Loves

I love the wind.

I love to cook.  

I love to love and be loved.

And to wow and be wowed.

How?

Exceptionally simply and well.

Salad at Dale's

Dale lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
We met a few years ago when I was living for 5 months with my older sister.
I asked him if he'd be my friend forever.
He laughed, took my pinky and said "we'll be pinky friends forever."
And that's what we've been ever since.


I bought a nice big salad spinner from Macy's as a thank you gift for Dale. He purchased my ticket to Atlanta recently. The spinner's a big success and I highly recommend it.


One head of boston red leaf lettuce
5 mushrooms
some zuccinni and squash washed and diced


wash lettuce.
spin dry.
with moist cloth, clean mushrooms.

tear lettuce and place in spinner's bowl.
slice mushrooms and place in bowl.
place zuccinni and squash in bowl


for the dressing, add olive oil liberally to the salad.
add about 5 splashes of balsamic vinegar
a few generous dashes of salt
and ground pepper
add minced garlic, a few, 4, cloves

mix all together
and serve at room temp.

Chicken at Dale's

This chicken is fantastic! Dale said. when you were picking out things to buy for dinner at the store, I didn't know ... he said. I didn't know what you were doing and I didn't know that it would turn out like this, but this is fantastic.


I greatly and truly appreciated his words and told him so. there was no bullshit. I like no bullshit.


I promised him I'd write the recipe and post it before I forgot. I do often forget. It's the pace of the world I'm currently part of that leads me to forget. ... or rather, makes it difficult for me to remember. Because I can always remember, with a little attention and focus. ... :)

ingredients:

chicken, cut in pieces, select your favorite. most important and a must, in my option, um, opinion is to purchase chicken that is as healthy as possible. that's to say meat from chickens raised well, on natural grains, roaming free and killed gently.

i still have trouble with the whole killing thing, but moving on.



Marinate chicken in the following:

1 fresh lime, squeezed
1/2 a large orange, squeezed
1/2 a head of garlic, pressed
salt: coarse salt, rosemary, lavender
fresh ground pepper


marinate for a few hours.

fire up the grill.
place on grill.
watch.

i don't know. i cooked a double breast and a thigh with leg in 15 -20 minutes. first on med. heat and then on high heat and then back to med for the last 5 min. the high heat gave the meat a nice color. the med. heat ensured the meat would remain tender and moist.

dale says it turned out perfect.
and that it was healthy too, which was really nice.

he and i both agree that what's nice is when food is healthy and tasty and the same time, which is really hard to get because most places fill things with fat.

i don't think that's necessary.

i'm all about tasty healthy and yummy.
and when i'm living right, and doing right, that's the way i'm cookin'.

Regan's Chicken Soup

1 zero hormones, grain fed, free range whole chicken (or 6 lbs of chicken thighs)

vegetables (potatoes, squash, celery, carrots)

1 onion

garlic, lots of garlic

3 bouillon cubes

peppercorns

herbs: cilantro, dill, parsley, sage

limes

season chicken, with limes, olive oil, salt, pepper, put aside and allow to seasoning to permeate the meat. prepare vegetables - peel, dice, put aside

sautee the chicken in a little olive oil.

add to a large soup pot.

sautee the onion diced in a little olive oil, and add those to the pot

add vegetables and whole garlic cloves

cover with water

add peppercorns and bouillon cubes

bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer

cook for several hours

add fresh herbs

add more fresh lime juice, to taste.

this is my older sister's recipe,

it's delicious 

and i love when she makes it.

serves 6.

* i usually slice thinly a hot pepper and add that to the soup with the vegetables.  regan doesn't because she usually cooks for her kids who are sensitive to hot flavors.  she'll use tabasco at the table instead.

Simple Salad

washed and dried lettuce ... choose your favorite
yellow and red bell peppers, washed, sliced into strips 
cucumber, peeled and sliced

put all in a large bowl.


dressing:

olive oil
a few cloves of garlic, per your preference
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
a bit of honey
fresh lime juice

mix the ingrediants together and let sit for a while.

when you're ready to serve the salad, add dressing and coat all ingrediants evenly, and serve. 

Roasted chicken

1 fresh, natural whole chicken

a head of garlic
olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
bay leaves
cinnamon
a hot pepper, cut in half and placed inside the cavity of the bird
sage
thyme
delicious smelling curry powder (follow your nose) - optional
3- 4 limes

season to taste ... do whatever makes sense to you. rubbing the bird with the garlic, olive oil and herbs. put some of the seasonings and garlic inside the cavity. cut in half and squeeze the limes onto the bird. rub again.

put the bird into the oven, cover,and cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours ... depending how large the bird is. when i'm in a rush, i'll ask the butcher to quarter the bird for me and cook it that way. i know the bird is cooked when the meat along the bone is no longer pink/red. it's always important for the bird to be completely cooked through.

Simple Apple Pie

2 uncooked pie crusts, softened to room temperature
1/4 stick of butter
1/4 - 1/2 cup of sugar
6 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced

This is such an easy recipe. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the apples in one pie crust, piling the apples up high. Cover with the other pie crust. Join the edges of the two pie crusts together (this is an important step), pinching the sides together. Puncture with a fork the top pie crust so that air is allowed to escape as the pie is cooking. Put in oven and bake for about an hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 - 20 minutes.

Serve with fresh whipped cream.