Mari Bickmore Design | Having a Blast In Interior Design and Staging

el dorado hills

Shaking but not Moving 1024 683 Mari Bickmore

Shaking but not Moving

Well, I guess it takes a pandemic and an earthquake to get back on track! Luckily I’ve been keeping busy whilst sheltering in place! I’m going to have this hermit thing down pretty soon, but I can do without another earthquake! My first one and I hope my last. Nothing last being shaken awake in the morning by your house!

So, so many things have happened since I last posted to this site. Where to begin? OMG…for one thing, how could it have been almost THREE years since I last wrote? Like water going downhill. At the time we were living in El Dorado Hills, CA, and in the summer of 2018 we moved to Holladay, Utah. Now I’m living by my daughter’s family with two of the most darling grandchildren possible. Can’t get much better than that, other than all of my children and grandchildren moving here. If I could pull that off, nothing could ever be better.

Circumstances involving our move were not ideal, but so many great things followed. Like my daughter, Amanda Bickmore Crane, and I get to work together. How fantastic is that!? We already had formed Bickmore Design, LLC, and have renovated many houses over the years. Prior to this I was the owner of Posh Interior Design in Columbus, Ohio, and Minneapolis, MN, switching names to Bickmore Design in Kansas City, KS. Gosh I know right!…following a corporate husband sure does have its ups and downs.

Keeping busy with renovations and design work, I’ve also completed the state real estate course, tested, and obtained my Utah State Real Estate License. What a difficult profession. I’m with Equity Real Esate – Solid in Sandy, UT. Those two professions should go hand-in-hand and I’m working to make that happen. Not sure how that’s going to work going forward after this pandemic crisis. My heart bleeds for those who are losing their jobs and for the economy in the short-term. I hope and pray that we will all recover quickly, both physically and economically. What a difficult time for our governments dealing with something no one expected. I am not happy with the people pointing fingers as if our leaders caused this. It seems to me that they are dealing with it as best as they can under the unfortunate and adverse conditions. I feel so blessed to have safe shelter and food to sustain me. If you live near me and need anything, please let me know.

Just dropping a few photos of a renovation and design project that are full of color and make me happy.

El Dorado Quesadillas 1024 739 Mari Bickmore

El Dorado Quesadillas

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This 2016 election year is the election year from Hell.  As I have mentioned, we have a woman who is as corrupt and self-serving as the day is long.  She is no more a public servant than a man in the moon…there is no man in the moon…

Don’t think I wouldn’t like a woman president, but one who is strong, honorable, and worthy of the title, not one who cleans up her husband’s womanizing problems with her witch’s broom.  Back in 1992, when we lived in Memphis, we had some good friends who lived in Arkansas and were friends of the Clinton’s.  Even though they were friends, they had some pretty bad/wild stories about the Clinton’s, and many revolved around just those things…and they were their friends.   If you are not a liberal wearing blinders, then you have to have read soooo many terrible things about them over these many years, but they seem to be teflon and get away with it all.  Probably because the people who could throw them under the bus are either DEATHLY afraid of them or they have dirt on that person, i.e. blackmail.  But basically they just don’t want to die a early and mysterious death.  I’m sure Hillary has collected enough dirt on people to fill several books.  In any event, this new book by the ex-secret service guy on their staff, just backs up all the things I’ve known or thought I knew (Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate by Gary Byrne).  But do I think liberals will be able to process it???  HAHAHA!  Absolutely not.  They did elect ZerO a second time, and look how he has morally and fiscally bankrupted my country.  I still haven’t figured out how the American public thought electing someone who spent their formative years in Indonesia instead of being steeped in the American culture and learned to love America would be a good choice for President.  It never made sense and still doesn’t.  Anyhow, somehow being a statesman and having integrity is not important for getting elected to President in our current pop culture society.  I find that quite sad and disturbing.
The other day someone I know made a post stating that Christians shouldn’t post things that are judgmental about candidates and that instead they should only post positive things about their own choice for office.  I absolutely and unequivocally disagree with this posit.   Not only when someone is running for office are they laying their life bare for all to scrutinize, but as Christians we are supposed to do some investigation to find the best candidate to strengthen the values we want upheld in our localities and country to maintain for us and our children.  Exposing a bad apple is a good thing.  We are supposed to hate the sin but love the sinner, but when you “hate” a public figure you are hating what they stand for, since we don’t actually know them on a personal level.  We are actually supposed to judge a righteous judgment (that’s true, look it up).  I don’t condone maligning someone with untruths, but, especially in this case, you don’t have to look too far until you see the abyss.  Hillary is like black mold in the walls of a house that is spreading through the cracks and corners and the liberals are like the homeowners who are in denial and just keep painting over it.   We may all do things that are wrong (not as bad as Clinton by any stretch) and make bad choices, but we are not running for political office and then acting like we are in it to help people.  I find her scary and justified in noting it.  We won’t even go into how much she lied on her recent Email-gate investigation and how she somehow wiggled out of getting indicted, although who really thought they would do that to a Clinton…they live above the law and know it.  That’s why they do the things they do.  I will address this later.

On a lighter note, since I always have to end with food, fashion, or design, so food it is…again.  This is a fairly quick and easy dinner, and just yummy.

El DORADO QUESADILLAS

4 boneless chicken thighs

1 large boneless chicken breast

1/3 cup Kitchen Bouquet sauce

1 tsp Tony Cachere’s Creole Seasoning

Grated sharp cheddar OR Mexican cheese blend

Cotijo OR Queso Fresco

1/3 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Good quality flour tortillas

1 Granny Smith apple or other tart firm apple

Cinnamon

Butter

1 Haas avocado

Creamy chipotle sauce (recipe below)

Place all chicken in a glass bowl and stir with the Kitchen Bouquet and Tony’s; let marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.  Meanwhile prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Cut the apple into semi-thin slices and halve.  Sprinkle very lightly with cinnamon and saute in butter until al dente and set aside.

Saute the chicken on medium-high until golden on each side, just a couple of minutes, and then reduce heat to low-medium until done.  Cool just until able to handle, then shred.

In a nonstick skillet, either melt a small amount of butter (my choice) or use an oil of your choice and heat on medium.  Place a flour tortilla in the skillet and twirl to evenly disperse the oil.  Sprinkle all over with both of the cheeses (I don’t do it very heavy, but depends on how much cheese you like).  On one side place chicken pieces, apples, and sauce.  On the other side sprinkle onions, cilantro and some avocado.  Fold the quesadilla in half and cook until golden on each side.  I slice some tomatoes and use the extra avocado to garnish.  Really yummy!

Chipotle Sauce

Okay, this is just something easily made up.  The first time I made it I used ½ cup prepared Chipotle Mayo, about 3 Tbsp of cream, 1/4 tsp cayenne and 1/4 tsp salt.  Way good.

The second time I used ½ up mayo, 3 Tbsp prepared chipotle sauce, 3 Tbsp cream, 1/4 tsp cayenne, and ½ tsp salt.

They are both equally as good in the quesadilla.  The first one has an edge on just tasting out of the bowl.

EAT UP!

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