Tonight

Dinner at our house with the parent's of my husband's high school best friend.

(sounds odd, I know, but they are such a nice couple-and the high school friend lives in a different state, otherwise we would have him over too of course).

It's beautiful out and I'm debating if we should just eat out in the patio....except the patio is still bare bones and because we're finally just coming out of winter, there are no plants to enjoy.

The house is nearly spotless (minus the messy closets); some more pictures are up on the walls (and off the floor), and dinner....needs to be prepped. Now. (on the menu: cuban food (piccadillo, black beans, perfect white rice, and flan)

Tomorrow I'm planning on meeting up with a friend at the Long Run location. I haven't been since October. She's running 14. me? probably 6-8. Unless I get conned....

The Run, The Camera, The Dinner

THE RUN

Does having good intentions count for anything?

Part of my un-declared resolution this year is to do a better job at logging my runs. There's no reason not to.

I mean, I have a Garmin. (ok, Ibought the Garmin for my husband about 3 years ago and have since hijacked it,but still...)

When I was training for myfirst half marathon, and then the first marathon, I was pretty anal about tracking every detail of my run...the time of day, the weather, how I felt, the splits, etc.

Now after I run I take a lot at my overall time, distance, and splits. But sitting at starbucks, without the garmin, it's hard to remember the details of yesterday's 6 miler. I think it was 55 minutes? Nearly all negative splits (I kept two miles at the same pace). So there...that's the run report. Tonight's run will bewith the club.

THE CAMERA

The new camera is a nikon d5000. It came with a lens. I have a GIGANTIC camera bag (I think my clarinet case in middle & high school was smaller) and the bag came with two dvds and a 'instructional' book. I wish someone would write a child's book on how to use the DSLR. Pioneer Woman is good....I get it, fast shutter speed for fast action, aperture has to do with focus and the amount of light coming in....smaller f number = focusing in on a central object, and then the background will be a bit blurry. Except that hasn't exactly happened for any of my pictures. I will stay play though....and last night, that's what I did.

The camera has your typical ASPM settings, plus auto with & without flash. Then there are the portrait, landscape, etc modes. There is also the 'scene' setting with has sub-settings such as candlelight, silhouette, pets, food, etc. So last night, was food. And here's what we have:

THE DINNER

I decided to try something new to me, or at least, new to me in my own kitchen. Yellow rice & guinea africana (guinea hen, african style-I substituted chicken breast for the guinea hen). The recipe comes from a cuban cookbook,which credits the recipe to an old Havana newspaper clipping.

First, the chicken dish....brown, saute, simmer...

Then the rice....

The final product:

The camera (not the photographer) is so detail oriented that it picked up the strand of cat hair on my chicken. gross.

The meal wasn't bad. I didn't real get the whole sweet potato, but it was still good, making for a happy belly. I think I may have stirred the rice a tad too soon before covering it. While not Miami-worthy cuban food, it really wasn't that bad....

I think I've delayed taking the tree down long enough. Till Friday-

Fool

You'd be a fool not to try this panini for lunch.

The first time I made this sandwich, I actually had nearly all the ingredients (I needed bread, tomato, and a lemon). The olives and artichokes can be purchased for cheap at Walmart or your commissary. I've purchased the ciabatta bread at Walmart & at the local grocery store...sadly, the bread from Walmart made for a better sandwich. I obviously recommend purchasing the bread from a specialty shop if you're lucky enough to leave near one.

The first time I made this sandwich, I was amazed that I was eating something made in my kitchen and not at a sandwich shop.

Trust me, your mouth & taste buds will thank you for the flavor burst.

MMmmm....oh, Mmmm....

This is SO GOOD! (ok, let me explain now that I'm a very verbal eater. if I think it's that good, the people sitting at the next table in the restaurant will know)

Dinner last night...was. so. freaking. delicious.

The last couple of Barefoot Contessa episodes were Paris based which got me inspired to have a night of French cooking.

So yesterday afternoon, I pulled out my cookbooks, made my list, headed to the grocery store, and for the first time in my life, I bought a whole roasting chicken (uncooked...trust me, we've done the cooked versions many times).

Let's first get something out on the table: I am not a cook. I try. There are many memories and stories about me in the kitchen, fighting with my uncooked food. I am the queen of pouring batter into the trash because I don't think it tastes right. I once baked salmon for 45 minutes. Flan has ended up with whole cinnamon sticks because the three recipes failed to mention to remove the cinnamon and the flan has ended up as a sticky mess, running down the cabinets onto the floor during the breath defying 'flip.'

You get the idea....but I've gotten a little bit braver, gained some more self confidence, and if I see how it's made on TV and then read, and reread the recipe about 4 times, I might be able to make something half way decent.

So yesterday I made Barefoot's lemon chicken with croutons and french string beans. The hardest part of the recipe was cleaning out the chicken (I think my chicken had two livers-ew) and then tying the chicken legs together and tucking the wings under. I kept the chicken in the oven for just under 85 minutes.

While that was cooking, I prepped the bread for the croutons and prepped the veggies for the side dish. In the cookbook, Barefoot makes a point of saying to use french string beans, NOT regular string beans. It's pricier, but so delicious. And who doesn't love a little gourmet every once in a while? When the chicken came out of the oven to rest, I put the veggies in the oven and started cooking the croutons. I don't think my oil was hot enough for the croutons, and I probably added too much olive oil, but it all came together nicely.

Ryan was cutting up the chicken while I was sauteing/warming up the string beans before finally mixing it all together with the peppers and onion. (I had already blanced the green beans.)

