Monday, Monday...

I got home after work and decided my original plans of working outside would have to wait. I woke up late this morning and so didn't get a chance to clean the kitchen up after Sunday's dinner mess. Besides, its supposed to be even warmer on Tuesday.

But, I eventually got it clean, just in time to mess it up with tonight's dinner! When I was getting the roast out over the weekend, I found four lamb chops that have been in the freezer since May. So, I put them in the fridge to thaw.

Tonight, I first cut a big acorn squash in half, dug out the seeds and, like my Momma did, put in a big pat of butter and two tablespoons of brown sugar in each cavity. That went into the toaster oven at 375 degrees F. (I'll check in an hour, but I'm thinking an hour and a half).

Next I made a simple marinade for the lamb chops (I stole it from Cat Cora - hey, Greek cooking, lamb? She should know, right?): 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2 teaspoons of fresh, minced garlic, a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary, the juice of one lemon, a teaspoon of kosher salt and a 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper. A quick whisk and into a baggie it went, followed by the lamb chops.

I'm gonna use my grille pan instead of the outdoor grille tonight. First time in some 7-8 months! But Fall is upon us here in Redford and its time to adjust to cold weather cooking.

Well, I checked after the hour was up (I'm getting hungry!) and the squash was still not done. So, while it was finishing up, I got out the grille pan and oiled it up. I heated it up and when it started smoking I turned on the vent fan and threw on the lamb chops. I cooked them 2 minutes and then turned (NOT flipped) 90 degrees to get those nice grille marks (to be honest, a lamb chop is so small, you probably won't see the grille marks, but you have to stay in practice!) After another two minutes, I did flip them and repeated: two minutes, rotate, two more minutes. Then I put them on the sheet tray and finished them in the toaster oven at 400 degrees for five more minutes (I took the squash out to cool a bit).

Now, I'm sure I could have found a sauce (probably yogurt-based) to top the chops with, but really, they didn't need it. They were fantastic just the way they were. And, the acorn squash brought back childhood memories of Fall.

This time I did clean up the kitchen after myself (no more procrastinating!) I watched TV until 11:00 PM and then went to sleep.

Oh, another Caley observation (I should have noticed this BEFORE Carla got all scratched up Saturday). Not sure if this is just the way she is or she'll still a little spooked living here, but, while she does love to be petted and doesn't mind getting picked up, she needs to SEE you about to do either. If she doesn't notice your hand coming to pet her, or pick her up, she startles and bites and/or claws, then runs away.