Diary part 8

They're coming to take me away he he, ha ha ...

Remember that song?

In this case it's a case of MarthaNOTness that seems to have disturbed the little men in white chef's coats. Actually I'm not sure - my first "I don't love you" e-mails were sent anonymously. Whoever the senders were - they were not happy but I'm thrilled. Can't please 'em all - just spell my name right ...

On the subject of nice long rests, I do think that other Martha needs one. Her latest offering is cookie cutters in the shape of sea horses and mollusk shells. The only thing I ever saw that comes anywhere near that far beyond the beyond was a wedding cake decorated with live fighting Beta fish.

The mail also brought lots of fun stuff. Check out my new Links to Freebies page. My Recipe Card is listed now and I'm working on a promo postcard deal with Schellenberg Communications.

Almost everybody has at least one Less-than-Fiver tucked away - we need to know about them. Do your duty, send the recipe card page to a couple of people or print the page and post it somewhere to keep the traffic coming.

I found Lady Mafia's Recipe Page on her freebie site, a perfect example of stumbling onto treasure. Can't wait to try the Fiesta Chicken and even though the Mexican Meatloaf is a more-than-fiver, it shouldn't be any problem.

The Mad Dog (outrageous adult humor site) finally sent one of his bachelor specials.

"It's so easy to take 20 minutes and make something good and (relatively) fancy (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) rather than eating sh*t. I'm guessing about the quantities....*L*

CHICKEN SOMETHING (1 person)

Needed:
1 boneless chicken breast
2 Tbl. butter
1 Tbl. oil
4 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 fresh lemon or 1 Tbl. lemon juice
grated parmesan (fresh preferred)
2 Tbl. wine if available (red or white or Marsala...who cares?)
salt
pepper

"Take a boneless chicken breast and coat it with flour. Heat 1 Tbl. of butter with the oil in a small frying pan. Put the chicken in and cover it. While it's cooking slice up 4 mushrooms. When the chicken's very brown, turn it over and put the mushrooms in with it. (NOTE: If the mushrooms are getting done before the chicken's ready, take 'em out!) When the chicken's done (you can tell by pressing it ... it should be firm to the touch ... if not sure, cut it open if you have to - raw chicken's gross), put it on a plate along with the mushrooms. Turn the heat low and add the lemon juice and (optionally) the wine to the frying pan. Use a fork to loosen any stuck pieces of chicken stuff on the bottom of the pan (called deglazing the pan for those who care). Add the other Tbl. of butter and salt and pepper to taste. When the butter's melted and it's all stirred up and a nice bit of sauce, throw the mushrooms back in for a minute to reheat them. Sprinkle about a Tbl. of parmesan on the chicken, then pour the mushroooms and sauce on it. Eat. Make lots of oohing sounds to show you impressed yourself.

"Okay ... maybe I should have given you something more fun like Shrimp with lightly cooked sauce over pasta with kalamata olives and goat cheese.....

"Next time."


Attention bachelors and bachelorettes, go visit Rob at Zest! in Liverpool. He likes this site (remember, it's just as easy to fall in love with a good cook as a bad one - and somebody needs to know what they're doing). We're working on some ideas for Houston singles and he'd like to hear what's going on in your neck of the woods too.