Phoebe ("Pee-Bee")

Yesterday, we took Phoebe to The Big Sleep at the vet's office.
I am just now feeling stable.
I didn't cook all week.

We'd been worried about Phoebe for a few weeks, because she couldn't keep food down.
Otherwise, she seemed okay and happy, but she was losing weight and was less interested in eating.

During the past few days, it was obvious that the end was near, and I felt panicked that PeeBee would die when I was gone to work or was away for some reason. Ethan and I agreed that she was getting worse by the day, so we made a plan to take her to the vet on 10-27. Doubts were put to rest when we saw how weak and pitiful she was, especially on the day we'd decided upon. I was actually thankful that her health was so obsiously poor... all I could think was that we needed to get her to the Big Sleep and not let her suffer anymore.

The Holt Veterinary Clinic took care of us, very GOOD care of us (and Phoebe).
They made the sad experience bearable.

Ethan and I left feeling sad but okay, but I was shocked at the grief that awaited me when I got home. I had never imagined a home without Phoebe, without her toenail noises, her sighs when she goes to bed, and her presence while I get ready for work. Ethan, too, still felt sad.

I tried to go to work this morning, but couldn't stop crying. My loving "boss," Kathy, sent me home when she saw how sad I was. Ethan left work early, too. We spent the day together, mostly him listening to me talk about Phoebe. He was sad, too, though. Thank the Lord for bringing Ethan to me. He loved Phoebe like I did.

Phoebe was a wonderfully obedient and loyal dog. She was smart - and even funny sometimes. I often told her that she was my Favorite Girl, the Best Dog, such a Good Girl, etc.

She really was.

I Have a Gimp Knee

My left knee has gone twisted. It might be the sudden use of high heels after a summer of flip-flops. There is no other reason that my knee is broken besides the obvious reason that I have been on my feet (in heels) constantly since August 17th (minus the weekends of course).

Or maybe it is because I am now Thirty-Six Years Old. Could that be?

I have an ice pack on my knee right now. It is Ethan's ice pack leftover from his knee surgery. God bless me if I've truly broken my knee and need surgery. I hate these ice packs. They hurt and help at the same time.

Gotta go finish Ethan's dinner! Even as a gimp, I love cooking him dinner.

Forget Dinner For Now

School began last week.
Today was the 7th day of school.
It feels like the 68th day of school.
I am so-so-so tired every afternoon.

Is it because I am 36?

Walking Phoebe in the afternoon is truly a dreaded event.
Not because she is difficult, but because it means I have to walk down and up the stairs again.
And it is so-so-so HOT that just opening the front door for 4 seconds makes me start sweating.

I am watching Project Runway's new episode. Ethan is the #1 thing I look forward to each day, except for Project Runway on Thursdays. I don't care what Ethan does on Thursdays! As long as he lets me watch PR.

Jalapeno Bottle Caps!

I wasted no time in finding recipes for bottle caps and buying the ingredients. I couldn't wait to surprise Ethan tonight. There were a bunch of recipes online, but they all seemed to be mostly the same. I guess that is a good sign (?)!


Ingredients:


-2 cups sliced jalapeno peppers; I bought fresh jalapeno peppers and sliced them, but I think it would have been fine to use the ones in a jar.

-2 eggs
-1 cup beer
-1 cup flour
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp black pepper
-1 tsp chili powder
-1 tsp garlic powder
-oil for frying (I used canola, about a quart)



#1. Wet Ingredients in a Medium Bowl
Use a whisk to stir the eggs and beer.

#2. Dry Ingredients in a Large Bowl
Mix the flour, salt, pepper, chili powder, and garlic powder with a fork.


#3. Oil in a Deep Pot
I read that the oil is supposed to be 365 - 380 degrees, but I don't have a thermometer. I just turned the burner to Medium/Hi and waited a while.

#4. Peppers into Wet Bowl, then Dry Bowl, then into Oil
I used a slotted metal spoon. I let the peppers soak in the liquid for about a minute and then scooped them into the flour mixture. They really need to be coated. Then drop them in the hot oil and you will see them sizzle!

They fry for a few minutes (5-10) and then you can see them turn golden. You really can't mess them up, because it's not as if you will get sick if they're not "done." Scoop them out onto a few layers of paper towels.

They were REALLY good. We ate them all. And tried not to think of how much oil was swimming around in our bodies.

Insalata Caprese (Capri Salad)

In Italy, this is considered a "starter" salad. It is supposed to whet the appetite. But we tend to make it bigger in the U S of A, more like a side dish (or even a main dish)!

It is a delicious dish, but you must eat slowly. ENJOY it.

