It made me look, too! Aunt Sadie's Chicken - from Joan Nathan Ingredients for Marinade: 1/2 cup light olive oil 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 3 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped 1 head garlic, diced Salt and pepper to taste 4 sprigs fresh oregano, chopped 1 cup pitted black olives, halved 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 3 bay leaves 8 shallots, diced 2 Tbs. olive oil 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, halved Two 16-ounce cans artichokes, halved and drained 1 cup red wine Preparation: In a bowl, combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper to taste, oregano and halved black olives. Pour over chicken breasts in baking dish and top with 3 bay leaves. Cover dish with plastic wrap and refrigerator overnight. After chicken has marinated overnight, saute diced shallots in 2 tablespoons olive oil and drizzle over chicken. Add light brown sugar, halved sun-dried tomatoes and halved and drained artichokes. Pour red wine over all and bake in 350-degree oven for an hour.

hee hee - must be a big change from the frenzied maniac of last night! They'll be here in less than an hour and the wellingtons are put together ready for oven so are the mushrooms, cheese nips...I stil lhave to do hollandaise and cook asparagus. Fruit and stuff is cut up for the fondue - and kids pizzas are prebaked - just need warming up. Oh and soup is done - cheese is grated for tops, and bread is toasted. Here I am feeling quite proud - watch - I'll self destruct - lol. Only thing to do is fix ME up. good lord, if i answered the door like this they'd wonder what the "real" theme is... Stacy

RachelEllen, I know you didn't ask me, and Maria's description is wholly accurate, but there is an easier way to pluck chickens if one is plucking several at a time: Put a steel drum full of water on a brick platform and arrange a torch burner beneath it so the water comes to a rapid boil. Grab a (freshly killed) chicken by the feet with some loooong tongs and dip it in the boiling water for a few seconds, then fire up your plucking machine! There are different configurations for plucking machines, but ours was a motorized horizontal cylinder with soft rubber fingers protrubing from the drum. One holds one's scalded chicken by the feet above the spinning cylinder and it ever-so-gently pulls all the feathers off as it rotates quickly. It's the only really fun part of the process to be honest. More than ten chickens can be plucked this way in the time it takes to hand pluck one. As for slaughtering your own chickens, it can be done quickly and with dignity by just about anyone. Your best bet is to ask someone who has several (get a referral from the place that sells you your chicks) that need dispatching and ask to come help/learn.

Project scope and critical path planning. This is the task you are facing. This is what is needed to be created. If you can have your "crew" over and get reliable and detailed info based on getting your collective heads together, then do that. If not, then a professional such as a contractor or architect or designer should be called in to fulfill this duty. The grand plan should include the entirety of the scope of work, and then break this down into the logical order of completion, timelines for each segment, when things can overlap and when one aspect must be completed in full before another can begin. Budgets for each segment, with contingencies and alternates would be considered here as well. Then of course the master plan adds up to the master budget which has to be found to begin. The goal is to not un-do something to do something else, to make sure that the outcome is what is envisioned, to make sure that funds are available for satisfactory completion, and to schedule the trades for both materials specifying, ordering, and installation. Example is that the electrical and HVAC work would probably be one of the first to be done. But a preliminary selection of appliances in the kitchen and elsewhere would factor into any changes at the panel and running main lines into the spaces. Same idea with plumbing. You don't need to know the exact faucet, but an idea of how many sinks would be important for the rough-in. And find out what aspects will need to be inspected, who is going to get permits and handle inspections, and if and when a stamped engineer drawing may be needed to pass inspection. So timeline and money. And have fun and enjoy your new house. And remember my earlier advice. A nice new gas grill and patio set to keep everyone from losing it! Sitting in a chair with a cold drink looking at a lake is the big idea here, yes?