As any who read this blog will already know, I am very recently divorced. For all the gory details on that particular breakup, you can see this post here. This post is not about that. Well, at least not directly, anyway.
This particular post is about friendships. Throughout my life friendships have always been something that I've struggled with, both to acquire and maintain. It will probably come as quite a shock to anyone who knows me - both in real life and on the internet - that I'm actually pretty shy and get easily freaked out when I'm in a group of people I don't know. I work to hide this by going overboard and being outgoing and social and gregarious, but it's all an act. Internally I'm usually pretty spazzed that I'm stuck in a place, talking to people I don't know anything about. This might become apparent to people at some point in the friendship, as once I begin to be comfortable with people I let down my guard and instead of being Ultra Social Butterfly Girl I revert to my more mundane personality. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, I just know that this is what happens.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Religion, Politics and Other Topics Not For Polite Company
For any who don't know (but, really, you all should at this point), I enjoy debate. I like to talk about controversial subjects that most other people shy away from. I have a lot of opinions on various topics and, in addition to sharing them with others, I like to hear what opinions other people have on these issues. I think that I kind of take it for granted that 1) everyone else has an opinion on whatever I want to talk about and 2) that everyone I talk to on even a semi-regular basis has the capacity to handle any subject in a mature manner.
This is not always the case, unfortunately. Occasionally I drastically underestimate the capacity for humans to be snarky and/or generally horrid to other humans of differing opinions. Yet I still feel, deep down, that somehow if you just talk to each other there has to be a way to come to a place where you can both, if not agree, at least respect each other's opinions enough to not be jerks about it.
This is not always the case, unfortunately. Occasionally I drastically underestimate the capacity for humans to be snarky and/or generally horrid to other humans of differing opinions. Yet I still feel, deep down, that somehow if you just talk to each other there has to be a way to come to a place where you can both, if not agree, at least respect each other's opinions enough to not be jerks about it.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Experiments in the Kitchen - Party Food!
It all started last Wednesday at about 4 in the morning. We were standing outside the Waffle House (which is where a group of my friends and I go after dancing at a local club) and one of our friends said "We should have a coloring party tomorrow!"
Some plans for this were bandied about, people offering to bring this or that. At that time of the morning, it sounded like an awesome idea! The next afternoon, however, it was realized that the timing was just too short. Thus the party was postponed until Saturday.
One of my friends, at whose house we were having this shindig, asked me for advice on what to do about food. I helpfully offered some suggestions. I was probably a bit more helpful than was practical. She replied back "So... Chips and salsa?" I smiled and offered to whip somethings together, secretly jumping for joy at an excuse to really cut loose in the kitchen.
Some plans for this were bandied about, people offering to bring this or that. At that time of the morning, it sounded like an awesome idea! The next afternoon, however, it was realized that the timing was just too short. Thus the party was postponed until Saturday.
One of my friends, at whose house we were having this shindig, asked me for advice on what to do about food. I helpfully offered some suggestions. I was probably a bit more helpful than was practical. She replied back "So... Chips and salsa?" I smiled and offered to whip somethings together, secretly jumping for joy at an excuse to really cut loose in the kitchen.
Monday, July 26, 2010
A Confession about Craziness
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm at least a little bit insane. I've always tried to feel okay about this by rationalizing it to myself in a multitude of ways.
- Everyone's a little bit crazy - the only people who are truly insane are the one's who say they're sane
- I tend to keep my crazy to myself and not spew it all over everyone, so I'm not impacting others and therefore my crazy is okay
- I warn other people that I'm crazy upfront, and therefore they have no right to be annoyed with me later when it turns out I wasn't lying to them about it
- I can function and therefore my crazy is okay
- My craziness is actually useful in many situations and so does it really count as crazy anymore?
Experiment in Blogging - You Can Get Paid For This?
In light of doing the product reviews here on the blog (and because I saw a site that offered this) I thought that perhaps I wouldn't mind discussing products and services. I would especially not mind it if I could get paid for reviewing said products and services. So I'm going to give it a whirl.
