What's for Dinner, Wild? (In which I channel my inner Alton Brown...)

I thought I might change things up a little and include a recipe post, since all the cool kids do it! I really enjoy cooking, but with just the Mr. and me, I don’t get too fancy too often. This isn’t fancy either, just a favourite dinner that combines simple ingredients in a really yummy way. It’s made even simpler with help from your local Costco. Without further ado, I present: Garlic Pepper Chicken and Brazilian Rice, with step by step pictures, yet!!!


Here’s what you need to start:

Brazilian Rice:

1 cup long rain white rice*

25 ml (1/8 cup) vegetable oil (Plain old canola works just fine: tart it up with EVOO if you wanna)

about 2/3 of a medium onion, diced

½ tsp minced pure garlic (I don't mince my own: I use a 100% pure minced garlic product)

Coarse ground black pepper to taste

Better than Bouillon paste, Chicken Flavour

2 cups hot water

(Lovely food stylist shot here...)

Directions:

Heat oil in a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid.

Combine onions, garlic, and black pepper. (You could also throw in just a pinch of kosher salt here, but I forgot today)

(I admit...I don't like onions. Never have, never will. HOWEVER, I double the amount the recipe calls for, and chop them coarser, because I like the flavour they give the rice.

 Yes,  it's contradictory: have you MET me?

A tip to start:  wash your rice. I know, you stopped washing rice a long time ago, right? Me too.

(Washed rice in my lovely big Pampered Chef Measure and Pour!)

DON’T!! Washing rice helps break down the starches and gives you a much fluffier finished product. Plus it’s fun! Just fill a bigger bowl than you need with warm water and rub the rice together between your palms until the water looks more like milk! (Also, I have to say, I think the rice water is good for softening my hands. More research required.) Drain carefully.

Brown in hot oil until golden (or until it smells right! HA!) Then, pour in your washed rice and let it pick up the lovely flavours of the browned onion garlic mixture.

(A tad more browned than usual, due to a wicked headcold...)

Now. About this here bouillon paste.

(Happily accepting endorsements, should any be forthcoming...)

I like the flavour of this better than any other bouillon around. It comes in Chicken, Beef, Pork, Vegetable and Turkey flavours. This is my personal spin on the original recipe, true, but I’ll never buy anything else but this again. Add a generous half teaspoon to your hot water.

Pour over hot rice mixture and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20-25 minutes until all water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. Serve immediately as a side dish. This is portioned for 4 servings, but I swear I could eat the whole thing myself.

Costco Garlic Pepper Chicken

This comes oven-ready, so it's not really a recipe as much as it is a pointer. If you haven't had it before, I highly recommend it! It is a really nice blend of chili, garlic and other spices, marinating nice thick split chicken breasts with the backs removed. Because it's Costco, it comes 5 breasts to a package, so I either split it into packages of 3 and 2, or I cook it all and make really yummy flavourful sandwiches the next day with the leftovers. They would be really yummy thrown into leftover Indian food.

(Once again, happy to endorse...)

Here are my tips: Cook it in a Pyrex baking dish. It's relatively easy to clean and you get even heat, whether your oven is predictable or not (mine is not!)

Cook it about 350 degrees (more if you have a 'slow' oven. Again, mine is not. It's fast. In other words, the heat isn't accurate and if I don't want my meals to burn I either have to adjust temperature or timing or both) for about 50 minutes.

(Rest well, little chickens...)

Then, pull it out of the oven and let it sit, foil covered, while you put the meal together. I think I read this tip on Mrs. B's blog, and I am following it from now on. To this, let me add...never EVER cook your chicken breasts with the skin OFF. Ever. Give it to your hubby to eat, or the cat, or the dog, or throw it away if you must, but cooking chicken breasts with the skin on makes 'em taste better and keeps them more moist!

So...there you have it, and here's how it looked all plated up.

(Yummo, indeed!)

Don't you wish you'd been here?


Enjoy!

Brag just a little

I am so impressed with how this ring turned out!!

Remember this garnet?

Very pretty, but not too impressive on its own. It had nice colour and clarity, but little did I know what it would look like after I set it.

I'm not going to say too much about how I made the ring shank. I will say that I really like the shape of it and will strive to duplicate it for many future projects! It was hammer textured and then brush finished before it was tumbled. I had to set it into a premade bezel cup, but future rings will feature handmade bezels. Here's the finished ring:

This picture was taken with the ring sitting on my bench anvil! It would have been nice if I had remembered to polish the stone quickly first. The white reflection is my full spectrum magnifying light overhead, mimicking natural daylight.

A closeup view so you can see the texture in the band. In this view it's possible to see a little bit of the E6000 jewellery adhesive I used on the back of the cabochon, because it wasn't fully set yet. Now that it has had time to cure, you can't see it anymore.

And finally,

How it looks on my finger! Because that's what's most important, right? I am really quite taken with this ring, I must say, especially now that I have wiped the shmutz off of it! :-D

And what did you do today?

A Ring is Born...

Or rather, two rings. These are works currently in progress, and they were both created using materials purchased at http://www.capilanorock.ca/. The first ring is composed of silver wire, hammered for texture, a sterling bezel cup and this lovely moonstone.

The front view of the bezel cup and the ring shank

The view of the left side

The view of the right side

The lovely moonstone cabochon. If I place the cabocochon in the bezel cup before I solder it to the ring shank, I'll ruin the stone. If I simply place it in the cup, to show you all the effect, it can be difficult to remove! So for now, you'll just have to imagine it! The cabochon has a lovely high dome, so it will be nice and showy! I'll have to solder the cup to the shank, tumble the ring, set and rock the cabochon into place. It will probably be ready to list in my shop tomorrow.

