Tuesday

I got home and was damn annoyed! My lawn lady had cut the grass Monday, but didn't do any trimming. Why? I dunno, but I thought I'd give her a day in case she ran out of gas or string for the trimmer or whatever, but it looked the same today as it did yesterday. So, no moving wood chips tonight, I gotta make the lawn look better.

But, first things first. I saw that my daughter Melissa had called, just before I got home, so I called her back. Good news! Somebody made an offer on their house. So, now begins the long process of an appraisal, loan approval, etc. But, maybe, just maybe (and keep your fingers crossed, please) they will sell their house and be free to move on to the next phase of their journey.

So, on to trimming! I did the back first, then got out the blower and cleaned off the patio. Since I was back there, I filled the bird and squirrel feeders (thanks again, Jake and Carla, for the peanuts!) and put water in the bird bath. Coiled up my electrical cords and moved to the front. I did the ditch (which is always a pain in my back, lol!), then edged the driveway, the tree garden and the front gardens. It was a little after 7:30 PM when I got the last extension cord coiled and put away.

I decided to make myself a nice dinner instead of moping around tonight. "When the going gets tough, the tough... cook!" So, I tried a recipe called "Hot pepper chicken under a brick" The basic premise is that you put the chicken in a pan to cook and then add a piece of tinfoil and another, smaller pan (or plate) on top, weighted with a couple of bricks. Since I don't have any bricks, I used some big cans of tomatoes and beans (see photos). Why bother? Because it gives you an incredible crust.

So, onto the recipe. I mixed red pepper flakes with Dijon mustard and olive oil, then slathered it over two bone-in chicken breasts. Put them skin side down in my big pan on medium high heat, covered with tinfoil, a smaller pan, another piece of tin foil (so I didn't screw up the non-stick surface) and three heavy cans. I cooked them 18 minutes then turned them over, lowered the heat to medium-low and cooked them four more minutes.

Meanwhile, I poked a russet potato with a fork, coated it with Criso shortening, and covered it with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and then micro-waved it. When I plated the dish, I dumped a tablespoon of hot pepper pickling juice (in my case, Jalapeno slices) on top of the chicken, and then added about a tablespoon of finely diced banana ring yellow peppers and some parsley. The potato got cut into healthy-sized chunks and topped with sour cream and a sliced scallion (white and green). Again, see the photos, click to enlarge, and then use your browser "Back" button to get back.

Results? Well, "Hot Pepper Chicken" it wasn't. WAY too mild. Don't get me wrong, it was really tasty, but no "bite" to it at all. Maybe I should have used the Jalapeno slices instead of the banana peppers. The potato was excellent and the only damage done was that I sliced my left index finger down to the bone. Poor knife skills? Hey, you know me better than that! I did it wiping a few excess peppers off the blade. I have GOT to learn to respect those Shun knives more!

Watched taped TV shows until I fell asleep, but as you can probably tell from the time of this post, woke up in the night, unable to fall asleep...

Sigh...