Forever and Ever, You'll Stay in My Heart

Smothered Enchilada Sauce Chicken???

My mother's enchilada sauce, well what I believe is the recipe, is too good to reserve only for those special occasions where I have the wherewithal to roll individual enchiladas.  Baked enchiladas are a lot of work, especially in the summer months.  Braising chicken thighs in this delicious sauce after browning creates an excellent stewy meal that you can make on the stove top (or crockpot).  Yes, crocks are great but if  you have to brown the meat first in the dutch oven, which you MUST,then it's much more of a time-saver to keep the party going on top of the stove.  In my opinion, the flavor difference is fairly massive. 

Some days you also must double-carb it with mashed sweet potatoes and herby rice.  The cool, crisp lettuce, onions, and tomato along with a fork-full of chicken and sauce, make up the perfect bite.

I love this sauce and I feel it could be used in several, creative ways but I can barely make it correctly consistently let alone turn it into multiple condiments.  When I do, I'll share the recipe. NOT!  This time I added corn, peppers and onions to the sauce.

All You Gotta Do is Hold Him and Squeeze Him and Kiss Him and Love Him

The death of Prince was huge and a shock to the system.  A mass internet and communal mourning. Something new to me although I just experienced it with Bowie.  What is puzzling me is how valuable true musicians are to our society and what a huge imbalance we have right now with showing our ongoing respect and appreciation.  I knew that was true but a bit surprised to see so many people express the same sentiments on his passing.  I mean to feel it so strongly.  It made me think about how unbalanced our treatment of musicians is as compared to say a sports athlete.   Music and musicians are still treated like optional, nonessential entities.  That is so untrue for most thinking caring people.  No matter the genre, music is incredibly important to your growing, exploring, celebrating, mourning and even a perfect outlet for anger and confusion, heartache and depression.  Gifted musicians should be fostered and nurtured and given access to tools and healthcare by our communities.

Very special artists that come with beauty, exceptional talent, heightened creativity, innovation, and the unique ability to touch a huge portion of the public or even ones that deeply move a smaller portion deserve not only our support, but our acknowledgment overall as a society that this is extremely positive, valuable and important.  It's been said by the greats that to get to these areas where it is safe and open to create, whether it exists in the universe or inside of their own heads, these folks have to visit hard places and the work involved is nothing less than that of a trained national athlete.  Perhaps even harder in ways because art is fickle and can't be conjured even with musical training.

And yes I will mourn Prince the man but my thoughts today are why do we wait for them to die to truly honor their work.  I'm not saying to idolize or praise the individual but to treat the work as a sacred thing, because it is.  Just as we have a place for classic paintings in museums, surely we can do better than just the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Tonight I baked chicken thighs with a spicy dry rub and coupled it with a chunky guacamole over black rice simmered in a zesty lemony chicken broth.  I'm trying to induce flair with affordable everyday ingredients that don't take a lot of time but make the diner feel important and cherished.

When You Walk Let Your Heart Lead the Way, You'll Find Love Everyday

Okay, another day off and the heaviness of my own self loathing seems to be lifting slightly. It's a beautiful day and I'm ashamed to say the only motivation for getting out is in picking up my new migraine medication at the Walgreen's down the street. But I took the longest route possible in order to force a good walk.

I couldn't help but check out the new Barclay's Center because its so obnoxious. Changes the entire look of that intersection which was butt-ugly anyway but at least you were still in a small neighborhood vibe feeling. The widening of the opening made short work of that.

Another high-rise is going up down the street and they painted the side of the William Morris Dance company across the street from BAM. Yawn. Sigh.

I ran into a street festival that almost popped me out of my funk. But not quite. Live music always perks me up but not this time.

Went back through to Barclays to stare again. Do I hate it? Am I excited? What's that dumb piece of dead grass thing about?

Is the scary half-empty side of that mini-mall across the street gonna get better shops and hopefully some overhead lighting?

I caught a construction worker over-looking the work ahead of him. Seemed important at the time. Now its just corny.

Went home and made a quick chicken fajita plate with the left over meat from the soup seasoned and heated with warm torts and all the fixings. Fade to grey.

Just kidding, I actually had a great time that day.