Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Chicken a la Steve

While IMing with my buddy Steve today, he told me about this recipe he makes, and I tried it for dinner. It was delicious. Here's how you make it: In a glass baking dish, add about 6 or 7 skinless/boneless chicken thighs. Add potatoes (I used a small varietal type) and carrots. Pour over about a 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and a big, giant tablespoon of apricot preserves, and mix. I used peach instead, but Steve recommends apricot. I also dashed on some lemon pepper and salt. Into the oven at 350 degrees it went for 1 hour. The result: a flavorful, sweet and slightly tangy, very tender dish. I made a green salad on the side and dinner was served. Yum!

Monday, February 26, 2007

Mr. McFluffersons Goes from Bath to Bed

And why was this Saturday so exciting for Oreo (and me?)? Well, could it be that the Hairy Tales truck pulled up in front of our house, and after grooming the neighbors two dogs, Bailey and Cooper, then our dog, Saylor, that my boy here was summoned for his hour of beauty? Earlier in the week, it crossed my mind that Oreo may have had a potential agenda conflict until I realized his anaesthesia-free teeth cleaning is actually not until this Saturday. Whew! Can you imagine that phone call? Um, Pucho? Yes, well, Oreo somehow double-booked his spa services today--can we reschedule? Yes, the owner of Hairy Tales is none other than a fellow named Pucho! A very nice person, too. I insisted on accompanying my boy through his beauty bath, since he is 17 and let's face it - a TO-TAL momma's boy (and that's the way I like it!). If only I'd had the camera in there with me. Right after the hair drying was finished he was fluffed up bigger than a puffer fish. He had been brushed and blown into such a round ball of furriness that I was pretty much squealing (poor Pucho!), "Gee! I think I need to enter him in a cat show!!!" So sad, the delights of older women w/o kids when their kitty cat does something amazing. But, c'mon! It was so darn cute!! The following pictures I just took tonight, 2 days post-bath. He's still looking quite handsome if I may say so.


Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Girls Gone Wilderness

Five of us made the trek to cold country last week - me, Sheena, Cheek, and two other women of the wilds. I had a great flight from San Diego -- just 3 hours and I was in Atlanta. This first pic is through my window just as we were descending to land. I love the sliver of sunset off the wing.
So, the weekend had a bit of a theme and it kept us going, and um, laughing the whole time. It resulted in a copious list of nicknames, all ending with ASH. Depending on what you did, laughed about, or got laughed at for, you were given a name. It was the East coast version of our Spice weekend in NM years ago where I was TrooperSpice and EcoSpice for driving and eating organic food.
This weekend included 12 bottles of wine of which we returned with perhaps one? Jessica read our Tarot cards, from the Shapeshifter deck, which was really fun and interesting. The cabin in Blueridge, GA, was awesome, and accommodated our group really well. Before going to the cabin, me, Sheena, and Cheek enjoyed dinner at Trader Vic's and it was daaaah-licious. This is a pic of a section of the groovy menu.