Chick-Fil-A at home!

Several months ago, I saw an article about making your own Chick-Fil-A copycat sandwiches.  

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/07/the-food-lab-how-to-make-a-chick-fil-a-sandwich-at-home.html

Whether for political reasons, financial reasons, or because there just isn't a Chick-Fil-A in your part of the country, this is a tasty copy cat.  And really really close to the real deal.

Jake generally has to help me with all deep frying and I did leave out the MSG.  All in all, I say if you want ChickFilA and you're willing to put in a little effort, this is not unattainable. 

Bonus, since you're cooking at home, you can make delicious homemade fries! (Jake's fries are the best on the planet. Seriously. Even better than ChickFilA.)

Don't Walk Away from the Bacon

For my second foray into French cooking, I decided to make a beef stew.  Mostly because I had beef stew meat.  (Yes, that's what it said on the package...)


It's not Beef Bourguignon, it was a couple pages after that one.  I won't bore you with all the french details.  Basically, this was tender tender beef chunks that fell apart when touched with a fork, and melted in your mouth, cooked with carrots, onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms, and in a gravy like sauce.

Oh man it was delicious.

Julia gives a nice description about the differences between stews and other similar dishes. I didn't quite grasp it. The important part is that after several days of prepping ingredients, 6 hours of marinading, and 3 hours in the oven, I had something amazing!  The picture doesn't begin to do it justice.

Key points learned this time:
1. Making beef stock is a little more involved than originally anticipated. Hopefully I'll have a post about that soon, but for now, Julia's estimated 3-4 hours turned into...... 10?
2. Making beef stock is DELICIOUS.
3. If, say, you are trying to rush to finally assemble a dish at 7am while simultaneously getting ready for work, because your husband has to stick this thing in the oven at 3pm so you can eat at a reasonable hour, and say, you hypothetically forgot to boil the bacon (Something I had never done before), probably don't walk away from the bacon.

Ah yes. The Bacon.

So, to me, this was the strangest, most complicated, almost disaster causing part of the recipe.  You were supposed to boil 1 inch bacon pieces in water, then line the bottom of the pan with them when assembling and top it off with the rest.

Boiled bacon tastes... kinda like I thought I would. Which is to say, not that crispy.

But also. I almost burned my house down, and I scared my poor dogs half to death.

Since the beef stock took me several days longer than originally anticipated, I had sorta been dragging my feet on finishing this recipe.  But Wednesday morning I KNEW I had to get this thing assembled and leave instructions for Jake or we were not going to get to eat it.

So while getting dressed in the other room, I started boiling the bacon.  Yeah. It boiled over. And the grease caught on fire. And the smoke poured out of the kitchen. And stopping the minor grease fire was pretty easy, but I couldn't get the smoke to leave the house or the smoke detectors to stop screaming.

After what seemed like an ETERNITY, everything stopped making loud noises and the smoke had mostly dissipated, I ran to check on the dogs. I knew Tolpel is TERRIFIED of smoke. And as it turns out, Jazz is even more terrified of loud smoke detectors. I had to pry her out from underneath the bed and hold her for a good 20 minutes before she stopped shaking and crying.

So, general cooking rule. Don't walk away from bacon.  This is probably a good rule for life, actually.


Anyway, dinner was delicious.  Lest you think everything just turns out though, my risotto was just... pathetic.  Ah well. Something to strive for in the future. ;)

Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Maybe it's being finally able to keep down something other than french fries.  Maybe it's feeling like this baby is going to change my life in ways I can't even imagine. Maybe it's those lofty dreams from watching Julia and Julia. Maybe it's pure insanity.  But whatever the reason... I picked up a copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking at the library this week.  And tonight, I went for it.

Well, actually, there was a considerable amount of planning.  Monday night, after dumping some cans into a crockpot to make soup (a variation on Catherine's Spicy Chicken Soup using... whatever similar ingredients I have in the house...) I prepped for my first ever big french meal.

Parsley was washed and chopped.
Fresh lemons were squeezed.
Green beans were trimmed.
Butter was clarified.

Butter was clarified!?!!? For the record, I had NO idea what this meant until 2 nights ago.  Lucky for me, this Mastering the Art of French Cooking book is serious business... and she tells you step by step how to do these crazy things. Like clarifying butter.

Tonight was when the truly crazy parts happened.  I made... eh hem... *pinches nose* Suprêmes de Volaille a Brun avec Beurre Noisette et Haricots Verts à la Maître d'Hôtel.

So yeah. In English (and yes, the cookbook translates all of these crazy french foods for you...) I made Chicken Breasts Sauteed in Butter with Brown Butter Sauce and Buttered Green Beans with Lemon Juice and Parsley.

This actually went much better than I expected.  Things I learned.  

• Make sure you actually remember to thaw the chicken. Or else have a wonderful husband who can make last minute trips to the grocery store. (Thanks Jake, you're the best!)
• How to blanch green beans. (Another thing the book taught me.)
• Read all of your recipes all the way through before you start.  This is the only reason I wasn't drowning in a buttered grease fire... both recipes were pretty simple, but I needed the general idea in my head before I started.
• Have high heat utensils. This has been a major problem in the past, but those awesome new red utensils were a Christmas gift from my sister in law. They can stand up to 600 degrees F. Thanks Melissa!
• When Julia Child says, "cook chicken breast for 3 minutes, then flip, then 2 minutes..." her chicken must've been smaller than mine.  Because it took much much much longer.
• If you're going to eat french, you MUST take a french after dinner walk. To clear out the arteries.  From the stick of butter you just ate. No really. I think there was a whole stick of butter in my half of this meal.

