Chicken Picatta & Bruno with SJ

So SJ came over last night for a movie and hanging out... I made us chicken picatta which is lightly floured chicken breasts pan grilled in olive oil...


I made a delightful lemon butter/caper sauce to spread over the top...

I thought a few carbs wouldn't be bad so I grilled up some crustinis to go on the plate...

I served it with a couple sprigs of asparagus... it was a savory and citrusy meal... not too heavy and just enough...

We settled in to watch Bruno; probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen... at least the company was good... :-)

Comfort Food...

It was dark and rainy today so I decided to make some good old fashioned comfort food... Fried chicken breasts, fried chicken livers, and mashed potatoes with gravy... it was a greasy heavy delight... ohh so good going down... I'm sure I will pay for this later...

Weekend Food...

Last weekend I made guacamole, chips, salsa and carne asada tacos for Carmen...

Sunday before church I made Glenn and I crunchy ciabatta and egg sandwiches... ohh so good...

I have to go all the time...

I have taken up drinking large amounts of water recently... My skin feels more supple already... I like it out of a real glass with a red straw and a slice of lemon on the rim (just for show)...

Glenn Arrives!

Finally my new roommate moved in... only took him 5 months... And he brought his beautiful refrigerator with him...

Skiing in Colorado...

So after a week of working hard in Wyoming I hit the little plane back to Denver. I booked 2 nights at Keystone Resort up by Vail so I was ready for a couple days of skiing and rest... I got my rental car and headed up I-70 as snow began to lightly fall... The further up the highway I got the snow began to come down harder and harder... then I got to the Eisenhower tunnel and the road was completely iced over... I was scared to death...

I finally made it safe up to the resort and settled into my slope side condo. The decor was was pretty outdated but the location (steps from the lifts) was amazing...

I woke up in the morning ready for a great day! As I rode up the first lift I could see the cute little village down below...

The snow was amazing... so fluffy, smooth, and well groomed; not one patch of ice... such a contrast to the so cal resorts...

The morning sky was blue, the air was fresh and piny...

As the afternoon wore on the clouds rolled in and a light snow began to fall... it was just amazing to ski on the fresh snow...

I ended up getting close to 20 runs in and chilling my sore legs in the jacuzzi afterwards... it was a great day...

Wyoming for Work...

So yet again my jet set life whisked me away to a foreign land... and what a place it was. Lovely Casper, Wyoming where the temperature during the day was a fresh 21 degrees! They don't even fly jets into their airport so I rode on a 20 seat prop "jet" It was pretty bumpy and uncomfortable...

The city of Casper is pretty and scenic, but has no shopping, nightlife, or restaurants.

They do however have a Kum & Go;

and a Loaf 'N Jug

I stayed at the Hampton Inn; pretty new, very nice... I am actually thinking about switching brands from Marriott - the Hampton Inns seems to be better taken care of... This room was very spacious and appointed with a granite wet bar...

Ohh and the nicest amenity was the indoor jacuzzi - so hot and so nice to see the snow piled up out the window while bubbling away my day...

I sure hope I never have to come back to this place again... it takes forever to get to and there is nothing to do... I did plan a ski trip in the Rockies on my way home so at least I get that out of the trip...

Skiing Mt. High...

Oh I used to love Mt. High... I guess I got burnt out last year, the snow was only good for couple weeks, the rest of the season it was crowded and icy...

I planned to go skiing in the Rockies while on a business trip coming up so I had to at least get one day of practice in. The coverage was pretty OK, very few icy spots and it was not very crowded at all...

I have always loved the view from the top of east...

Cooking...

So I have been so busy that I have completely neglected my poor blog... But I have been cooking up a storm lately...

These little beauties: some thin broiled steak on crusty rolls with mayo, lettuce and tomato...

Some wonderful dried fruit to snack on at my desk (so much better than cookies & candy)

A fantastic guacamole (served with overly salty crunchy chips of course)

Then while thumbing through my Paula Deen cook book I found "Bottle Caps" which are sliced jalapenos fried in a delicious beer batter... I asked my dad what beer batter was composed of and he said "um beer and flower" and gave me a look like I really should have known that already... so I mixed them up into a flavorful batter...

I sliced the jalapenos into round slices and battered them just before I threw them into the hot oil...

I was amazed! The frying took all of the heat out of them, they were crunchy and smokey but not overly spicy... Dad even had a few... they were great dipped in ranch dressing...

As Carmen and I discussed what we would eat for lunch we agreed that fried jalapenos was not substantial enough so I used the same batter to fry up some chicken... OMGoodness it was amazing... simply amazing! So crunchy on the outside, so moist and tender on the inside... just wonderful!