I was a nestled in for a nice winters nap in the closet when out of nowhere this loud roaring headlight came at me! I managed to get by it and I dove under the bed, BUT IT FOLLOWED ME and yes this IS comfortable thankyouverymuch!
Dennis’ Rosemary Roasted Chicken
When Dennis and my mom first met, he worked 9-5 and she worked 11-7. That meant that he frequently cooked dinner for us. He had a few misadventures, like Steak Miraculous, and the time he used olive oil in a gourmet chocolate cake recipe, but in general he was a decent cook. High praise coming from a kid who was a ridiculously picky eater.
He had one recipe for fried chicken he refused to share. He would pontificate about going to a local hiking trail at just the right time, to acquire the necessary spices for his fried chicken, but refused to give me the recipe. I swear it was a mix, but he took it with him to his grave. Bastard! *ahem*
However, he did share his roasted chicken recipe and today, I’ll share it with you. Dennis was not an exact cook. He was more of the little of this, little of that mindset, so my measurements aren’t specific.
Ingredients
- 1 roasting chicken – I am feeding two adults and two kids (also picky eaters), and I like to have leftover chicken, so I go with a 6 or 7 pound bird. Pick a size that suits your family and adjust the seasoning and cooking times to meet your needs.
- Fresh Garlic – (for my bird I will used 4 or 5 heads, because garlic yumm!).
- Olive Oil
- Rosemary – Fresh is fantastic (you’ll need more), but typically, I only have dried and that works fine.
- Lemon – I have used oranges and even apples in a pinch. The point is to provide moisture to the white meat while it cooks.
Directions:
- Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.
- Remove the loose papery skins from the heads of garlic and slice off the pointy end.
- Nestle in a bowl made out of tin foil and cover with a healthy dose of Olive Oil. Pinch together the edges to seal.
- Place the packet in the oven on the center shelf and bake for 45-60 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the garlic cool. I try and do this in the morning while I’m getting the kids ready for school and then just leave it to cool during the day.
- When you are ready to cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove the garlic from the pouch and squeeze the garlicy goodness out of the skins into a bowl.
- Add some rosemary. I usually use about 1-2 teaspoons of dried rosemary depending on how much garlic I have. If you are using fresh rosemary you’ll have to add double what you’d add if you were using dried.
- Add a splash of olive oil and mash together until you have a moist paste.
- Wash the chicken and pat dry inside and out.
- Use your fingers to gently separate the skin from the flesh (but don’t remove it completely).
- Slice the lemon into quarters and stuff it in the cavity. You can sprinkle the lemon with dried rosemary or stick a sprig or two of fresh on top of the lemons in the cavity.
- Take the garlic rosemary paste and slide it between the skin and the flesh rubbing it into the meat as you go. Smooth more on the outside of the skin especially in places where you can’t separate the skin from the flesh. Try and touch the whole exterior of the bird. If you have leftovers, you can massage it into the inside of the cavity.
- Place chicken on a roasting rack in a pan and place on the center rack and roast according to package directions. I go for 350 degrees for 20 minutes per pound.
Usually I serve it with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables.
Enjoy! Oh and if you have a recipe for Bowman’s Tower Fried Chicken, please share it. 😉
A Small, Purple, Multi-faceted, Sphere in Her Ear
“Oh my Gosh! What is that?” Not the words you want to hear come out of your pediatrician’s mouth when looking in your child’s ear.
Last week Fish told me her ear hurt. Meh, colds have been going around and we were headed to the doctor the next day for a follow up on a different issue, so we could get it checked out then. At the doctor’s, we discussed the primary reason for the visit and then the doctor looked in her ear and uttered the above statement. Fish had no idea what was in her ear, or more importantly how it got there. Oy! The Doctor tried to get it out but was unsuccessful. Off to an emergency appointment with the Ear Nose and Throat specialist. After 45 minutes they squeezed us in.
Diagnosis confirmed. Something small and purple was in her ear and it didn’t belong there. He tried to remove it, but the pediatrician scratched the ear canal during her extraction attempts and Fish found it impossible to hold still. The ENT was worried about puncturing her ear drum so the decision was made to put her under general anesthesia to retrieve the foreign object. Dear Lord!
