Snow Day #2 Dinner

Good Morning! It's Snow Day # 3 except today I am actually going to work at noon! It will be a nice break from being at home, but I must admit...I was just beginning to enjoy the time off.

Snow Day number 1 was a bit boring, I started the day without a plan and though the hubby and I had a nice day of bonding...we ran out of things to do pretty quickly. So, I was prepared for Snow Day #2. I decided that though the roads were a bit treacherous, if Hubs could go to work, I could probably venture out of the house for a short time. So, I made a little picnic lunch and took it to his office. He and I ate together and talked about the snow and then I went to the grocery store.

The grocery store is, admittedly, one of my favorite places. Currently, due to slight budget restrictions (the Hubs and I are trying to save money for home improvements, traveling, etc.) I cannot shop at The Fresh Market everyday, though I would LOVE to. So, instead, I shop at The Piggly WIggly. The Pig, as I like to refer to it, is like the Chick-Fil-A of grocery stores. On every aisle and in every checkout lane, there is a very nice, polite high school student waiting to help you. I'm beyond impressed by their service and their phenomenal employees. But, I digress. Back to the plan for Snow Day 2.

I went to The Pig, after lunch with the hubs, and got ingredients for two new recipes that I wanted to try! I chose recipes that only required me purchase a few items so that my snow day shopping wouldn't turn into a "spree".

I decided, as you read earlier, to bake scones (they were delicious) and for dinner try a recipe from the January issue of Martha Stewart Living. I opted to try the Paprika and Garlic Roasted Chicken. And I thought it would be wonderful paired with rice, and asparagus.
So, the chicken. I purchased a whole chicken, washed the chicken and placed it, breast side up, on a baking sheet. I rubbed the chicken with olive oil and the rubbed on a mixture of paprika, oregano, garlic powder, salt and cayenne pepper. If you're following along in Martha Stewart Living, you'll see that I tweaked the recipe a touch...but only because I was running low on Paprika! Then I put one head of garlic (cut in half) in the cavity of the chicken, placed it in the oven and let it roast. The rest of the process was a bit more involved, but I won't bore you with the details. (I'll post a link to the website)


The chicken was fantastic. It was not dry, but rather quite juicy with loads of flavor. It was certainly a recipe I would try again. The asparagus with it was excellent and cooked to perfection, in a bit of boiling water until bright green and still crisp.

Now, as the snow and ice is beginning to melt, I'm preparing to go back to the grind. But I will say, my little taste of "house wife" was kind of nice...


Recipe for Paprika-Rubbed Chicken with Roasted Garlic

Scones

Marvelous, light, fluffy, wonderful scones. I remember the first time I had a scone. I was ten years old and traveling in England with my family. After a long day of walking, touring, antiquing and eating "pub grub", we decided to have afternoon tea. It was marvelous. Hot tea and a warm scone after spending the day in the cool damp, English weather...sheer perfection.
A typical English tradition, "Afternoon Tea" usually occurs around 4:00 in the afternoon. It is basically a scheduled snack time. Typical foods for Tea are little finger sandwiches (cucumber with cream cheese, smoked salmon and dill, etc), hot English tea (English Breakfast or Earl Grey, typically), and wonderful scones with clotted cream and jam. Scones are like our biscuits, but with a hint of sweetness and usually a little fruit, like Raisins.

Today, on Snow Day #2, I elected to bake scones and have tea while I enjoyed the fire that I built...and a little blogging. I chose to make Ina Garten's, The Barefoot Contessa's, Raisin Scones. They were excellent...a bit dry, but I think that is because my baking skills need to be perfected, desperately. I must admit I did skimp on the clotted cream...while it is mouth-wateringly wonderful, it is also very difficult to make and requires a bit more preparation that my baking "whim" from this afternoon. But a touch of butter and some wonderful apricot jam will do just fine.

Our house now smells like a combination of sweet, warm scones and a roaring, smoky fire...all the smells of an English house. Can you tell I'm craving a little trip? Now off to enjoy a hot scone with a little tea and a lot of relaxing by the warm fire. Cheers!

Snow Day

Happy Snow Day! We're on Snow Day number 2 here in Columbia, SC. It's a rarity that we ever see such beautiful, white, fluffy snow in this part of the United States. But...this winter seems to be quite a different story. This is our second snow this winter and it's only the second week of January!

I must say, I'm not a huge fan of snow. I don't like the cold weather that comes along with it, nor do I like that one step outside disrupts the perfect layer of frosting that tops our yard. Don't even get me started on the way I feel about snow once it begins to melt and has been driven on and is beginning to turn a lovely shade of dirt brown.

