Cliffhanger Resolved: Faithless Lover Makes Rice

Boiled and Baked Long-Grain Rice - pg. 101

Geez, that was quite a cliffhanger, wasn't it. Well, whatever was wrong with my intestines (or whatever it was that hurt), thank the goddess that it resolved on its own. Plus, I tried a new doctor and think I'm going to like her. She has solved my IBS with the right probiotic, is paying strict attention to my blood pressure, and has sent me to a neurologist to get my minor hand tremor diagnosed.

Then we went to Borneo. Which was wonderful, enlightening, fun, and just basically a swell trip. We had a few days in Singapore on the way. I love Singapore. I want to spend 2 weeks in Singapore. Then we went to Ft. Smith Arkansas to spend Christmas with Randy's mom and step-father. Then we went to Bakersfield to see Randy's brother and his wife and their twin college freshman sons. Then we went to San Francisco for a business meeting. Okay, Randy conducted business, I shopped and played and ate. And, we've had to give our oldest cat, Maizie Jane Valentine, a lot of extra care and attention to deal with her severe arthritis -- she's doing a lot better now on gawd-awfully expensive narcotics. Well, heck, I would be, too.

Meanwhile, back at the range.... I've been a faithless lover. I haven't cooked much and haven't pursued my Alice Waters TAOSF project. OTOH, I have made Alice recipes that I've made before. And I've played "Chopped" in the kitchen, cooking from the frig without recipes. And I've played around with my Crock-Pot slow cooker and America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook, both of which I LOVE.

Tonight! Tonight! I'm back at it. I made Boiled and Baked Long-Grain Rice. Doesn't sound like a big deal, I know, but I gotta tell ya I've NEVER been able to make rice. Ever. I've always made Randy make the rice because following the directions on the backs of the rice bags has never ever worked for me. I've always ended up with gummy messes. Now I've made rice with all 3 of Alice's methods and every single one of them has yielded the fluffy rice of my dreams. Now Randy makes ME make the rice! (Lately, his rice has gone down hill. Sorry about that, Dear Heart.) I topped the rice with a "Chopped" dish: left over shredded chicken and fresh chopped broccoli in a sauce made of chicken sauce from the originally cooked chicken (in the Crock-Pot) with a big shot of very spicy fresh salsa finished with a bit of hickory smoked salt. It was really good!

So, it's a new year. I've been very productive in my studio in 2012, and now I'm back to TAOSF and blogging about it.

104 recipes completed; a mere 201 yet to tackle