Leftover Chicken

The whole chicken I roasted on Saturday night left me with lots of chicken to use up. What do you do with leftover chicken? Shred it all to hell and make tacos, that's what.
Chicken soft tacos with black beans, mache, tomatoes, green onions, light sour cream, cheddar cheese, and jalapenos.
The chicken was orginally roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper, so it was easy to add a few more spices and change the flavor completely. I warmed my leftover shredded chicken in a pan with chicken broth, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic, and Mexican oregano. I love this spice mixture, and it's so much better than a packet of taco seasoning. I also added about a teaspoon of sofrito base to the chicken. I like Goya brand the best.
It's stormy out today, and it's supposed to be for the rest of the week. I love these rainy days. They remind me of home and make me feel super motivated to deep clean my house. Light some candles, make something hearty for dinner... that sort of stuff.
Hooray for crappy weather. ♥

My best chicken dinner to date

Last night I was feeling ambitious, and inspire by a meal I had at Twigs in Spokane.
(see previous post)
I ended up making the best chicken dinner I've ever made.
I roasted a whole chicken, the cavity of which I stuffed with yellow onion, a halved lemon, and some fresh rosemary. I seasoned it with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I also wrapped two whole garlic cloves in foil and let those roast too.
From bottom to top:
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
A mixture of bacon, fresh chopped tomatoes, rosemary, and olive oil
Slices of my roast chicken
Roasted asparagus
So amazingly delicious and so pretty!

Several Food Pictures.

Lavender Vanilla cupcakes filled lemon curd topped with vanilla buttercream.

Marinated shrimp wrapped in prosciutto. Awesome.

Curry at Thai Bamboo in Spokane.

Dinner two nights ago at the house: Chicken farfalle Florentine.

Dinner at Twigs with my sister. Mine was chicken with bacon, tomatoes, and asparagus on garlic mashed potatoes.

She had the smoked salmon and brie sandwich.

My new favorite lunch! Arugula, brie, and tomatoes on baguette.
Last night for Ricky's dinner I made a roasted pork loin with potatoes, onions, and brussels sprouts.

Washington

I went to Washington last week, to see my family after my step-father was hospitalized with a kidney tumor. No word yet on whether it was or was not cancer, but either way, the Dr. said that they got everything during the surgery. So that's good news. It was nice to see my sisters, my mom, grandparents, aunt and uncle, nephew, and to meet my brother in law for the first time. I also got to spend some time with my friend Phill. We were friends in high school back in Granite Falls.
I was only there for 5 days, but I missed home a lot. My dogs, my house, my husband. Especially the dogs. ;)

...and now for the photos.
In no particular order:

Phill took me shooting. That's me with my "eyes and ears" on. I shot a .22 and a 9mm. It was fun. Loud, but fun.

Then I found a Wham cassette tape in Phill's car. Seriously?

I found some amazing Spokane graffiti. Unicorns!

While grocery shopping, I happened upon Fran's Chocolates! They're an amazing Seattle-based chocolaterie. These were chocolate dipped caramels with French gray sea salt. Visit the Fran's website here. They ship!

Tried a Lavender Mocha at the Denver airport on the way home. It was amazing. Oh, and I finally got a cell phone.That's me and my mom.

Me and my little sister, Tiffany.

There's Phill! We went to Twigs and had a dessert called "drunken doughnuts." There are no words.

Relatives! From left: Uncle Dick, Papa, the elusive Nanny, Aunt Willa, and Mom.

Tiffany and I the morning after I flew in at Starbucks.

On the way there I had a layover in Oakland and my best friend Dave came to see me. We've been friends since we met in Germany in 2004. Amazing how some people stay in your life. =)

This is just a funny picture I took while driving through Alabama. Your sin's what?
Hahahaha.

Beach, Brownies, and Dinner

Today we went to the beach. It has a sad feeling lately, for obvious reasons.
And it's not really fun seeing this.

We didn't see any tar balls, but there was a whole crew of people out there. Breaks my heart.

On the brighter side, there were brownies to be made. Look at my cute spoons! I love you, World Market.
(from left to right: cocoa powder, lavender, sea salt, and Starbucks Via Italian Roast powder)
All brownies need a good amount of coffee flavor, in my opinion.

Me in all of my hair not done, makeup not on, not smiling, cupcake necklace and cute apron-wearing, 'bout the make some lavender brownies glory.

Flour, sugar, cocoa powder, coffee powder, lavender buds, and salt all mixed up. All that was left was butter, eggs, and vanilla. I wrapped up the finished brownies and I'm taking them to work tomorrow.
Oh! Tomorrow President Obama is going to be at the Gulf Islands National Seashore, about 10 minutes from my house. I wish I could go, but I have to work. Sad face.

Tonight I made something very new for dinner. Capellini with salmon and edamame pesto.
Not a true pesto, obviously. It's made with edamame, cilantro, basil, sesame oil, salt, olive oil, and garlic, and a little water. Pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.
It had an odd taste at first, simply because it's a strange combination of ingredients. After the first couple of bites, it really came together and made sense. I found this recipe in an Andrea Immer cookbook, Everyday Dining with Wine.
I go home in three days! It's been far too long since I've been in the great Northwest.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

On Friday I drove Bethany and Braden to the airport. Sad. They'll be back though.
The night before they came over for dinner. I made something simple but tasty. Farfalle with my homemade spicy tomato sauce, garlic toasts with mozzarella, and for dessert I just grilled some nectarines and served them over vanilla ice cream, drizzled with some orange blossom honey. The best type of honey, in my opinion.

Last night I made lamb osso bucco over mashed red potatoes.
Lamb shoulder chops, red wine, carrots, celery, onion, shallot, garlic, lamb stock, and fresh herbs, slow cooked for nearly two and half hours. It fell off the bone. It was magical.