The ingredients:
fresh mozzarella
ripe tomatoes, as sweet as possible
fresh basil leaves (from a personal plant/garden)
salt
pepper
olive oil

I wish I'd taken a picture of the beautiful salad I made last week. It was sooo good that I started eating it before I took a picture. Half of it was gone before I offered it to Ethan. I assumed he would NOT like Capri Salad, and thinking I'd eat it all, I half-heartedly offered it to him. He LIKED it, which was a blessing as well as a curse.

Galveston & Houston - July 1st thru 4th

We've eaten delicious FRIED food every meal for the last 3 days! And though we loved eating it, we're DONE with vacation food. Our stomachs hurt and we feel FAT.

Our favorite dish of the weekend was fried jalapeno peppers (sometimes called "bottlecaps"). We ordered and enjoyed these at a few different restaurants. Some were more battered than others, and we decided we like the jalapenos very slightly battered.

I want to learn to make them at home.

Stay tuned.

Pork Chops/Chicken with "Grilled" Onions & Green Peppers

This is a really delicious, simple, & healthy dinner. We both love this.

I buy about a pound of "protein," whether that be chicken breasts, pork chops, or whatever I can find (flank steak, etc.)
I also buy:
1 large sweet yellow onion and 2 bell peppers (green and/or red or yellow)
Cut the onion into strips and cut the peppers into chunks.
I cook the chicken/pork/steak in a skillet with salt & pepper and a sprinkle of olive oil. When it's browned, I put it in a bowl to "rest" (and cover it with foil). Then I put the onion and peppers into the skillet (don't rinse it!). They will cook nicely in the leftover chicken/pork/steak juices. You have to press the pieces down into the pan because they like to curl up. This is SO GOOD.

More than Dinner

Well.


It's just too difficult to document every meal I make for Ethan. I DO cook dinner for him most nights, and I enjoy it. But the pressure of photographing the stages of every meal... I can't take it!! I don't know why I thought that would be a good idea. (Yes I do, because I was so shocked by my own domestic skills that I decided to document them.)


Tonight, I didn't cook for Ethan. Earlier this week, I found a little stash of forgotten gift cards, including an Applebee's gift card that Paw gave us for Christmas. And today I called Applebee's take-out, and "got" Ethan a steak/mashed taters/grilled veggies dinner.


He was delighted to have a ready-made dinner waiting for him.


Then after he had finished, I didn't believe what he said...

He said, "Your steaks are a lot better than that one." I know a lot of people consider home-cooked food superior to restaurants, but generally I think that restaurants are experts at what they do, and usually do it really well. So this was a huge compliment! I usually just rub olive oil, salt, & pepper on the steaks and let them sit for a while - half an hour or so - then heat a skillet to "Hi" and sear the steak for 2 minutes on each side. Then I turn it down to medium until the steak looks ready. I'm not very precise about the second stage. When in doubt, I make a cut in the middle to make sure it's not bloody. I also have rubbed French's mustard on both sides of the steak (in addition to the olive oil) before searing it. It is pretty good!

Fresh Basil... and "Basil Cream Chicken"

Here is a picture of my very first fresh cut herb: Basil!

I found this basil plant at Whole Foods last week, on sale from local growers. It looked so pretty (bright green and full!) that I bought it for its sheer beauty and doorstep decorativeness. I told Mom about it, and she said, "Oh good! You can cook with fresh basil now." I thought "Huh? How do you cook with fresh plants?" But then today I found a recipe from allrecipes.com that calls for lots of fresh chopped basil. I cooked it tonight and we loved it!

www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/Basil-Cream-Chicken/Detail.aspx

part 1 ingredients:

1/4 cup whole milk, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1 lb or a bit more chicken breasts, butter for pan;

part 2 ingredients:

1/2 cup chicken broth, 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 4 oz. jar sliced pimento peppers (drained), 1/4 cup fresh basil (chopped), dash black pepper

Part 1:

Use two bowls - one for milk, one for breadcrumbs. Dip each piece of chicken in milk and then crumbs. Heat pan with butter (I also used olive oil). "Fry" the breasts in a little butter/oil until cooked through. Remove from skillet.

Part 2: Pour the broth into the "used" skillet. Bring to a boil, then add the cream, pimentos, basil, and black pepper. Simmer until ready to serve.

Pour the sauce over the chicken to serve. I also served it with noodles.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

A couple of weeks ago, Ethan told me he didn't want a heavy dinner. He said he'd been feeling a cold coming on. He asked me to just make chicken soup (he meant from a can). I decided that I'm 35 years old and can figure out how to make homemade chicken soup!

I found a simple recipe online as a starting point. Here is what I cooked. Ethan said it was one of my outstanding dishes.

