Michelle Rebecca Joined Us for Dinner, or How Crazy a Food Blog Can Be After a Long Day

As I'm sipping a cup of homemade Caramel Chai Tea Latte (organic cream, handmade caramel, organic free-trade chai tea. totally not the healthiest, but totally what I need right now!), I'm thinking back on how this night went not at all how I had planned, but how lovely it was instead! I apologize for any long winded-ness and the lack of memory of exactly where things were from. I did know, but as I started this blog after Market Day, I simply didn't file the info away in my brain well enough to give you direct info! I promise that after this Sunday Market Day, I will be better at telling you just where everything is from, and much more about what pricisely the varietals are.

Our food day began with homemade applesauce, yogurt from cows in Modesto with Gramma made strawberry jam, and toast from La Boulanger (they make it fresh, and since I haven't had a chance to start a starter, handmade is good enough!). First lunch had cheese curds (lovely lady that I can't remember where she has her cows!), ham (from whole foods), and apple slices (from a local vendor... somewhere here in Silicon Valley... just can't remember where!). Second lunch had more applesauce, and peanut butter (organic from whole foods) sandwiches. Dinner for tonight was Bar-b-que Chicken, Skillet Cornbread, and Steamed Broccoli. Desert was a No-Bake Blood Orange-Caramel Cheesecake.

I began the meal by taking Free-Range chicken breasts and slicing them into strips 1/2 inch thick by 1 inch wide. Then I took some ground Mesquite, 3 cups of tomato sauce (home made), 1/2 cup vinegar, 1 tablespoon of hawaiian red sea salt, 1 teaspoon of organic garlic powder (both of these from Frontier coop), and 1/4 cup brown sugar, mixed well, and slathered all but 1/4 cup of this sauce onto the chicken strips and allowing them to sit in the fridge for the rest of the day. Next I mixed 1 1/2 cups of finely ground turbinado sugar and 1/4 cup of water into a sauce pan, over medium heat until the sugar dissolved completely. Then I turned the heat up to high and allowed the sugar to carmelize. While the sugar was cooking, I took the three blood oranges, cut them in half and juiced them. As soon as the caramel had turned chestnut brown, I mixed two tablespoons of the blood orange juice with 1 1/4 cups of heavy cream, then slowly added this mixture to the caramel. I turned off the heat and stirred for another 2 minutes.

Then I went about my day as usual... doing laundry, dishes, picking up toys, putting twins down for nap, getting them up for nap, two meals, and what-have-you!

During naptime, I took 1 carton of cream cheese out of the fridge. I also took 1 pint of heavy cream and 1/4 cup of finely ground turbinado sugar. I whipped the cream and sugar until it was light and fluffy. I then took the cream cheese, and began to beat it with a little of the extra cream i had on hand until it began to be fluffy, then slowly added the whipped cream into the mix. As soon as the filling was thoroughly mixed I very slowly added the remaining blood orange juice to the mix, then poured the filling into the premade (I know, SHOCK! but I couldn't find the snap cookies!!) pie crust, then immediately put the pie into the fridge. About an hour later, I poured about half of the caramel sauce onto the top of the pie, and stuck it back into the fridge to solidify more.

When the time came for dinner preparation to begin again, I pulled the chicken out of the fridge, the broccoli (organic and locally grown!) out of the crisper, and the pans out of the cupboard! I turned on the heat under the grill and set the steamer up and put the broccoli in to wait for the time to start steaming it!

Then I got a phone call stating that Ray had an emergency at work and would not be able to make it to dinner. Talk about disappointing and frustrating! I had left dishes and laundry to finish because he could help me! ACK! Well, what else is a girl to do but complain to your sister and your BFiF (best internet only friend), and move along!

When the grill was hot, I started placing the chicken onto the grill, ensuring that each piece was covered with sauce before going on. Now is the moment that I remember that the cornbread actually takes the longest and should have been on first! Turning the oven to 350, I took 1 cup corn meal, 1 cup corn flour (both from Frontier coop), 1 egg (local free range hens), 1/4 cup of milk, 3/4 cup of olive oil (extra virgin from a grower in the Seirra foothills), and mix them all together. I poured half the mixture into my cast iron skillet. Then I dug the cheddar (from a lady locally who also makes cheese curds, yuuum!) out of the cheese drawer and quickly shredded some onto the top of the mix, enough to cover the top. Then I poured the rest of the mix onto the top of the cheese, and slipped the pan into the oven, setting the timer to 30 minutes. As the first round of chicken is finished cooking, I placed the strips into the microwave to stay warm and stuck the rest of the chicken onto the grill to cook. Then I turned on the broccoli.

As everything finished, I got 2 phone calls: Michelle was just leaving and Ray was done and could come join us! So I fixed the Twins their meals and let them eat while I listened to the State of the Union address on KCBS, enjoying the "play by play" of the commentators (they tell you when people stand up, who is clapping, and who is picking their nose!)

Dinner was slightly cold, because it took another 25 minutes for everyone to get here, but it was pretty good! The broccoli was overdone, and the cornbread fell apart when I took it out of the skillet. Next time I make that pie, I will treat it as I do pudding pies, and FREEZE it! I served it in bowls because I thought it would be "floppy", but it was just a mess! We put the pie server away and spooned it out of the dish!

All in all the food was great and the company was better! : ) And as the twins went down to sleep without a hitch tonight again, as will I. Good night my friends and family. I hope that you better meals and happy families. Nos Pars.