Hobbit-ish Potpurri: The Life of a Dog

Good evening humble readers...

It's been a mellow day. Just me and Sunny-boy hanging out. He's a pretty lazy dog, sleeping most of the day. We did go for a few walks, but the only time he actually got at all rambunctious was when I dozed on the couch and he jumped right top of me. Funniest moment of the day with him... earlier this evening he jumped up onto the stool we have for our glider-rocker. He wasn't expecting the stool to move, so when it started swaying he was a bit freaked out. His owners emailed me on Sunday just wanting to see how things were going... very cute.

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We had this for dinner tonight. First, if you haven't checked out Ree's site, you need to. Incredible recipes, fabulous photos, amazing giveaways, and a great sense of humour. Second... if you are a fan of beef dip sandwiches, you need to try this recipe. I used the first recipe in the link, with just a couple of minor modifications. 1 - I sauteed some onions in my dutch oven and then placed the roast in on top of it. 2 - I couldn't get pepperoncinis at the little grocery store across the back lane, so I made do with pickled hot peppers. 3 - I don't like cheese on my beef dips so I omitted that. Let me just say they were the best beef dips ever! The au jus was incredible! This one is so going into my regular rotation.

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I need to get back to being a better commenter. Ever since I started utilizing my Goog.le Rea.der, I find that I read a lot more posts, but I don't actually click over and comment on many. Do any of you have any good habits for using your reader?

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I found out the other day that one of my staff's wife is very likely miscarrying. I didn't know that they were pregnant, but from what he said it sounds like a blighted ovum. I don't know if I said the right things, you'd think I would, right? Having been there and all. The thing is, I had exactly 10 seconds to process the fact that they were pregnant before he said that they were afraid she was losing the baby. The selfish part of me had already started playing the poor-me-I'm-not-pregnant tape in my head, and then I found out that there is a new member of this club. The club no one wants to be a part of. *sigh* Please send your prayers and good thoughts out there for M & R.

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Cycle update: Today is CD 12 and the ewcm has begun. O could be anytime, but not likely until the weekend.

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It appears that I am a bit abnormal. (OK, stop that smirking!) I love the olympics. I'm not normally a sports-on-tv kind of person, but I do love the olympics. Especially the winter games! Hockey, figure skating, curling, skiing, snowboarding... all stuff that Canadians do well at. And the fact that they are happening in Canada for the second time in my lifetime... that's pretty darn cool. The thing is, not a whole lot of people around here seem to be very excited about it. Hmmmm...

More Hobbit-ish Potpurri

Good afternoon Humble Readers...

Today's post is just another collection of randomness from the last few days. Nothing big is going on... Kind of like the calm before the storm of the holidays.

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Cycle update: Today is CD 22, 8dpo. Five days until AF is due. Phantom symptoms chose to really kick in today. I was nauseous for most of the morning, and still feel just a tad queezy. Mild dizziness off and on. Of course, the 'girls' are killing me, but that's par for the course during my tww. I will not test... I will not test...

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We had my Beloved's mom over for dinner last night. We rarely get to host her at our place, so it was nice to have her come for dinner and to see our pictures from NYC. She wants us to think she is doing ok, but I know that she is still struggling. She didn't mention Dad once last night, but I think that might be her way of coping.

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I went out for lunch today with my pastor. She is so easy to talk to, and she has walked down the IF road too. She is in the midst of some difficult stuff right now, and if you pray, please lift her up. Spiritual leaders are always targets.

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I took myself shopping this afternoon, and went into Ba.th & Body Wo.rks unchaperoned. Bit of a mistake. They had their room scent diffusers on sale. I ended up getting Autumn Leaves, Ginger Vanilla, and Spring Bamboo. All of them are lovely! I also got some lotion for my Beloved. It's a constant search to find a lotion for him that he likes... either it smells too strong or it causes him to break out. We'll see about this one.

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On my way out of the mall, I stopped at a new tea place and got an iced ginger tea infusion. All of their teas are brewed from loose leaves, and it smelled wonderful in the store. The one I ordered was supposed to help settle my stomach. Thing is it tasted so bad that it made me feel even worse. It was a waste of $5. Bummer!

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I have really loved this month's ICLW. The list was huge, and there were a ton of new blogs (at least to me). It's really been a lot of fun. I have ten more blogs to check out, and then I will have visited everyone (except for the few password protected ones). So many incredible stories in this community!