I opened at work this morning, and that means getting up at 3:30 am. Once I get out of bed, both of the dogs jump right up and lay in my spot. I finally got a picture of it.

So sweet. I love their little faces.

Speaking of lovable little faces, Tokyo and Omelet went home today. It was sad, I really liked them! I'll miss their little puggy noses.

Tonight for dinner I just made a quick Moroccan chicken dish. Pretty spicy this time, I was pleased.
Now for the best part!
Randi (Wandi) Hadder (Haddow) got me a gift for watching her dogs!

It's a tad blurry, but look! A cupcake charm necklace!

Here it is close up. How perfect is this? I love it so much!
I actually posted something about necklaces just like this one a while ago.
See it here.
She has never read that entry, she's just that awesome and knows what I like.
Because she's my lobstah.
Thank you Randi!

To what extent do we live our lives for others? For ourselves?
How many decisions do we make simply to take the easy road, or to spare the feelings of another. To gain the respect or approval of our friends, family, even strangers? At some point, I'm sure, we have to start doing things for ourselves. Selfish? Childish? Isn't the delay of personal gratification the essence of maturity? If we don't take responsibility for our lives and happiness, then who?
Hmm...

going home.

I've been planning my trip back to Washington for a little while. I was looking at going in July. Turns out I need to go a little earlier than that.
Two days ago my stepdad was diagnosed with kidney cancer. I'm leaving this Thursday and I'll be back on Tuesday night. Not exactly the ideal circumstances for a trip home, but I'm glad to be going. I miss my sisters, and of course my mom.
Hopefully everything will be fine and dandy and good.

from a friend

I just got this in an e-mail from a friend of mine that I work with.
It's not everyday that people take the time to say such kind things, and this made me feel happy in a way that I don't often feel.
Thank you, Vladimir. ;)

"I just want you to know that, I respect and admire you as a person, and as a friend.
I read your blog about-me section, and it made me smile.
You are a very interesting person, with great views, a fun disposition, and a kind demeanor.

Actually, I just want you to know that I appreciate our friendship, even in the little amount of time we have had to develop it."

Candy Bummer, Pug Attack, Mean Customers, and Lamb.

I made (read: attempted to make) lavender caramels last night. The recipe said to pour the mixture into a foil lined, buttered pan and to let them cool in the fridge overnight.
Okay. I can do that.
Today I tried to turn it out to cut it up, but it was still gooey and the foil stuck to it. I had to throw the whole thing in the trash.
It broke my candy-making spirit.
I just saw two rabbits eating things in my garden. Jerks.
Yesterday at work I had the meanest customer yet. He made me cry. It's a long story that I don't care to write out right now. I just have no idea why some people think it's okay to be so cruel to people in the service industry. I mean really, what makes you want to be an asshole to your Starbucks girl? He was horribly disrespectful, condescending, and rude.
AND he has no idea how to order at Starbucks.
On to happier things.
I'm watching Wandi Haddow's two pugs for a week. They're being awesome, and we really like having them around. This is Tokyo.

I have nothing else to say about that. Look at that face.

If I see another chicky boob I'll scream. Tonight I made lamb with roasted potatoes and peas.
Peas.
From a can.
Le Sueur, but still.
Those that know me know that I stay far far away from canned or frozen vegetables most of the time. I think it keeps you from being seasonal, which I believe to be important. Today I worked until 4, went to the gym for an hour, and really just wanted something fast.
Enter: The canned pea.
I sauteed onions and bacon in olive oil, then added the peas (drained) and heated everything through.
Pretty darn tasty for canned peas.

Linguine with Clams

Last night I was feeling crappy, so I didn't want to cook. Shellfish is easy and fast, as is pasta. I made linguine with clams for the first time. Clams, white wine, red chiles, parsley, olive oil, and pancetta. Pancetta and clams? Oh yes please.

Served up with some crusty baguette slices, and glass of wine for me and a nice lager for Ricky.

Sick day

I had to come home sick from work today. I feel terrible. Lightheaded, sick to my stomach... no idea why. Some of the girls at work have been sick, so that might have something to do with it. We're in pretty close quarters there.
So I took my sick butt home at 10, made some Heinz beans on toast, and decided to catch up on blogging.
On Tuesday night I had Randi and Tyler over for dinner so that we could hang out and our dogs could meet. We're watching their two pugs for a week starting on Friday.

I made Burmese Chile Chicken over jasmine rice. I also fried up some store bought vegan spring rolls and made a quick peanut sauce for an appetizer, but forgot to take a picture.
The stir fry was pretty good! Chicken thighs, poblano and anaheim chiles, bell peppers, onions, ginger, garlic, zucchini, and not a drop of soy sauce. I loved it.

For dessert I made something very not Asian. Spiced panna cottas with fresh berries. Basic panna cotta with vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon, and fresh nutmeg. Topped off with fresh raspberries and blueberries.

Last night we just had big salads for dinner. Mixed greens, red bell pepper, tomato, some leftover chicken thighs that I grilled, shaved parmigiana reggiano, and a quick dressing I made with lemon juice, olive oil, fresh garlic, honey, and some stone ground mustard.

In only a few weeks we have our second nest of baby bluebirds! There are 4 again this time.

I finally worked up the courage to open the bird house (being careful not to touch the nest or chicks at all) and of course, they didn't come tumbling out like I had feared. Look at them! Such hungry little bright yellow mouths!

On an unrelated note, I picked up some live clams today at Publix and once I got home I discovered that many of them were dead. Bummer.
I'm also joining a gym. There's a 24 hour gym down the street. Worth the money? I think so.