Lots of words

A cool wordle of recent blog posts… lost of words there…

Coming soon to a blog near you…

Stay tuned this weekend – I'm posting pictures – eight months post-surgery.

Thought I'd tease ya a bit. 🙂

Sprouting Feathers

My family loves chicken. So much so that I think I could cook it for them every day and they would be happy. Well, except for BigGirl (the Meatasauraus) who needs her steak and “pork butt” to be happy.

I seem to cook an awful lot of chicken recipes. Do you?

This past weekend (as you know if you are a regular blog reader) I cooked 2 5-lb chickens on the grill. I used my beer can chicken recipe and they turned out super good.

We ate some chicken on Sunday with our spaghetti and then I deboned the rest and saved it for recipes this week.

Last night I made chicken and dumplings (and a mess in my kitchen) and chicken salad with those leftovers.

I thought I’d share the recipes with you today.

But first, I must confess one thing. When I cook, I’m one of those “dab of this, pinch of that, sprinkle a little of this” kind of cooks. So, when you read my recipes, especially these two, remember that fact and feel free to get creative as you cook them. I approximated in the recipes what I did last night while I prepared these two things, but other than the dumplings, the rest was just eyeballing it and flying by the seat of my pants (how is that for mixing my metaphors?)

Anyway, thought it was important to get those disclaimers out of the way.

If you don’t think of yourself as a good cook, I know it is a little intimidating to try to follow someone’s recipe when they don’t give you actual, definite amounts to go by.

But one thing to remember. Cooking is more about the blending of flavors and seasonings and less about science. Baking, well, that’s a whole ‘nother blog post. Baking IS science. And I have the disaster stories from my experiments to prove it. Baking is more precise.

Cooking, on the other hand is more like art. Just go with the flow and see where it takes you. Usually to something good.

Ok, enough of my ramblings. I know you really just came here for the recipes anyway. 😉

Here’s a link to the chicken & dumplings recipe. I changed it only in that I used the leftover chicken and I substituted half whole wheat flour for my dumplings. BigGirl said it was the best chicken and dumplings I’ve ever made. She ate two helpings.

Here’s the chicken salad recipe. It is an approximation of the chicken salad my friend Donna makes. It’s got some non-traditional ingredients, but I love it. I eat it all by itself, unadulterated with bread or crackers (although it is good that way, too)

I hope you enjoy.

Creation is Messy

I have shared with you before that I love to cook.

Love it.

I think I am happiest when I’m cooking. Chopping vegetables, mixing a cake, creating goodness and love for my family and friends.

I love the process and I love watching the raw materials turn into mini masterpieces of goodness.

I love watching my family and friends as they dive in and savor every bite.

It’s one of the ways I express my love.

BUT

Creating these mini masterpieces, for me, is a very messy process.

Just ask SuperMan.

He is often called in to help me rescue the kitchen from imminent disaster after one of my cooking sessions.

I have been accused (often) of using every pot, pan, and bowl in my kitchen when I cook. I think that would be impossible – unless I were cooking a wedding banquet or something – as I have a ton of kitchen implements. (thanks to a generous mom and a generous inheritance of cooking apparatus from my grandma)

I will admit that I am not one of those cooks who cleans up as I go. When I cook, I am in the throes of a creative process. Cleaning is NOT part of being creative. Cleaning is the antithesis of creativity for me. Cleaning is not fun – cooking is fun.

And so, when I cook, my kitchen usually looks like this:

And that is just half the kitchen. What this doesn’t show is the counter on the other side that was filled with flour and the remnants of the just-rolled-out dumplings for the chicken & dumplings we had for dinner last night. (yummy, by the way. recipe to come soon)

I have also realized that I rarely cook one thing at a time. What fun is there in mono-tasking? My little ADD-brain can’t take that single-mindedness. I must multi-task or I will, well, I don’t know. (never been able to do that)

Anyway.

Last night’s cooking bonanza included: chicken & dumplings (with homemade dumplings) and chicken salad (with the extra chicken).