But, enough of that complaining. I have to say that this particular snow, which has yielded two days off (and a little bit of boredom) has actually been quite nice. Yesterday the hubby and I spent the day together. We walked through our neighborhood taking pictures and enjoying the fresh, crisp, cool air and then spent the rest of the day lounging around together. It was a nice break and a nice day of husband/wife bonding. Today the hubs is at work, which leaves me rather bored and sitting at home. I've been brainstorming on a project for the day. I'm watching "White Collar" a USA Network favorite of mine and searching for new recipes to try. 

Today is a great day to cook. I'm thinking about baking scones this afternoon and preparing a roasted chicken for dinner tonight. Martha Stewart Living has some excellent recipes in this month's issue...I'm just dying to try one!

This afternoon, I think I'll build a fire in the fireplace, and curl up next to it with a fresh, hot scone, and a cup of tea. I'm going to read a couple of English magazines that my parents brought me from their trip abroad, and I'm going to pretend that I'm English. It sounds like a nice plan for the afternoon, a fabulous way to spend a snow day!

And perhaps, if this afternoon goes as well as planned, I'll write you again to tell you about how delicious my scones are! Happy Snow Day! Cheers!

Lunch Breaks

It's Friday, barely late enough to call it the afternoon, but it's about 12:30 and I'm enjoying a little blogging on my lunch break because I am confined to my cubicle. That, is a story within itself, but don't worry it's not because I'm in time-out. But, as I sit here, with my Martha Stewart sistema container of leftover Chinese food from my favorite little take out shop in town, I am pondering the Italians and their perfect "lunch break".

I must say, it is really difficult to even call what they do a lunch break, it's more like an afternoon break. It is fabulous. The leave their offices, typically housed in vintage buildings that are architecturally enticing, walk down their cobblestone street to the nearest piazza. Once reaching the piazza, where the space opens up and the sunlight streams in, they meet friends or family, or even business partners for a most perfect lunch break.
When the air is warm, the cafes and ristorantes offer outdoor seating where they crowd tables together under brightly colored awnings for the hungry customers to pile into. Italians then eat a lunch that rivals the American dinner in size. Starting with an antipasto, then a pasta, then a salad, followed by the lightest, yet most delicious tiramisu you have ever tasted. All of the wonderful food is enjoyed with a couple of glasses of rich, or fruity, or smooth, or dry, but always perfect, wine.

One can only imagine that with all of the eating and drinking done at lunch, the Italians would be a bit sleepy...I like to refer to it as the "lunchtime coma". So, these brilliant people who know so much about how to squeeze every ounce of joy out of life, take a nap. That's right, they TAKE. A. NAP! Businesses close for an hour or two in the afternoon to accommodate the "lunchtime coma" the Italians so wonderfully refer to as the siesta.

I'm guessing that by now, you're starting to agree with me. The Italians really do know how to take a lunch break. But, to make things just a bit better...and by that I mean INSANELY better. Right around 4:00, an hour or so after businesses have opened up again, these lovely, flamboyant, and altogether fabulous (in every aspect, but especially fabulous in regards to food, wine, and fashion) people go out for gelato.

I am most certain that all of my readers know what gelato is, but just in case...I'll explain. Gelato is rich, smooth, creamy ice cream. It is thicker than American ice cream and has more sugar and comes in the most exquisite flavors. When traveling in Italy, I always have the hardest time deciding what flavor I should try. You see, cups of gelato are teeny tiny...so you have to choose wisely because there are only a few little bites in each serving! My favorite flavor is pistachio, but they also have caramel, nutella, strawberry, chocolate, lime, cappuccino, and just about anything else you could ever want. To further entice you, I've included a picture of the "lineup" at a typical gelateria.

Now, as my own lunch break is starting to come to a close, I am slightly envious of the Italians and their picture perfect lunch break. But, alas, my little container of Chinese food is now empty, as is my diet coke, and it seems it is time to get back to the grind. I'll leave you with this, from the girl who writes a blog that is "just frivolous" the Italians have frivolity down to an art.




 

Friday

Let's talk about Friday. Oh the best day perhaps of the entire work week...it's a day of anticipation, a day of waiting, a day of planning. However, Friday also seems to be the longest day of the week. Tick-Tock... Tick-Tock... Tick-Tock... as you watch the clock ease slowly towards 5:00...

I find that I start my Fridays off with big plans. I always have a long to-do list, a lot of things to keep me busy and Friday seems to be the day that I can always complete my to-do list. And most often this daunting list is completed an hour or so before the end of the day.

What then, I ask, does one do from 4:00 to 5:00 as the weight of the work week is slowly being lifted off your shoulders. On Monday morning, an weight similar to that which Atlas bears is placed on your shoulders for you to carry until Friday at 5:00 when you can escape into the weekend. The perfect, quiet, personal weekend. Two days to take care of your own projects, to relax and be lazy; two days to get organized or make a total mess. Ahhhhh, two days...