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Chicken-Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese
I came across this recipe in an old copy of Cooking Light magazine, and I thought it looked perfect for a hot summer evening. We tried it for dinner the other night, and it was a hit with all of us. For the chicken, instead of buying pre-cooked (which the recipe suggested, and I thought sounded like it might be pretty dry), Ted just added some chicken breasts to the grill the night before. So they were ready when I wanted them the following day. To add flavor to the orzo, I cooked it in low sodium chicken broth instead of water. That’s a waste of broth, but it’s such…
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Finally Joining the 21st Century
(adorable photo found here) If you must know, I’ll confess. I’m a bit of a technophobe. A late adopter. I don’t like change. I resist it heartily and look at it askance from the corner of my eye, pretending to focus elsewhere. Imagine my horror then, when our beloved Sony cordless phone recently stopped taking a charge*. I know I seem all tech savvy. I work for a software company, I have an iPod and a cell phone and I (sort of) know how to use them. I blog, I maintain the html on my company’s website, I keep in touch with family via email, all of that. But mostly…
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Julie & Julia
Julie and Julia (link is to my review from a few years ago), the book, is a memoir written by New Yorker Julie Powell, who in 2002 found herself coming up on the big 3-0 in the midst of serious career angst. Her aspirations of becoming a writer were not panning out for her, and she found herself in that horrible quadrant of the work spectrum that I like to call, bored and stressed. She had an emotionally stressful job (talking to people about the memorial for the victims of September 11th…many of the people who called had lost loved ones that day) that was at the same time the…
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Outfield ~ Mystery Man
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tOFnTHXbQU[/youtube] This isn’t really a video, just a picture of the album cover. Sorry. Back in the 80s, I was a big fan of The Outfield. I had a little rag top VW bug, which was foolish to put a stereo in, because it was ridiculously easy to break into (unsnap the homemade rag top, take what you want. Done. For faster access, slash the rag top, so J has to go have a new one custom made.) So, I had a little boom box that I took in the car with me, and I listened to cassettes that way. Play Deep was on seriously heavy rotation, and now that…
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Friday Randomness
Nothing earth shattering today, k? As if there were anything earth shattering around here lately anyway. Sigh. OK, first, I could have done without the stupid helicopters hovering around in the stupid sky this morning, waking me up a whole hour before I needed to get up. Grrr. Second, I kinda want to make some chili dogs for an upcoming girl scout pool party at our house, but I’m not sure if I’ll make the chili from scratch, or go buy some. What I’m looking for is an all beef chili, kind of like what you might find at Pink’s in Los Angeles. Anyone have a good recipe? Facebook is…
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Artichoke, Fennel, and Sausage Fusilli
We found this recipe in an old Sunset Magazine. I’ll copy it as is, and then tell you the changes I made. Artichoke, Fennel, and Sausage Fusilli Ingredients: 1 head fennel (about 3-in. diameter) 4 oz. mild or hot Italian sausage, casings removed 1/3 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup slivered red bell pepper 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced 1/2 tsp fennel seeds 5 oz. frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and drained 1/3 cup fat-skimmed chicken broth 2 tablespoons dry white wine 2 tablespoons whipping cream 6 oz. fusilli pasta Grated Parmesan cheese Rinse the fennel and cut off course stalks, reserving some of the feathery green leaves. Trim and discard…
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Wordless Wednesday (At least, not my words)
(Click picture to enlarge. Comic found at SFGate.com)
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Natalie Merchant ~ What’s the Matter Here
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Wm_IAu_yM[/youtube] I totally forgot to do a ‘music Monday’ last week, but no one seemed to mind. It’s the getting back into the swing of work, worrying about my dog, all of that, I guess. Anyway, I’ve always liked this song, originally performed by 10,000 Maniacs, but here by Natalie Merchant, their lyricist and vocalist. The only version I could find that I could embed was this live version with just Merchant. If you want to see the original video, you can find it here: 10,000 Maniacs – What’s The Matter Here.
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Genevieve
(Genevieve looking somewhat crazed but happy, about 2 years ago) The health issues with our sweet dog Genevieve have been continuing. She is now almost completely blind. It seems to have come on very quickly, and we’re not sure of the cause. I’ve read that when dogs go blind, we don’t notice it until it’s in its final stages, which may be what’s going on here. It may also be the result of a tumor, or of something called Cushing’s disease. It does seem the most likely cause, and she has quite a few of the symptoms, but the first thing to do is to take her to an ophthalmologist…
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Reading Kim
Or, more accurately, not reading Kim. Even more accurately, reading everything else except Kim. I’ve been trying to get into Rudyard Kipling’s adventure story, Kim, for awhile now. As seems to happen when I read 19th century literature, I’m having a bit of trouble getting going. The pacing and language are over 100 years old, and British to boot, so it’s not as accessible as most modern literature. Which is part of the allure…to look back at another time and place, to sort of get into the head of the author, get into the pacing of the time, all of that. But still. I’m at that early part in the…
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(500) Days of Summer
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsD0NpFSADM[/youtube] Do you believe in love? That’s the question at the heart of this sweet romantic comedy. Tom, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a slogan writer at a greeting card company, though in his heart of hearts, he is an under-employed architect. Tom is a firm believer in love, true love, love at first sight, romantic love. Enter Summer, played by Zooey Deschanel, a new assistant at Tom’s work. Summer does not believe in love. She believes in friendship, but thinks that love itself is a social construct, and nothing more. Of course, Tom quickly falls in love with Summer, who while she doesn’t love Tom, is perfectly willing to…
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Spaghetti with Pinot Grigio and Seafood
I like cooking, but I get really tired of deciding what we’re going to have for dinner, you know? So Ted went on the Food Network website, and found this recipe on Giada’s page, and we decided to try it. Ingredients * 1 pound spaghetti pasta * 1/4 cup olive oil * 3 shallots, chopped * 3 cloves garlic, minced * 3/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes * 1 1/2 cup Pinot Grigio (or other white wine) * 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined * 2 pounds clams, washed * 1 teaspoon kosher salt * 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper * 2 cups arugula Directions Bring a large pot of…
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Friday Fun
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0[/youtube] I just saw this on Yahoo, and it made me laugh. If you haven’t seen this already, I thought you might like to see a fun wedding processional. 🙂
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DVD Review
We recently signed up for Netflix again, after canceling for awhile. I’m not sure how long we’ll keep it, because our queue is pretty darned short at this point, but we have watched a few things. Between the DVDs and the OnDemand, we’re not running out of things to watch. Also, we can watch Netflix films using our XBox Live. Crazy, huh? What I want, though, is a perfect world, where I can download ANY movie or show I want, at any time, and not have to wait for it to be available via. OnDemand or XBox. And I don’t want to have to pay extra for it. I basically…
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40 Years Ago Today
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B882w2gC22s[/youtube] My mom wrote about the moon landing a couple of years ago, on another moon landing anniversary. I love her story about my Grandpa and his calling it “Wizard of Oz” to believe that man would ever go to the moon. And his graceful recovery for his pig-headedness, 40 years ago today. Click the link and enjoy.