The dinner was delicious. the chicken was incredibly moist. I was surprised to have not tasted any lemon flavor at all....in fact, it tasted just like chicken, but I didn't find it bland...maybe because it was so moist and I used so much olive oil with the croutons. For next time, I would use an entire red and yellow pepper, not just half for the vegetable side dish-because I liked the sweetness it added. I would have allowed the olive oil to heat up more prior to sauteing the bread for the croutons.

It's an incredibly simple dish that probably took me longer than it should since I felt I had to babysit the meal. It would be a great dinner for guests. I'm curious to see if anyone else has made this (or is willing to try)-let me know what you think!

12 hours later.....

I had lunch today at 2:00.

A salad.

That came with tomatoes.

A voice in the back of my head said, "hm, maybe you shouldn't get that."

but then the 'rational' voice said back, "Get real. What are you going to do? Stop eating because of some bad batches? And they haven't pulled it off the market yet, so it can't be that bad..."

And not that you want a history of my bowel movements, but....

and now. at 2:22 am, about 12 hours after eating my salad (which obviously had tomatoes), my stomach is crampy.

I'm hoping this stomach thing is the fact that I've been eating crappy lately and that I'm in a downer of a mood. Stupid Delaware.

Desperately Wanting

Some Miami flavor.

The City

And definitely some of this. or maybe a cafecito from Versailles. Or Larios. Or David's on Lincoln Rd. And how about some fresh churros off a truck (please, try to roll the 'r'. it's NOT pronounced 'Sure-Ohs'). And real vaca frita. or ropa vieja. or arroz con pollo (although THAT I can make-thanks Traci!). flan would be nice, too. And rice pudding, with cinnamon. YUM!

Maybe in August? fingers crossed!

Groceries

Seriously, it's one of those days.

I hate the grocery stores around here, as they don't have any of the food I'm used to eating and every time I order fish at the counter ("One salmon fillet please" or "One tilapia fillet please" etc) I get a, "One? Did you say one?"

EVERY TIME.

And I go often. Usually twice a week often. I recognizize the people working there. After five week, you would think they would remember, "Ah, yes, the girl who only buys one fish at a time..."

Anyways. I really want to go for a jog right now to clear the head, but I didn't really eat my lunch because the spinach had gone bad and the tuna wasn't right and the pita that I tried to use this morning fell completely apart.

And I know I can't run without some food but I really don't want to eat anything big at 4ish, unhelped by the fact that there is no good food in the house.

Seriously. maybe I should just go for the run to clear the head to realize that this post is completely inane.

You've Come A Long Way...

So I've been on blogging leave of late. I imagine you all thought I was off somewhere, like Paris.

I wasn't.

But the holidays were good, and apparently Santa knew that I've been on my most best-est behavior.

The sweetie picked up a *gasp* Le Creuset 5 1/2 round oven! For. ME! Ok, maybe he was being slightly selfish in thinking he would get awesome meals cooked in that hefty piece of equipment. He's right to think so. I made chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, brocolini w/ a balsamic vinegar sauce (made by moi), and that uber-yummy herbed basmati rice. All this from the late blooming girl who thought Jell-o had to be baked.

YAY!

What did the sweetie get from Santa? An ultra-cool Garmin 305. The thing is wicked smart. Almost scary smart. So smart that I might have to buy one for me if I ever graduate and earn a pay check!

Other news:

There was a 1/2 decade (aka 5 year) wedding anniversary involving a surprise dinner reservation at Melting Pot (oddly, I had a fondue party (my first ever) at the townhouse shortly after moving in, but have never done fondue at a restaurant...or other person's house). Flowers were also ordered AND SENT TO THE RESTAURANT. Seriously. When did the sweetie get so smart & romantic?

I leave you with the begining of the end of the anniversary dinner, or why I had to remove my belt in the car on the way home.

Eye Candy: ZERO calories.

Um...clothes please?

Did anyone else catch today's episode of Everday Italian?

I turned it on a few minutes after it started, and I'm hoping I missed something, like, maybe an explanation for the wardrobe.

Here's my, "I'm sure there's a reason for her wearing what looks like a robe over a negligee on tv" excuse:

The food must be so easy to make, you can do it first thing in the morning, right out of bed. (at least she is fully dressed for the dinner party afterwards)

Ryan's response: "WHOA! Can you email her and find out where she got that? I think you should wear that."

Typical.

OMG

This dinner (+ this brie w/ apples)

was so. freaken. delicious.

I'm delirious.

from the dinner.

or the wine.

or the convo.

it's a toss up.

It was all so damn good.

READY!

Getting ready for tomorrow night's bookclub that I'm hosting and I think I've figured out what to make!

Yogurt-Braised Chicken with Cashews & Raisins

Herbed Basmati Rice

Glazed Carrots

Salad (baby spinach, cheese, tomatos, croutons, etc)

and....

probably CUPCAKES from Sweet & Sassy. (not sure which kind though...coconut or red velvet?)

The last think my butt needs is a cupcake.

But back to dinner: We read A Thousand Splendid Suns and I wanted to try and do a themed dinner...but who knows how to make Afghan food? India will have to do (chicken recipe is supposedly Indian).

I've never made basmati rice...if I chicken out (heh) I'll make traditional cuban rice (an indian-cuban dish. this must be the result of a polish-lithuanian-cuban-american heritage -and don't even start with the religion upbringing).

And I've never made glazed carrots before. Come to think of it, I've never cooked carrots (opening the bag and steaming them does not count).

This might be a bad idea. At least there's those premade pastas that cook in 5-8 minutes if disaster strikes...