80, My First Numbered Post

Numbering posts is the trendy thing to do, and if I ain't trendy, then cornflakes don't come with ratpoo anymore. It's also trendy to notice visits to blogs, and as I write this the sitemeter says 3061 people have frittered away precious time here. That's about 38 visits per post. If I ever want to catch up to the Real Bloggers, I better write more. Plus, ETW says if I don't write every day she's not getting her money's worth. And we can't have that. I got some presents from the wimmins' trip to Disney. Cooking presents. Sweet. And, since it's sunny and a very nice 48 here today, I'm thinking they brought back some weather too. Warm enough to traipse about jacketless, and the snow is receding from the driveway. It was even sparkly enough to get the car washed. This morning I rose and shone and made some experimental scrambled eggs with the Mickey egg rings. They turned out more tasty than artistic; they didn't come with instructions, but since I'm a guy I wouldn't have read 'em anyway. Today is another numbered day. Seventeen. Way back in 1990, when silver and rose were the cool colors to have in a wedding, Mrs. Spiffy and I got all dressed up and tied a knot. That was a long time ago, seemingly in a galaxy far away. The church we got hitched in is still just up the street, but lots has changed since then. We didn't have teenagers or a mortgage or a history at the time. Happy anniversary, Mrs. S. To celebrate, we spent A Day About Home. Traditionally, our anniversary is a very big deal, and we'd plan elaborate trips or events. This year, we'd both been traveling a lot recently, and Boy had driver's training right in the middle of the day. So, we took him to class and went downtown to go for a walk in the sunshine and get some lunch at a place we'd never been. Went to San Chez Tapas Bistro, a Spanish place in an old building right in the center of downtown. Lotsa windows, and the place got quite crowded by about 1PM. There was a womens' expo downtown, and the joint was packed with females of every stripe. I was one of maybe 3 guys in the room (not counting the cooks). The food was wonderful, we got hummus appetizers and paella, and a local amber beer. Lunch beer is the best. Another item of Disney loot I got was a "Dismembered Mickey" cutting board. I love the flexible plastic ones. They take up almost no room in the cupboard, and you can funnel whatever you've just chopped into the mix. Last night I made a concoction in an attempt to copy this dish from Bombay Cuisine, a nearby Indian restaurant. Amazing stuff. It has chicken, spinach, and spicy creamy goodness to it. Recipe follows. We were planning to have friends over, but they bailed out on us and I was already in full SuperChef mode, no way I was just gonna have spaghetti after getting all amped up to be exotic (at least for Dutch people). It really turned out as something good, but it's no match for the real Indian version. Have no idea what I was doing. Pictured are the leftovers, which were scarfed for dinner today. Get this stuff: 3-4 chicken breasts 2 cans spinach Red bell pepper 1 medium onion, chopped Salt, pepper Curry, turmeric, thyme Basmati rice 4 oz. Cream cheese Dollop sour cream 1 pint Jim Beam Don't forget to have a well stocked kitchen, including stove, oven, pots, pans, sharp things, and flippers. No, not fish flippers (although you could flip fish with one), but food flippers. AKA Spatula or Turner, depending on which silly accent you've adopted. First, put the Jim Beam on ice. Sip. Repeat during cooking. Splash some oil into a pan and sautee onion. Cut chicken into bite size chunks and cook. At this point I started the rice, as it takes about 55 minutes from zero to done. It's not Minute rice by any means, but it was worth it. Hearty, tasty stuff that. Expensive, but I was going for UltraYum, not just regular yum. Sprinkle the chicken generously with curry, turmeric, salt & pepper. I probably used 1 1/2 - 2 tsp. curry, and 3/4 - 1 tsp turmeric. It should turn very yellow. Red pepper was sprinkled by the pinch, about 1/4 tsp. Turned out very mild, could have used more. Add cream cheese and sour cream (could use heavy cream or half & half too, but I failed to get any); melt Stir until well coated. Add bell peppers, chunked up. Last, drain the spinach and add to the mix. Fold into a baking dish, bake at 350 until the rice is done, about 20-30 minutes. I baked up some Flaky Layers Grands rolls too, because I like 'em. A lot. You can tell by my stunning lack of momentum in the Shrinking Piggies Smackdown (go see the update!) Scoop out some yummy rice onto plates of hungry minions; top with chickenny spinachey goodness, and watch it disappear. Oh, it were quite good.