Dan is here!

Ricky and I were friends with Dan Heise when we lived in Germany. We left and came to Florida (hooray.) and he got stationed in Turkey. Now he's here too, and he came over for dinner last week.
Snack board!

I cook a lot. A lot. I'm afraid of very little in the kitchen, but there are still things I just haven't done. Live lobsters, to name one, but I've also never broken down a whole chicken.
I know, shameful. Lazy me would rather just buy the sucker already cut up.
Not this day! This day I was feeling squirrely.

Thank you Shun, for making knives sharp enough to hack through chicken bones. Not to self: invest in a good pair of kitchen shears. The backbone was tricky. I'm open to shear suggestions.

I felt such pride! Watch out lobsters, you're next.

I stewed my dismembered chicken with tomatoes, roasted red peppers, cippolini onions, garlic, parsely, and prosciutto, then served it over saffron rice.
So wonderfully comforting on these oddly chilly Florida days.