Of course the only opening at the surgical center was more than a week later. He wasn’t overly concerned about it and it only seemed to impact her when she changed elevations (when from lying flat to vertical). So, we waited.
The procedure was yesterday and Fish was a good sport, smiling and talking to everyone. The staff was excellent and made sure to explain everything they were doing before they did it. She was only in surgery for fifteen minutes and they quickly brought me back to recovery to be with her. She was still smiling albeit a little groggy.
On the medical chart, the doctor noted, “Removed foreign object from patient’s ear. Object was a small, purple, multi-faceted sphere.” A bead! It was a small purple bead and Fish still maintains she has no idea how it got there or how long it had been there for that matter.
Like I said, she was very brave and I thought I was fine, it was very minor surgery after all. After we got home and I had a few minutes to myself, I was overwhelmed. It was a bigger deal to me than I thought. Thankfully everything went smoothly, but general anesthesia is not something to be taken lightly. I’m grateful we have access to good medical care and the means to pay for it, I just wish, we never had to take advantage of it.
Cringe
True story. Mim clamped his gums on the surgeon’s finger as he was emerging from my womb. I knew at when the doctor said “Ow!” I was in trouble.
When Mim was a toddler, we’d put Fish on the bus and then head to the grocery store just about every Wednesday morning.
He’s always been a sociable child (I have no idea where he gets this from). We started calling him The Mayor because he would (and still does) engage anyone in conversation. Early on a weekday morning, my shopping companions were other mothers with young kids and what Dr. Fishman one of my college professors referred to as LOLITS, Little Old Ladies In Tennis Shoes.
As we made our way through the store, he’d wave and say “Hi.” “Hi, I Mim.” “Hi!”. Most people would smile and wave back or at least acknowledge him in some way. Lord help the poor LOLIT so busy trying to calculate the unit price of a box of oatmeal that she didn’t hear The Mayor’s ovations. He’d be persistent. “HI!”, “I MIM!!”, and finally “HEY! I TALKIN’ YOU.” wouldn’t you know it the poor LOLIT would hear him THAT time. With blonde hair and blue eyes that match mine, it’s not like I could say “Sorry, I’m just the nanny.” Talk about wanting to crawl under a rock!
That one keeps me on my toes I tell ya!
Skiing circa 2012
Fish is in year 3 of skiing. Mim is in year 2. As in life, they are polar oposites on the slopes. It is amazing to me that in most of life, Fish is cautious, and conservative, but strap boards to her feet and she’s off like a shot. Her skiing nick name is White Lighting. Mim on the other hand bursts through life, EVERYTHING is a race to be won. Put skis on him? He is careful, plotting almost restrained.
Amazon Mom
This blog post did not end up at all where I expected it too, thank goodness I have writing to help me get my thoughts straight.
Amazon is that company you love to hate right? Some things they do blindingly well (You can’t beat their selection, the Kindle is awesome and let’s here it for Subscribe and Save). Then there are those things that they fumble.
Have you heard of Amazon Mom? It is a savings program targeted at families with young children. The discounts can be significant plus, regular shipments of necessary items can show up on your door step with just one click? Awesome. Where was this 11 years ago when I was digging the least milk stained clothes out of the laundry so I could schlep to warehouse stores for diapers and wipes?
Despite the fact that we are long past diapers, wipes and formula, I still purchase one product regularly via Amazon Mom. The pediatrician, she tells me it is about biology, and that he’ll grow out of it. But, for me, it s about precious sleep and not having to change wet, smelly sheets in the middle of the night.
Amazon recently sent an email announcing changes to the Amazon Mom program. For me, my 15% savings via Amazon Mom will go away because I didn’t join Amazon Prime. Small problem, I AM a member of Amazon Prime. My membership is subordinate to my husband’s primary Prime membership. We share the same physical address and everything I emailed customer service and was told “sorry, you have to join Prime to retain the savings.” Really Amazon, Really?
I’ll admit, I love Prime. Two day free shipping is a wonderful thing and moderately priced overnight shipping has come in handy a time or two as well. But really, the benefits such as free streaming don’t matter because we share the same geographical space and even the same electronic devices. There is just no point to having two accounts.
