Archive: January 2008

“Look, we’re having a wheelbarrow race!”

I glanced over from the kitchen to see that JG had propped up Ted, just a puppy at the time, on his front paws. Indeed, the two of them could have entered a wheelbarrow race if JG was willing to scootch along the floor at Ted-height. Surprisingly, the dog seemed nonplussed, as though being being unable to use his back legs was something out of an ordinary day. He adapted quite well to the new posture, even experimenting with walking along JG’s legs, further adding to the foregone conclusion that JG and he would totally win at a dog-owner race. Eventually, JG let him down and Ted carried on with whatever he was chewing.

JG has upped the ante in this wheelbarrow trick to make Ted do a handstand, which I’m pretty sure is in that category of Things Dogs Shouldn’t Do. Ted has started to sense when an involuntary acrobatic stunt is in the making, and he puts on a pathetic face before we pose him for the photo. We’ve been messing with Ted like this since we got him, so he is incredibly tolerant of whatever we force on him. Not that we are stage parents. No, no.

Come and get your (almost) daily dog dose with Rufus, Ben, Gus, and Zapp!

Brace yourselves: JG and I don’t use Netflix. I hesitate to bring up this fact because it usually elicits reactions like the following conversation with Ross, from early December:

Ross: heroes is so awesome
don’t get into it or it will destroy your life

RA: I might watch it on DVD
but my Mondays are taken
How I Met Your Mother
it is the awesomest

Ross: really?

RA: really.
you will love.
rent the first season on DVD

Ross: “rent”
wtf?
netflix?

RA: Netflix it
I don’t like to assume that people have it!
I know, that sounded very 80s to me
we still call our local place the “video store”

Ross: you should be my netflix friend!??!

RA: yeah, uh, we don’t have netflix… shifty eyes

Ross: wtf
HOW DO YOU LIVE

I swear, we didn’t always live in the Stone Age. I asked for a three-month gift subscription a couple of Christmases ago, and we baptized ourselves into the Netflix family with a string of movies like Thank You for Smoking, Wordplay, The Shop Around the Corner, and Finding Neverland. With the one-at-a-time plan, we didn’t feel like we always had to watch a movie, but it was nice to have one around. Once the trial period was over, I okayed a full-on membership and started filling up my queue.

I should have realized that I was not a Netflix person when I could only think of about a dozen movies to add to my list. Every so often, a new movie would pop into my head, but everyone else I’d encountered had a queue in the tens and hundreds, not the ones. I am not a movie buff, so I chalked it up to lack of exposure and let the mystical ratings system take hold. I managed to keep us going at about two movie viewings every week, but it was not to last.

Fall came, and along with it, a new school year, volleyball season, a new job, and television premiers. As it was, JG and I just barely managed to keep up with our television commitments, thanks to the magic of DVR. Meanwhile, the unwatched DVD of For Your Consideration taunted me from its red envelope on the coffee table. We finally pulled the plug after several weeks of no movie-watching. JG reasoned that it wasn’t worth even the $10/month because we could get a movie for three bucks at the rental place; I agreed, but I was more relieved to escape the guilt of a backlogged queue.

These days, that move has somewhat backfired with the onset of the writers’ strike and a gloomy dearth of new television episodes. I could have Netflix-ed past episodes of Heroes! We could have seen all of the movies we missed over the summer! Oh, well. I suspect that Netflix is a summer thing for us, anyway, when JG spends more time at home, and we’ve had our fill of terrible reality television. Perhaps we will just take periodic dips into the 21st century pool.

If it’s any consolation, I’m considering finally joining Evite. Maybe.

It turns out that I don’t just meet expectations! Much to my pleasant surprise, thethinker has rated this blog as E for Excellent! Why, thank you very much, indeed.

In accordance with the rules, which I have surmised in a blog-to-blog, telephone-type style, I will return this favor and highlight other bloggers on whom I’d like to bestow this totally radical, bodacious honor:

• Stacy: simultaneously writes insightfully at her own site and drives Indie Bloggers.
• Nancy Pearl Wannabe: I shake with silent laughter during her tales of a cringe-inducing “21st Century Technology” course, which somehow translates into “Blogger and You: The Painful Way” because of the high population of technophobes.
• Jennifer Hagy: I covet her graphing ability, sarcasm, and having a published book.
• Molly: I wish I could cook like she does. And write. And take pictures. And have a charmingly lovely wedding. Sigh.

In my case, maybe E is really for Envy. Hey, it still works.

I know, I know, I already made my second new recipe for this month, so what was I doing? Well, sometimes nothing in the usual dinner repertoire sounds right. We flipped through the plastic sleeves of the recipe binder — no mocking! — but nothing piqued our interest for a weekend dinner that would create leftovers for the week’s lunches. Then, JG happened upon a version of chicken divan from our beloved America’s Test Kitchen cookbook. Creamy, chicken-y goodness? Yes, please.

Before JG handed me the recipe for perusal, he paused. “Is this allowed? Is the resolution two recipes per month or 24 recipes total?”

I love a man who splits hairs. “It’s two recipes per month — ”

“So this one won’t count.”

“Right, but that’s okay. The goal is to keep cooking throughout the year, not just whip out 24 recipes and call it a day.”

“Whatever you say.” He passed me the recipe.

Let me take away any healthful aspirations from the start: this chicken divan is not the most figure-friendly of dishes. I was very conscious of the two cups each of heavy cream and cheddar cheese as I ate my dinner portion. If the casserole makes 6-8 portions, that’s only about a third- or a quarter-cup of cream and cheese per portion, right? And that’s not too bad, right? Oy.

What it lacks in clean conscience, this recipe makes up in ease and taste. There is minimal handling of raw meat for squeamish folks out there, and the casserole comes together really smoothly. I was doubtful of my ability to remove a container of boiling liquid from the microwave safely, so I heated up the cream, stock, and mustard on the stove. If you try this method, beware: I took my eyes off of it for a second and ended up having to clean out the range from the boil-over. Next time, if I use the microwave, but I’ll go for a Pyrex container that holds at least 6 cups to account for the rice displacement. Also, this recipe doubles as a culinary endeavor and cathartic therapy; creating a crunchy cracker crust is a productive way to release any pent-up aggression.

The final result was exactly what I wanted: hot, creamy, cheesy, and satisfying. We’re definitely adding this one to the supper rotation, and as much as I love pasta to the depths of my soul, I must admit that it will be nice to have a rice-based casserole on hand. Best of all, after dinner on Saturday, I packed up no less than five lunch-sized portions for JG and me, and today’s helping warmed up just fine. This one’s a keeper.

(Recipe after the jump)

Continue reading →