What the hell happened to I Love Your Work?

Along with other resolutions, I resolved to start posting more to helenjane.com. As the photos from New Year’s are still under development, and I still wanted to put something up today, I leave you with two semi-related, semi-funny knock knock jokes.

Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Japan!
Japan who?
Japan is too hot, ouch!

Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Beethoven!
Beethoven who?
Beethoven is too hot, ouch!

Redesigny hj.com goodness, check.

Implemented sIfr successfully, check.

Project Good Dog Adoption 2005, underway.

Knitting projects, full steam ahead.
(I have been madly completing projects, but as they are always on a timeline, I seem to just complete them before shipping and packing them off. However one that I just finished for myself leaves distinctly pube-shaped fuzz on all my clothes. Shudder.)

Painting big pictures on bigger walls and bigger wood, on target.

Purchased James’ birthday present with generous, kind and beautiful Kelly’s Pixar discount, all set.

I’ve started this year like busy little crafter, wiping my hands on my apron and bustling off into the next room to start my next project. Gliding off my New Year’s aversion to alcohol, I’ve been on the wagon (3 days!). This leaves me with much more time/energy on my hands than I’m entirely comfortable with. As a result, I’ve tried a few new things culinarily.

I made Cook’s Illustrated balsamic braised chicken thighs last night. It looked relatively diet-friendly, employed swiss chard, a vegetable I had no previous experience with and had a whole lot of my favorite ingredients (balsamic vinegar! chicken thighs! anchovy!)

Sadly, it was a visual disaster. With the addition of both canned diced tomatos, balsamic vinegar glaze and swiss chard, the meal became an unappitizing mound of soupy swamp guck. James was horrified and I had to bribe him with The Love to get him to try it (instead of resorting to Reeces Puffs).

I made it exactly like their instructions.
It tasted great, but appearances? Definitely Shrek-worthy.

Here’s the recipe from the magazine, I encourage you to try it yourself, just eat it with a blindfold.

Serves 4

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 pounds), trimmed of excess fat and skin
table salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion , halved and sliced about 1/4 inch thick (about 2 cups)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 cloves of garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
1 anchovy fillet (about 1 teaspoon), minced
1 can diced tomato , drained (14 1/2 ounces)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup dry red wine (at least it was in the food, not my glass –grin)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
1 bay leaf
12 ounces swiss chard, washed and dried
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1.Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle both sides of chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in nonreactive Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking; add chicken thighs skin-side down and cook without moving them until skin is crisped and well browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Using tongs, turn chicken pieces and brown on second side, about 5 minutes longer; transfer thighs to large plate.

2. Pour off all but 1 teaspoon fat from pot. Add onion and tomato paste and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally and scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon, until tomato paste begins to darken, about 4 minutes (if bottom of pot becomes very dark and sticky, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water). Add garlic and anchovy and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, and wine, scraping up browned bits with wooden spoon. Add red pepper flakes, thyme, and bay. Remove and discard skin from chicken thighs, then submerge chicken bone-side up in liquid, adding any chicken juices accumulated on plate. Increase heat to high, bring to simmer, cover, then place pot in oven. Cook until chicken offers no resistance when poked with tip of paring knife but meat still clings to bone, 40 to 55 minutes.

3. While chicken cooks, trim stems from Swiss chard. Cut stems crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces; halve leaves lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick strips. Set stems and leaves aside separately. Also while chicken cooks, simmer balsamic vinegar in 8-inch nonreactive skillet over medium-high heat until thick, syrupy, and reduced to 1/4 cup, 3 to 5 minutes (begin measuring volume when vinegar begins to cling to sides of saucepan). Set vinegar reduction aside.

4. Using slotted spoon, transfer chicken to plate and tent with foil; discard bay leaf. Bring liquid in Dutch oven to simmer over medium-high heat; add chard stems and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost tender, about 8 minutes. Add chard greens and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir about 1/3 cup sauce into balsamic reduction to loosen, then stir mixture into sauce; adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Return chicken and accumulated juices to sauce, cook until heated through, about 2 minutes, turning chicken once or twice. Use slotted spoon to transfer chard to serving dish or individual bowls; place chicken thighs on chard, then spoon sauce over. Serve immediately.

And don’t forget to serve with Frog Brains and Newt Fingers.

It’s been 1995 all day.

Firstly, I’ve been listening to Betty Rocker’s zeitgeistily appropriate Holiday cd mix.

Betty Rocker and I are old pals from college. I knew her best during our hiking boots and braided-belt-with-jeans phase.

(Excellent addition of the Hanson song “Penny and Me,” Ms. Rocker.)

Secondly, enjoying the random showing of VH1′s Christmas Videos circa 1995 made me so happy. Especially the obscure PeeWee Herman/Bryan Adams “Reggae Christmas” performance.

I can’t find a version online, but I can tell you I wanted to crawl up behind Bryan Adams’ sunglasses and take a little nap.

No not that Bryan Adams.

Thirdly, the cabbage soup diet made its way via work email to me today as a reminder for those looking to immediately shed a few holiday pounds. My college roommate and I tried the cabbage soup diet a week before the Sigma Chi Sweetheart formal.

After becoming incredibly cranky, gassy and well, regular, we can honestly admit to having lost 12 very smelly pounds each.

Fourthly, I was sick–like really sick–all day on New Year’s day, much like I’ve been on every New Year’s day since 1995.

Fifthly, has it really been ten years since 1995?
It seems like just yesterday I was a selfish 19 year old with a curling iron and off the shoulder bodysuit addiction.

At some point that year I became a hippy, wearing swishy floral skirts and following Phish.
Then I got the Rachel.
Then I wore blazers and vowed to beat corporate America at its own game. At some point I wore all three at once.

My journals from that time bemoan my multiple boyfriends,
“…But I like them for so many different reasons…”
complain about my weight,
punish myself for excessive drinking and to my neverending happiness,
was thankful.

Save for one, my journals haven’t really changed that much.

I knew that time was fleeting and I’m glad to say I took full advantage of being 19. I was nineteen with the best of them.

I hope I can be 29 with the best of them.

I hope I take advantage of all the bonuses of being a grownup, all the while remembering that I’m still a little bit hippy, I overcame my Rachel, and vow to join, um or er, beat corporate America for all it’s worth.

So hello, hello 2005.
May I be twice as grateful and not at all as self-absorbed this year.

(Maybe that will just be my motto.)