4 cups chicken broth
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and cut into buttons
half an onion (sweet is better), chopped
a few teaspoons crushed or minced garlic (or the equivalent amount fresh)
teaspoon lemon pepper or similar seasoning
1 cup uncooked egg noodles, wide if you can find them
1 lb (or more) chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch chunks

Start by pouring the chicken broth into a stock pot or other large pot. Throw in the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, and lemon pepper. Cook on High burner until boiling, and then turn down to Medium/Low.

Brown the chicken chunks in a skillet. Salt lightly and pepper heavily.

When the chicken is cooked, throw into the big pot of broth and vegetables. I added water to the broth pot at this point, for more volume. Ideally the broth pot stays at a delicate boil.

Start the egg noodles on stove as directed on package. Drain and set aside when cooked.

After about half an hour of delicate boiling, the chicken and broth will be ready. Add noodles and turn burner to Low.

It should be ready!

I've Been Cooking All This Time. I Promise.

Well, a few weeks ago I stopped updating this blog. The problem was that my computer stopped updating my camera card. I have no idea why. Ethan checked it out and confirmed my diagnosis: my camera works, my computer works, but there is a glitch in between. So, having no pictures to post kind of depressed me, and I just stopped.

However, I've been cooking all this time. I even have lots of drafts ready to go (minus pictures). Who knows when I'll get the glitch figured out, so here I go.

Two things I made tonight that I've been wanting to try:

1. Jalapeno Avocado Taco Sauce (courtesty of my sister-in-law Ana)
This is a sauce that is meant for tacos, but can be used for a variety of things. When I tasted it at Ana's a few weeks ago, I pretty much treated it as a soup! You only need 4 ingredients.
- 12 oz jar jalapenos in vinegar (use about 1/4 the juice of the jar, so don't drain entirely)
- 2 large ripe avocados
- 1/3 block cream cheese
- 1-2 cups of milk
Put it all in a blender. Blend until smooth. I had to stop and stir a lot. I suggest putting the jalapenos in first, then the cream cheese. Start with 1 cup milk, and add more as you go.

2. Roasted Fresh Broccoli
Katie, a friend from work, was opening her lunch the other day, and when I saw what she was unwrapping, I almost asked her if I could have some. She had roasted broccoli: bright green and blackened around the edges. It might have been the first time in my life that I craved a fresh vegetable! I asked her how she prepares it, and it couldn't be easier.
Fresh broccoli (I bought crowns because they were on sale), olive oil, and salt. Spread cut florets on a cookie sheet, drizzle olive oil, sprinkle salt (I also sprinkled a bit of lemon pepper). 200 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

I just finished both of these, and both are absolutely delicious.

Poor Ethan. No Home-Cooked Dinner.

I lament that I haven't cooked Ethan dinner much this week. Friday... I cooked steak, but since my camera is broken, I have no picture to display. Saturday... I had to work, and then I took a big nap! Then I had my weekly Gloria's plans with Stacie, so poor Ethan had to find his own dinner. Neither he nor I can remember what he ate. Sunday... Ethan had double-header baseball games in Euless, and we ate at Fuzzy's afterward. Monday... I can't remember. I might have cooked... but no!! Ethan worked in Frisco at a Rough Rider game and ate there. Tuesday... Ethan worked a Rough Riders game in Frisco and ate at the game. Wednesday... I felt really sick/tired after work and Ethan did, too. He left early and bought dinner for BOTH of us at Chipotle! Thursday (tonight): I "cooked" a frozen pizza. Summary: I love Ethan, but sometimes I don't cook for him.

Almost a Week of No Dinners!

Starting last weekend, we had dinner plans, and were rarely home at night to eat dinner. I cooked spaghetti one night this week, and last night I "cooked" chicken salad. My mother found this recipe a few years ago, and cooks it every time all her chicks come back home to the nest! We all love it. It is a basic cold chicken salad with the addition of a few sweet ingredients. The recipe is from Hormel. When Mom cooks it, she makes a few adjustments, and then I made a few more adjustments. Here is the official Hormel recipe: 12.5 oz can chunk breast of chicken, drained (Hormel) 1/3 cup red grapes, cut in half 1/4 cup finely sliced celery 2 Tb. finely chopped onion 2 Tb. dried cranberries 2 Tb. golden raisins 1/3 cup salad dressing (Miracle Whip) 2 Tb. sliced almonds Changes: First of all, both Mom and I omit the onions. And we usually double the recipe - two cans of the chicken, plus more of everything else, etc. Ethan likes green grapes, so I use those instead of the red. And instead of buying cranberries and golden raisins, we just put a lot of "Craisins" in! For lunch tomorrow, Ethan will be eating leftover chicken salad wrapped in tortillas. (I have no picture, because my computer is failing to read my camera's memory card. I am hoping to remedy this problem soon.)