Three Things Thursday #13

If you see a friend without a smile, give him one of yours.
– Proverb

1. Surviving

2. Honesty

3. Love

I’m having a very hard time right now.  This is the best I can do.  What are you grateful for today?

Seven Years

Blindness separates us from things, but deafness separates us from people.
– Mark Ross

I’ve been so distracted this past week that, for the first time since it happened, I forgot that yesterday was the anniversary of my hearing loss.  Here’s my post from last year.

2,190 Days

Three Things Thursday #12

To me, music is regular medicine to heal hurts. ‘Cause while you might look mended and great to the outside world, in your mind and heart you can still feel as if things are broken.
– Pam Tillis, in Music to My Ears, by Timothy White

1. Closing your eyes and letting the music move you.

2. Raindrops hanging from tree leaves.

3. Getting it off your chest.

What are you grateful for today?

Now Make This!

I was 32 when I started cooking.  Up until then, I just ate.
– Julia Child

I made these pork chops Sunday night for dinner, because it’s kind of an involved recipe and I had the time.  It turns out, David’s not a big fan of mustard – which I should have guessed because the only condiments I’ve ever seen him eat are ketchup and barbeque sauce – so I’ve been having leftovers for lunch every day this week.  I don’t mind, though; the more I eat them, the more I love them.  Maybe I should send David out of town for the weekend so I can make them again!

I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen (which I LOVE), who got it from Cook’s Illustrated – the original SK post is here.  My comments appear in brackets.

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops
Cook’s Illustrated

Serves 4

Cook’s Illustrated notes: This recipe was developed using natural pork, but enhanced pork (injected with a salt solution) will work as well. If using enhanced pork, eliminate the brining in step 1. The bread crumb mixture can be prepared through step 2 up to 3 days in advance. The breaded chops can be frozen for up to 1 week. They don’t need to be thawed before baking; simply increase the cooking time in step 5 to 35 to 40 minutes.

Ingredients

• Table salt

• 4 boneless center-cut pork chops, 6 to 8 ounces each, 3/4 to 1 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat [I used 5, 3/4-inch chops]

• 4 slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into 1-inch pieces [I used 5 slices of regular old honey wheat store-brand sandwich bread and had just enough to cover the 5 chops]

• 1 small shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons) [I couldn't find shallot in the store Sunday, so I used regular yellow onion]

• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• Ground black pepper

• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese [Deb from SK would die, but I used the Kraft stuff]

• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves [I used dried, whatever the conversion on the bottle said]

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves [ditto]

• 1/4 cup plus 6 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

• 3 large egg whites

• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard [I had just enough of this for 5 chops]

• Lemon wedges [I did not use lemon at all]

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Dissolve 1/4 cup salt in 1 quart water in medium container or gallon-sized zipper-lock bag. Submerge chops, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Rinse chops under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels.

2. Meanwhile, pulse bread in food processor until coarsely ground, about eight 1-second pulses (you should have about 3 1/2 cups crumbs). Transfer crumbs to rimmed baking sheet and add shallot, garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss until crumbs are evenly coated with oil. Bake until deep golden brown and dry, about 15 minutes, stirring twice during baking time. [For me, 15 minutes was just a tiny bit too long, considering they get baked again on the chops - I'd have settled for 12 minutes] (Increase oven temp to 425.) Cool to room temperature. Toss crumbs with Parmesan, thyme, and parsley.

3. Place 1/4 cup flour in pie plate. In second pie plate, whisk egg whites and mustard until combined; add remaining 6 tablespoons flour and whisk until almost smooth, with pea-sized lumps remaining. [This was very thick for me; in the picture of this step on SK, it appears her mixture was a little thinner, so maybe I didn't measure the flour carefully.  In any event, I had to scrape some off the chops before breading them.]

4. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Spray wire rack with nonstick cooking spray and place in rimmed baking sheet. Season chops with pepper. Dredge 1 pork chop in flour; shake off excess. Using tongs, coat with egg mixture; let excess drip off. Coat all sides of chop with bread crumb mixture, pressing gently so that thick layer of crumbs adheres to chop. Transfer breaded chop to wire rack. Repeat with remaining 3 chops.

5. Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of chops registers 150 degrees, 17 to 25 minutes. Let rest on rack 5 minutes before serving with lemon wedges. [Mine took approximately 20 minutes]

This was so good!  I hope you try it!

Hello!

Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.
– Boris Pasternak

I nearly had a heart attack when I checked my site this morning – I don’t know if 626 of you have stopped by randomly today, or if one person has stopped by 626 times, but holy crap!  Way to screw with my site stats!  In Memoriam is now the most-viewed post by a HUGE margin, like, by 500%.  And it’s only a little bit funny.

I have no idea what technological/bloggy/apocolyptic phenomenon brought you here (maybe someone can explain it to me), but welcome.  Poke around, take a look, comment if you see something you like, and come back if you do!