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On the menu tonight: Mandarin Almond Chicken, with rice. Yummy!

Kitchen Adventures: Dinner Victory!

Good evening Humble Readers...

(Just a quick post tonight, as I am working on my intro post for ICLW. If you haven't signed up yet make sure to pop over to Mel's place. Use the blue button to the left for a quick link.)

Tonight was a minor victory for me in the kitchen. I don't have a picture, and I don't even have an exact recipe... but it turned out pretty darn good.

I was trying to replicate the pasta dish that my Beloved had when we were at Otto in New York. The original was Rigatoni con Sausage with Escarole. I had had just a little bite of it, but I knew I was going to have to try to recreate it at some point. I spent a fair bit of time pouring through all the Mario Batali cookbooks we had at work, but I couldn't find anything close.

Now, living in a small city on the flatland poses a few challenges when you want to try new recipes. First and foremost, you can't always get the ingredients you need (don't get me started on the lack of fresh basil around here!). Interesting cheeses, less than your everyday produce, and even certain cuts of meat are impossible to get. Even finding things like tahini... why can't I find tahini?? Anyway, I digress.

So, I had to replace rigatoni with shells, spinach for escarole, and dried sage for fresh. But, I have to say it turned out well...

I browned some crumbled italian sausage, drained it and set it aside. Using the same skillet, I melted a lot of butter and sauteed half of a finely diced onion, until the onion was soft and translucent and the butter was just starting to brown. I added a cup of white wine and let it reduce for a few minutes. Then I added the sausage back to the pan, and threw in the spinach. When the spinach was wilted down, I added a cup of cream. I tossed the pasta in the sauce and sprinkled it with a bit of parmesean.

I have to say that it tasted pretty darn good... and my Beloved gave it a 9.5. (He gave Mario's recipe a 10) I think he's biased, but it was still a good effort I think.

What was on the menu for you tonight?

Hobbit-ish Potpurri

Good evening humble readers...

Here's just another round of the randomness that flows through my brain. Nothing of big import, just what I'm thinking about tonight...

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The Calgary Flames are getting their butts kicked this evening and my poor beloved is in a bit of a funk about it. If they don't win tonight they are done for the season. But on the upside, I won't be a hockey widow anymore.

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You've heard of sun showers? When it rains while the sun is shining brightly? Well, today we had a sun snow storm. For about 15 minutes this afternoon the snow was swirling in the bright sunlight. Crazy!

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I made a recipe from the new Bobby Flay cookbook last night, Greek burgers! Yummy! Too bad my sweet potatoe oven fries didn't turn out so hot. White Chili was on the menu tonight and I'm happy to say that it turned out pretty good too. It was missing something, tho. I just can't figure out what.

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I'm going to talk about it more in detail when I do my monthly reading list post, but the new Michael J. Fox book is really incredible. It's made me really think about my stance on embryonic stem cell research. I love it when book makes me use my brain just a little more than usual. :)

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Black thumb update: the little parsley plant is doing so well I'm half tempted to go buy a few more herb plants. We'll see if I'm still motivated in a week or so, when we finally get spring weather.

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My beloved and I watched Frost/Nixon last night. Incredible movie! I will confess to the fact that I knew very little about Nixon before last night (actually all I knew was that Watergate is a hotel, and that he left office the month before I was born). I don't pretend to fully understand US politics, but it was very interesting.

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I had one of those moments at work last week... one of those moments where I really need to be managerial, detached but supportive, for one of my staff. She came out of the staff room looking very upset. I asked if she was ok, and she nodded but didn't say anything. I asked if she was going to be ok to work her shift, and again she nodded. Finally, I asked if she needed to talk about anything. Her eyes welled up with tears, and I was expecting to hear at the very least that a guy had broken her heart. I will confess that I was not prepared for what she told me. This precious little 17 year old cashier, very studious, very serious, looked at me with her eyes brimming with tears and told me...

...that her fish had just died.

Now, I'm not normally a cold-hearted biotch, but it took every ounce of strength in me not to burst out laughing. I'm not kidding! I was biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing in her face. Apparently, I said all the appropriate things and I remember giving her a hug. I then immediately had to go and grab the other manager who was on duty, dragged her to the office, and told her the story while laughing my face off. I felt so awful for laughing at this poor girl, who was obviously grieving. I'm a terrible person... ;)

I guess that's it for tonight. Calgary has scored, but I think it's too little too late.

