Chicken and Kale and Cauliflower, Oh My

Do I even need to say we've been busy around here lately? (Or does the lack of posts say it for me?)

I'm certainly not complaining: We've done some really fun stuff during the past week. My super awesome nephew spent his Winter Break with us, which was the perfect excuse to get out and enjoy a few of our area's attractions. We visited Huntley Meadows, the Smithsonian Air & Space museum and Natural History museum... the National Zoo. Visiting the museums during this "off season" is really great. By late March/early April, it will be Cherry Blossom time, and MUCH more crowded... until pretty much the end of fall. It was so nice to just park right around the corner from Air & Space. There is plenty of meter parking available before 11, and with the pay-to-park app on my phone -- it's a cinch. OH! and any visit to Air & Space ought to begin and/or end with a trip to Gravelly Point Park, just north of National Airport on the GW Parkway. You can sit right underneath the planes taking off and landing. (It also happens that my favorite bakery is on the way to this park, too.) Just so you know.

Hmm, what else? I used my mom's recipe for chicken fried steak on thin-sliced chicken breasts, and it turned out AWESOME. I also tossed some "fennel rings" in with the onion rings, Mom. It was really good. Going to have to do a whole other Chicken Fried Steak post another time. That meal is properly served, of course, with green beans and mashed potatoes. Cream gravy goes without saying. And any good CFS will cover most of the plate.

Anyway, the leftover chicken and rice made for excellent and easy burritos the next night. Gotta love that.

Never you mind that greasy paper towel! And the serious lack of green on this table. 

What blog?

Wrestling tigers.

Let me tell you. I understand EXACTLY how kids grow up so fast. Exactly how time flies. How one day you turn around and your tiny little bean of a baby is a six year old singing Justin Beiber. I understand. I just can't explain it. (I can't explain Justin Beiber, either).

Along the same lines, I probably could not explain how these past couple of weeks flew by without my knowledge or consent, but I know a few things happened, at least. The last time I sat down to this blog, I was lazily sipping a new red wine, while Josh cooked dinner on a Saturday night and the kids watched a movie. My favorite kind of Saturday night, these days. Since then, I promise I have cooked:

Homemade yogurt 

Orange curry pecans with dried cherries and manchego 

A most remarkable warm winter salad 

Simple scones

I also enjoyed a fabulous birthday weekend in NYC with my fabulous husband, while his fabulous parents held down The Fort. We ate at Les Halles (Anthony Bourdain's restaurant), Maze by Gordon Ramsay (fabulous!), and several other delicious spots (much thanks to the Yelp app on my phone!). I saw my first musical on Broadway:

Daniel and John were both great!

We walked everywhere and must have seen everything within a 5 mile radius of our hotel. Times Square, Central Park, The Plaza, FAO Schwartz, World Trade Center Memorial, Wall Street and the Wall Street Occupation. It was so nice and more than a little surreal to just hike around with Josh all day -- it occurred to me that we'd probably not hung out during the day, sans lovelies, since I worked at Vermont Law, and he was a student. And no... after 6+ years of waking up by 7 every morning (often much earlier)... I could not sleep in. But I did wake up on my own terms, and that's something!

Other than that, we've just been goofing off. Recipes to match the photos coming soon! I think you'll especially want to try the pecans. Easy, delicious and highly adaptable, they've been a big hit at several gatherings and are going to make awesome teacher gifts come Christmas time.