Wednesday Blahs

It's a cloudy day here and not much going on around our place.  Mark got home Saturday morning and has just been really jet lagged ever since.  The poor guy is zonked and he turned 50 yesterday so that's not helping matters.  Yep, my honey is 50 and we've been married exactly half his lifetime now! WOW!  I really think he should call up his old frat brothers and collect on that "They'll never make it" bet!!!!  We'd be billionaires on the odds that they were laying.  Anyway, we didn't do anything special for his day but this is the year that he gets to buy a Porsche per our agreement of 5 years ago.  I so wish that was a possibility right now for him even more than he realizes.  I hate that he's worked so hard all these years  and gave up his car 4 years ago to get our finances in better order since it looked like we'd both be out of a job with him in automotive and me in banking.  It breaks my heart because he truly loves sports cars and the engineering skills that built them so much.  I really hope when this adventure of living overseas is done that we'll be ready for him to buy a new one!!!!!
I plan on us going to visit the Porsche museum in Frankfort this weekend if he's up to it.  He's been once a few years ago but I've never had the chance.  The weather is suppose to be nice so it would make a great little day trip for us.

I didn't even cook the birthday boy dinner last night because I had a nagging headache.  We did the very European thing of fresh bread, cheese, sausage and fruit for dinner along with wine and beer.  However, I did cook the night before a recipe from Donna Davis that was outstanding! She and Morgan made it one night for me and I begged and begged for the leftovers and the recipe.  Now it got crammed into my recipe box and I promptly forgot about it until Monday afternoon.  Does anyone else do that, get a recipe and then forget completely about it until they stumble across it many moons later?  My box is crammed full of tidbits that I've cut from magazines, newspapers, collected from family and friends only to be crammed into the abyss never to be seen again or at least not for a long time.  I get into a rut of making the same old, same old stuff but since I now have time on my hands I've been trying to find at least one new thing a week to make.  I enjoy cooking....no I really do especially now that I'm not working outside the home.  So without further a do here's:

 Donna Davis' Chicken Pecan Pasta

1/3 stick butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1TBSP olive oil
Boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into cubes

Cook over medium heat until chicken is browned

Add 3/4 cup chopped pecans
3-4 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 cups Penna Pasta, cooked

Put a lid on the skillet and let simmer until cooked down, stir often

That's it and it's super easy but oh so delicious.  And I know you're thinking pecans and tomatoes but they are just amazing together and this comes from the woman that doesn't eat tomatoes!  I also broiled fresh brussel sprouts and made a peach cobbler so Mark was a happy boy! 

Today I'm making the chocolate pumpkin bread as a surprise for Mark and I'm going to figure out how in the heck to make sourdough bread.  That's one of his favorite breads and we're having trouble finding any over here so I'm off to search the web.  I have to roast my own pumpkin since there is no pie filling or even canned pumpkin around here but I've discovered that it's really easy to do.  I kinda think I'm actually learning to cook now since I can't depend on finding convenience foods over here.   I think of it more as the way my grandmothers cooked, making do with what they had, learning what to substitute and that fresh foods just taste better.  I do miss my microwave more than I thought I would but hey you just can't have it all.  Hope you all have a great day and that you'll be inspired to try a new recipe this week for your loved ones.