But it was so delicious.

I cooked dinner!!

Now that I'm 12 weeks pregnant, I am starting to feel a little better. Weeks 7-12 were pretty dismal.

Because of exhaustion, nausea and food aversion/smell aversion I did not:
- clean anything
- cook anything
- be in a house where food was being cooked
- open the fridge

I'm not 100% and some days are better than others, but I opened the fridge, helped Jake clean out the fridge, and cooked dinner! And did a load of laundry!

I didn't get too carried away... Jake did all the smelly expired foods part (for the record, not grocery shopping or eating at home for a month or two means when we finished, our fridge was... Basically empty.)

And for dinner, I made chili, with a premade seasoning pack, instant rice, and mix cornbread....but I cooked. Jake was so excited that we weren't going out for fast food...

Today, cookies, muffins, and some crockpot spaghetti is the plan. :)

Just hope this little baby will keep letting me feel a little better.

Pregnancy Pillow: Stolen!

Record ID: 12345
Title: Robbery
Time: 9:51:00 AM
Division: Family Crimes
Location: Diva House
Summary: 12/07/2012 at about 9:51 AM, Officers responded to the Diva house for a report of a personal robbery. When Officers arrived they learned that the victim had recently purchased a pillow to help her sleep on her side now that she is pregnant. When the victim left for work, two canine suspects immediately stole her pillow and claimed it as their own. One of the suspects has refused to move since the initial theft and was still at the scene of the crime.  The suspects were last seen still sleeping inside of the pillow. Suspect one was described as a tall, thin beagle mix male with itchy skin. Suspect two was described as a shorter, fuzzy haired jack russell known for sneak attacking people's ears.

Adults Arrested: Tolpel and Jazz - they didn't seem very sorry

I'm expecting!

I haven't updated in a little while, and this is one of the reasons...

I'm about 2 months pregnant!  (Due early July) I've already got a handful of posts floating around in my head about these latest adventures, but no telling when I'll have enough energy to write them.  In the mean time, I wanted to at least update my blog with this exciting turn of events.

As you can see from the photo, the dogs are thrilled too.  Actually, I'm reasonably confident they do not understand why mommy and daddy have been keeping Jazz from prancing on my tummy, or why we've been trying to teach them not to bark when they wake up first thing... but they are eagerly waiting for something. :) (Probably food.)

Thankfulness.

This is from last year - but I thought it would be a good reminder as we come into the holiday season again. :)

November Facebook challenge: each day post something I am thankful for:)

Nov 1 is easy. I am thankful for the most patient and thoughtful husband Jacob C------.

Today for Nov 2 - I am thankful for health insurance which enables me to pay for silly doctor's appointments, medicines, etc.

For Nov 3, I am thankful that I live with with so many modern conveniences (like having 2 cars, the availability of ibuprofen, and the internet at my fingertips.)

Today, Nov 4, I am thankful for a great, fun, flexible job

Today, Nov 5, I am thankful for this time of life - time with just me and the hubby to do what we want, plenty of sister time (@Katie), slow Saturday mornings, and wedding showers (for Keerthi).

Today, Nov 6, I am thankful that I have so many wonderful (some old some new) friends sharing things that are different from my life (culture, different times in life.) Nothing gets you outta the blues better than getting out of yourself.

For Nov 7, I am thankful for weekends, adorable wake up calls from my dogs, and reading Spurgeon with my husband in the mornings.

Nov 8, I am thankful that Jake and I can read together for a few hours this morning before work. Even if we are reading different things ;)

Nov 9, I am thankful that I live where food, water, heat, clothes and even coffee are so readily available

Nov 10, I am thankful that God is so all knowing, and so all powerful, that sometimes it's not just that He gives us a yes or a no... but the timing of the answer is sometimes even greater than the answer itself. Thank you God that you love me enough to care about the details.

Nov 11, I am thankful for Katie. For her friendship, for her sharing in random youtube parties over the phone, for her strength, encouragement, and all around awesomeness. Katie, you are the best friend and sister a girl could ask for

Nov 12, I am thankful for my in-laws. No, really though. I am very lucky to have such loving family

Nov 13, I am thankful for such modern marvels as Airborne (and all the other crazy medicines I have in my house.) To ward off these colds Jake and I picked up.

Nov 14, I am thankful for Apple computers being coffee resistant. Jacob.

Nov 15, I am thankful for my loving husband again. He really is the smartest and most patient person I know

Nov 16, I am thankful for so many wonderful girlfriends. :)

Nov 17, I am thankful for humor and sarcasm and laughter.

Nov 18, I am thankful for my new computer (that is not here yet but will be soon!)

Nov 19, I am thankful that I'm "adult" enough to decide mac 'n cheese with bacon and a cup of coffee is a viable lunch item but not adult enough to decide it wasn't a *wise* option. Mmm bacon.

Nov 20, I am thankful for God's unfailing love.

Nov 21, soooo thankful that I only work 2 days this week. Now to get enough finished that they let me take it! ;)

Nov 22, I am thankful that I know so many nerdy/geeky people. A quick perusal of fb this morning found grammar jokes, Dr. Who references, computer articles, and a Star Trek quote. Thank you friends.

Nov 23, I am so thankful for vacation days! Today I slept in an extra 2 hours, now to make some Christmas presents!

Nov 24. It's Thanksgiving! I am thankful that we have so much food, religious freedom, and that I get to spend today with my wonderful family with Katie M---- and 6 others.