Every time I'm writing a sponsored entry, I'll let you know. I do not intend, in anyway, to pander to someone just because they offer me money. I will give a fair and honest review of any product or service that asks me to - even if that means that this experiment ends up failing because I'm too honest and no one wants to pay me for it.
To prove that I actually own this blog, the site which hooks up advertisers and bloggers (PayPerPost.com) has requested that I make a post with the following code phrase: A great euphonious in every box
Well, now that I have done that, let's see what advertisers out there are actually willing to have someone honestly review their product/service!
Every time I'm writing a sponsored entry, I'll let you know. I do not intend, in anyway, to pander to someone just because they offer me money. I will give a fair and honest review of any product or service that asks me to - even if that means that this experiment ends up failing because I'm too honest and no one wants to pay me for it.
To prove that I actually own this blog, the site which hooks up advertisers and bloggers (PayPerPost.com) has requested that I make a post with the following code phrase: A great euphonious in every box
Well, now that I have done that, let's see what advertisers out there are actually willing to have someone honestly review their product/service!
Experiment in Blogging - Reviews and Life
So, I've decided to do two things here and I felt the need to share them.
The first is that I'm going to shake up the blog a little bit. I find that there are things that I want to blog about that have very little "experiment" to them, so I think that, while I'll still write about the cooking and crafting experiments I do (and whether or not they fail miserably) I'll also have entries about random life occurrences, or random thoughts that I have that I think are interesting and want to share.
The second thing I'm going to do - which you may have extrapolated from the title of this entry - I am going to begin doing reviews. This is not as random as it seems... well, okay, it's pretty random but I wasn't the one who started it! See, one of the metaphysical book publishers that I follow on Twitter (Weiser Books) advertised a bit ago that one of their partners was offering free items to people willing to do blog reviews of them. Naturally, the idea of free stuff in a realm that I'm obviously interested in made me says "Yes, please!" immediately.
Apparently I should have looked a bit closer into who was offering, or what was being offered. I have eagerly awaited the arrival of the items - which I assumed would be of some metaphysical nature - for a couple weeks. Then, on Saturday, I went out to check the mail and there was a package. Yay! I grabbed it, ran into my bedroom and ripped it open. Inside were books! I like books! This was a good sign. Then I started reading the titles. Apparently, the partner publishes romance books. I now have a stack of four lit-porn titles sitting on my nightstand. I started cracking up laughing.
All of the books seem to have a supernatural bent to the, so that's pretty awesome. I have read plenty of lit-porn before, so it's not like it's going to offend me (I mean, come on, I read Anita Blake and Kushiel's and was fine). It was just a bit shocking to be expecting some thing deep and metaphysical and receive... porn. I haven't started them at this point, but I likely will sometime this week. And then I'll post my review of them here!
So, that's the entirety of the changes. I figured that you (all ... *looks* 3 of you!) that follow my blog deserved to know that it's going to get shaken up a bit.
The first is that I'm going to shake up the blog a little bit. I find that there are things that I want to blog about that have very little "experiment" to them, so I think that, while I'll still write about the cooking and crafting experiments I do (and whether or not they fail miserably) I'll also have entries about random life occurrences, or random thoughts that I have that I think are interesting and want to share.
The second thing I'm going to do - which you may have extrapolated from the title of this entry - I am going to begin doing reviews. This is not as random as it seems... well, okay, it's pretty random but I wasn't the one who started it! See, one of the metaphysical book publishers that I follow on Twitter (Weiser Books) advertised a bit ago that one of their partners was offering free items to people willing to do blog reviews of them. Naturally, the idea of free stuff in a realm that I'm obviously interested in made me says "Yes, please!" immediately.
Apparently I should have looked a bit closer into who was offering, or what was being offered. I have eagerly awaited the arrival of the items - which I assumed would be of some metaphysical nature - for a couple weeks. Then, on Saturday, I went out to check the mail and there was a package. Yay! I grabbed it, ran into my bedroom and ripped it open. Inside were books! I like books! This was a good sign. Then I started reading the titles. Apparently, the partner publishes romance books. I now have a stack of four lit-porn titles sitting on my nightstand. I started cracking up laughing.
