myblog: Chicken a la King Nests for Spring

Kathleen's party theme at cuisinekathleen.com/ for the month of April is Birds, Bees, Flowers or Trees. I decided to set my table amongst the trees, with different flowers on all my hand painted plates and matching teacup and saucers. Go check out all the pretty settings at Kathleen's Let's Dish!

An oversized bird is perched on my crocheted table covering, with a birdhouse and my handmade bird nest. The directions for the bird nest were fromYvonne, at stonegable.blogspot.com/.

I have six different flowered plates that were hand painted by my Great Aunt. The sterling flatware was also hers. All it says on the back is "Lunt".

I made some spoon napkin rings from $1.00 spoons that I've been collecting at our local monthly Trade Days. My hubby had flattened them for me when we were going to make spreaders. I decided instead to bend the spoons to make napkin rings. I saw some similar ones at Stein Mart, but I was too frugal (cheap!!) to buy them.

Sandi, at Rose Chintz Cottage always shares some wonderful recipes. When she made her Chicken a la King recipe at her HOME party, I knew that I wanted to make it. The puffed pastry shells remind me of little nests and I thought would be perfect for my outdoor Spring theme. Isn't it nice how bloggers inspire each other? For Sandi's version, and to pay her a special visit, click here. Here's my version of Chicken a la King, which is very similar to Sandi's:Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells, baked according to package directions. You can make these a day ahead, cool and then put in a food storage bag. Re-heat the shells for a few minutes in the oven, before serving.Basic White Sauce:2 T. butter2 T. flour2 cups milk (or chicken broth, or 1 cup milk and 1 cup broth, which I like to warm for a minute in the microwave)1 t. saltpepper to tasteMelt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and cook for1 minute (this gets rid of the raw flour taste). Slowly add the milk, or broth, or the combo. Cook on medium-low heat until it thickens.Add to the White Sauce:2 cups chopped, cooked chicken (leftover rotisserie chicken is great for this)1 cup sliced mushroomsa few sprigs of fresh thyme, cleaned and taken off the stems1/2 cup frozen peas (I omitted because I was serving fresh green beans)Add the ingredients and heat through. Serve in the Puff Pastry Shells.

I have an Old Bird Inn, where the rooms are "cheep"!

We have a Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal that come visit our yard everyday. Aren't they sweet?

Of course the birds and I love sitting by our little waterfall. It's a little piece of heaven! I'll leave you with a little Haiku that I wrote: Spring is in the airBirds, bees, flowers and the treesWake up our senses!I am sharing this with: Make It Pretty Monday Mix It Up MondayOn the Menu MondayInspire Me TuesdayHOMELet's Dish!Full Plate ThursdayOpen HouseThe Busy BeesShare Your CupTablescape ThursdayFoodie FridayThe Charm of HomeFestive Friday FiestaWeekend PotluckSeasonal SundaysThank you for your visit! It is truly appreciated. xo