Monday Morning This and That

Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos

and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends - but only one mother in the whole world.

Kate Douglas Wiggin

Is the weekend really over already?  Too fast.  Way too fast.  Saturday was pretty much a washout.  Boy, did the rain come down, but Sunday was an okay day. Both of my sons came over for a nice visit, and I was ordered not to cook. We spent the afternoon going through some old photo albums, and then we ordered some pulled noodles and chicken from down the block. Wonderful memories were shared. Later, after they had gone home, I took some time later in the evening after all had gone home to remember the women in my family...my mom, my grandmother, and all the other women who made me what I am today. I found myself surrounded by love. 

I tried two new chicken recipes this week, and both turned out fabulous...and not very expensive to make. With food products skyrocketing as they are, I'm learning to become more budget conscious.  The first was lime spiced chicken breasts.  I tend to take the bare bones of a recipe and add, subtract, and basically make it my own.  So, here are the final ingredients for the spicy chicken.

black pepper

cayenne pepper

Mrs. Dash's extra spicy

 paprika 

 garlic powder

dried thyme

dried parsley

4  chicken breast halves

green pepper

chopped onion

2 tbs butter

1 tbs olive oil

lime juice

I also add ingredients without paying attention to measurements; hence, but you can add as much or as little as you want, what is comfortable for you.  I do tend to be a bit heavy on the cayenne sometimes so I have to watch myself.   Mix all the seasonings together.  Arrange chicken, green pepper, and onion in baking pan. Sprinkle with lime juice, then sprinkle spice mixture generously on both sides of chicken breasts. Bake at 350 degrees until done. About 30 minutes before it is done, I turn chicken and re-sprinkle for added taste.  Yummy dish!!!

The second was chicken and pineapple,  a slow cooked Hawaiian inspired dish. So easy to make and finger lickin' good!!!  Did you ever have a meal that you didn't want to end? This one is a keeper.

small chicken drumsticks

garlic powder

1 cup fresh or canned pineapple

honey   

soy sauce 

green pepper
cooking oil

Brown chicken.  Mix all ingredients together and add to chicken. At this point I add a little water.  Bring to boil and simmer sauce thickened and chicken done.

Saturday afternoon I watched "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".  Haven't seen it in years, and it sure did bring up memories.  That movie, and the women I worked with at an answering service back then, gave me the idea for the one and only screenplay I wrote, way back in the late 70's.   I'd written plays before, but this was the first time I tackled something so extreme.  The story itself was about a group of women of various ages and ideals along with strong personalities who work together on the night shift of an answering service.  (What else?) The narrator and main character was me, of course, a very shy young woman who was  involved in an abusive relationship. When he would call her and yell at her, she'd pull the plug.  This gave her the only sense of power she had at the time.

Another character was loosely based on a real woman I worked with who introduced me to Carlos Castenada and Shamanism as a way of life. Each evening this character would come in an tell us of the various places and people she met while astral traveling.  Of course, her stories were so far-fetched that it soon became obvious she lived in a fantasy world. In fact,  each woman was dealing with some sort of mental illness or personality disorder,  and it was during their evening chats, when the boards slowed down, each woman gradually opened up and shared their lifetime secrets as if in a group therapy session.  The film ended with the answering service closing down, and the women going their separate ways.

I even registered it with the 'Screen Writer's Guild', now the 'Writer's Guild of America', but nothing ever came of it because I only half-heartedly sent it around to agents, and after ten years, it was fair game.  An unknown has to bust their butt to get in the door, but I was in the midst of a bad relationship, and my mind and heart weren't with it. The name of my script was 'Friends', and it was written long before the hit television show. Imagine that.

Wishing you all a great start to the new week.