All of the books seem to have a supernatural bent to the, so that's pretty awesome. I have read plenty of lit-porn before, so it's not like it's going to offend me (I mean, come on, I read Anita Blake and Kushiel's and was fine). It was just a bit shocking to be expecting some thing deep and metaphysical and receive... porn. I haven't started them at this point, but I likely will sometime this week. And then I'll post my review of them here!
So, that's the entirety of the changes. I figured that you (all ... *looks* 3 of you!) that follow my blog deserved to know that it's going to get shaken up a bit.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Experiment in the Kitchen - Turkey Chili / Cornbread and Gluten / Strawberry Shortcake
Back to your regularly scheduled blog (yay!). Wait... this blog isn't regular, nor scheduled... hrm. Well, anyway, to the point: back to experimenting! Yay!
As I type to you I am conducting an experiment in my kitchen. It is sizzling away on my stove. This experiment is chili! Wait, that's not the exciting part! The exciting part is that I'm taking my beloved chili recipe and allowing my boyfriend to make a modification to it. Anyone who knows me realizes this is a huge step for me. I mean, I really really don't like to give any kind of control in my life to anyone (can we say OCD much?) (also, shhhh! I'm talking about life not... oh, nevermind) so the very fact that I was willing to try his suggestion is a big step forward for me.
Well, at least a medium step forward since I'm already worried that said experiment is going to fail and the meat isn't even done browning yet. Wait, what's that? Didn't I tell you what the experiment was? Oh, I only said chili. Well then, I shall tell you! I am substituting the regular ground beef for... wait for it... ground turkey! (Queue dramatic music here) What do you mean that's not exciting? Well it is to me, so shhh!
As I type to you I am conducting an experiment in my kitchen. It is sizzling away on my stove. This experiment is chili! Wait, that's not the exciting part! The exciting part is that I'm taking my beloved chili recipe and allowing my boyfriend to make a modification to it. Anyone who knows me realizes this is a huge step for me. I mean, I really really don't like to give any kind of control in my life to anyone (can we say OCD much?) (also, shhhh! I'm talking about life not... oh, nevermind) so the very fact that I was willing to try his suggestion is a big step forward for me.
Well, at least a medium step forward since I'm already worried that said experiment is going to fail and the meat isn't even done browning yet. Wait, what's that? Didn't I tell you what the experiment was? Oh, I only said chili. Well then, I shall tell you! I am substituting the regular ground beef for... wait for it... ground turkey! (Queue dramatic music here) What do you mean that's not exciting? Well it is to me, so shhh!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Experiment in Blogging - Being an Adult
I've been doing a lot of thinking about being grown-up lately and what, exactly, that means. This introspection was originally sparked by this very amusing, and accurate, blog post. If you haven't read it yet, go do so, and then you can relate when I say that this woman nailed me to a freaking T. That is my cycle exactly, and the graph at the top is a testament to the level of successfulness that I experience in my daily life.
So, what does it mean to be an adult? Certainly there are upsides, like being able to eat ice cream at any point in the day just because I want a damned ice cream! Or being able to stay up until 3 o'clock in the morning - even if I know I'm going to be paying for it the next day. Being an adult also means having responsibilities that you know you can't really put off or give to someone else, like getting in the rent check on time or going to the grocery store.
So, what does it mean to be an adult? Certainly there are upsides, like being able to eat ice cream at any point in the day just because I want a damned ice cream! Or being able to stay up until 3 o'clock in the morning - even if I know I'm going to be paying for it the next day. Being an adult also means having responsibilities that you know you can't really put off or give to someone else, like getting in the rent check on time or going to the grocery store.
Experiment in Life - Divorce and Single Parenting
Apparently it has been nearly a year since I sat down here to write. It isn't that I haven't had anything to write about, goodness knows, but more that I've been dealing with life in general to the point of not even thinking about sitting down. This means that you (whomever is reading this) get a recap blog before I even actually write about what drove me to sit here right now in the first place! Yay! Right? *listens to crickets* Well, anyway, moving on!
Let's jump right in this with the major change in my life: I am no longer married. For any reading who already know the whole story, sorry because you know I'm going to recap it all right here anyway. Just bear with me and go get a cookie or something.
