Soup and Salad

There's been a lot of cooking but not a lot of plating or preparing for pictures. What that means is that everytime I turn around to take a picture, the food is already gone or (if I manage to take a pic) the plating looks horrible. So much is going on at home I've been lacking. But I'm getting back into the groove. Here are two chicken meals I served recently:

Chicken soup with udon (Japanese wheat noodles)

Romaine, grape tomatoes, croutons and chicken breast with homemade dressing.

And We're Back!

Hello hello! It has been too long since I updated this blog. The news:

Kyle is back home and doing much much better than he was a week ago. He is walking, talking, and acting like his usual self. The seizures stopped after they gave him an IV-IG treatment (that's immunoglobulin for those of us without PhDs). Apparently what happened is that he developed walking pneumonia and the antibodies wouldn't stop producing. That's what caused the encephalitis. He saw his pediatrician this past Friday and everything seems to be okay. A meeting with his school will be held on Monday to see when (and how) he will begin attending school again. I am so happy to have my boy home with me.

I'm so happy to be back home and with the rest of my family. I have to say, though, the Ronald McDonald House was wonderful. If you ever find yourself wanting to give to a good cause, they're an amazing organization. In the two weeks we were there we had a room, access to laundry facilities, a warm meal every night, television rooms on each floor, a play ground for kids...it really strives to be more of a home for people who can't be at their own homes while their children are getting the treatment they need. I loved being there.

Now that things have settled down considerably and I feel rested, I'm jumping back into the kitchen. Tonight I'll be making a taco buffet; chicken, beef, refried beans, black beans, salsa, guacamole, cheeses, rice, and hot sauces will be laid out for my family to make their own taco bowls. I'll try to snap a picture of the feast.

I'm glad to be back and posting again.

Until next time,
<3 Jess

Testing the Nintendo DS and Blogger

Testing...

Update: Well, I guess it worked! Apparently you can post on blogger using the internet browser on the DS. Unfortunately, it's a bit slow and not suitable for posting anything more than a short paragraph. Still, it's nice to know. I assume that I can post comments on other blogs through the DS as well. That'd be nice.

The picture to the side is a screenshot of this blog on the DS. I could read everything clearly, scroll down, zoom in, etc. To people with cell phones and PDAs this probably doesn't seem very special but since I don't have a cell phone, it's pretty cool to me. Three cheers for Nintendo!

Until next time,
<3 Jess

Pork Chops with Mixed Vegetables and Red Beans and Rice

Red rice and beans cooked in the same pot with achiote, paprika and other spices served with an oregano and black pepper rubbed boneless pork chop. A serving of mixed vegetables (green beans, corn, potatoes and carrots) finishes the meal. The pork chop was very tender and moist; I think the picture makes it look otherwise. Note to self: take picture of cut pork chop next time.

Coconut ice was for dessert.

Tomorrow I will be cooking, and providing the recipe, for Bistec Encebollado (thin steaks smothered in onions and a vinaigrette, puerto rican style). Also next week I start making holiday treats so be prepared for posts about coconut candy, cookies, and homemade peanut butter cups as well as a frugal meals series.

Until next time,
Jess

Where To Find My Writing

If you look over at my labels I don't have anything for my writing. No I haven't stopped or gotten rid of anything, I just never used this blog for creative writing purposes. Since I don't intend to transfer all of those posts here (that would take days) I will link to two places you can find my work.

The first is my defunct writing blog Ink to Bark. I actually really liked having a writing blog but I find it hard to keep it updated. For now it will stay up so anyone wanting to read old posts is free to do so.

The second is my EditRed profile. I am still a member and will be updating this often as well as participating in challenges, commenting on others' work, etc etc. If you're an ER member drop me a line so I can add you to my reader list.

Any new writing will be posted in this blog and under a " my writing" label. Anything that is not written by me will be under some other label ("literature" perhaps).

Until next time
<3 Jess

New Material, New Look

In case you haven't noticed, WiF has a new look; a nice mellow background colour and font that is easier to read. I think it's a nice change from the black and red, which is proof my teenage angst has run its course.

Furthermore I've decided to make this my blog of choice. All my other blogs are on hiatus and feature links to this one. I'm just too absentminded to keep switching back and forth to post in each one. My real life is obviously not that separated so why should my blog be? From now on this is my blog, everything you've never wanted to know about me in one smart, little Google feature. I have used the nifty labeling add on in order to make sifting through my posts easier. If you want to look at just cooking, click on "cooking." If you want to read my writing, click on "writing." (Truth be told I don't have much writing on here...but that's for another post).

I hope this makes my blog easier to read. If anyone has any suggestions or just wants to say hello, leave a comment.

Until next time
<3 Jess

Update. That's Right. An Update.

*wipes dust off of blog* Testing, testing, is this thing still on?

Insert reasons for me being away here [___________]. Okay, now that you're done reading that, let's get on with it. I'm giving this blog a kick mostly because I've started crafting/producing art a lot more than I used to. That and I missed blogging. So here I am.

Now, my old pictures used to be kept on my old domain and I lost it so old pictures are lost. I've sold a lot of things I've made so that means no pictures of the past. :( Thankfully I have plenty of new things to show for my absence. I'll be posting things sporadically but will try to get in at least a post a week.

Now where did I put my scissors?

<3