Last night after work, we stopped at our favorite Friday night haunt, sat at the bar, and enjoyed some fried zucchini and Italian sliders. I sipped chilled Chardonnay with mine and Bruce had cold IPA. It was a change of pace for us since we've been sticking closer to home this summer and spending our Friday evening at Sardinas was a nice change of scenery for us.
We ran our errands this morning and prepped our dinner so we could relax for the rest of the day. Since our weather this weekend is sunny and warm with a cloudless blue sky and our pool temperature reached 85, we floated in the pool for a couple of hours, showered and will be grilling dinner tonight. We're having seasoned drumsticks with some potatoes/onions/green bell pepper mix cooked in a foil pocket on the grill.
I tried out a new drink recipe "Coconut Mojito's" which are surprisingly tasty and very refreshing! I got to use several sprigs of fresh mint we have growing in our garden, too!
This is just the beginning of an awesome weekend of taking it easy and savoring each and every moment of it.
TENNESSEE CALLING ~A WRITER'S JOURNEY~
9.04.2010
9.02.2010
THAT'S SOME GOOD CHILI
The pot of vegetarian white bean chili I made last night with our pressure cooker was delicious and easy!
I admit that my pressure cooker intimidated me a bit when I took it out of the box and used it the first time to cook a pot roast, Sunday night. But I was more confident when I cooked Tracy's recipe for vegetarian white bean chili for dinner last night. Each step felt more natural and my nervousness was eased.
We had soaked an entire 16 oz. bag of small white beans all day while we were at work, so they were ready to cook when I was ready to make dinner. I followed her recipe, using 1 tablespoon of oregano and cumin and a whole box of vegetable stock. I used three celery stalks and half of a yellow onion (both diced very small) and sauteed them in some olive oil, adding in our garlic at the end of the sauteing process.
It turned out so good! I was surprised that mine turned out super spicy, and I decided that it was might be that I used Embasa salsa verde rather than Herdez, though they may both be spicy. But it was more than likely because I used canned jalapenos instead of fresh. I have fresh jalapenos in the garden, but I am planning to make jalapeno pepper jelly this weekend, and since I was not sure how many jalapenos I had in the garden to use for my jelly, I used canned jalapenos for my chili.
We were able to temper the heat with a nice dollop or two of sour cream on top of the chili and we enjoyed a hot pan of cornbread with butter to go with it.
If you don't like heat (as in spicy) in your food, you might want to omit the salsa verde and substitute a 7 oz. can of diced mild green chiles instead.
I was so pleased at how tasty this chili is and my pressure cooker made it super fast and easy to make.
I admit that my pressure cooker intimidated me a bit when I took it out of the box and used it the first time to cook a pot roast, Sunday night. But I was more confident when I cooked Tracy's recipe for vegetarian white bean chili for dinner last night. Each step felt more natural and my nervousness was eased.
It turned out so good! I was surprised that mine turned out super spicy, and I decided that it was might be that I used Embasa salsa verde rather than Herdez, though they may both be spicy. But it was more than likely because I used canned jalapenos instead of fresh. I have fresh jalapenos in the garden, but I am planning to make jalapeno pepper jelly this weekend, and since I was not sure how many jalapenos I had in the garden to use for my jelly, I used canned jalapenos for my chili.
We were able to temper the heat with a nice dollop or two of sour cream on top of the chili and we enjoyed a hot pan of cornbread with butter to go with it.
If you don't like heat (as in spicy) in your food, you might want to omit the salsa verde and substitute a 7 oz. can of diced mild green chiles instead.
I was so pleased at how tasty this chili is and my pressure cooker made it super fast and easy to make.
You will love the aroma of this delicious meal cooking in your kitchen! I can't wait to experiment with this recipe and see what other delicious variations we come up with.
9.01.2010
FAIR AND IMPARTIAL
I arrived at the Superior Courthouse yesterday morning, Jury Summons in one hand, my book tucked inside my purse and a cup of coffee in the other hand. I was prepared for my long day of sitting around and waiting.
My least favorite thing to do. Sitting around and waiting that is.