Let's jump right in this with the major change in my life: I am no longer married. For any reading who already know the whole story, sorry because you know I'm going to recap it all right here anyway. Just bear with me and go get a cookie or something.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Experiment in the Kitchen - Fudge
Originally, I was going to make a batch of truffles for Con, but as I'm leaving tomorrow morning I opted instead to go ahead and make fudge (which is significantly quicker). The husband has offered for me to take some of the truffles I made for him so we'll see if that's what I end up doing in addition to the fudge.
This batch of fudge I wanted to do something off the wall. I kicked around the idea of making mint fudge again (which would not be baby-poop green like the last batch - an unfortunate color for edibles, regardless of how good they taste - since I now had colorless mint flavoring) or of making cherry but nothing really struck me. Just before I made the batch I thought I might add banana to it - bananas and chocolate go really well together as I know from my truffle endeavors.
So, as I'm heating the butter, sugar and evaporated milk over the stove and I reach up to get the 99 bananas to add flavor to the mix I look up and see the Kahlua bottle. Eureka! I shall make mudslide fudge! I added a generous amount of Kahlua to the pot and proceeded with the directions for making fudge.
The fudge is now in a dish cooling. Both my husband and I have tasted the uncooled chocolate from the spoon and it is tasty, with just a hint of coffee to it. It's not as strong as I could have hoped, but seems to have added a certain depth to the fudge. We'll have to see how it comes out after it has cooled and hardened!
Update: Fudge was taken to con and consumed - everyone who had some said it was very tasty. I think the Kahlua flavor didn't come through quite as strongly as I had wanted it to, but it was still really good. The votes are in: this experiment was a Success!
This batch of fudge I wanted to do something off the wall. I kicked around the idea of making mint fudge again (which would not be baby-poop green like the last batch - an unfortunate color for edibles, regardless of how good they taste - since I now had colorless mint flavoring) or of making cherry but nothing really struck me. Just before I made the batch I thought I might add banana to it - bananas and chocolate go really well together as I know from my truffle endeavors.
So, as I'm heating the butter, sugar and evaporated milk over the stove and I reach up to get the 99 bananas to add flavor to the mix I look up and see the Kahlua bottle. Eureka! I shall make mudslide fudge! I added a generous amount of Kahlua to the pot and proceeded with the directions for making fudge.
The fudge is now in a dish cooling. Both my husband and I have tasted the uncooled chocolate from the spoon and it is tasty, with just a hint of coffee to it. It's not as strong as I could have hoped, but seems to have added a certain depth to the fudge. We'll have to see how it comes out after it has cooled and hardened!
Update: Fudge was taken to con and consumed - everyone who had some said it was very tasty. I think the Kahlua flavor didn't come through quite as strongly as I had wanted it to, but it was still really good. The votes are in: this experiment was a Success!
Experiment in Sewing and in Crafting - KoL Con Costume
This has been an on-going experiment. I was keeping it pretty hush-hush because it's for a contest, but now that the contest is only a couple day away I suppose that it is safe to talk about it - and I'm super excited about it!
What contest is this, do you ask? Why, none other than the KoL Con 6 Costume Contest! I may also wear my gear to the LARP (which is actually what inspired the costume idea in the first place) but as of right now I know for sure that I'll be wearing it to the costume contest. My idea was to do an entire KoL costume from the game. This consists of a hat, a shirt, a two-handed weapon (or a one-handed weapon and an off hand, or 2 one-handed weapons), a pair of pants and three accessories.
What contest is this, do you ask? Why, none other than the KoL Con 6 Costume Contest! I may also wear my gear to the LARP (which is actually what inspired the costume idea in the first place) but as of right now I know for sure that I'll be wearing it to the costume contest. My idea was to do an entire KoL costume from the game. This consists of a hat, a shirt, a two-handed weapon (or a one-handed weapon and an off hand, or 2 one-handed weapons), a pair of pants and three accessories.
Experiment in the Kitchen - Tomato Cream Pasta Sauce
I am a blog failure. I haven't updated in a long time due to working on actually getting settled here in Ohio - not that I haven't been doing quite a few things in the kitchen and in sewing but I just haven't had the time to blog them. Expect a few back posts to follow this one.
