What's Cooking (Take Four)

[Jenise]

Karen, I laughed at your dried fruit. Good choice, better than canned. But I can relate. So many things I pick up and go: I bought this why?

Yesterday while out doing errands I decided, as per Jeff's thread on cooking for one, that I definitely wanted to make Coq au Vin vs. roasted chicken. I got hom about 5:00 and grabbed a bottle that's been sitting upright in my wine cellar for about four years that I'd planned for Coq au Vin all along. It was a very light Italian cab franc. I grabbed another bottle of something to put into the garage fridge on my way into the kitchen--and dropped the cab franc onto the cement garage floor on the way. BIG MESS. I had to back the car out, get a broom, pick up the glass, sweep the wine toward the driveway, get a bucket of water, do same, and then again.

Close to an hour later, I stuffed some lemon slices and rosemary under the bird's skin and threw it in the oven. Just one of those days!

Oh gosh, Jenise, that is too bad. I am certain it was a good bottle of wine. It reminded me of a few days just before Christmas many years ago, when I was loading up presents in the motor home. We were going to Sacramento to be with our boys. I was in a hurry, and on the last gift, which was heavy, I moved up a step on the entry to the RV. I neglected to slow down and took a step back, thinking I was still on the correct step, and ended up in midair, falling backwards towards the concrete. I broke my right wrist! Had to go to the doctor, then get X-rays, then get a cast. The doctor told me I could not go on the trip. The wrist needed surgery, but they could not do it until after Christmas. I remember hearing my mom's voice that day telling me, as a kid, "Karen, slow down, nothing is that important...you are going to get hurt!" Since the wrist episode, I have learned to concentrate on what I am doing and to slow down. Most times!

[Jenise]

I just spent an hour picking the three whole, cooked Dungeness crabs my neighbor gifted me. I ate all the claws--my favorite part--and all the rest went into a spaghetti salad with lots of smooshed marinated artichoke hearts and frozen peas.

I made the chicken tagine with preserved kaffir limes last night. The kaffir lime flavor really shines through.

I picked up some velociraptor chiles today. Never heard of them before. They are closely related to the habanero and rated at 150,000-200,000 Scoville units. I plan to toss a few of them into my next batch of stir-fried minced pork and hot chiles. The rest will end up in my next batch of Inner Beauty hot sauce.

-Paul W.