We don’t go to the movie theater very often, no reason, we just do other things as a family. We go maybe once a year, twice, tops. We loved the show tonight!
These are our “AAAAhhhh!!! When is the next Marvel movie coming out???!!!” faces. What’s next? Another Captain America? Hulk? Guardians of the Galaxy? 
When it reminds you of how much people and friends and gathering together can be.
I hit a new restaurant with a large group of parents while our middle schoolers enjoyed their last school dance of the year. I was able to sit with people that I see practically every day, and really enjoy them for a short while. Some I have known for several years, but we never seem to make the time to get together- even though we all think the world of each other. I met parents with a daughter one year younger and a son at the high school The Boy will attend next year. Two of the most enjoyable people I have met all year, and I have only just made their acquaintance.
What wonderful people we connect with when we set aside our shyness or anxiety and put ourselves out there to meet with the people we see all around us, every day! I have GOT to do this more often.
What is holding you back?
It’s Cookie Time!
I can’t go very long between baking cookie baking sessions. I think I’d revert to some sub-human level. Picture something out of a Lord of the Rings movie. I’d like to register a complaint to The Board of Fairness- I bake for a hobby, my husband gets cookies; his hobby, biking, just has me occasionally bonking my head on the bikes hanging from our garage ceiling. Not. Fair.
I have way too many cookie recipes on a Pinterest board for desserts. With too many things on my plate this week and a a spare hour, I crammed in making this recipe. I made the dough for these Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookies, ran carpool while it chilled in the fridge, then came home to bake.
Several years back I read a short writeup in a magazine about hardware store rasp graters being bought by home cooks and chefs alike to grate hard cheeses and citrus rinds. If you haven’t bought one for your kitchen and are passing up recipes calling for citrus zest because you don’t like wrestling with a round fruit and a sharp paring knife, go get a rasp grater! I don’t like to own many tools that do only one thing- a good knife can probably replace half of the gadget wall in any store’s housewares department. Even though I only use a rasp for parmesan cheese and grating citrus rind, I keep it because it really works well- finely grated lemon rind with practically no effort.
This recipe hails from a great travel and food blog, TinyUrbanKitchen.com. I love it when bloggers mention where they originally found a recipe, and she respectfully credits The Joy of Cooking in her adaptation of this shortbread. I followed the recipe, but with one small change- instead of two teaspoons of vanilla I used one, and added a teaspoon of lemon extract to really get the lemon flavor to pop. These were delicious! The recipe would work well as a plain shortbread cookie or almond flavored with sliced, toasted almonds on top… yum! I might need to make another batch tomorrow… do I have enough almond extract?
Click here to go over to TinyUrbanKitchen.com for the Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookie recipe. These were great!
There is a big payoff when I catch up to my kids’ friends- the nagging ends. “Mrs. J, have you watched those movies I loaned you? Have you started Arrow yet? You are going to LOVE Daredevil!! WILL YOU PLEASE CATCH UP TO ME IN AGENTS OF SHIELD!” I think I have finally watched all of the Marvel movies and have almost finished going through my DVR’d Agents of Shield episodes. (one of the best lines from a show: “Perhaps we could have discussed this alone without all of Hufflepuff looking on”).
I have to admit, I did the same thing to some of these kids with the Harry Potter books- remember the childhood credo-” If you can dish it out, you gotta take it, too.” Years ago, the babysitters for my kids were great fun to talk with about the Potterverse.
Watched Iron Man 3 last night- loved it! Almost blinked and missed Stan Lee’s signature cameo, but I caught it. And I thought this movie had the best after-credits clip. I liked The Winter Soldier better, because it tied in so many of the sub-plots over the whole Marvel universe, but what do I know- maybe the new Avengers movie will tie into Iron Man 3? The Husband and I will try to catch it in the theater. But Iron Man 3? Loved it. Great character growth. I was too wrapped-up to note any favorite lines, whoops.
To wrap all of this up, I am a full-on fangirl now of the whole Marvel experience. Sigh. They got me, and I’m loving it. On to Agent Carter, Daredevil and the rest. Next time I look for a new show or movie to watch I’ll be choosing those that are NOT part of a huge, obsessively interwoven web of excitement. Again, I share the warning- don’t ask teens to recommend new TV shows or movies.
I made most of my family try something new for dinner tonight that I was pretty sure that they would flat out refuse- a chicken curry sauce over rice. They have been relatively on board with me trying new things this year, pretty supportive overall, but are getting to the breaking point with the food experiments.
Tonight I made them try Trader Joe’s Chicken Breast Medallions with Coconut Red Curry Sauce. The photos all stink tonight, sorry… lost my mojo for the day, what can I say.
In a nutshell: The Boy gave the best performance of his life, feigning torture at the hands of his mother. His drama teacher for next year would have been so proud! Because this is mildly spicy, The Girl got a Get Out Of Tasting Free pass with her sore throat. Neither reaction from my kids surprised me, but here was the kicker: The Husband loved it. This guy does not care for Indian food. We have Indian friends and it kills me that he doesn’t like most of the home made foods we have been fortunate to share. He is always game to try it… he’s not an unmannered slob, for Pete’s sake, he just doesn’t enjoy the the spices. As for me, I liked it a lot. Great flavor, not to spicy (hot), super easy, the big chunks of chicken weren’t dry and tasted freshly made, and the stuff looked like the picture on the box- no food stylist magic was done by TJ’s.
As for this box of curry from Trader Joe’s fridge section, I know it isn’t authentic, but I’ve received a seal of approval from a friend who knows her Indian cuisine; she likes this ready-made dish, too. I served the curry over brown basmati rice (also from Trader Joe’s), with a side of peas, and hummus that I made this afternoon. Holy cow, that hummus was GOOD!
Here’s the world’s easiest recipe for fabulous hummus:
Into the bowl of a food processor add the following:
-fresh squeezed juice from one lemon
-one clove garlic
-one 14 oz. can of chick peas drained, but reserve the juice from the can
-one tablespoon of tahini
-one tablespoon good extra virgin olive oil.
Blend until smooth, this could take a while to get it good and smooth, and to get the hummus to the right consistency you will probably need to add some of the reserved juice from the can of chick peas- add a little at a time, you don’t want too much. Add salt to taste, also. You may want your hummus with more garlic, lemon, or tahini so adjust to your tastes.
This is kick-butt-good because it uses fresh garlic, fresh lemons, good extra virgin olive oil and real tahini. If you substitute any of these with something that isn’t fresh, it won’t be nearly as good. And you will be cursed in the kitchen. And you will stub your toe and get a paper cut. Really.
branching out... on a limb 