Tonight is not so much an experiment as a revision of a previous recipe with a few tweaks. I am making spaghetti in a tomato-cream sauce this evening. The tweaks come in to the sauce and the ingredients I used in it.
Tonight is not so much an experiment as a revision of a previous recipe with a few tweaks. I am making spaghetti in a tomato-cream sauce this evening. The tweaks come in to the sauce and the ingredients I used in it.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Experiment in the Kitchen - Pesto Success!
Post from the past
Pesto, Take Two!
I have once again attempted to make homemade pesto. This time, I managed to find really fresh basil (and the Kroger, go figure). I also had a bit of red wine vinegar to add to it.
I made the pesto in the blender with two of the blister packs of basil, a goodly amount of olive oil, some Parmesan cheese, a splash of red wine vinegar and a clove of diced garlic. I blended it together until it was an even consistency throughout and was liquidy enough to be a sauce. I then poured it over some tortellini and tossed them together.
It was delicious! The pesto was everything I could have hoped. Fresh ingredients was the key, I think, as well as that bit of vinegar to really bring the flavors together in what I think of as pesto. Super tasty and I will be sure to make it again. This was a Success!
Pesto, Take Two!
I have once again attempted to make homemade pesto. This time, I managed to find really fresh basil (and the Kroger, go figure). I also had a bit of red wine vinegar to add to it.
I made the pesto in the blender with two of the blister packs of basil, a goodly amount of olive oil, some Parmesan cheese, a splash of red wine vinegar and a clove of diced garlic. I blended it together until it was an even consistency throughout and was liquidy enough to be a sauce. I then poured it over some tortellini and tossed them together.
It was delicious! The pesto was everything I could have hoped. Fresh ingredients was the key, I think, as well as that bit of vinegar to really bring the flavors together in what I think of as pesto. Super tasty and I will be sure to make it again. This was a Success!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Experiment in the Kitchen - Butterscotch Honor Cake
Post from the past!
Today is my husband's birthday. In addition to a handful of practical presents, the girls and I all decided that what he really needed for his birthday was a cake! How could we have a birthday with no cake?!?
Husband had the car today, so that meant that I could only bake with what ingredients I had in the house. Normally this wouldn't be a terribly difficult task - I keep my pantry and cupboards pretty well stocked - but (as I discovered) apparently while moving I had decided to get rid of a couple staples (read: vanilla, baking soda, baking powder) that would make most cakes impossible with the ingredients in the house. We also didn't have any frosting nor any powdered sugar for me to make some. Dilemma!
Today is my husband's birthday. In addition to a handful of practical presents, the girls and I all decided that what he really needed for his birthday was a cake! How could we have a birthday with no cake?!?
Husband had the car today, so that meant that I could only bake with what ingredients I had in the house. Normally this wouldn't be a terribly difficult task - I keep my pantry and cupboards pretty well stocked - but (as I discovered) apparently while moving I had decided to get rid of a couple staples (read: vanilla, baking soda, baking powder) that would make most cakes impossible with the ingredients in the house. We also didn't have any frosting nor any powdered sugar for me to make some. Dilemma!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Experiment in the Kitchen - Caramel Apple and Bananas Foster Truffles
Post from the past!
Caramel truffles sounded like a very good idea. As a matter of fact, I fixated on these for quite some time (since August 14th, to be specific, when I had the idea after we went out for our anniversary dinner). I first came up with the idea for Bananas Foster truffles - white chocolate or vanilla shells, flavored with banana and rum, encasing caramel. This expanded slightly to include the idea for candy apple truffles - in which the shell would be apple flavored.
Caramel truffles sounded like a very good idea. As a matter of fact, I fixated on these for quite some time (since August 14th, to be specific, when I had the idea after we went out for our anniversary dinner). I first came up with the idea for Bananas Foster truffles - white chocolate or vanilla shells, flavored with banana and rum, encasing caramel. This expanded slightly to include the idea for candy apple truffles - in which the shell would be apple flavored.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Experiment in the Kitchen - Pesto
Tonight I have managed the seemingly impossible! After many months of longingly wishing to make home-made Pesto (and not getting off my ass to get the ingredients for it) I have gone forth and done so!
