Busy Busy Busy!!

It's a busy time of the year around the Allen household. Devin and I are inundated with work, as school is kicking things into high gear, heading into testing season.
I have several outstanding knitting projects going: a hat, a scarf/hat set and a set of placemats. I did actually finish my garbage shawl project.
I also took my friend Jill up on an offer to do a guest post on my blog. Jill is the very talented author of the Simple Daily Recipes blog. When she offered to do a post for me, I thought I would put forth a challenge. I have always wanted to love fennel, but due to its licorice-like flavor, have not found the right preparation for me. I challenged Jill to write a recipe that would make me love fennel. And she might have done it! I will post her recipe later today, after I edit my way through the mountain of personification poems I have sitting on the kitchen table.
Until then, I hope you are having a groovy Sunday afternoon and I'll check back in with you later.....

Ugh

So long Christmas vacation!!! It was great while it lasted...

Now it's back to the daily grind.

Hot-Spiced Pork and Rice

This is really more like a pork and rice stew. It was really simple to put together and tasted awesome when it was done. The leftovers taste even better today.

I got the recipe out of "Ultimate Casseroles"- which is a supplemental magazine published by Better Homes and Gardens. I am such a sucker for the glossy magazines at the grocery store...with their photos of heartachingly-rich dishes on the cover...promising warmth and gooiness.

Anyhoo- I bought it and have now made 3 things out of it, with a 4th on the docket for this afternoon (Black Bean Lasagne to take to a New Year's gathering).

Here's the recipe:

2 to 2 1/4 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast (I used already cubed pork stew meat)
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1 medium yellow sweet pepper, cut into thin strips
1 8 ounce can water chestnuts (I didn't have any so I left them out)
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 14 ounce can chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons white corn syrup
1 to 2 teaspoons red chili paste (I had curry paste and it was fine)
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1/3 cup sliced green onions for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut meat into 3/4 inch pieces. In an extra large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium high heat. Cook meat, half at a time, in hot oil til brown. Transfer meat to an ungreased 3 quart rectangular baking dish and stir in carrots, sweet pepper and water chestnuts. I didn't have a 3 qt. dish so I used my dutch oven and it worked fine.
Add the remaining oil to the skillet and cook onions til tender. Add rice, cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in broth, water, soy sauce, molasses, corn syrup, chili paste and five spice powder. Cook and stir until it all comes to a boil. Add to meat mixture and stir to combine.
Bake, uncovered, about 1 hour or until meat and rice are tender. Let stand, covered, for 10 more minutes before serving. Garnish with green onions and serve.

This was so good! It was sweet and spicy and very warm. Next time I'll add more veggies. I think mushrooms and cauliflower would be great additions. You could really use any combination of meat and/or veggies you wanted.

Homesickness

I suppose there are dozens of good reasons for me to be homesick right now: the holidays, time off from school, snow on the ground, bone chilling cold, etc. But whatever the reason, I am truly homesick. Maybe I should say I'm "Southsick."

I could go on forever about the differences (geographically and culturally) between my adopted home here in Colorado and my actual, soul home in the South. But as many of my old friends will agree, it really comes down to a state of mind.

I have tried several things to combat this intense homesickness I feel. I tried making a batch of home made pimento cheese- that should have instantly made me feel better- but it didn't. I played some Johnny Mercer on my laptop- that made it so much worse. I texted my friends who still live there, hoping to be cheered by some contact with them- but it's just no use. I'm in a funk.

The only thing that seems to make me feel any better is thinking about our road trip home this summer. Finally we will be driving instead of flying...so I can bring more stuff back with me. Perhaps if I transplant some of my favorite things about home to here, they'll take root and help me survive the painful separation! I suppose I should start making my list of must-haves.....

Nina Simone

I know nothing about this artist, but I am totally in love with this song and this video.

It's Snowing....Again

You know, the first time it really snowed here, and by really snowed I mean we got 18 inches dumped on us overnight, I secretly thought it was kinda cool. We got a day off from school and everything looked beautiful!
Fast forward less than a month, and after living with the remnants of that first snow storm (it hasn't been warm enough to melt much off), it's snowing on us again. I find my attitude changing. Now it just means snow tracked in the house, and eventual slushy messiness everywhere. But it is still beautiful.
Trying to look on the bright side, at least I have an excuse to stay in and try out a few new recipes. Tonight I am trying a pork and rice stew. Hopefully I'll remember to take some pics and post them here.
I'm also catching up on reading my food blogs. Everyone seems to be posting their lists of the best cookbooks of 2009. So far I only see 2 I am interested in: 'Wichcraft and Hungry Monkey. The first is a cook book all about sandwiches and the second was written by a food critic who is trying to raise his son not to be a picky eater.
I guess I'll end this rambling, non-focused post now. I must go check on the progress of my pork defrosting project.

Meaningful Discourse

One of the things I miss most about Savannah is my book club.

I always looked forward to book club Monday. We had a very diverse, intelligent and lively group of women. I should be using present tense, since the book club still meets, I just don't get the pleasure of attending anymore.

However, this morning, Dev and I met some fellow teachers at Starbucks. We sat around and talked. We talked about school, family, books- anything that came to our minds. It felt so good to sit in the company of friends and discuss things. It almost felt like book club all over again. We even talked about starting a book club group. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about the prospect of that.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can all find some time for meaningful discourse...