Life changes

I wanna...

Get to know God
Be content
Exercise every day
Eat better
Be better daughter
Be a better friend
Be a better person
Be a better sister

Ah, the joys of country living...

Well, last night, we watched Pirates 2: Dead man's chest(good movie, by the way). Anyways, we had the dogs in with us and after the movie finished, we put the dogs out in the fence for a few minutes prior to putting them to bed(this is around 10). So it was dark and everything. We heard the dogs barking, for a while, but didn't think anything of it. So, I went out to bring them in and they were barking ferociously at something in the general direction of the woods(or so I thought). So, me, being afraid of the dark, let alone the fact that there might be something in the dark, went back inside to ask Dad for his flashlight. Much to my appreciation(especially when I found out what the animal was), he came out with me to find out what it was. So, we looked around with the flashlight for a minute before we finally discovered it was on the fence. We went a little closer and found out it was a snake. The dogs were being cautious, but they weren't really listening to us, so I went back inside to get them some treats. We put the dogs in and went back out to look at the snake. Now I wish that I had gotten a picture of him, but it's too late now. Anyways, it looked like a black snake to me, however it had some white rings on it(it was dark and hard to see). We were rather surprised to think that the dogs could actually see it on the fence out there. He had himself wrapped around the fence, probably trying to get away(wouldn't you, too, with four dogs after you?). Interesting night last night. We just left him there and he was gone this morning.

Continued countdown...

179 days, 4 hours, 24 minutes until Christmas day...

Chicken Marbella

This is my favorite kind of chicken ever! We don't follow the recipe to the letter, just if you need to change something.

From The Silver Palate
Serves 6-8


5 lbs chicken leg quarters
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 T dried oregano
sea salt and black pepper
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 c pitted prunes
1/4 c pitted Spanish green olives
1/4 c capers with a bit of juice
3 bay leaves

1 or 2 tbls. brown sugar
1/2 c white wine
2 T fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped

1. Rinse chicken pieces and pat dry. In a lrg. glass baking dish, arrange chicken pieces in a single layer. Combine garlic, oregano, sea salt and black pepper, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers and juice, and bay leaves, and arrange over and around chicken. Cover and let marinate in refrigerator overnight (or at least 4 hours).
2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Sprinkle the dish with brown sugar and pour in the white wine. Place baking dish in the oven and bake 50 minutes to 1 hour until thigh pieces yield clear, yellow juice.
4. Transfer chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. (Or you can put the olives and capers and prunes in a separate serving dish from the chicken platter.) Moisten chicken with spoonfuls of juices, and sprinkle generously with parsley. Serve.