Pioneer Woman and Publix for Dinner

But first, some knitting ART. My Mom and I did another sock class at Mobile Yarn and these were on a display table!


They even have SHRIMP! How precious is this? And who the heck spent hours knitting it? (And what do you do with it?)


Okay, if I'm going to spend hours on something, I think it'll be something to wear. So let's look at my current art project...it really looks like a sock!


Didn't realize I photographed the one mistake in my sock - I twisted a stitch or something and threw off the ribbing just a smidge.


Look at that gusset - stunning!


Gusset and heel flap - LOVE!


So knitting the foot gets a little boring, thus I took a minute to finish my sleeve. Unfortunately, I dropped a stitch on the double-pointeds and couldn't get it all the way back, so I decided to make them 3/4 length sleeves and call it done - yay! Except that I noticed the sleeve fits a lot better with a proper lace pattern...


so the other sleeve is not only full-length, but quite baggy.


Therefore I have committed to fixing the other sleeve, and have already ripped it back to the start. But that was yesterday while I was still on call. Today I'm off call and got home from work a little early, so I decided to cook dinner. Lucas and I perused the Pioneer Woman cookbook, and he settled on a salad for dinner...behold, the chicken taco salad!


Instead of cooking my own chicken, I picked up a Publix Barbeque chicken and shredded it. The avocado and roasted corn make it really delicious, but Dean added some roasted jalapenos - even better! The dressing is Ranch mixed with salsa and cilantro. (And have you ever put 3 corn cobs in a skillet on high heat? It starts making popping sounds and the kernels swell up before turning brown - I was worried one would blow off and hit me in the eye.)


And while I was in Publix I spotted the Apron booth's dessert - Greek honey yogurt with berries. Now Greek yogurt is kind of tart and unappetizing, so you have to sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of powdered sugar on it...


and let it sit for a while in the frig, then it actually does taste like a dessert. Lucas ate 2 helpings!


I'll be having it for breakfast tomorrow...and hopefully getting further along on that sock...and that sleeve!

Now Commencing Cooking Blog....

Psych! I was just kidding, but something amazing has happened since Christmas day. We went to Christmas dinner at a friend's house, where there were 28 people eating, and it was the most hospitable event I've been to. My friend gave me a Pioneer Woman cookbook as a gift, which I was totally not expecting. In fact, they gave every person there a Christmas gift, which was incredible. (Thank goodness I knitted her 2 dishcloths and wrapped them up fancy, or it could've been awkward!)

Well, I've read Pioneer Woman's blog when my sister sends me a funny post, but I'd never thought about cooking anything till I got this book. She's hilarious! I knew she had a sense of humor from the blog, but the cookbook is off the chain wacky. She has a very self-deprecating attitude, and when I hit the paragraph about how she hates going to the grocery store, I was sold. This woman is like me, except she cooks. Behold my first creation, Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce.


Sadly, Dean was on call and Drew was out, so Lucas was the only one to join me in the delectability. He ate it all and used the sauce for the corn even! The next day I gave Drew a bite of the leftovers, and he said he would definitely order that in a restaurant. (You have to understand that they have never enjoyed my cooking, thus my ecstatic-ness.)

Next up was Orange Chicken, which is based on a Chinese dish she loves. Let me just say the sauce involves orange juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, orange zest, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and white vinegar. It also involves cubing chicken thighs, dipping them in egg whites with cornstarch, and deep frying them. Guess what I realized while I was cooking? I've never deep-fried a thing in my life! What 48-year-old woman from Alabama has not deep-fried something? Shocking; and so I was nervous about committing errors, but Dean thankfully left the kitchen to do something else while I cooked. (He was probably hiding behind a door with a fire extinguisher waiting for tragedy to strike, as it inevitably does when I'm in the kitchen. Have I mentioned baking a dessert and using wax paper instead of parchment paper, which subsequently filled the house with smoke but thankfully didn't catch on fire?) To everyone's amazement, though, there was not a single mishap.


And so I give you the most delicious, orangey, perfectly-cooked chicken dish I've ever made! Lucas ate three helpings, Drew went back for seconds, and Dean declared it was tasty - I can die a happy woman now!


Back to reading more of the cookbook...