New Year’s Eve
Woke up at 6am this morning, so I got pretty tired as the day wore on. Henry and I went to the zoo for a while in the morning, said hello to Sunny the Komodo Dragon and wandered through the Children’s Zoo, which we hadn’t seen in forever. They’ve got a new insect house with many truly stomach-churning insects and a wonderful zookeeper explaining their horribleness in great detail. The otters were playing and swimming, and we also saw a beautiful ocelot. We watched him for a long time. Henry said that although Sunny is is overall favorite, the ocelot was his favorite of the day.
Came home, did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, etc. Returned the shower head we bought yesterday and got a different one. Dan and Henry played Super Mario Galaxy a lot. They love it! I haven’t had a turn yet but it looks great. For dinner I made a chicken and cauliflower thing that everyone likes, which I invented.
Thaw out some chicken and cut it into more-or-less bite-size chunks. Saute in a large pan until it’s just about done. Then add about half a jar of good tomato sauce and an entire cauliflower, broken into bite-size florets. Add salt/pepper/whatever to taste. Stir it around and cook gently until the cauliflower is juuuust tender. You can serve it over rice or just plain. Grate up some good parmesan cheese and sprinkle it on top of each serving. I had a half a bag of Trader Joe’s Soycotash hanging around so I threw that in while the chicken was cooking and it added a nice touch and made it go a little further.
I wanted something nice and fruity for dessert but very simple so I checked allrecipies.com for something to make with frozen strawberries and heavy cream, and I found something yummy: Chilled Strawberry Cream! I used a whole 12-oz bag of strawberries and half a cup of granulated sugar. My blender didn’t enjoy grinding up a whole bag of strawberries, so I did them a few at a time with a splash of milk. Next time I’ll let them thaw for a little while before blending. It was fantastic! Hmmm, I think it would work with frozen peaches, too.