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Grilled Chicken with Spicy Peanut Sauce and Grilled Masa Cakes, Birdeye

Friday, January 23, 2015

Delish I tell you!

The delicious grilled masa cakes


This is a shot of the spicy peanut sauce before blending.  Shout out to Bob Hardin,
Kara's dad, who told me over the summer that he LOVES this blender.  I got
his brand from Polly and had this on my Christmas list.  It's so convenient compared
to dragging out my big ole blender for a puree.



I shared this recipe in 2011 but I made it recently cannot not share it again.  I love Terry Conlan, Lake Austin Spa's chef.  My fabulous sister-in-law, Kara, gave me Fresh, his cookbook and I've loved 99% of the recipes in it.

Here's how Terry's recipe goes (you'll have most all these ingredients in your pantry and if not, substitute like I did....):

"Peanuts are indigenous to the Americas and have played an important role as a nutritious binder for Mexican sauces and moles since pre-Columbian times.  In this recipe, they are pureed with tomatoes, chipolte chiles (smoked jalapenos), lime juice and seasonings to create a wonderfully spicy, slightly piquant salsa that adds a lively interest in the simple goodness of the chicken and masa cakes."

4 4oz boneless, skinless all-natural chicken breasts (I can only find organic chicken locally in the Wal-mart freezer out in the middle of the isle)
2 medium tomatoes (I used Cherubs salad tomatoes, about a pint)
2 garlic gloves, I used 4
1 canned chipolte chile in adobo sauce (you'll find this in the Latino isle at Hay's)
1 T. brown sugar
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. dried leaf oregano
1/4 C. chopped cilantro
3 T. smooth reduced fat all-natural peanut butter (I used 1 T regular peanut butter)
2 T. lime juice

Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper.  Spray each piece lightly with nonstick cooking spray, then grill over hot coals until cooked through.  (I find using my grill pan that Kara gave me for my birthday years ago works just as great if you don't wanna grill in the cold temps outside)  Grill the tomatoes, turning them occasionally, until they begin to char and soften (I broiled in the oven for 4 minutes).  Remove the tomatoes from the grill and combine in a blend with the remaining ingredients.  Puree the mixture, thin with water or stock as needed.  Serve the chicken covered with the warm sauce and Masa Potato Cakes.  Lemme just say how fabulous this is!  WOW, it'll be on your table in say 20 minutes, literally.  Serve with a salad from your garden and you're a gourmet cook!  I have romaine, arugula and spinach in my garden right now.   I had an avocado so I added it.

The Masa Potato Cakes

1/4 C. masa harina de maiz (this is similar to cornmeal)
1/2 C. water
1 C. cooked and mashed potatoes (I microwaved one russet for 6 minutes on high in the microwave)
1 garlic clove, minced, I used 2
1 T. minced, fresh chives (I didn't have this, I used the green of a green onion from my garden)
3/4 t. salt
1/4 C. crumbled feta cheese  (there really isn't a substitution here, but maybe Gorgonzola)
2 t. olive oil

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and shaped into four 1/2 inch thick disks.  Heat the olive oil in a heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Saute the cakes until browned and crisp on both sides.

Honey...Birdeye

Honey, so sweet!  Look at those eyes!
This is Turbo and Bounce, thankfully
Turbo went to Kennebunkport Maine
last week and Bounce went locally to
someone that works with Kara and saw
my post on Facebook.  
Bounce was hilarious and I'm
glad she went local so I can watch
her grow up

She definately was abused I think, she
cowers down when you look at her and
face her.  It's pretty sad...
Well of course another dog showed up at Birdeye...This is Honey, a mountain cur of some sort.  I say mountain cur because she has treed our cats and barks like a hound dog.  If you're like me you ask, "what the heck is a mountain cur?"  

From the web:  The Mountain Cur is a type of working dog that is bred specifically for treeing and trailing small game, like squirrel and raccoons. They are also used for hunting andbaying big game like bear and wild boar as well as being just an all-purpose farm dog. Curs are a member of the Hound group, and the Mountain Cur is one of several varieties of cur. They can also be used as water dogs. Mainly bred in OhioKentucky,Virginia, and Tennessee, it has been registered with the United Kennel Club since 1998. The Mountain Cur Breeder's Association was formed in 1957.

Dr. Boone says she's about 1-2 years, she's heartworm negative, vaccinated and CRATE TRAINED!!  She also is good with cats (believe it or not), dogs and humans (including children).  Spay and neuter people.  It's as important as a vaccine or heartworm prevention....

Turbo, yet another foster dog...

