Sunday....
Man I love lazy days. I slept in a bit and got up just as Debbie headed out for church. I gave the boys little Valentine's bags of treats, Ernie made me homemade biscuits complete with some Vermont cheddar and some maple mustard. Then we toasted each with some champagne and commenced to reading the newspaper and laptop respectively.
Debbie's visiting Mom on her own today as she has to head back to Boston tomorrow. I figured I'd take a day off while I could. I hate to see her go----it's been so good for Mom (and US) to have her here....sigh.
Anyway---when she gets back we're just going to hang out together. I'll spend half the day obsessing over what to do with the great big wild shrimp that Schnuck's had on sale cheap....we'll cook and eat and talk and listen to music and watch the Olympics and I'll try not to think about Debbie leaving tomorrow.....
Out of the many recipes I made this weekend this is by far our favorite. I love cooking with my husband....and cooking for my sister. It's a relatively straightforward and simple chicken curry but really deeply flavored despite the simplicity.
New Bride Chicken Curry
from Ruta Kahate's 5 spices, 50 dishes
4 T canola oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup, plus 1 T hot water, divided
3 medium tomatoes, minced
3 pounds chicken parts
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Heatthe oil in a large pan over medium-high heat and saute the onions untilthey turn brown. Mix the garlic, cayenne, turmeric, and cumin with 1 Twater and mix into a paste. Add to the onions and saute for a fewminutes. Add the tomatoes and stir over medium heat until the tomatoesstart to break up.
Add the chicken and mix to coat with spicepaste. Stir over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the remaining 1 cupwater and the salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer,uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Addthe vinegar and sugar, simmer for 1 minutes and taste. Adjust salt,sugar, and vinegar if needed. This should be sweet, sour, andspicy-hot. Serve hot. Serves 4-6.
The last few times Debbie's been here we've always been too busy with family chaos to get out to the cemetery so she could see my father's headstone.
There was a tree with a bird's nest right in front of my father's grave.
My valentines: