Moroccan Chicken

this morning i found myself less than willing to spend the entire day prepping and cooking dinner, an odd state of affairs for me. my solution: once again bring out the crock pot. i plunked 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts straight from the freezer into the bottom of the crock and sprinkled moroccan seasoning on it. a few weeks ago we threw the first ever Roundtree Casbah, a night of moroccan food and festivities. one of the upshots of this was about a table spoon of leftover moroccan spice mix that i had made based on a servey of mix recipes from the internet. if you don't want to mix a full cup of the stuff, as i did, you could just throw in about a half a teaspoon of cinnamon and a half a teaspoon of cumin and about a quarter of a teaspoon of ground cloves. the thing about spices is this: to each his own applies. personally my family loves strong spices, lots of garlic and ginger in just about everything. my dad, on the other hand, could be very happy never eating ginger again. i advise using your nose, if you want to taste something you'd better be able to smell it. adjust to what you like best. just don't be afraid to try something once, cinnamon on meat may sound crazy to you, but it might end up being your new favorite thing. back to the crock at hand: meat, spices, 1 small onion diced, 2 cloves garlic diced, 1/2 cup lentils, 1/2 cup rice, about two cups of water, about 1/2 cup sliced dried apricots, about 1/4 cup raisins. put it on low and keep an eye on your rice. i'm not going to lie to you, i forgot about mine and it went to mush. very tasty mush, but mush none the less. as a solution for people who can stay at home i'd say you could let everything else go for about an hour then stir and add the rice. for the record, the lentils were perfect. for the salad i drained (see also:drank) about half of the juice off a small can of mandarin oranges and dumped the rest with the oranges into the bottom of my salad bowl, add about a table spoon of soy sauce, a slightly more generous table spoon of seasoned rice wine vinegar, a pinch of garlic salt, a pinch of powdered ginger, and a titch (slightly smaller than a pinch) of pepper. mix it up and toss with one head of romaine and one chopped cucumber, drizzle on a bit of olive oil and toss again. top with slivered almonds all the way around (chicken included) and serve.

pot roast, a two stage affair.

for this act we will need: one roast (cross rib for us), one smallish onion, two cloves garlic, a bit o' fennel seed and rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste. the secret ingredient: some left over coffee. a good friend told me years ago that a bit of leftover coffee in with a roast while it cooks makes for wonderfully rich brown gravey, and she was right! into the crock went roast followed by other cast members and a splash of water yesterday morning, the roast was still frozen so the crock was set on high, and out the door i chased my men folk to church. roast and co. cooled over night and this morning i have removed the meat, and skimmed the fat from the juices. a bit more water goes into the pot to get the tasty browned bits from the sides and bottom to eventually become gravey. carrots are being peeled for steaming and brussels sprouts are being trimmed for roasting at high heat with some olive oil. saturday while we were barbequing for a party i hid a whole clove of garlic in the back corner of the grill, tonight it will become roasted garlic mashed potatoes. i intend to post pics (with help from hubby) of the results of all of this.

the chili verde goes on

good morning blog readers. i have just turned out a three egg tri-fold omlette and topped it with chili, for hubby and indentured servent (brother-in-law stephen). as i don't eat eggs i cannot tell you first hand whether it was good, i have, however, been assured that it was very tasty. i have found through trial and error that the best method for this sort of egg-soupy topping arrangment is to make a plain omlette and heat then spoon the topping over the eggs after putting them on the plate. since hubby has a strange melted cheese aversion i rarely bother putting cheese in his, but when i do i find it melts just fine if i let the eggs set then throw it in just before folding them.

Chili Verde

Before i start, can i just say that i love that this font is called Trebuchet? more namers-of-idle things should look to war macines for inspiration. also, i type one handed so if you are here for well spelled, gramatically correct articles you have come to the wrong place. NOW, currently in my crock pot i have bubbeling away merrily cubed pork sirloin chops, diced onions and tomatillos, two chopped pasilla peppers, chopped fresh cilantro, and seasonings as follows: salt, pepper, dried oregano, cumin, and lemon juice. don't ask me how much, i picked up a terrible habit from my great aunt "Tanta" of saying "just enough, not too much" when asked about measurments. also if you ask me where i got a recipie i will inveriably tell you "it's an old family recipie" which means i made it up on the spot driven by what is in the kitchen when i wander in there to make dinner. in this case my husband walked up to me with a pasilla in hand at the store and said "i want something with these, maybe pork" and so i give you: crock pot chili verde. rather than let tradition get me down, i'm skipping beans and rice to go for hominy and steamed broccoli. the hominy will be fried with some chili powder, the broccoli served steamed bright green and naked. that's right, we eat our broccoli un-addorned. the shocker here? thing one (boy aged 4 named Tristin) loves it. thing two (boy aged 7 months named Evan) will try it tonight for the first time. i may or may not post pictures, but i certainly will post a follow up to let you know how it all goes.

Well, Hello there!

I am here by popular demand (that is; the demand of my husband and at least two of my friends) to offer you rare glimpses into Life in the cottage. I want to be clear that my home, as far as I can tell, meets almost no architectural specifications or aesthetic definitions to be classified as a "cottage". It is what I lovingly call our cute little house because it is nicer than calling it "prison" or "asylum" which, pertaining to my specific life, it most certainly is. I have a passion for cooking, my husband a passion for eating. A match made in heaven, surely. He comes out looking like a well fed Adonis, I end most days sweaty and frazzled but satisfied. I also boast two boy children, four years apart, both totally devoted to me and committed to unraveling the last fraying scraps of my sanity. This, then, is our mission: To cook good food, To love good men, and To care for our homes and families. Even at the price of our own looks and hygiene.