In case you were ever in Costco and saw the one-gallon container of mayonnaise, and wondered who bought it…
That would be us. And no, we’re not planning on a party or opening a restaurant. Some of you know that Scott is a bit of a mayo-maniac (mayo-niac?). We bought the 1/2 gallon size about a month ago, and it’s almost all gone. (I have made a couple batches of coleslaw, but still.) So we hope this one will last a bit longer.
Since there’s a chicken roasting in the oven right now, I think I’ll tell you about it. Drawing on the wisdom of others, I’m finding that butterflying the bird works really well, and that the combination of butter under the skin and olive oil on top of the skin is delicious (if not terribly healthy). I also figured out a great little trick of my own. I was having some trouble doing the seasoning of the chicken under the skin and thought I’d try smooshing all the seasonings in the butter before putting it under the skin. This works great – you essentially make a compound butter, mixing in whatever you want. I used dried onion, tarragon, garlic, salt and pepper. When the chicken cooks, the compound butter turns into this great season-y crust under the skin.
We have a plan to turn leftovers into a chicken cake sandwich later this week. This was a sandwich we had in Baltimore recently, the same recipe as a really good crab cake, but using chunks of chicken instead. Topped with a generous smear of mayo, of course.
Except that I am pretty swamped. I’m sure most of you are not surprised that this blog falls pretty low on my list of priorities. But since some people also use it as a way to see if I’m still alive, I should probably post just a little today. So here are some updates:
- My first two weeks of classes have gone well, but are pretty time consuming since 1) these are classes I haven’t taught before, and 2) giddy with the thought of small classes, I’ve assigned way too many essays to my students. Grading, anyone?
- We went to watch our first home football game of the season yesterday. I thought it would be fun and it seemed appropriate since about 1/10 of the team is enrolled in my classes. It was a nailbiter, finally lost in triple overtime, in 95 degree heat. I still have the longstanding question, “How is it that a school with only 1200 students manages to have a roster of 100 football players?” But we realized that sacrifices have taken place – there is no college marching band. Instead, the local high school band plays at our games.
- We also saw the first half of one of the women’s soccer games, since about 1/4 of that team is in my classes. They got their first loss of the season. Maybe I am bad luck?
- I bought a new bike – it’s a sweet ride. A 2009 Giant Cypress ST. I will be riding it to work tomorrow (wearing my helmet).
- I have discovered that I am not entirely slothful. Given a short commute and a nice gym at my workplace, I’ve actually been working out 3-4 days per week.
- We learned this week that the BK Steakhouse burger is kind of disgusting. We will stick with the Whopper. (Clearly, I have been less than 100% dedicated to the diet.)
I commented yesterday under my last post about having a good first day of work, when not much later, on my ride home, I got hit by a car. Spoke too soon?
Yes, really, I got hit by a car.
I was biking on a usually empty side street, and a driver heading towards me turned left into his driveway. The sun was facing him, and he just didn’t see me, until I hit his windshield. There are lots of ways I was lucky:
- He wasn’t going very fast, and neither was I
- I shattered his windshield with my shoulder and not my head…
- Even though I wasn’t wearing my helmet (never again, I don’t care how small the town is)
- I got to be tied to a back board, with a neck collar, and taken away in an ambulance. Excitement! And I was conscious for it!
- After tests and x-rays, I was confirmed to have only bumps and bruises, nothing broken.
- Scott is up in Maryland for a few days to celebrate his Dad’s birthday (Happy Birthday!), but my good friend Kathy came to meet me at the hospital, and kept me at their house for the night. She and Vance also fed me shrimp tacos, wine and listened to me say, with wonder, every 10 minutes or so, “I got hit by a car!”
Today, I’m a little sore, and I can see where I’m going to be black and blue in a couple of days, but I feel mostly okay, and extremely lucky. And my students found the story more than a little entertaining. Describing the importance of attending class, and my attendance policy, I got to say “I got hit by a car yesterday, and I STILL made to an 8am class today.”
On the down side, my bicycle did not make it through the ordeal. I fear what my neighbors thought when the police came and deposited the pieces in my driveway.
My coffee cup holder, some of you might be interested to know, also did not perform well in the crash test. The coffee mug flew out and onto the curb. I’ll have to rework the design when I get my new bike.