Lately, I have been cleaning up before SuperMan gets home from work. Last night that didn’t happen. It was kind of cute to see his face when he saw the kitchen. We tackled it together and it was sparkly and clean before we went upstairs to put the monkeys to bed.

Today, I’m making my baked oatmeal bars and probably getting some parmesan chicken going in the crock pot. (finishing up the last of the leftovers from this past weekend’s cooking frenzy) Whatever else comes will depend on the muse.

But, I can assure you – it’s gonna get messy.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Jumping Beans

The Bachelor (again!?!)

As you know from my past posts, The Bachelor/ette is one of my (stupid) guilty pleasures.

One of my favorite Bachelors of past seasons was Brad Womack. While I was shocked and disappointed that he didn’t choose anyone, I respected his decision NOT to choose; NOT to be pressured into doing something he didn’t feel was right.

Although I thought it was a sneaky, dirty trick the way ABC led us sheep to the slaughter – thinking there was going to be a proposal and everything without a hint that there might be something wrong in La-la Land, I understood it was just their idea of theatricality.

I felt bad for the girls and for Brad after it was all over. He was vilified and they came across as pathetic and sad.

Last week ABC announced Brad is back as the next season’s Bachelor.

My first reaction was surprise. I mean, didn’t he learn his lesson last time?

And he wants to come back for more?

Goodness Gracious!!

Doesn’t he know better?

I thought he was a (fairly) intelligent man.

Now, I’m not so sure.

Is he in need of money? Is that why he is doing this?

Does he want fifteen more minutes of fame?

Does he think this will redeem him in the eyes of the Bachelor-watchers around the world? (and why would he care what those people thought, anyway?) I feel pretty sure Mike Fleiss will throw him under the bus if it means good ratings. I’m thinking Mike Fleiss doesn’t really care about anything BUT ratings.

Does he really think he’s going to find True Love on this show?

One never knows. And we may never know his real motivation for re-joining the Bachelor franchise.

But, I do know one thing. It will be interesting TV viewing. And I’ll be right there in January – watching to see what unfolds.

Menu Plan Monday ~ 4 Oct

I’m not going to be cooking much this week. That is because I spent a lot of time cooking this past weekend. We had company all weekend and dinner guests Sunday night – I cooked several big meals and we’ll be enjoying the bounty of leftovers for a few days. I love it when that happens. I love cooking, so it’s not a chore to me, but it is really nice when you cook a little extra and can take a break – especially after a marathon cooking session.

Here’s what we have planned for the week:

Monday: Rotel Chicken Pasta Bake (leftover from Sunday night)
Tuesday: Spaghetti (leftover from Sunday lunch – may make this into baked spaghetti to mix it up a bit)
Wednesday: Chicken and Dumplings (using leftover chicken from the 2 5-lb chickens I grilled this weekend)
Thursday: Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan (using leftover spaghetti sauce from Sunday)
Friday: BBQ Ribs & baked acorn squash

That should take us through the week quite well. I have no idea what we will do Saturday night – SuperMan and I have plans and so the kids will probably do something easy like pizza.

What are you doing this week? Any good recipes to share?
Join us over at orgjunkie.com for your Menu Plan Monday.

Eighteen Years

Eighteen years is a long time.

No matter how you slice it, it’s a long time.

But, in this case it has been a GOOD eighteen years. Eighteen years I look back on with affection.

You see, eighteen years ago, today, I “pledged my troth” to my soul mate.

For better or worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer.

I think we’ve hit all of those in the past eighteen years.

And it’s only made US better.

I can’t wait to see what the NEXT eighteen years have in store.

Saturday Silliness

My new favorite comic strip

10 Things

Ten things I love … about Fall

The bluest of blue skies and whitest of clouds, contrasted with the golds and reds of the leaves.
Crisp, cool evenings.
Waking up to foggy mornings.
Pumpkins, Indian corn, hay rides and apple picking.
Trick-or-Treating and cute kids in costume.
Windows-open days. (no air conditioning)
Changing my menus and cooking old favorites again.
The first fire in the fireplace.
Wearing new Fall/Winter clothes for the first time.
Snuggling with SuperMan to stay warm at night.