My recipes kept me away last night. I couldn't stop thinking about frosting cupcakes and all the different kinds of muffins I wanted to make; about lobster macaroni and cheese, roasted legs of lamb and roasted vegetables in duck fat that I rendered myself. These are thoughts of a fat kid. Pinterest isn't helping my food-insomnia either. Now that dinner is gone in our house, I feel like I have no reason to get up in the morning. The remaining members of this household are not much for dinner as I mentioned and I hate making lunch for myself. I have little motivation to write my blog because there is nobody to cook for. This is literally causing me depression. I get so sad when I have to cook for myself as I am doing now. However, I do plan on pretending someone else is eating this with me today. That is where I am as an indicator of insanity. I have an invisible guest coming over for lunch and she and I are going to talk about my great finds from Savers and DI I found yesterday and how her family is doing and how she wishes she had the energy to cook like I do. After lunch she will help with the dishes and tell me how brave I am that I am starting my life over and lucky I am because I get to build a new career and how I should be bragging about my new found freedom. I developed either a Summer Eve commercial or a lifetime movie. I am not sure which one is worse for my scenario here.
Today, she and I are going to have stuffed chicken breast and herb tomatoes with cheese and a glass of red wine, or three.

I took a chicken breast and I butterflied it. I lightly seasoned it with salt and pepper and pan seared it a tiny bit in some olive oil. Then I spread a thin layer (who am I kidding, I loaded it up) with garlic goat cheese and spinach, threw in some rosemary and thyme, broke up a piece of provolone cheese on top of the spinach and closed the breast up with a few skewers to keep it shut. I covered the top in herb butter (soft butter from the butterbell with herbs de province) and put it in the oven for 20 minutes. Then I turned on the broiler to really let that butter brown the top of the chicken. Then I sliced up tomatoes from the garden and drizzled them with olive oil. Lightly salted and peppered and chopped up fresh basil and covered them in provolone cheese and put them under the broiler until the cheese bubbled with angry brown bubbles. I dusted them with   parmigiano-reggiano cheese

The chicks

We have beautiful chickens in the backyard. There are Aracaunas, Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks, one Sexlink, one other, I believe. The good news is that they lay big, beautiful eggs, the sad news is they are laying fewer since the days are shorter and it is getting colder. However, there is more good news. The Aracauna chickens are laying eggs and guess what!!?? THEY ARE BLUE! It is so cool! I have never seen blue eggs. I can't say they taste different, I am just so happy they are laying. We average about 8 a day still and I have been actually enjoying making breakfast. I love breakfast, but I hate to make it. I want to enjoy it. I want someone else to make breakfast, but lately, I have been making eggs and it has been fun and delicious. It is really enjoyable to have these chickens and it is so cute to watch the rabbits chase each other in the morning as I stare out the window, drinking my coffee and eating my breakfast. 

The last supper/beginning lunches

Well, we had our last dinner together. Russ has left and it is just me, Holly, and Eli. Holly isn't much of a dinner eater and Eli likes cereal, hot dogs, and mac n cheese. Therefore, I will be making meals for one. Lunch will be the center of my cooking world, but with the fall upon us, it is time to get out the crock pot. I love the crock pot. I see a lot of beautiful soups in my future. Today, I made pan seared salmon in sesame oil with lemon and spinach. It is very good. Eating alone is not my favorite thing to do. If you have any soup recipes or crock pot recipes you would like to share, please send them to me. I will cook them and tell you how I like them. This could be fun!

calling all home cookers and bakers

The food writing market is saturated. This is a real issue in Salt Lake City because of the fact that it is such a small city and all the restaurants have been written about and exhausted. I want to start of community of people who either grow their own food, cook their own food, and bake. People who have a passion for food like I do, but who don't necessarily want to be chefs working in a commercial kitchen. I want to highlight one person a month and interview, take pictures, and gather recipes from selected people for either their cooking or show the community how much effort you have put into your garden or recipes. Local business is important, yes, but so are the "regular" people who don't have to step foot in the produce section because they grow it all themselves :) So please, if you are a baker, cook, gardener or mini-farmer, or you know someone, please contact me at ctshewbart@gmail.com

