Dueling Darlings in July!

Here I am, a day late, but considering all of the technological challenges around here, it's amazing that I am only a day late!  Thank goodness I am married to a techie, because it took him, our son and our neighbor, plus the service provider, three days to resolve whatever issue it was that disabled our internet connection at home!


Anyway, the 15th is the due date for our Dueling Darlings post, and here is my card.  Tami and I hosted this month and we decided that a barbecue theme would be appropriate.  Here's what I came up with for my card:

I have to admit, this is the BUSIEST card front that I have ever created!  LOL  But the papers were so much fun, I wanted to use them all.

Kit contents included:

Image: Art Impression's "Golden Oldies series, entitled BBQ Couple  (isn't it fun?!)
DP:  Karen Foster Designs: Food & Family Collage; Ants on Parade; Barbecue Bash and Reminisce:  Picnic Parade; Grill Master
Stickers:  Reminisce:  Backyard Bash
Other misc. embellishments are from my stash here, no particular vendor.  (although, I didn't use any other embellishments other than the 2 narrow, vertical stickers on the left & right sides of the card.)


We also requested that everyone share a favorite barbecue recipe or side dish hit for grilling.

Here is a close up of the papers, gotta love the flames...




















Here is a closeup of the cute couple.  See how she's sneaking a double cheese burger from the cook?  

The image is colored with SU markers, and the background is chalked.  I was going for sort of a hazy look in the background, not sure if I pulled it off, though.

The papers were so fun, that the inside of the card needed some dressing up as well.  Here's a shot of the inside:

As for my recipe...we grill practically everything during the warm weather - meats, veggies, seafood, bread, pizza, the list goes on.  So picking one thing is a challenge.

Here's a pretty easy yet delicious way to marinate pork or chicken:  (excuse the lack of exact measurements, I've made this up and it's ok to just eyeball everything!)  If you really want an exact recipe, I'll bet there are many versions of this online that you can find.

Boneless pork chops or chicken, rinsed, pat dry and dust with fresh ground pepper.  Place in ziplock baggie, single layer.  Add enough Balsamic vinegar to coat both sides.  Add in slivers of sweet peppers, onions, mushrooms, some crushed garlic and fresh rosemary and thyme.  Also adding some fire roasted peppers & some of the juice from the jar is excellent for flavor!  Drizzle in a small amount of olive oil.  Close the bag, and mix it up to evenly to coat the meat.  

Let marinate on the counter about an hour then grill, or if marinating longer, refrigerate & remove from refrigerator 30-40 minutes before grilling.  You can also bake it in the oven with all of the marinade, then use the cooked marinade to pour over pasta or rice & serve with the meat.

Ok, off to check out the other creations from the two teams - Divas & Dazzlers.  Links to their blogs are in my side bar, have some fun & check out their amazing work!

Thanks for stopping by!