remove chicken from skillet and sew aside (Do not clean skillet)

8) Reduce heat to medium, add garlic and saute for 30 seconds, or until lightly browned

9) Pour in chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the skillet

10) Reduce heat to simmer and pour in lemon juice. Simmer until liquid had reduced by about half (about 2 minutes)

11) Add remaining 3 Tablespoons butter and lemon zest. Stir until butter is melted

12) Return chicken to skillet, spoon sauce over chicken. 

13) Place on plate and sprinkle with parsley

14) Serve with rice and a green vegetable

Enjoy!

To keep in the lemon theme, it would be wonderful to serve a refreshing lemon dessert with this - say maybe lemon tarts or lemon squares   

Check out Tasting Table to learn how to 

get the most juice when cutting a lemon. 

Image from Food.com

This block was fun to make!

Why not grab a glass of lemon water and check out the other featured bloggers this month. Who knows? You may find the perfect dessert recipe to 

pair with the lemon chicken...

 Patterns by Jen

Penny for My Thoughts

Frances Quilts

Sunflower Stitcheries and Quilting

True Blue Quilts

Day Brook Designs

Quilt 2 End ALZ