Favorite Kitchen Toy Part 2

With Don's work schedule, I really like doing a hot lunch. Then, if he comes home at 8:00, he knows that dinner will be hunt and find. Yesterday, I made garlic/rosemary chicken. Here is how: At 11:30, I snipped some rosemary from my garden, washed it off. Then I smashed two garlic cloves with some kosher salt to make a paste. Using chicken breasts with bone in/skin on, I lifted the skin and rubbed the garlic paste on the chicken, followed by the snipped fresh rosemary. Then I let it sit for 1 hour. At 12:30, I turned on the pressure cooker (see previous post), and melted butter and sauted onions. Then in went the chicken, skin side down to brown. Flipped the chicken over, added 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, set the pressure cooker to cook for 15 minutes on high pressure, and we sat down to lunch at 1:05. Awesome!

My New Favorite Kitchen Toy

This is my new and most favorite kitchen toy ever. It is a Cuisinart pressure cooker. I remember pressure cookers from childhood. Mother had one - it was a Presto - and consisted of a pot, lid and a pressure thingy on top. If used incorrectly, the pressure thingy would blow right off. So this type of cooking never appealed to me because of visions of holes in the ceiling and stuff everywhere.

Enter Don's new job at Williams Sonoma. A customer purchased one of these from him and was singing the praises of 40 minute pork roasts. We decided to give it a try. Well, wonders never cease! It is a marvel!

My first meal was basic beef stew. The Cuisinart brand cooker has browning and sauteing features. So I browned the meat, added the rest of the stuff, and cooked it for 10 minutes, added the carrots, another 6 minutes of cooking, and lunch was ready. Amazing! So that night we had Acapulco chicken with rice - everything cooked in about 15 minutes. The next night chili - wonderful. Today I made risotto in 7 minutes with no stirring and it was the best ever. I love my new toy! Sunday we are going to try a roast - stay tuned for updates. . .

I Love Fall!

Our most wonderful landscaper, John, finished the little bed in front of the house. You will find me on the bench having coffee - please come by for a visit!

Captain Clinton and the Stingrays

Captain Clinton picked us up at the dock in Grand Cayman and took us out on our Stingray adventure. We were a little nervous - and then we saw the 'rays. They were enormous! Yikes! But like the brave tourists we were, into the water we went. Thankfully, Capt. Clinton also got into the water with us, helped us hold our new friends and we even kissed the 'rays for good luck! Hope I can find those pictures on someone else's camera. Chris had taken an underwater housing for my camera and was able to get the good underwater pictures. This was great fun!

In Cozumel, we went to Cooking School! Great fun with Chef Luis, a Cozumel local who had also studied in France and Italy. We made an appetizer, main dish of fish and stuffed pepper, and a dessert dish with cookies and rice pudding. Pam and Mike, Don, Catherine, Chris and I went cooking while the rest of our group took a beach trip.

Nearly every exit from every port found us on Brett and Melanie's balcony enjoying the view and visiting about our day. Here are a few of the pictures.

And we will sail away. . .

Off we go on our cruise adventure! Because the Hurricane Gustav is messing with our schedule, we will be going to Progresso, Mexico, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. There are 12 of us total: Don and Linda, Catherine & Mike, Chris, Caylin, Don's sister and husband, and 4 friends of Cat and Mike's: Brett and Melanie and Joseh and Michelle. All of the pictures will be coming up in the next few days. Keep watching. . .