This is not as easy as it sounds - or, at least, it wasn't for me. The biggest set back? Acquiring fresh basil here in Ohio. In California, fresh herbs are in every supermarket. So I never thought about the potential difficulties in acquiring fresh herbs with which to cook with. I'd just go to the supermarket and pick some up, right?
Wrong! Apparently here in Ohio it is a monumental task to track down and purchase some fresh basil. Luckily, after calling a couple stores (and one abortive attempt to visit the grocery store we frequent) I found a store that carried some. I went there (in the pouring rain... wtf with the weather here?!?) and located their little plastic blister packs of fresh herbs. Wary because I couldn't view the contents easily, I got all the packs they had - 4 - in the hopes that between them there would be enough basil that wasn't bad which I could use to make the sauce.
This is not as easy as it sounds - or, at least, it wasn't for me. The biggest set back? Acquiring fresh basil here in Ohio. In California, fresh herbs are in every supermarket. So I never thought about the potential difficulties in acquiring fresh herbs with which to cook with. I'd just go to the supermarket and pick some up, right?
Wrong! Apparently here in Ohio it is a monumental task to track down and purchase some fresh basil. Luckily, after calling a couple stores (and one abortive attempt to visit the grocery store we frequent) I found a store that carried some. I went there (in the pouring rain... wtf with the weather here?!?) and located their little plastic blister packs of fresh herbs. Wary because I couldn't view the contents easily, I got all the packs they had - 4 - in the hopes that between them there would be enough basil that wasn't bad which I could use to make the sauce.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Experiment in the Kitchen - Beef Stew / Biscuits / Salad / Strawberry and Raspberry Shortcake
Tonight, for the first time since we moved in, we had people over! Yay! So, of course, me being the crazy person I was, I was determined that the dinner be as awesome as I could manage.
I started with stew - which is a staple of mine. I make my stew with the following:
I started with stew - which is a staple of mine. I make my stew with the following:
- 1 Can Beef Broth
- 1 Can Golden Mushroom (Campbell's)
- 1 sm pkg Baby Carrots
- Approx. 4 Stalks of Celery (sliced small)
- 3 lg (or 6 sm) Red Potatoes (sliced into bite-sized chunks)
- Approx. 2# Beef Stew Meat
- 1 pkg (or equiv) Instant Mashed Potatoes
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Experiment in Life - Moving to Ohio
This week's experiment? Driving cross-country with two young children! Sounds kinda crazy, huh? We are actually currently on day 3 (everyone is still asleep - I, for some reason, woke up at 6:30am). Day one saw us driving from the North Bay area of California down to San Luis Obispo, CA. We got a hotel there, saw some friends, did some rather necessary shopping for things (books on cd, drinks for the car, etc) and then headed out at around 1:00 pm. This set us back a bit - we were actually suppose to drive down to SLO, visit, and then head on to Bakersfield with the intention of making Flagstaff, AZ on day 2. But, que sera sera, we are taking this trip as it comes. Day 2 saw us make it to Kingman, AZ - which is where I blog to you from now. We got a hotel at about 9 at night and thank goodness we did! I don't think the kids could have survived in the car another minute at that point!
For the most part, the kids have been well behaved. We got an in-the-car dvd player with a split screen so they can watch movies. Our eldest just had her birthday (as previously blogged about) and we bought her a Leapster handheld game thing and her Grandmother got her an mp3 player. They also have lap trays and coloring things and soe stuffed animals to keep them company. We have a cd player and got them some books on cd as well. So, you know, we have a large pool of items back there to keep them from going stir crazy.
For the most part, the kids have been well behaved. We got an in-the-car dvd player with a split screen so they can watch movies. Our eldest just had her birthday (as previously blogged about) and we bought her a Leapster handheld game thing and her Grandmother got her an mp3 player. They also have lap trays and coloring things and soe stuffed animals to keep them company. We have a cd player and got them some books on cd as well. So, you know, we have a large pool of items back there to keep them from going stir crazy.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Experiment in the Kitchen - Pesto Parmesan Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Experiment for today is Pesto-Parmesan Stuffed Chicken Breasts. I blended some Pesto from Costco, a bit of Kraft Parmesan Cheese and some garlic salt in a bowl. I then took the chicken breasts (with skin and bones - I wanted skin but no bones, but have yet to find it) and defrosted them.
