One Way or Another, I Wanna Get Ya

Chicken Cutlets with Asian dipping sauce

Crispy baked lightly breaded chicken cutlets and a slew of roasted vegetables including this awesome crispy roasted Tofu that I was quite proud of and that prompted a tight dipping sauce with soy, sesame oil, garlic, pepper, Hoisin sauce, with a dash of fish sauce and cilantro.  So good! 

For dinner and work lunch boxes.  Or when your husband wants chicken and you want soup, it's nice to have pots of options.

Roasted cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts

Weighted down and thoroughly dried firm tofu cut into chunks was a delight! Tossed in all the fun spices as the vegetables before roasting, and then turning when crispy on the bottom.  How can something with so little flavor taste this good?!

The chicken took zero time and stayed very juicy.  I shit talk white chicken meat but when it's good, it's so clean tasting!

This One's for the Girls

Andouille Sausage and Roasted Summer Vegetables.  

I hear my friend Lisa in my ear from a statement made a couple of years ago, for the need of a sauce on my dish.  Spending limited food time with her has made me eat through the eyes of others in a fun new way.  I repurposed my refreshing tomatillo-green apple sauce by blending in some sour cream and dill.  Even though I love a rustic plate of vegetables, the sauce brought everything together.  Especially since some nights I skip the starch to keep carbs down and it forces more vegetable consumption, so a sauce makes it complete.  

Any Kind of Fool Could See, I Was Wrong

Pork Chops in Pan Gravy

Simple yet comforting. Gravy made from pan fond.  I soaked the chops in salted water for 15 minutes beforehand which made them so tender, melt in your mouth.   

I am almost a professional late night You-Tuber at this point, tailoring my feed and dialing in just the right shorties to take me into slumber before ending with great philosophy lectures.  Animals usually round out the night with touching stories of rescue dogs or footage of bears being released into the wild.  I'm particularly interested in caged animals.  I came across a disturbing incident of monkey's killing a group member by drowning, all joining in on this brutal, ultra violent attack.  This was in a Bronx zoo exhibit mind you, a man-made enclosure with onlookers.  I was barely awake hearing the screams of the children and chaos of the monkeys either cheering or panicking at their tribe's brutal decision.

I woke up still fascinated and told P about the video, how ominous it was.  That we must plan a trip to the zoo immediately so that I can witness this enclosure firsthand.  He asked me if it was common and I said that indeed monkey's will kill their own but I had never heard of it happening in a captured settling with most likely zoo-born animals.  He was very upset by the mental imagery and kept asking me why it happened.  You could see he was visibly shaken hearing this news before his coffee kicked in.  I went on conjecturing how it could possibly be due to being isolated post COVID.  How the monkeys may be stressed with the drastic changes to their everyday lives. Even though you would think it would be a relief, the lack of visitors may have made them more anxious.  He couldn't quite unpack the news as they say and continued to ask why they would do this as a group.  Clearly he was perplexed by the action that may have caused the whole tribe to put to death this lone individual.

I said it was all so vague because I was tired and could barely keep my eyes open, how I needed to research the story.  That I would go back and do just that but I'd show him the video in the meantime.

Turns out it, I was wrong.   The actual event was not cool either but what I had read last night as Monkey killed by Others was actually, Monkey killed by Otters!  And it was an old video, from 2007.  

Let's face it, I have become Emily Litella

I Like Dreamin'

I have an Idea Book. There I've written down all my brilliant creations and inventions that I could get filthy rich off of if I had just one ounce of clue in life. I've never gotten to the prototype stage, just written ideas. Because I'm also a chronic procrastinator. Not lazy mind you, I spend all the energy on nervousness and regret. I have seen a few of them come to fruition a year or so later by some go-getter, can-do thinking-type person. Good for them! sigh. Yeah, you'll be surprised to know I invented the pop-art nail salon manicure that is so popular today way back in the early 2000's with all the vibrant colors and styles. This was from having to look at horrifying Brooklyn painted sunsets on 2 inch thick and long nails. And the dreaded French manicure that somehow resembled a fake tan and a boob job on ugly old toes. I thought, oh there are so many young girls out there with sweet young soft toes that need to be celebrated with greens and blues and flowers and flags...just silly things but fun. Get rid of the dirty ancient salons and replace with bright inviting shops with welcoming receptionists and clear choices all lined up like an ice cream parlor selection. Yep. Was thinking of putting one in the basement of the Virgin Megastore, a rock and roll version. We needed a traffic driver. I needed my boss Dave Alder's face to light up like it had back when I came up with good ideas. Coulda been 'it' for me, the turning point. (insert another long painful sigh).

Well, also in that book, I have an oil spritzer devise. And today I bought one. Misto Oil Sprayer. Genius. It's been on the market since 1997 but its new to me as they say.
You take your own preferred oil of any kind put it in, give it a pump and you can control the amount you want to spray on veggies, salads, pans etc. You spend too much on extra virgin olive oil and the last thing you want to do is waste it by being too liberal with the pour.

This was very convenient to use on my oven-roasted broccoli and red peppers. A squeeze of lemon and salt and pepper right out of the oven. Perfecto Misto!