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Turbo with ears down...h'es a cutie that loves squeaky toys

Ears up...he's so sweet!  He does have a limp on the left front leg, Dr. Boone
said it's some kinda old injury.  But he runs like a greyhound with it :)
Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Chloe and I have fostered this rascal now for two weeks being told he had a home in Conneticut but low and behold he doesn't.  He's about one year old, sleeps in the bed (yes housebroken), great with cats, dogs and humans.  He's vaccinated, neutered and heartworm negative.  He's adorable and does great in the bathtub too.  Spay and neuter people.  It helps keep dogs like Turbo off the streets!

Happy New Year!

A blurry selfie of Audrey, me and Chloe on our way to Weatherford for
a Dickey family photo.  I hopped in the backseat to show some YouTube
videos of my favorite comedian Jimmy Fallon (It's true that I have a crush
on Jimmy Fallon but don't worry Jackie knows this).  You can see that
Chloe had had about enough....but I was getting fired up about the videos!

This is New Year's Day...man I'm mad at my phone camera.  It is another
reason besides shotty internet at Birdeye that I don't blog as frequently....Whit
is cracking us up.  He's rarely smiling and always ready to leave before me nowadays!

At lunch in Weatherford, Audrey and Chloe were hilarious....

This is me, Granddad and Grandmother Dickey and Chloe

This is Dwight bringing out some balloons and then a cake for a celebration
for Granddad since he's finally done with chemo

A blurry shot of them (dang phone)

Jackie and I got just in time to say hi to precious Stephanie.  She's hanging
in there after AJ but it's very, very difficult for her.  She looks great and will
be spending this week in Oklahoma City getting comfort from family and
friends.  We are planning a girls weekend ASAP with her.

I never thought I'd see the day with $1.69 gas.  Am I dreaming?  This is
in Edmond this morning

Oh yeah, JMHS Class of 1989 Cheerleaders....
me, Dagne Day Newcomb, Stephanie Bates Jones and
Angelia Pope Johnston (we did clip out the guy next to
Angelia, no one knew who he was, definitely a photo bomb)
Sunday, January 4, 2014

We went to Oklahoma City on Friday to see mom and Gary and then on to Weatherford for a Dickey family photo.  Chloe got to spend some quality time with cousin Audrey, we had two great meals with mom and Gary and late yesterday I got to catch up with Stephanie.  It was great to catch up with cousins Matt and Amy Dickey as well as dad and siblings Janet and Dwight.  Matt is going to be a dad again, they're expecting another girl this spring.  Janet and Larry live in Sacramento, Dwight and Mary are slated to return to mission work in June in China and Amy's doing a fellowship and residency at Harvard.  It was a great weekend but I was really nervous about the weather when on Friday when we left, Oklahoma City was under a freeze warning expecting 1/4 inch ice and continued precipitation on Saturday.  Luckily it warmed up a few degrees and the roads were just wet.
Jeanie took some leftover chili home from church potluck
in December.  We didn't want it to clog up the church kitchen's
garbage disposal so I was going to throw it out by the dumpster
and Jeanie said she'd give it to her chickens.  This is one of
the funniest photos in the history of the world...I'm dying
right now as I type.....hahahahaha!! And for the record we've
never given our chickens meat....hahahahaha I'm crying laughing
so hard....

2014 Top 10 List, Birdeye

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Here's Biscuit, Gumball and Chloe at the courthouse delivering
candy.....Buddy's somewhere

There were cattle and llamas in the Alpes De Suisi...
Chloe just sat down on the bench and I got this shot

Chloe about the time when she said she didn't want to die
 up there....The Dolomites were phenomenal.

A photo at the Nashville airport on our way to Milan

Our last day of the trip, we are in Stressa on one of the Barromean Islands


Chloe in St Peter's.  We went to Friday mass
and took communion. It was really neat.
Behind her are Peter's remains.
Box of Lies game at Jackie's birthday party....Kara's looking like she
wants to win this round!  Stella and August loved it too
Chloe playing games with Biscuit
Chloe's a darn good photographer, here's Essie Mae
Chloe got Dr. Calico and Essie Mae wrestling
This was the day Chloe broke her arm in Feb. while
sledding on the ice
Chloe with Biscuit and Gumball

It's blurry but here's Chloe, Memaw and Stella at the
Cathedral Siena.  That marble was outstanding
Chloe and Audrey at Ferncliff Summer Camp, it was the first year Chloe
didn't write those sad letters and she said she had a great week






Chloe's selfie with Buddy
Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year!  We are planning to have Hopping John and Kale and Cabbage tomorrow and watch bowl games.  I may have to throw in some Mac and Cheese for the kids :).

I've kept a list in the kitchen of quotes that have come up since the trip to Italy.  For some reason that trip generated multiple hilarious quotes.  And they kept coming for the rest of summer and fall.  I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I have, all 18 of them...

