Merry Christmas!

This album is one we listened to every Christmas while I was growing up.  It makes me think of snowy New England winters, roast lamb with rosemary & garlic served with mint jelly and peas, my grandmother's impeccable sense of style, my grandfather's unwavering belief in each of us grandkids, and never quite enough hours with my fantastic cousins.  

Level up!

I leveled up this week.
Oddly, though Charlotte didn't hear me describing aging this way, she chose the same analogy.
Here's her birthday card for me:

Converse All-Stars, pastel on black paper

Bats

Charlotte and I were watching tv when I noticed that a bat was circling the room over our heads.

Lisa:  "Don't freak out, but could you please pause the dvd and turn off the light?"
Charlotte: "Why?"
Lisa:  "There's a bat."
Charlotte:  "But I thought we weren't supposed to be afraid of bats."

Ultimately, we had two or three bats, visiting nearly every room in the house (I don't think it ever entered the downstairs bathroom, and it might not have been in the kitchen, but everywhere else).  One or two we managed to encourage to fly out a window.  One didn't manage that, and was collected the next morning (alive but disenheartened) by an animal control officer, who took it away for rabies testing.

And so, in tribute to our bats, I offer this poem, recited by the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland:
    Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
    How I wonder where you're at!
    Up above the world you fly,
    Like a teatray in the sky.
    Twinkle, twinkle little bat!
    How I wonder where you're at!

Engaged!

My incredibly cool brother Colby and his wonderful girlfriend Uyen have decided to get married. This photo is of the two of them soon after he gave her the ring.

Books, books, books.

White Chicken Chili

Another new favorite adapted from a recipe by the editors of Cook's Illustrated.  We like this brothier than they propose, and I add extras of the garlic, onions, chiles, cumin, lime, and cilantro.

2 quarts chicken broth
1 (14 oz) can white hominy, rinsed
salt and black pepper
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsps olive oil
1 + onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
3 Anaheim chiles, cored and cut into large chunks
1 jalapeno chile, seeded and cut into chunks
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 + Tbsp cumin, ground
2 Tbsp flour
2 + Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 + Tbsp minced fresh cilantro

Pat chicken dry.  Brown in 1 Tbsp oil in hot Dutch oven (chicken won't cook through - will just brown on outside).  Remove to plate and set aside.
In a food processor combine onion, chiles and garlic.  Pulse until roughly chopped, about 10 pulses.

 after chopping:

Saute chopped onion/chile/garlic mixture in 1 Tbsp oil in Dutch oven with 1/2 tsp salt.  Cook until vegetables are dry and beginning to brown (6-8 minutes).  Stir in cumin and cook about 30 seconds.   Stir in flour and cook until lightly browned (about 1 minute).  Stir in broth, and bring to simmer.  Add chicken pieces, cover, cook until chicken cooked through.  Remove chicken to a plate, shred with 2 forks.  Add rinsed hominy to broth mixture and continue to simmer to let broth mixture thicken slightly.  Stir in shredded chicken.  Off heat, add lime and cilantro.

Tuesday dinner

(not every Tuesday.  just this past Tuesday)

Inspired by my cousin, Matt Vandre, who cooked something like this for us when we visited him in Bristol.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp thai curry paste (I used green - the stuff in the tub by Mae Ploy)
1 can coconut milk
carrots, sliced into thin "coins"
chicken breasts, maybe 12 oz, sliced fairly thin
1 onion, sliced (1 cut across equator, rest o cuts longitudinal)
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 small head broccoli, florets only
8 oz snow peas
1 can water chestnuts, sliced
ginger, minced - about a marble-sized piece
juice of 1 lime plus more for garnish

Cook curry paste, coconut milk, carrots, and chicken until carrots are soft and chicken is done.  Add onion & ginger.  Add everything else. Serve over rice.

If I have fresh basil on hand, I'll use it next time.
Cilantro would also make a nice garnish.
All 3 Wilands liked it.  Spice level good.

Socks

Scene:  Getting ready for school.
[Charlotte]  "These are both left socks, Mom!"
[Lisa] "There's no such thing as a 'left sock'!"
[Charlotte]  "What, so you think they're all right socks?"

Passport Night

Charlotte's school has an annual event called "Passport Night."  The kids get a paper passport which they fill with stamps and stickers as they visit table after table, each table representing a country, often hosted by a Flynn family with origins there.  Charlotte decided to be her own passport this year.  "The face of culture."

C's reading list

One trip to the library:

Robbie Burns Night

"Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit."
- Robert Burns

 

 

Green sauce

My New Year's resolution involved green sauce.
Making and enjoying green sauce.
Here's the green sauce that Celina taught me....

One bunch of cilantro, and one (smallish) bunch of scallions...

washed and dried

 

in a Cuisinart with a teaspoon of vinegar

yum!

Christmas teeth