Chick-a-licious

I love fried chicken and try to prepare it at least once a year. The urge usually hits me during the hottest part of the summer when the heat and humidity are both way high. Nothing takes me back to my childhood like a plate of southern fried chicken and a mess of slow cooked vegetables. So in partnership with Pfizer, the manufacturer of Lipitor®, I present the I Just Had a Birthday and also Just Picked the First Ripe Tomato, Celebration Dinner!!!

The Menu:
*John T. Edge's Sweet Tea Fried Chicken. Special thanks to Brad for encouraging me to try this recipe. This is SO good. I can't wait to eat this the rest of the week.
*Green beans with new potatoes and yellow squash.
*Turnip Greens
*Fried Corn with jalapenos.

Sweet Tea Fried Chicken Visual Recap.

The chicken went into the sweet tea brine late Friday afternoon. The mixture was still warm so I added some ice.



You are looking at some deep fried lovin' here.



Right now I can hear the leftovers calling to me from the Fridge!.



Let's EAT!!!

Because today was my birthday I....

1. closed the house up and turn the air conditioning on this morning on as soon as Gumby left.

2. did not stop to fill up the tank, despite being desperately low on gas.

3. had brea, crackers and Chez-Its for breakfast.

4. did not close my office door once today.

5. did a Sudoku puzzle at lunch, despite needing to do work while quickly consuming my sandwich.

6. had a piece of blueberry coffee cake for a mid-day snack. (Thanks Sally for bringing that in!)

7. added a slice or Prosciutto di Parma onto my organic part-skim mozzarella cheese stick for my after work snack.

8. enjoyed a great dinner with my Sweetie. (Thanks Gumby!)

9. despite being overly full, shared dessert with before mentioned Sweetie.

10. had a martini for my second dessert.

Power Nap

Anna has just had an exhausting week. Her design firm is completing work on the interior of one of the largest law firms in central Ohio. This week if she wasn't in client meetings then she was at her drafting table reviewing plans or on the phone screaming at her staff. Things got a little ugly late in the week and she still needs to apologize to Tyler for hitting him with her Blackberry.

Tonight she is going to the summer movie series at The Ohio Theatre to see Bye-Bye Birdie. Afterwards she and the girls are heading to the Bristol Bar for some lavender Martinis followed by dancing late into the night at Wall Street. But don't fear, she will be at 10:30 Mass tomorrow morning.

Culinary Relaxation

Sorry that I've not been posting a lot lately. Mainly it's because work is interfering way too much into my life. At work, my group is working on several big projects and the best way to describe my current staff is new, incompetent, or on disability. Woo-hoo such fun for me.

Cooking dinner is usually a high point of my day, but when things suck at work, preparing dinner is my mental salvation. I seldom use recipes when cooking. But one of my favorite pastimes is reading cookbooks and of course reading food blogs.

For tonight's dinner I wanted something light (still hot outside here) and something that would include an avocado and the washed leaf lettuce already in the fridge. So I came up with a warm(-ish) Shrimp salad with onions, zucchini and avocado.

It is possible that I read a similar recipe on a blog - maybe, but my brain is so over saturated that I could not tell you for sure.



Did Gumby like it????

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUMBY!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

I Love You,
Pokey

Summertime And The Living Ain't Easy

It's gotten a bit hot in central Ohio. I think summer is my favorite season. Maybe that's why I love air conditioning so much.

World Cup Celebration

This evening, the victorious "Italians" hosted the defeated French to a glass or two of Proseco and some fancy finger foods (via the freezer).



Viva Italia!

Viva La France!

I love my neighborhood!

WUNDERVOLL!!

I want to send congratulations out to Roger Federer, my boyfriend, for winning the men's final at Wimbleton.

BELLISSIMO!

I want to send congratulations out to Luca Toni, my boyfriend, for team Italy winning The World Cup.

My sweetie Luca is on the far left side of the photo.

Christmas Wish List

I just received a text message from our Beagle Anna. In her spare time, while we have been away, she has been surfing the internets preparing her 2006 Christmas list, Vol. 4. She has just requested this

Thanks to Scott at Scott-O-Rama.com

Vacation Photos for Friday

I finally went up the CN Tower. I stood on the glass floor, eventually. I did not soil my pants, pass out, or vomit. However, tonight I do plan on having nightmares.


Well excuse me for taking a photo of your son's glorious ass.


This is my favorite place to eat in all of Toronto. Famous Hot Dogs (just $2.00) at the corner of Church Street and Wellesley.



Both of the boys had noodle legs at first, but they too were able to enjoy the view to the north over Toronto.

Road Trip

I am happy to report that today's six hour trip on the 20/401 from Montréal to Toronto had and official corporate sponsor.

Yes, our own hometown base Wendy's.
6 Hours. 3 Wendy's. 3 Bacon Cheeseburgers. 2 Diet Cokes. 1 Bottle of Water. 1 Medium Frosty. And a FEW of Gumby's fries. Amen.

Vacation Photo for Wednesday

got world cup?

Vacation Photo for Tuesday

Day trip to the Jardin Botanique de Montréal.


The boys enjoyed The Bonsai Courtyard of the Japanese Pavilion.


Looking down from the top of the Alpine Garden.


This is just another of the many photos I took. I was afraid I was going to fill up my memory card, so towards the end I started to be a bit pickier and not shoot everything in sight. The garden is just amazing, something different every time you turn a corner. You will need an entire day to see it all.

Vacation photo for Monday

The Laptops having some cuddle time on the couch while we were out at the Jazzfest. Maybe there will be a Mac Mini in our future!

No Vacation photo for Sunday

I didn't have a chance to get the camera out today, but I can offer a quote from last night. We are at the bar Crews on Church Street.

G. "Um, I smell fried food!"

Me. "I just burped"

G. "EEW"

I blame the fried Won-Tons we had as appetizer earlier in the evening and of course the beer that I was currently consuming.

Vacation photo for Saturday

Lunch at the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto. "Roast Pork on a Bun". It was like a roast pork gyro on a large bun. Tasty!

Vacation Photo for Friday

The Rock Garden at The Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario.