My Kitchen Keeping Series, made the cut for 2017. That’s right! We will be back with a fantastic lineup of friends who will share their kitchens, recipes, laughs and a peek into their lives. I’m so thrilled to feature so much awesomeness and thankful that my buddies agreed to join us for our kitchen chats. My friend, Jamala pronounced “Jah-May-lah” from Viva La Vintage For Your Home is joining us today.
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Viva La Vintage may sound “upper crust” but this blogger is all about creating a gorgeous home on a budget.

Jamala’s interior design passion started when she and her twin sissy, Amina realized how cost effective thrift finds can be when decorating a home.
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That’s when they opened their first antique shop and the rest is “thrift-o-holic syndrome.” What’s funny about the blog world is that you meet people by chance and later on, find that your crossing paths, was no accident but intentional. We connected long before hugs at Blog Life University and since then, our lives have been enriched with friendship. So without becoming the true sap that I am, let’s grab our cuppas and give a toast to Jamala for joining us today. Hey girly, what’s the scoop?

Hello everyone and Happy New Year to you! I’m so happy to be joining Marsha today on her blog series, Kitchen Keeping. When Marsha asked me to join, not only was I beaming with joy, but I was also honored. I met Marsha via cyberspace. I stumbled across her blog from a comment she made on another blogger’s site. From that point, I knew I was going to love her style. Marsha’s vibrant personality blended with her friendly southern flare was just the type of beautiful person I would love to meet. And that I did!!! We met for the first time at a bloggers conference and it was complete friendship from that point on. After leaving that conference, I felt like I’ve known her all my life. So needless to say – it’s a blessing to be apart of her Kitchen Keeping Series.

Hugs!
 Jamala, What is the one thing you love about your kitchen and why?

When we bought our home, the first thing I noticed about the kitchen was the
cabinetry and how well it was constructed. Real wood handmade carpentry- not the commercial grade
cabinetry you buy at the big box stores. Later, I learned that the cabinet maker, lives in our town.
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The real McCoy is hard to beat!

Tell us about one of your cooking “oops” you know like when you added salt
instead of sugar and how you created a mess into a masterpiece.

I can’t recall an oops from me, but when I was teaching my son how to cook, we were making
a peach cobbler and he was putting in the ingredients and then we lost track of
what we were putting in the bowl. Being that we were making the crust from scratch, we knew the importance of precise measurements. Well he couldn’t remember if he added the baking powder or not! We were both scared to take a chance on adding it again so we opted not to add the baking powder. Needless to say, the crust didn’t rise and the texture was all wrong. He looked at me and said “you mean just that little bit of baking powder could ruin a recipe?” Yup! It’s there for a reason. In the end, we scraped what appeared to be crust off the top and scooped out the peaches then topped them with ice cream for a warm baked cinnamon peaches a la mode. It satisfied our sweet tooth!
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I love to bake but you are right about those chemicals. I guess that’s why they say Baking is a science project!

What is your signature recipe to prepare and why?

Hands down it’s my Macaroni Tuna Salad. I only make it in the summer. As soon as barbecue season hits,
everyone is asking me to make it. I use a variety of ingredients to get that special flavor. I’m always asked what do I put in it or for the recipe and I can never give measurements because I make it by taste. I do give out the recipe and when I ask if they’ve made it, the response I always get is “yes, but it didn’t
taste like yours – something was missing… lol” and they’d swear I forgot to tell them something. I don’t know what it could be because I put the same ingredients in every time. It’s all in the taste buds of the cook – I guess.

C’mon, you can tell us.. what secret ingredient did you leave out? 🙂

What are three yums you can’t live without in your fridge or pantry?

Brownie Brittle..(totally addictive), Vanilla Ice Cream and Whipped Cream.

Okay this is it! Your last supper request, what will it be?

I love to bake Chuck Steak with Cream of Mushroom soup. It makes a creamy sauce and the steak is
extremely tender. I serve it with rice, cabbage and a slice of cornbread. It’s good
ole’ southern home cooking and I’m left rubbing my tummy!

You had me a creamy sauce and cornbread!

Here’s my favorite Chicken Salad Recipe and I hope you love easy because that’s just what this recipe calls for. Being a “northern girl with a southern swirl” (my motto), I knew this recipe would charm any southerners palate.
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Jamala, Thank you so much for dropping in today and sharing a few laughs and this yummy Chicken Salad recipe. Be sure to visit Jamala at Viva La Vintage For Your Home and checkout how she thrifts her house into a beautiful home.

Yields 2 sandwiches

Chicken Salad
Save RecipeSave Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Rotisserie cooked chicken, cut up
  • 3/4 cup Hellman's mayo
  • 1/3 cup diced onions
  • 1/3 diced celery
  • 1 tablespoon spicy garlic salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Craisins (optional)

Instructions

  1. Mix all ingredients chill and serve with crackers or as a sandwich (preferably on a croissant)
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