The End of 2009
It's the final day of the year and looking back, the year had high points and low points. I know many people are saying this, but I can't believe we're looking at 2010 after just imagining what 2000 would be like!
I have lots to be thankful for - health, my business, family, church, friends, cats. Looking back at last December, it was a pretty scary time and I was very unsure how my business would survive and how things would go. I tried to relax and have faith that all would work out as it should, I'm just human though and sometimes it was easier than other times to believe.
Overall though life is good. I even got a t-shirt for Christmas with that sentiment! I made it through the year and am looking forward to 2010 to see what happens there.
We do not go out on New Year's Eve. Every so often we might do dinner out, but we're in early if we do. No plans for going anywhere today. It's grey and wet outside and inside warm, dry, with books and couches.
I made Quiche Lorraine for breakfast today and it was delicious. My husband asked if I had planned it or if it was just from stuff laying around and truly it was from stuff laying around. That should make it perfectly clear to me that I need to do no more shopping and eat from the pantry, fridge and freezer!
A couple weeks ago we got our Big Green Egg and it's been living in the living room since then. It took up a lot of space, but we were busy and had to plan when we could get it out to the deck. Tuesday was "Get the Egg out of the living room day".
It was a nice, sunny day so we dragged the table up from the basement (my husband made the table) and then while I read the directions, my husband assembled the Egg. All went perfectly!
I planned this week's menu with the Egg in mind, so yesterday was "First use of the Egg" and I planned chicken. I made a paste from parsley, mint, cilantro, garlic, salt and olive oil and rubbed it over the chicken on Tuesday. It marinated overnight and we were ready to cook.
The Egg is pretty easy to use. We of course weren't sure but followed directions, built the fire and had smoke and a steady temperature. I chose chicken for the first try since it took fewer hours.
I got the chickens on the grill and set my timer for 2 hours when I would turn them. Of course I went out often to see that the temp was holding and it was!
Things were going well, a while into the cooking we had some ice pellets coming down, sort of like mini hail, but that stopped and things were cooking. We ran into a little problem with the freezing rain and the dark though. I have no problem with cold, none with dark, even a little rain, no big deal. This was coming down pretty hard and the chickens still had a little time to go. I pulled them off and finished cooking in the warm, lighted kitchen.
The chicken was delicious and I made black beans and rice to go with the dinner and there was a mojo sauce for the chicken. Very good! We're having leftovers tonight rolled in tortillas.
This morning I made a rub and massaged a pork butt that is in the fridge getting ready for Egg time tomorrow. I also made a vinegar barbecue sauce. We need the pork to cook for about 10 hours, so we made the timeline and all is well. Hopefully we will have no blizzards or sleet. I must say though that the Egg maintained perfect temperature.
I think it might be time to relax with a book and a cat. They are all sleeping now. One is on my side of the bed at my pillow, one in the spare room on the bed and one here in the office in the cat climber. We didn't get any gifts for the cats, but everyone else in the family did. They have lots of things to play with so they need to nap and be ready!
I have lots to be thankful for - health, my business, family, church, friends, cats. Looking back at last December, it was a pretty scary time and I was very unsure how my business would survive and how things would go. I tried to relax and have faith that all would work out as it should, I'm just human though and sometimes it was easier than other times to believe.
Overall though life is good. I even got a t-shirt for Christmas with that sentiment! I made it through the year and am looking forward to 2010 to see what happens there.
We do not go out on New Year's Eve. Every so often we might do dinner out, but we're in early if we do. No plans for going anywhere today. It's grey and wet outside and inside warm, dry, with books and couches.
I made Quiche Lorraine for breakfast today and it was delicious. My husband asked if I had planned it or if it was just from stuff laying around and truly it was from stuff laying around. That should make it perfectly clear to me that I need to do no more shopping and eat from the pantry, fridge and freezer!
A couple weeks ago we got our Big Green Egg and it's been living in the living room since then. It took up a lot of space, but we were busy and had to plan when we could get it out to the deck. Tuesday was "Get the Egg out of the living room day".
It was a nice, sunny day so we dragged the table up from the basement (my husband made the table) and then while I read the directions, my husband assembled the Egg. All went perfectly!
I planned this week's menu with the Egg in mind, so yesterday was "First use of the Egg" and I planned chicken. I made a paste from parsley, mint, cilantro, garlic, salt and olive oil and rubbed it over the chicken on Tuesday. It marinated overnight and we were ready to cook.
The Egg is pretty easy to use. We of course weren't sure but followed directions, built the fire and had smoke and a steady temperature. I chose chicken for the first try since it took fewer hours.
I got the chickens on the grill and set my timer for 2 hours when I would turn them. Of course I went out often to see that the temp was holding and it was!
Things were going well, a while into the cooking we had some ice pellets coming down, sort of like mini hail, but that stopped and things were cooking. We ran into a little problem with the freezing rain and the dark though. I have no problem with cold, none with dark, even a little rain, no big deal. This was coming down pretty hard and the chickens still had a little time to go. I pulled them off and finished cooking in the warm, lighted kitchen.
The chicken was delicious and I made black beans and rice to go with the dinner and there was a mojo sauce for the chicken. Very good! We're having leftovers tonight rolled in tortillas.
This morning I made a rub and massaged a pork butt that is in the fridge getting ready for Egg time tomorrow. I also made a vinegar barbecue sauce. We need the pork to cook for about 10 hours, so we made the timeline and all is well. Hopefully we will have no blizzards or sleet. I must say though that the Egg maintained perfect temperature.
I think it might be time to relax with a book and a cat. They are all sleeping now. One is on my side of the bed at my pillow, one in the spare room on the bed and one here in the office in the cat climber. We didn't get any gifts for the cats, but everyone else in the family did. They have lots of things to play with so they need to nap and be ready!
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