Show & Tell: Kitchen Adventures #3 - The Easter Dinner Spectacular

Oh my goodness! It's Saturday again, and I don't want to miss Show & Tell (especially during ICLW)! I know that Easter was a couple of weeks ago already, but I'm just now getting around to posting the recipes.

Easter for me equals lamb... and lamb equals Greek... and Greek equals yummy! I'm really pleased with how everything turned out, especially as we had guests over for dinner and the lamb was an experimental recipe. Oh, and the leftovers were fabulous too!

A few disclaimers before we get started: I am not Greek. I never claimed to be. The greek-ness of these recipes comes from the flavour combinations that I love from my favourite Greek restaurants. I don't measure when I cook, or at least not much, so all amounts are approximate. And last... if the picture isn't that great, I apologize... still getting used to the new camera (and the colour on our computer monitor is a little funky).

So... the menu for the evening was all about roasting... Mediterranean Roasted Leg of Lamb, Oven Roasted Greek Potatoes, and Roasted Asparagus. Dessert was Cherry Cheesecake courtesy of my friend/co-worker M.

Mediterranean Roasted Leg of Lamb

• 1 3-4 lb boneless leg of lamb
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• 1-1/2 cup olive oil
• minced/crushed garlic (I like things waaaaaay garlicky so I used 5 large cloves, use however much you can handle)
  
• 3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• pinch saffron threads
• 1/3 cup boiling water

Trim some, but not all, fat from the lamb, and tie with butcher's twine (I generally get the butcher to do this for me). Remove rosemary leaves from stem and chop finely. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, oregano and time in a bowl. Mix well. In a separate small bowl, combine saffron and boiling water, and allow to steep for a few minutes. Add to the rest of the marinade and allow to cool. Put the lamb into a large zipper-type bag and add the marinade. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible. Allow to marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours (I let it go overnight). Bring out of the fridge about a half hour before you plan to put it in the oven. Preheat oven to 325. Place lamb in a roasting pan with a rack, fat side up. Roast covered for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until internal temperature is 175 degrees fahrenheit, basting once or twice. (Option: save the garlic and herbs from the marinade and press onto top of lamb before roasting to form a crust. Remove cover from roast for last 15 minutes of cooking time.) Allow meat to rest for 15 minutes before carving. Drippings make a really nice gravy.

My beloved and I prefer our lamb on the rare side, so I pulled it out at 1 1/2 hour mark.

Greek-Style Oven Roasted Potatoes

• 2-3 pounds baby yellow potatoes
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• minced garlic (see above note about garlic)
  
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1-1/2 cup hot water
• 1 lemon, sliced (optional)

Wash and cut all potatoes in half length-wise. Arrange in a baking dish. Add oregano, garlic, oil and lemon juice. Stir carefully so that all the potatoes are evenly coated with oil/juice. Add hot water. Preheat oven to 400*. Roast for one hour, stirring at least once. You may need to add a bit more water during the cooking process if it evaporates quickly. Add lemon slices during last ten minutes.

* - I put them in with the lamb above for an hour and forty-five minutes.

Oven Roasted Asparagus

• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 bunches of asparagus
• salt & pepper to taste

Trim woody stems from asparagus. Arrange on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes. I put it in the oven with the potatoes while the lamb was resting.

There were four of us for dinner on Easter, and I had a ton of leftovers. One tip... don't be surprised if the string tying your lamb turns yellow, that's just the saffron. :)

Ok, so now that you've got your fix of nifty new recipes, head on over to Mel's place and check out what the rest of the class is showing this week!

Whining...

Good evening humble readers!

Not to much happening today, except that I was almost late for work because I was wide awake at 5am, then dozed off on the couch and didn't wake up until 6:20 (I had to be at work at 7). Thank heaven we live close to the store.

The cold that has been trying to break through the last couple of weeks appears to be winning. I have a touch of a fever and a sore throat. I hope that it just gets itself over with soon! I'm tired of waking up with sinus headaches.

I think an early evening and some tea are in order.

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Tonight's dinner was: Three Cheese Tortellini with Creamy Chicken & Pesto Sauce. Yummy and easy!