Adventures with Chicken Curry

I realized that I still have not done a post about cooking and since it is one of my favorite hobbies, I figured that I better start.  My friend Alvin was doing a class project on India and needed to make an Indian dish for his class so I suggested that he make chicken curry.  We found a recipe in my mom’s book of 20 minute meals and decided to make it.  How they call these 20 minute meals I still do not know!  It practically took us 20 minutes to cut the onions…partially because my eyes were watering so I could not even see what I was cutting and partially because I could not figure out what the burning plastic smell was which I later realized was the empty frying pan on the heated stove.  However, an hour later we had tons of delicious chicken curry which his class loved!

Alvin keeping an eye on the curry.

Looking Good.

Watch out for the steamy rice.



Chicken Curry

1 ½ TBS. Vegetable Oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

¼ tsp. salt

2 tsp. curry powder

1 can (12 to 14 oz.) unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup diced tomatoes

2 TBS. tomato paste

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch strips

3 cups fresh baby spinach

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and the salt.  Cook until softened, about 7 minutes, stirring often.  Add the curry powder and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. 

Stir in the coconut milk, tomatoes, and tomato paste.  Cook for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.

Add the chicken, stir well, and cook 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  Stir in the spinach and cook for 3 minutes or until wilted, stirring occasionally.  Season to taste with salt. Serve over rice.

Makes 4 servings.

Easter Eggs & Empty Graves

Easter mornings at our house always consist of church, an egg hunt where we are each assigned a specific number of eggs to find, and of course, dyeing Easter eggs.  It is always special to not only celebrate this holiday but the meaning behind it; this year was no exception.  When it came time to dyeing the Easter eggs, I could not help but snap a couple of pictures and managed to capture a few key moments.

The counters were covered, eggs set out, and dye prepared.

 Candy is crucial to any egg decorating session.

Kevin decided to be artsy and draw on his egg with a white crayon before dyeing it. 
 Looks like someone may need to wash their hands though.

 The egg dye was not as strong as we had hoped so it took a bit of

patient waiting, sprinkles, and food coloring to properly dye our eggs.

 Just receiving a little advice from the expert.

A couple of the eggs cracked along the way...

But Brian saw it as the perfect opportunity to have a snack.

And of course Dad had to record everything on his ancient video camera. 

 But overall the eggs truned out pretty cute.

Easter weekend was a success and wonderful time to refocus before finals.  Our pastor showed a neat video during the church service called "Reverse Thinking" and I encourage y'all to check it out if you have the chance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgFU5Ak88-k&feature=related!

Friday Night Time Travel

During my senior year of high school, Friday nights meant one thing, lacrosse games.  All of our closest guy friends and boyfriends played lacrosse so we would all get decked out in green and gold to go cheer them on.  Afterwards we would all meet up at In-N-Out Burger so the boys could get something to eat. 

My friends at their championship game.

One of my three brothers, Brian, is now a sophomore in high school and currently in the middle of his lacrosse season.  So since I am home this weekend for Easter, I of course wanted to see him play in his game on Friday. 

Brian (#25) at his game.

Brian’s game was particularly inspirational to watch because one of his coaches who was there.  This coach found out at the beginning of the season that he had Stage 3 lung cancer, but he decided to not let this stop him.  To support him, Brian and all of his teammates buzzed his initials on the back of their heads.  Even in the middle of chemo, he still shows up at the games and was coaching and yelling just as much as ever on the sidelines. 

Still coaching in spite of everything.

Lacrosse, for those of you who have never seen the sport, is an incredibly fast paced game that is a mixture between hockey, football, and a bit of soccer.  It is by far my favorite sport to watch because you never get bored or have to wait around for someone to score.  The ball is constantly flying and people are attacking each other from all angles (my mom’s least favorite part of the game).

My mom's hands are constantly clasped as she watches the game. 
Note the cheat sheet of players' names and numbers.

As I sat watching the game, I could not help but be taken back in time.  I still remember each of my friends’ numbers so when I saw the numbers on the jerseys of Brian’s teammates, it seemed like my friends were playing on the field.  The field was decorated by leadership with posters that had the same sayings that we would use and the same green and gold streamers that we put up. 



Streamer, posters, and metal bleachers.

The only difference was that at the end of the game, I would not be going down to the field to brave the unbearable smell of sweaty pads to give a congratulatory hug to all of my friends.  However, I still was able to give a hug to one sweaty player, my brother and that was good enough for me.

Moments

we do not

remember days...

we remeber

moments.

(cesare pavese)



This past weekend I spent the night in Austin with two of my roommates, Chloe and Emily, to celebrate all of the great things happening in our lives.  Within a 7 day period, Emily and Chloe both celebrated birthdays and I found out that I got an internship in NYC for the summer.  We had a wonderful time relaxing by the pool, getting dressed up, and going out for a delicious dinner at Ranch 616.  It was not the trip itself that was so special, but all the little moments, the laughs shared, and pictures taken that will make us remember our time together forever.



Between the three of us we brought about 15 dresses for less than 24 hrs.

 

The Austin city view from Chloe's family's apartment where we stayed.

What's a birthday party without a birthday hat??



Chloe



Emily



Lisa



Just in case you were wondering how we took a picture of all three of us...
Self-timer, a little bit of balancing, and a Shipley's Donut box work wonders.