The gloom. Oh how I love thee. My general mood in elevated by you. While others worship the sunshine and bright blue skies, I will always belong to the clouds and grey skies. Why I don’t live in Seattle is a question I ask myself frequently. Oh to experience overcasts skies the majority of the year. While this thought seems depressing to most, I am excited by the prospect. Living under the gloom. Like a warm blanket it comforts me. I feel more myself on a darkened day. More outgoing. More willing to face the obstacles in life. Untroubled by the burdens that might have troubled me on a sunny day. Exuberant. Good-humored. Chirpy. Walking on air. Tickled pink. Glowing & grinning. Ecstatic.
Imagine my joy when Monday was gloomy. I took the day off to enjoy it. Tuesday was the same but with added perk: RAIN!!! I couldn’t have been happier. It was a week with nice gloomy weather spread out amongst the sunshine. I suppose everyone got a little something. Even so, I still heard complaints. Coworker: “This weather is bulls***!” I disagree. This weather is heaven, my grumpy little friend. Turn that frown upside down!
The weekend we had three teenagers in the house. Whatever could we do to entertain them? Well they have never been to the Nutcracker. Turns out my wife had never seen it either. I was kind of shocked. The Nutcracker was something I remember fondly from my childhood. In awe I gazed upon the magic dancing before me. Eyes wide, I could not get enough of it. The costumes. The dance moves. Who knew people could move like that. And the music! I loved the music. Tchaikovsky. I still occasionally get goosebumps when I hear The Nutcracker Suite. The feelings overwhelm me. The happiness of a little boy enchanted by that magical moment overcome me. For a moment I am again that little boy in the auditorium seeing something fantastical for the first time. Thank you dad for introducing me to classic orchestra at such a young age. That is something that you gave me that I will always cherish.
So we went to the Saturday matinee. It had been a long time since I had last seen it performed live. I was all smiles when the lights dimmed. The music begins and I feel a warmth in my heart. The show was excellent. The choreography was simply beautiful. The little kids were adorable. The stage design remarkable. I still had a bit of a fright when the rats came marching out with their glowing red eyes. Boy did those creep me out when I was little. I had nightmares. I think the snow scene was my favorite this time around. It’s just magical. It’s funny how I enjoyed it for some different reason as an adult than when I was a child. I guess I appreciate it more as an art while as a little boy it was the story and the costumes. The only thing I thought strange is the way they concluded it. Clara never woke up. They end it with the celebration of sweets. That was confusing to those who had never seen it. Oh well, small gripe. It was a great time but that first experience cannot be touched. I probably spent half my time watching the expressions on Bekah & the kiddo’s faces. Bekah cried. She laughed. She looked enchanted. It was a good first experience. She even has a pointe shoe to remember it by.
At work today I am still hearing the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. I’ve been whistling it off & on. Not at all a bad song to have stuck in my head. Overall a pretty good weekend. A little freaking hot for December. It reached 89 degrees on Sunday. I wanted to melt. Oh well, its cold again. I’m happy Bekah and the kids got to enjoy the Nutcracker. Even if one of them did understand the language of dance. lol
Jalapeño.
This night was almost a disaster. I was originally slaving over some marinated steak I was cooking with red enchilada sauce. It was going to be carb free steak enchilada. For some STUPID reason I used a steak marinade that I’d never used. Once it began to cook down we started to notice a very smoky odor in the house. LIQUID SMOKE!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. We both tried the steak and I was inedible. I mean, I need to brush my tongue. It was THAT bad. Not only was dinner ruined, the house and myself smelt like a liquid smoke bomb had gone off. Lucky for me there is a reason I keep certain things in the pantry. I took a can or cream of chicken, rotel & some chicken breast. Chopped a jalapeño & onion and threw that in a skillet with the chicken. Added the can goods and the rest was history. Dinner was saved. If I had not worked something out quickly I would have never heard the end of it from Bekah. She did give me a hard time about the house smelling like liquid smoke, but I gave her a hard time about the house stinking of fried deer the week before. Fair enough, I deserve it.
Because it was so nice and gloomy it was the perfect time for some soup. I basically just made chili but substituted the ground beef for chicken breast. The end result was rather delightful. A hardy meal. Too hot for Bekah. She hardly touched it. More for me. Leftovers frozen for a later date.
I just made something up for this one. Chicken breast, onion, ONE jalapeño, can of green chilies and some green chili sauce. Added some corn and let it cook down. Once cooked down I threw in a little bit of cream cheese. The result was something delicious. We both agreed I should make it again. But again, Bekah says this one was hot. I think her taste buds a devolving.
Wanted to make some orange chicken. I think I’m finally kind of burned out on the Panda Express sauce I bought form the store. Time to start making my own from scratch again.
Friday we had the three teens so it was easier to just order pizza. But from where? Oh yes, a new place opened right around the corner!!! Lily’s pizza! Time to try something new. The pizza was pretty fantastic. For the most part, we just had the basics. What set this apart was the crust. It was so light and soft. The kids want this one more time before they go so I will likely have this again soon.
Cocktail of the Week: Old Fashioned
En Fuego 