1. "Dad can be the deck sweeper," Chloe said about her dad if we were all on a pirate ship together.
2. "Rub it down," me to Chloe on the train, Jackie replied, "Grub it down?" hahaha
3. "Step back kids, I don't think she's going to make it," Memaw said as I chased her down on the Bay Road to check a bike rack and hadn't ever driven her car.  It took off like a rocket when its turbo boost went off.  As I got out of the car to check the rack she said, "You looked like a snow leopard!" hahahaha :)
4. "I have had a Jerk-a-con sighting," me in the Nashville airport when Jackie lost it thinking we'd miss our connection to Milan and miss the opera in Verona.  (Jerk-a-con is a word Chloe invented last March to describe her grumpy dad)
5.  "Look away, you don't want to see this...." Memaw said to Jackie in Grieve when she pulled some ravioli out of the top of the trash can to feed my nephew August, he was starving with jet lag....hahahahahahahha
6.  "Calm down Jackie," me to Jackie when he was frustrated that we couldn't find a Rick Steve's restaurant in Verona.  We learned to attempt Italian right off the bat.  A nice woman police officer helped us find it.
7.  "That ain't eggplant," me in Rome when I ordered the special for lunch and thought he said it was eggplant.  It turned out to be tripe.  Jackie traded dishes with me, thank God.  If you don't know what tripe is...it's cow intestines.
8.  "Do I look like I need leg room?" me to Jackie on the bus to Ortesi
9.  "In my box are two wool socks with bananas in them," Jackie at his birthday party in October.  Chloe and I wanted to play a Jimmy Fallon game called Box of Lies.  We did 12 shoe boxes worth of mystery items and the key to the game is to guess if your opponent is telling the truth about their items or lying.  He was telling the truth.  90% of all our items were somehow Jackie items.  He loves his wool apparel.
10.  "She should have given us smarties not dumdums," Chloe said after a teacher handed out candy.
11.  Walking in from a November meeting, Jackie's phone rings and it's Chloe calling from her bedroom to have him bring her a freezer cookie...good lord....
12. "What are you looking at Buddy?" me to him.  Chloe responded, "Making sure you don't get out of the gate," hahahahahaha.  Buddy had separation anxiety at first but now he knows we will be coming back when we go to work.
13.  "Can you get games on that?" Chloe asked me in Italy when I was giving myself a bolus of insulin, it cracked us up.
14. "Why are you stalling?" Chloe asked in the Nashville airport.
15.  "Just go in the back and scratch your flank," Chloe said in a Grieve toy store when I needed to scratch
16.  "Buddy wants Keeli to give him a bath," Chloe said the first week we had him
17.  "I don't want to die up here, " Chloe said when we took our bikes up the ski lift to view the Alpes De Suisi, the largest alpine meadow in Europe.  We somehow got on a hiking trail with our huge, heavy bikes and had to dismount and walk them down some pretty steep terrain.  A storm was brewing and we didn't have a cell phone and were literally ALONE up there.  I admit that I said some pretty bad words a couple times under my breath.  It was scary because we could've just gone back down the ski lift and not hiked it all the way down in the brush.
18.  In OKC over Thanksgiving we went through the Starbucks drive through and here's what I ordered, "I'll have a trenta unsweet black iced tea with just a splash of water," the lady responded with, "you'd like a splash of love with that?" We all died laughing.  I was told at a Memphis Starbucks that if I wanted the tea stronger to order it with a "splash of water".  hahahahahahaha :)

As you can see it's been a very funny year at our house.  I hope the laughs keep coming and for a year of health and happiness with Chloe :)

Christmas 2014, Birdeye

Monday, December 29, 2014

Merry Christmas!  I think since Christmas was in the middle of the week, this year was smoother than usual.  Or maybe I just got it all rolling earlier this year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  It was the smoothest Christmas ever, thankfully.  We have so many wonderful things to be thankful for...a loving community minded church, family to celebrate with on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (an uncle in there to KILL...check out the photo), health, pets we love, a roof over our heads and many more blessings.  I've added photos from the last two weeks on here.  And My Top 10 List is coming with some of the FUNNIEST quotes of the year :)
Chloe read scripture during our Christmas Eve service and did a GREAT job

Oh la la, the Go Pro camera

Meme and Matt got Chloe a
HUGE box of toys, leashes, treats
and this huge bag of mealworms
 for her chickens...the bag reads,
"feed to your chickens and watch
them dance"  Look at Dr. Calico
and the dogs gathered round...

Buddy got me the soundtrack CD from Frozen
with this note in it.  She's so funny.....:)

Wynne Presbyterian Church Christmas Eve service

Everyone lined up for treats...

Chloe asked for a Go Pro camera with
dog accessories....she got it and here's the
harness....Buddy took the camera all over
Birdeye and got some great footage

Buddy's first Birdeye Christmas....he was
excited but not as much as Biscuit and Gummy





Lunch at Kara's

Christmas Day lunch at Kara's

Santa and Chloe got her dogs plenty of toys
 and treats...here's Gumball

Chloe's new Northface jacket from
Meme and Matt.  She loves that thing!