I emailed my concerns to customer service and explained that I would simply sign my husband up for Amazon Mom and because I do 95% of the purchasing, all the emails detailing specials etc. would be electronically round filed. Their loss. The reply was professional, but non-committal except to say that they weren’t currently accepting new Amazon Mom memberships and the program would reopen late winter.
As I write this, I’m it occurs to me that my complaint is kind of lame. Amazon is after all a business trying to make money and ultimately what it comes down to is that I’m only peripherally a member of the target audience for this program.
Ever have a temper tantrum about something and upon further reflection realize maybe you were wrong? Yeah, I’m 43 and still learning it isn’t all about me <grin>. I guess I’ll have to be grateful that I was able to get the discount for as long as I have.
A New Religion?
I came across this at Books-A-Million as we were out and about last weekend.
Instead of Amen, worshipers say KECHOW!
Online Piracy
I am against censorship.
I am also against copyright infringement and piracy.
I don’t believe the two are mutually exclusive.
As a content creator, I want credit and renumeration for the works that I create. As a content consumer, I expect to pay for creative works (music, books, performances, images, movies etc.). After I pay for them, I expect a high quality experience and ready access to what I’ve purchased.
In an effort to curb the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, two bills have been introduced in congress. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) are bills moving through the House and Senate aimed at curbing piracy by “rouge websites” (most of which are based on foreign soil).
The bills appear to be backed by large content providers such as Disney, RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), Nintendo and the Association of American Publishers. The bills are being opposed by technology companies and free speech advocates such as Google, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Reporters Without Borders, American Library Association, Wikipedia and Word Press. (Hat Tip to the Emerging Technologies Librarian for the list).
I can find numerous posts about why SOPA is bad from a variety of organizations from the Stanford Law Review to Tucows, domain name and email service provider and Tech Dirt . I have been unable to locate any substantive information (e.g. anything other any press releases) on why SOPA/PIPA would be good for content producers, providers and distributors.
I agree that something should be done to halt online piracy, but I will come down on the side of free speech every time. My understanding of the bills as they are currently written is that they give too much power to the government (i.e. sites can be shut down on suspicion of piracy) and hold sites such as Google, Facebook and Twitter responsible for the content their users post.
My favorite post on the situation thus far is a statement on Google+ from Tim O’Reily head of O’Reily Media a larger publisher of books, web sites, and conferences focused on technology. This man loses money to pirates everyday and still he opposes SOPA/PIPA. I agree they are addressing the wrong problem. It has been shown time and time again that if you give consumers a convenient, reasonably priced way to purchase content, they’ll do it. iTunes, or Netflix anyone?
A number of big web sites are going on strike or “going dark” as a form of protest against SOPA/PIPA today. The the most well known of which is Wikipedia (The English Version of Wikipedia will be unavailable for 24 hours). I’ve never been a huge fan of strikes. Plus, my site is so small, if I “went dark”, you’d probably think I was just slacking :). Instead, I hope I’ve brought this important issue to your attention. Maybe even motivated you to contact your senator or congressmen and share your views on the subject (whichever side you are on).
Whew!
I’ve heard it said, “Life is a Marathon, not a sprint.” I agree, that this is true, but any distance runner will tell you there are times when you just have to sprint to get through it. This weekend was my sprint.
Five days as a single parent
- Two snow days
- One holiday
- Two weekend days of subzero temperatures
One semi-regular occurrence of frozen pipes. Not in my house, but in my purview.
Stops at L.L. Bean, Books-A-Million, Walmart (my own personal hell), the farmer’s market, the bank and Toys ‘R Us.
Fifteen meals
Two dogs, 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Four karate classes
Some fun, like an afternoon skiing and tubing, playing some games and making homemade soup and bread.
I DID IT!
And, other than the small stain on the carpet where one dog puked up said chocolate chips, there was no damage done.
Don’t mistake this as complaining per se. I know I am blessed and that right at this very minute people are running marathons that are far tougher than mine. I’m just taking a few minutes to celebrate my personal victory.
My supervisor
She frequently sleeps on the job. then gets mad when I tap her paws.
Apparently I only require close supervision during the winter months. In the summer she feels I am capable of completing my duties unattended.
Live Fearless Lee 