Three hours into my morning, a few chapters of my book read and my name was called. I followed along with 40 of my fellow jurors up the escalators, across the bridge to the Courthouse next door and finally arriving at the assigned courtroom. We were all sworn in and took our seats and waited as 24 names were called. 12 to fill the jury box and 12 alternate seats in the audience section.
My name had not been called and I was both relieved, yet antsy for something to do, other than sit around and wait.
This part of the process is called Voir Dire.
"Voir dire is the opportunity to examine the jurors before their appointment as regards to their integrity and balanced approach. Voir dire means to see the person and talk to him personally with a purpose to evaluate him. Jurors are interviewed by judges and attorneys before assigning the case to them."
While the 24 potential jurors answered a litany of questions and were screened by the Judge, we (who had not been called yet) were asked to also answer those questions to ourselves so that if we were ultimately chosen to take a seat made empty when one of the 24 were excused, we would be up to speed.
The question that kept coming back in every scenario brought up, was could we as jurors be fair and impartial? Despite any strong feelings and opinions we may have about illegal drug use, the drug epidemic in the U.S. and despite our own experiences with law enforcement,whether positive or negative and any effect that drug use by loved ones impacted our lives or the lives of the people we cared about, could we, in this case, still be fair and impartial? The attorneys had a tough job at this juncture and we had to do a lot of soul searching and answer honestly. We MUST be fair and impartial. We must decide on facts alone. We must also use our common sense and life experience to help us.
Listening to the questions and answers and applying them to my own life helped the time pass quickly. I was captivated. Several jurors of the original 24 were excused before our lunch break and our numbers had dwindled. As we were dismissed for a lunch break, I was of about 8 others whose names had not yet been called.
After we returned from lunch, the prosecutor and defense attorney both began to ask questions of the jurors. This process also eliminated a few more and my name was called to replace Juror #8. Now it was my turn to answer questions. It was my first time inside of a Juror box and it was an interesting perspective.
It was late in the afternoon and it was time for the prosecutor and defense attorney to take turns excusing jurors. This process is called a Peremptory Challenge.
A Peremptory Challenge refers to a right in jury selection for the defense and prosecution to reject a certain number of potential jurors who appear to have an unfavorable bias without having to give any reason.
During this part of the process, the defense attorney called my name and excused me from this trial. Since this was a criminal case, I believe factors including my occupation in the legal field and having relatives and friends in law enforcement played a big part in the defense excusing me from the jury panel.
This was a good experience and though the day began slow and boring, eventually became an experience to evaluate what it means to be fair and impartial and truly question what affects each one of us in our ability as a juror to be able to do that.
I left the courthouse yesterday afternoon with a deeper appreciation of our justice system and the intricate pieces of the process of selecting a jury.
My least favorite thing to do. Sitting around and waiting that is.
Three hours into my morning, a few chapters of my book read and my name was called. I followed along with 40 of my fellow jurors up the escalators, across the bridge to the Courthouse next door and finally arriving at the assigned courtroom. We were all sworn in and took our seats and waited as 24 names were called. 12 to fill the jury box and 12 alternate seats in the audience section.
My name had not been called and I was both relieved, yet antsy for something to do, other than sit around and wait.
This part of the process is called Voir Dire.
"Voir dire is the opportunity to examine the jurors before their appointment as regards to their integrity and balanced approach. Voir dire means to see the person and talk to him personally with a purpose to evaluate him. Jurors are interviewed by judges and attorneys before assigning the case to them."
While the 24 potential jurors answered a litany of questions and were screened by the Judge, we (who had not been called yet) were asked to also answer those questions to ourselves so that if we were ultimately chosen to take a seat made empty when one of the 24 were excused, we would be up to speed.
The question that kept coming back in every scenario brought up, was could we as jurors be fair and impartial? Despite any strong feelings and opinions we may have about illegal drug use, the drug epidemic in the U.S. and despite our own experiences with law enforcement,whether positive or negative and any effect that drug use by loved ones impacted our lives or the lives of the people we cared about, could we, in this case, still be fair and impartial? The attorneys had a tough job at this juncture and we had to do a lot of soul searching and answer honestly. We MUST be fair and impartial. We must decide on facts alone. We must also use our common sense and life experience to help us.