In Memoriam

It’s hard to remember what I did before the iPod.  iPod is more than just a music player, it’s an extension of your personality.
– Mary J. Blige

This morning at 11:43, Apple Genius Adam declared my iPod Mini dead.  Mini was almost four-and-a-half, and he served his purpose dutifully and well.  May he rest in peace.

Three Things Thursday #11 – All-Photo Edition

Love one another and you will be happy.  It’s as simple and as difficult as that.
– Michael Leunig

1. This recent picture of me and David, taken in Atlanta:

2. This totally rad “Bottle Opener With Cap Catcher” that we bought at the Coca-Cola Store in Atlanta:

3. This guy:

That’s my old cat, Chaplin.  We found him when he was a tiny kitten, abandoned by his mama.  He died a couple of years ago, of natural causes, underneath a bush at my parents house; he was probably 15 or so.  Do you see he has extra toes on his two front paws?  Isn’t he so handsome?  I loved him.

What’s making you happy today?

The Curse, She is Broken

That’s baseball, and it’s my game.  Y’know, you take your worries to the game and you leave ‘em there.  You yell like crazy for your guys.  It’s good for your lungs, it gives you a lift, and nobody calls the cops.  Pretty girls, lots of ‘em.
– Humphrey Bogart

So remember this?  My little story from about a year ago about watching my Braves collapse yet again while I’m in attendance?  Yeah, it nearly happened again Friday night in Atlanta.  The tickets and trip were my birthday present from David; I’ve longed to see the Braves play in Atlanta, so he made it happen.

We flew in Friday afternoon and headed to the stadium around 5:30.  As you can tell by the picture, the weather was looking ominous; I wasn’t even sure they’d get to play at all.  Derek Lowe, the Braves’ new ace, was on the mound for the home opener, and he’d recorded 5 strikeouts through three innings and the Braves were up 3-1.  After two pitches in the top of the 4th, the game was delayed due to rain.  And then hail.  And then the left field grass flooded.  And then it poured some more.

But the rain let up and the super-awesome grounds crew went to work, and after more than two hours, play resumed at around 10:40.  I don’t remember many of the details, except that in the top of the 9th inning, with the Braves leading 5-4, our closer – why can we not find a decent closer? – gave up the tying run (after the relievers had already allowed three additional runs prior to that).  I’m not going to lie:  I teared up.  No actual tears fell, but it was close.

You have no idea how into this game I was.  I love these boys, and I rise and fall with them all season long.  And being at Turner Field for the home opener felt a little like coming home – I had my McCann jersey on, and my hat, and for the first time ever, I got to do the Tomahawk Chop – in person – with 40,000 other people.  That was amazing.  And having never seen them win in person, I was *this* close, and it felt like it was slipping away.

I was on edge the rest of the inning til they got the third out.  I couldn’t Chop with the rest of the fans or yell or cheer – I was standing, bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet with my hands over my face, barely breathing.

We couldn’t get a run in the bottom of the ninth, so we went into extra innings.  We managed to hold them in the 10th, but just barely.  David and I had moved down to about 20 rows from the field by now, and being so close to the action was exhilarating.  When Schafer hit his single in the 10th, I screamed like a lunatic.  When he got bunted over to second by the pinch hitter, I yelled and cheered.  When Johnson hit a line drive just over the infielders’ heads, I screamed wildly as Shafer raced around third and headed for home.  When he slid into home plate and the umpire signaled he was safe, I lost my mind, jumping up and down, whooping.  And then a tear or two really did escape:  They’d done it; they’d finally done it!  David was looking at me with the biggest smile on his face – knowing how happy I was made him happy.

At 1:26 in the morning on Saturday, my wish came true.  I could not have been more excited.  As we exited the stadium, the fans started another round of the Tomahawk Chop, and I joined in at the top of my lungs, thrilled to be a part of something so much bigger than I am: Braves fandom.

Welcome to Springfield

A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed.  It feels an impulsion; this is the place to go now.  But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.
– Richard Bach

This is what the sky looked like on my walk on Thursday afternoon:

Every time I see a sky like this, I can’t help but think of the opening credits of The Simpsons – I call it a cartoon-blue sky.

(Why, why, why does nothing ever embed anymore, even when I put the video code in in html view?  Boo.)

The Visitor*

I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.
– Vincent VanGogh

David called me downstairs sometime after 11 last night because he thought he saw a fox on the balcony.  To be fair, he could only see the shadow of the critter’s head at first, but it was obviously not a fox on the third floor balcony, but this little guy:

Raccoon on balcony 4/9/09.

He left about 10 minutes after we spotted him, shimmying down the corner pole.  He didn’t seem to do much (even when we weren’t shining a spotlight on him), and I hope he doesn’t do any damage to our plants.  What do raccoons eat, anyway?

* You should see the movie with this name – it is excellent, and I kind of fell in love with Richard Jenkins a little bit.