I was a bit miffed to find that what I thought were 4 chicken breast halves were actually 6 - a bit much for our family, even with my Mother staying with us - but decided to just go with it. I laid each chicken breast down on a cookie sheet and carefully pulled up on the skins until they separated from the meat below. I then stuffed the pesto-parmesan mixture into the pocket created. Turns out I had just exactly the right amount to do 6 breasts - yay! I also smeared some of the mixture on the bits of chicken where there was no skin.
After that was accomplished, I cut a sliver of butter for each breast, laying them gently on top of the skin. I stuck my awesome in-the-oven-but-outside-reading digital meat thermometer into the meatiest part of the biggest breast, popped them in the oven at 375F and that was that. They should be out of the oven in a little while (I'm guessing about 45 minutes or so). At that time I'll update to say how things turned out.
Update: Sorry for the delay in the update (see crazy life mentioned in previous blog for excuse)! The chicken turned out wonderfully moist and delicious. The skin was crispy, the pesto-parmesan became slightly crunchy and the flavor it added to the chicken was sublime. I will definitely be trying this again! This experiment was a Success!
I was a bit miffed to find that what I thought were 4 chicken breast halves were actually 6 - a bit much for our family, even with my Mother staying with us - but decided to just go with it. I laid each chicken breast down on a cookie sheet and carefully pulled up on the skins until they separated from the meat below. I then stuffed the pesto-parmesan mixture into the pocket created. Turns out I had just exactly the right amount to do 6 breasts - yay! I also smeared some of the mixture on the bits of chicken where there was no skin.
After that was accomplished, I cut a sliver of butter for each breast, laying them gently on top of the skin. I stuck my awesome in-the-oven-but-outside-reading digital meat thermometer into the meatiest part of the biggest breast, popped them in the oven at 375F and that was that. They should be out of the oven in a little while (I'm guessing about 45 minutes or so). At that time I'll update to say how things turned out.
Update: Sorry for the delay in the update (see crazy life mentioned in previous blog for excuse)! The chicken turned out wonderfully moist and delicious. The skin was crispy, the pesto-parmesan became slightly crunchy and the flavor it added to the chicken was sublime. I will definitely be trying this again! This experiment was a Success!
Experiment in Sewing - Capes!
Last night, I finally bit the bullet. Yes, I finally got started on getting all the party things ready for my eldest's (and her cousin's) 6th birthday party. The theme? Superheroes. The goal? To have an awesome party (and possibly top last year's Princess theme). The Mom? Freaking crazy, apparently.
My tasks started simply enough. I was originally just suppose to make 15 capes, handle cake arrangements for our cake (I demanded that each child get their own cake - and their own candles! - due to hang-ups from my own childhood's shared birthdays) and invite 15 kids. Of course, I couldn't have it be that simple!
Let's start by saying that the birthday party happens to be two days before we are leaving for Ohio. Oh, and that my daughter has a dance recital the day before, the day of and the day after the party. So, amidst packing and organizing and arranging our lives so that they can be shipped most of the way across the country, I also have to make sure that my daughter makes her dress rehearsal and all 3 show days. And I need to make things for the party, get invites out and get all of us to the park on time. Did I say freaking crazy? Let's up that to "where are the nice men in their clean white coats?"
My tasks started simply enough. I was originally just suppose to make 15 capes, handle cake arrangements for our cake (I demanded that each child get their own cake - and their own candles! - due to hang-ups from my own childhood's shared birthdays) and invite 15 kids. Of course, I couldn't have it be that simple!
Let's start by saying that the birthday party happens to be two days before we are leaving for Ohio. Oh, and that my daughter has a dance recital the day before, the day of and the day after the party. So, amidst packing and organizing and arranging our lives so that they can be shipped most of the way across the country, I also have to make sure that my daughter makes her dress rehearsal and all 3 show days. And I need to make things for the party, get invites out and get all of us to the park on time. Did I say freaking crazy? Let's up that to "where are the nice men in their clean white coats?"
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