Sunday night

I don't care what they say. In my opinion, dinner is the most important meal of the day, especially Sunday dinner. There is nothing more warming than a good Sunday night dinner, particularly in the fall. Here in Utah, it is getting cold at night and fall has definitely made its presence known. For me, that means crockpots, soup and lots of baking. But I digress, Sunday dinner is very important to me. It is the dinner of the week that bids the weekend farewell before the hustle and bustle of the work week, and although I make dinner every night, a lot of families don't have the time and enthusiasm that I do for cooking. Lately, my position as head chef in the Stark house has gone to Russ. He seems to really be enjoying cooking for his family lately and I think it is a good idea for him. He will be heading out to Omaha for work and will be gone a long time. Therefore, I am sure he wants to spend time feeding and loving us for as long as he can. We will all miss him dearly. Tonight, Russ made grilled lamb chops and this interesting Greek salad, as he called it. It was cut up cucumber, tomato, and onion in a cucumber yogurt sauce. It was good. I am happy he has taken to cooking and eating at the table. He was so sweet and set the table for us to eat together tonight and he always helps place items in the background for my pictures. Sadly, Holly and I watched the Emmys instead and he ate at the table alone. I want to change this dynamic and turn Sunday into an important family day where we all eat together and spend one more evening together before everyone gets too busy and tired. I am just so happy that eating in front of the TV is no longer a tradition in this household with the exception of tonight. Now if only I can get Eli to eat... 

my drive up the canyon

As I was driving up the canyon today, I forgot where I was for a moment. The winding road and the changing colors of the leaves reminded me of the fall in Vermont when I was in college. With the tires gliding around every curve, my body swaying in a constant, delicate motion, my eyes are forcefully on the road in an attempt not to stare at the trees. The rusted red, burnt orange and lustrous, golden leaves are mesmerizing and still today, a picture is not a beautiful as it being seen with my own eyes. As the car slowly embraces each curve, I am in no rush to reach the top. I am enchanted by the vibrant colors and desperate for a break in the canyon so I can sneak a peek at what is below me. Suddenly there is a change of scenery and I am in a forest of Quaking Aspen. The leaves of the Aspen tremble in the breeze with their tall, white, slender trunks and their large black eyes staring at me as if they loved me and their delicate leaves waving hello, welcoming me. My flash back is over and I come back, leaving behind my nostalgic memory. This is to no disappointment. As much as I loved Vermont, Utah is my home. I am not a native, but I have chosen Utah and I will forever be grateful for my choice. 

What a crappy dinner

I spent all day baking muffins as we all know by now and I was very excited to make dinner. It was going to be grilled lamb shoulder, garlic mashpotatoes and whatever vegetable was ripe and ready from the garden. Instead, due to those who share a different pallet than I, wanted seafood. I will never argue with that! We had shrimp and scallops available and I was very excited to pan sear the scallops and cook some spinach and sprinkle some crushed hazelnuts over the top. You French foodies will know that this wonderful dish is called Scallops Maison Blanche. It is a wonderful French dish and very simple to make. I was then going to make a shimp coctail (because Russ bought already cooked shrimp in a bag) with a dipping sauce. The only ingredient we did not have was spinach. I asked Russ to go to the store and get me two spinach bunches. I said, " please do not get the kind in a package. Get the bunches from the produce section." Of course, he got one package of spinach and it was the small plastic shell. That means I have no spinach because once it is cooked, it reduces down to nothing. I am tired from baking all day and I cannot think creatively, so I end up just cooking the scallops, shrimp and spinach all together and just giving it to them with the potatoes. I didnt even eat any. I am feeling a little moody today and didn't want to deal with it. However, I am really upset that my dinner did not turn out the way I wanted it. I was so excited to cook and then all these other things started going on and I just needed spinach and apparently that was too much for him to handle. I gave him plently of crap for it already. Yes, Russ. Next time I need spinach I will just go to the store myself. Thanks for telling me I can do that. I suppose the next time you want dinner you can heat up a can of chilli. Goodnight