Dr. Calico got into the treats Chloe
got him...

This nutty blog is uploading photos from Jackie's Iphone on
their side.  Here's Chloe, Biscuit, Gumball and Buddy all
dressed up at the Cross County Courthouse delivering
candy last week before they closed.  It's been a tradition
since Chloe was born.

This was waiting for me Thursday morning....Martin's LOUD MOUTH
announced Tuesday night at Emmy's fried chicken birthday party that
this was the last year his kids would believe in Santa, Chloe was sitting
right next to him.  I, of course, glared at him and he tried to change the
subject...we told Chloe that for Santa to come, you have to believe in
Christmas magic.  She was blue all day long.  Thanks Martin.  I'm
looking forward to getting you back at some point.  I need a pair of boxing
gloves for my birthday...



Birdeye Update

Friday, December 19, 2014

Dr. Calico's new thing when he sees the milk out he jumps on
Chloe's shoulders to try and get a little milk....
 Thursday, December 18, 2014

Well we haven't fallen off the planet, it's just been busy.  After going to Dallas for AJ's funeral, we were getting ready for the annual Birdeye Christmas Party and getting gifts.  Oh and our only credit card was hacked last Thursday while J.Harmon was literally checking out of Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans and I was headed to Dallas.  The only thing they charged was two pairs of men's nylon socks mailed from King Size (I know, right? lol).  I got the socks on Monday and the packing slip said they were from me to me.  Anyway, how I figured it out Thursday night when I got an email saying I had changed my email address and password which I didn't.  They stole $1,000 worth of Capital One gift cards.  It took a week to get the new card in and they're still working on getting me back the reward points.

Last Saturday, Chloe and I made our annual peanut butter balls, it is a long day but worth it.  Making candy is messy and time consuming but we love eating it.  This past Saturday was our annual party and it was a ton of fun, we had 53 roll out and the food was wiped (or swiped) out.  Kara and I enjoy visiting and catching up with everyone.  Jackie's annual shoe contest got rave reviews this year when first time attender, and fellow Presbyterian, Elise Barry won the contest.  We have a Monolo Blahnik trophy that is given to the recipient that must be returned the following year.  It was a good time had by all.  Benton, Tom B, Clarah Creighton, Counts Louise, Stephen, Stephen Junior, Allie and Counts Elizabeth plus Anna Claire Burrow and Sophia Weeks all spent the night at our house.  I was summoned from the adult party because Chloe, Anna Claire and twin brother Connor, 7th graders were in charge of watching the cousins plus Kara's three.  It got out of hand when a huge pillow fight ensued with Counts Elizabeth crying over taking one in the face, Whit dancing on my dining room table and Conner being found under the bed eating poptarts.  When I got there it was all calm...lol...Chloe, Anna Claire and Sophia told us all about the party the next morning over bacon, crescent and cinnamon rolls.  It sounded like a better party than Kara and I's.  Oh and I did find skittles and other candy stowed away in my refrigerator....Chloe said they about wiped out her stash.  LOL.

So now that school is out, we are getting ready for Christmas at Memaw's and Emmy's birthday soiree Tuesday.  It should be a week of fun if we don't get the flu that's going around like wildfire.  Happy Holidays Ya'll.
He's a little much

There were probably 300 people at AJ's precious funeral.  It was
a time of celebration, reflection, laughs and tears.  The service
was at 5:30 pm because that was when she would have dance
parties in the hospital.  She'd been in and out of Dallas Children's
since June and when she was down or the nurses needed her up and
moving they had a 5:30 dance party.  The chaplain from the hospital
did the service and was fantastic.  There really was a dance party
to start the service, we all got up, then her family sang a hymn (the
Bates' can REALLY sing), then they had remarks limited to 2 minutes
each.  I'd say there were 50 people who spoke or read poetry about AJ.
The service let out at 8 pm.  Yes, 2-1/2 hours but it was worth
every minute to reflect on AJ's precious life. She always said,
"It'll be aiight" and never complained not once.  Never asked, "why me?"
Such a testament to what a wonderful person AJ was.
This photo is her aunt in the hat, and AJ's grandmother Marilyn Bates
on her left facing the crowd.

J.Harmon giving the shoe winner her trophy

Not a great shot but here are Elise's shoes

The next morning was our church's
Christmas program.  Chloe, Jackie
and I were helping with potluck so
we watched from the balcony

Linton and Katie Bradshaw had speaking parts
Jackie, me, Dara and David Bigger
at the annual Christmas Party
Kara and I usually get a photo
together but we didn't somehow
(my shoes were KILLING me so those
jokers were off most of the party)

August was up there with us :)