Harvest Moon

The rains continue so I guess we’ll not get a shot at seeing the Harvest Moon and Jupiter. I hope that those of you with clear skies can go out and take a peek for us tonight. It should be quite the show.

Moon Over Sedona

I suppose I’m back in the saddle.  Did two loads of laundry, shopped and cooked, cleaned the floors, packed Cindy a lunch and made the bed.  Actually, I’d much rather be doing all of that than sitting in a hotel room or traveling cross-country in coach.  I’m still amazed that people would rather sit in a dark plane and watch third-rate movies on horrible screens as opposed to looking at the ever-changing landscape outside the plane. Everyone has at least two entertainment devices with him or her and they seem to be using them constantly. For me, there is no better entertainment than looking out the window while listening to Air Traffic Control communicating with our plane and those planes in the shared airspace.

Those of you who are frequent travelers will no doubt be aware of the fact that you can now check in online with some airlines and have them send your boarding card to your mobile phone or other PDA.  The problem is that the airlines never coordinated with TSA and now there are further unnecessary delays in getting though security because TSA doesn’t have the equipment to verify a boarding pass on a mobile phone.  At Dulles the other day, things were moving okay until five people had their mobile phones out instead of a boarding pass, and they each had to be taken to another area where there was one machine that could read their PDA. There was only one TSA agent working the line, so we all just stood there drop jawed at how inefficient this system was. When I got to the head of the line I asked about this process and he said that they thought there would be new readers coming in right after Christmas!

I had a major breakthrough yesterday at the market.  I was standing in the meat section along with all the other ladies and when my turn came I said, “one chicken” - in Russian of course - and by golly, she understood exactly what I said.  I was just thrilled.  The bird was a good one, on the large side so on the way back in the rain, I was thinking of what I could do with it that would be fun.  I’m trying to cut back on fried food so I thought of a nice recipe that uses only baking and boiling. I decided to cut it the old fashioned way, removing the backbone and neck before cutting the bird in pieces.  I then cut up the backbone into four pieces, scored the neck in about six places and threw them into a pot of water.  I added the end pieces of two onions, with skin, two carrots tops, the tops of three peppers, some peeled and chopped garlic and some salt and pepper and curry.  I brought it all to a boil and then simmered it for an hour.  Meanwhile, I patted the chicken pieces dry, arranged them on an oiled baking pan and sprinkled them with salt, pepper and herbs de Provence that I brought back from WV.  I cut the two onions in thick slices and arranged them on the baking pan and then cut the carrots into sticks and placed them next to the onions.  I sprayed the veggies with olive oil and placed the pan in a 400-degree oven for about fifty minutes.

When the ‘broth’ was done I strained it into a measuring cup and as luck would have it there was exactly two cups.  I returned that to the pan and brought it back to a boil and added a cup of rice and let it simmer for about twenty minutes.  While that was all working, I diced up three peppers, red, green and yellow, as well as a big, handful of garlic.  When the rice had about ten minutes left to cook, I threw all the chopped veggies in and stirred it around for a while to get the rice to release its starch and to give the veggies a chance to cook. The broth had given the rice a lovely color and texture, especially with the colorful veggies.  I then turned off the heat and covered the pan and let it all sit and absorb flavors for another ten minutes.  When the chicken was done I heated the rice again just long enough to let a walnut sized piece of butter melt as I stirred it all up and then I served it with the chicken, baked onions and carrots just as fast as I could.  Cindy is very happy I’m home!

The weather has turned even yuckier than this morning and I’m once again thankful that we have a garbage chute in the hallway.  Saves me from having to go out and get cold and wet.  I woke up this morning with a very tight chest and fear I’m working on another bout with chest congestion so I’m staying low today, keeping warm and drinking lots of decaf/herbal teas as I wait for laundry cycles to be completed.  I’ll think about dinner later, but I’m sure I’ve enough here to make something appealing and nutritious. 

From CC: His idea to add chopped vegetables to the rice during the last 10 minutes of cooking is positively brilliant – no added fat if you don’t count that chunk of butter; ha.  The flavors mixed together splendidly and it also involved only one pan. In Wm’s absence I actually did some cooking and I have to say that this kitchen is horrible - much worse than Bahrain.  I don’t know how he produces these great meals night after night, always without complaining.

Best to all, Cindy and Wm