Here's the second one: an oval bezel cup, ring shank made of sterling wire (hammered for texture) and a gorgeous oval iolite. I love iolite as a stone, and I don't know why more people don't use it. Maybe because it can be difficult to find in such nice quality? This cabochon is a beautiful clear deep indigo blue purple.

Side one: right or left, I guess, depending on which way you wear it! Let's call it right for now, shall we?

The other side: let's call it left. Of course, if you wear it upside down, it's the right. I've confused myself terribly through this realisation.

A view that shows the cabochon and a good clear shot of the oval. It looks rather like an eye when the iolite is in the cup: I'll admit, I've tried it, but then it's always a struggle to remove!

The iolite itself. Like the moonstone, it has a nice high dome so it should sit up nicely over the edge of the bezel cup with a minimum of filing.

I have a nice garnet too, and some other pretties on the way from another Etsy seller, so stay tuned to see the finished products here and in my shop!

As always, comments are welcomed!

Experiental Learning

That means learning by doing: via an experience, I learn. So, last night I was looking at all the stuff spread hither and yon across my desk and worktable and ...everywhere, and I thought to myself, "the one thing I still haven't played with making is rings. I wish I could make rings!"

Then I thought, "Honestly, what is stopping me from making rings? I have wire, I have dowels I can wrap wire around, I have tools for cutting wire...I can make rings!"  So I did. Here is the first ring experiment. I wrapped some 16 gauge wire around a wooden dowel. Then I took one of those funky fat potato pearls that I wire-wrapped for some earlier projects and suspended them on some 26 gauge wire. After I'd made 2 coils with the wire, I snipped the wire off and then wrapped the ends around the coil (you'll see what I mean when I post the picture!) I spread the two coils apart and wired the pearl between them, and voila! A ring!

Tomorrow I am buying a ring mandrel so I can make a variety of sizes!

By popular demand...

So, during my regular morning Etsy chat session, we got onto the subject of hair. Specifically, curly hair and the care and management thereof. Hair is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, and often on my mind.

I love my hair. I really do. I complain about it often, but I know that it is more a blessing than a curse. It is thick, coarse, curly, long and red. The first three of course are genetic gifts. (Hi Dad!) I tell people that my mother married for this hair. (Thanks Mom!) The fourth trait is just patience, and the fifth is thanks to a truly gifted (and national award winning!) hair stylist, Kristin. She is a treasure!

Last time I had a cut, I asked her if she could show me how to style it so that I could wear it curly. She happily agreed, and we were off. I have to say that I was STUNNED by her results. NO one has ever made my curls that curly with NO fuzz. I wear it curly all the time now. I will post a picture later (after my shower haha!) of the results I am able to get at home using her methods. And, dear readers, I am going to share those methods with you!

Step 1: After shampooing and conditioning, and towel drying, DO NOT comb your hair! For your bangs, we can make an exception, since you will probably want to do those with your round brush anyway.

Step 2: Grab a curl smoothing cream/balm/gloss/what-have-you. DO NOT start at the top front of your head! Put it where you need it most, and work it through well without combing. DO NOT comb your hair, except with your fingers, to distribute smoothing product.

Step 3. Wait. Shave your legs, paint your toenails, whatever. Give your hair a little time to air dry. This is key.

Step 4: Work some curling mousse into your hair, being careful not to pull curls apart. You really shouldn't have to use too much if you've faithfully followed the steps up until now.

Step 4: Get out your diffuser and attach it to your blowdryer. I have a salon quality one, and it makes a difference! Starting with the BACK of your head, use the diffuser to simply lift the curls straight up to your scalp. Blast the dryer on full speed ahead, full heat! Leave it there until you think your scalp is nicely toasted! Do NOT scrunch your curls up with your hands at any point. You'll wind up with fuzz. For maximum volume, bend forward from the waist while you do each section. Repeat until you have done your whole head.

Step 5: THIS IS IMPORTANT! Stop drying JUST before you feel like it's entirely dry, so that it can settle. Let the curls relax slightly on their own to get rid of the 'separated' look they probably have. Add a shine spray if you like: use a defining product to highlight a section around your face. Do your bangs with a round brush and/or flat iron.

That's it! Pictures later, I promise!

Edited to add...Here's a picture! Try to ignore how badly I need my roots done and look at my foomfy curls!

I Get a Feature!

I have been featured in a wonderful blog written by a wonderful blogger! http://whoamamavintagestyle.blogspot.com/2009/12/etsy-artist-feature-wildheather.html is the home of WhoaMama! Vintage Style. Andie makes amazing aprons that are retro styled and exquisitely crafted. I am very pleased to have been selected to appear there. I hope you'll check her out, and add her to your blog feed! I know I am adding her to mine!

Also...I tend to overuse exclamation points.

Natural Light, or Lack Thereof...

I just tried to take a picture of those lovely iolites I put together last night. There are 2 pairs of earrings and a wirewrapped Trefoil (3 leaf)  iolite pendant on a really funky rectangular link chain. As I normally do, I headed onto the front balcony to take advantage of the natural sunlight. Problem being, it's November here on Canada's West Coast, which means we will only see the sun and clear blue sky for brief and unanticipated periods until, say....April! 

I exaggerate (but only a little) for effect. However, the problem remains that these lovely stones have ended up looking (as I just Tweeted) like they were shot through a layer of Vaseline and filth! I guess it's time to look up those directions again about how to make a lightbox at home...