Listening to the questions and answers and applying them to my own life helped the time pass quickly. I was captivated. Several jurors of the original 24 were excused before our lunch break and our numbers had dwindled. As we were dismissed for a lunch break, I was of about 8 others whose names had not yet been called.
After we returned from lunch, the prosecutor and defense attorney both began to ask questions of the jurors. This process also eliminated a few more and my name was called to replace Juror #8. Now it was my turn to answer questions. It was my first time inside of a Juror box and it was an interesting perspective.
It was late in the afternoon and it was time for the prosecutor and defense attorney to take turns excusing jurors. This process is called a Peremptory Challenge.
A Peremptory Challenge refers to a right in jury selection for the defense and prosecution to reject a certain number of potential jurors who appear to have an unfavorable bias without having to give any reason.
During this part of the process, the defense attorney called my name and excused me from this trial. Since this was a criminal case, I believe factors including my occupation in the legal field and having relatives and friends in law enforcement played a big part in the defense excusing me from the jury panel.
This was a good experience and though the day began slow and boring, eventually became an experience to evaluate what it means to be fair and impartial and truly question what affects each one of us in our ability as a juror to be able to do that.
I left the courthouse yesterday afternoon with a deeper appreciation of our justice system and the intricate pieces of the process of selecting a jury.
8.29.2010
ADVENTURES IN PRESSURE COOKING
Tonight I cooked my first meal with my new Fagor pressure cooker. I cooked a delicious chuck roast with potatoes and carrots. It was so tender and tasty! I am hooked. We are going to try a vegetarian white bean chili next.
I vividly remember my grandmother cooking with her pressure cooker. It was long ago (in the 60's-70's) when I was a child and I remember her scooting me and my cousins away from the stove and out of the kitchen and all the wonderful aromas coming out of the kitchen.
Here I am now, in 2010, all grown up with adult children and a grandchild of my own (and my second due in November) and now I have come full circle with pressure cooking of my own. I believe it is a quicker, healthier way of preparing food. I love to cook and bake but I have never been fond of microwave cooking. It has its uses like boiling water or melting butter...or microwave popcorn. The microwave works fine and dandy for that.
A blogger that I follow, Tracy Reifkind has made some incredible dishes with her pressure cooker and blogged about them and that is what first intrigued me to consider a pressure cooker, too.
I'm really glad that I took the leap into pressure cooking. I am so excited about the adventures to follow!
I vividly remember my grandmother cooking with her pressure cooker. It was long ago (in the 60's-70's) when I was a child and I remember her scooting me and my cousins away from the stove and out of the kitchen and all the wonderful aromas coming out of the kitchen.
Here I am now, in 2010, all grown up with adult children and a grandchild of my own (and my second due in November) and now I have come full circle with pressure cooking of my own. I believe it is a quicker, healthier way of preparing food. I love to cook and bake but I have never been fond of microwave cooking. It has its uses like boiling water or melting butter...or microwave popcorn. The microwave works fine and dandy for that.
A blogger that I follow, Tracy Reifkind has made some incredible dishes with her pressure cooker and blogged about them and that is what first intrigued me to consider a pressure cooker, too.
I'm really glad that I took the leap into pressure cooking. I am so excited about the adventures to follow!
8.27.2010
STRANGER THAN FICTION
It is said that truth is stranger than fiction. That quote originated from British poet Lord Byron who, in his epic poem Don Juan, said "Tis strange – but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction.”
No matter. It is true. I have recently experienced that and it has resulted in an interesting twist.
An event (burglary) at our office, which at first felt surreal to all of us and seemed to have nothing but negative effects, it has now occurred to me that it is also, oddly enough a perfect premise from which to craft a good read.
Things have normalized again at work and the case has been assigned to a capable detective, I am ready to change my focus and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and begin working on this writing project.
So, I am putting the other famous saying, "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade" to work for me.
No matter. It is true. I have recently experienced that and it has resulted in an interesting twist.
An event (burglary) at our office, which at first felt surreal to all of us and seemed to have nothing but negative effects, it has now occurred to me that it is also, oddly enough a perfect premise from which to craft a good read.
Things have normalized again at work and the case has been assigned to a capable detective, I am ready to change my focus and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and begin working on this writing project.
So, I am putting the other famous saying, "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade" to work for me.
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