Just a quick post in the middle of a busy few days. I checked the weather this afternoon on my favorite weather site to see just how cold it was going to be, and this is what I found:
Apparently it’s raining pigs in Table Grove, IL.
Oh, and to top it off, I put our zip code into wunderground, and it gave us Table Grove, which isn’t even where we live. Something fishy (or piggy?) is going on here.
Every few weeks I get to feeling adventurous in the kitchen, and I make something completely by the seat of my pants – no recipe, no plan, just start by chopping something and see where I end up. Most of the time, this results in mediocre food. Occasionally it results in something really awful. But every once in a while, the result is absolutely fantastic – a dish you might see in a great restaurant or on one of those over-the-top shows on the food network, like (my favorite) Iron Chef America.
Sunday night was one of those adventurous nights, and one of the rare ones where the result was marvelously good. Here’s what I did:
Started with a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts, and a couple cloves of chopped garlic. I decided to add some Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Seasoned Salt to the garlic, and before I knew it the worcestershire sauce was out and I mashed it all into a rub. A splash of lemon juice completed the rub, which was applied liberally to the chicken.
I started some chicken stock on the back burner, and then coated a skillet with olive oil. I seared the chicken in the skillet, then put it into a baking dish with a bath of chicken stock. I wanted something else in it, and Marcia suggested nuts. She chopped a bunch of almonds, peanuts, and cashews and I put about 3/4 of the nuts in the baking dish with the chicken and stock. Into the oven at 350 degrees.
With some more chicken stock, I started some Fettucini noodles, and once the stock was boiling I tossed in the rest of the nuts. This permeated the noodles with both chicken flavor and nuttiness.
When the chicken finally came out of the oven (of course it needed to be basted several times with the stock in the pan to keep from becoming dry), I dished the pasta onto plates, put some oregano on the pasta, and a piece of chicken on top of the pasta bed. The whole thing then got one more spoonful of the baked chicken stock, and was covered in the chopped nuts that were in the bottom of the baking dish.
Moment of truth…
Delicious! This is definitely a course to keep and use for company at some point in the future.
Oh… last but not least… this delicious pasta/chicken dish was served with the new Cranberry Sierra Mist. What is it about cranberrys and poultry that make such a great combination?
I never really resolved for anyone else that my car runs well now. Thanks to my now husband was fiance. In the end the last thing fixed was a leak in the gas tank. Oddly enough after all the work I had done on it I believe I am getting worse gas mileage. Perhaps some failures under the hood make the engine run better, though I really have no desire to run out and brake anything.
Now I am done with the B&B. I miss all the new people, but at the same time it is great to be in the same town as my love. Less than a week back and I was asked to fill in at the university daycare for a week and a half. It was great, I love children. And it is often better when you can give them back at the end of the day. The next week was all wedding all day.
The wedding went very well with out anything too big to handle. There was one hitch with the boquet. I am not a big spender, especially on one-time-use things… And I spent a lot on that, only to have it look like a twelve-year-old boy could have thrown it together in a vase. Thank goodness for a wonderful mother-in-law, who is extremely talented, and took the flowers apart and added to it to make it what it is (can be seen in the photo in the last post).
Today I had an interview at the local university. My job starts tomorrow. The people I will work with seem friendly and I like the job discription.
I am now a married woman. I now have a full-time job. I am healthy.
I am happy!
Ladies and gentlemen, US!
Here we are coming out of the LDS temple in Nauvoo, Illinois after our wedding this morning. The day was fun and wonderful but exhausting at the same time. We’re excited and ready to jump into this new adventure head first.
We’ll post more pictures when we get back from our honeymoon, but for now, this classic picture in front of the beautiful doors of the temple will have to do.
We would be remiss not to recognize the talents of our good friend Dan Tieken who is a talented photographer, nice guy, and all around wonderful human being. He took this picture and most of the other great pictures of our wedding day that we’ll be posting.
So, without further ado… Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Thurman.
Last night when all was said and done, I went home alone… for the last time.
I slept in a bed by myself… for the last time.
I woke up alone… for the last time.
I wandered around the apartment half asleep and all by myself… for the last time.
And now I’m sitting here, alone, about 10 minutes from leaving for Nauvoo. When I get back, I’ll be the proud husband of a wonderful wife.
So, this post is my eulogy and lament for the end of single life, which I absolutely enjoyed and encourage all and sundry to enjoy without reservation. However, at the same time, this is the beginning of an exciting new adventure in my life, which is no longer just mine, it is ours. Hers and mine. Us. We. Together. Forever.
There is no one else in the world that could convince me to give up being single, but with her, I believe that being married will be even better.
And she’s worth it.