Category: The Daily Grind

Ice & chicken…but not icey chicken.

Once the snow stopped, there was sleet. It’s not nearly as fun as snow is…in fact, it kinda hurts if you stand out in it too long. Luckily, I’ve heard that somewhere so I didn’t stay out in it much at all. Not enough for it to hurt, anyways. We didn’t loose any power so I was able to roast a chicken. I do have ice on the tree limbs which is making them hang down and hopefully, they’ll recover. I took some more picture this morning with all the icicles and such. Ice and water are very fascinating, what it can do. Its power, its beauty. Again, you can see all the pictures in my gallery. Take a look:





Okay, so this chicken I roasted was WAY yummy. First, I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees. Then, here is the pictoral of the steps:

Wash the chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel. Place chicken in the roasting dish, cut up veggies and place in and around the chicken. The veggies I used were garlic, onion, carrots, and celery.

Actually, before I stuffed the veggies in the chicken, I made sure to season the cavity with fresh basil, sage, garlic, and chives. After the veggies went in, I seasoned the outside with sea salt, 2 dried bay leaves (those actually went inside as well), dried basil, dried rosemary, and dried thyme.

I also added some wine to the roasting dish.

I put the chicken in the 400 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours. Actually, at 45 minutes, I basted the chicken with its juices. It already looked yummy at that point!

45 minutes after that, it was ready. How did I know? The joints moved freely and the juices ran clear. Also, the little ready indicator had popped up. 😀

It was so good and there are plenty of left overs for lunches to come. It was really easy, too. Next time, I may add some of the orange salt Saucy Joe gave me and lemon slices to make it a citrus chicken. Ooh, or I could use bar-b-que seasonings and make it a bar-b-que chicken… The possibilities on this are endless!!

SNOW!!!

Click picture below for more pics of the ice & snow.

Lyrics from song “Snow” from the movie White Christmas.
/Music/whitechristmas_snow_clip.mp3

Snow
It won’t be long before we’ll all be there with snow
Snow
I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow

Snow
I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow
Snow
Oh, to see a great big man entirely made of snow

Where it’s snowing
All winter through
That’s where I want to be
Snowball throwing
That’s what I’ll do
How I’m longing to ski
Through the snow-oh-oh-oh-oh

Those glist’ning houses that seem to be built of snow
Snow
Oh, to see a mountain covered with a quilt of snow

What is Christmas with no snow
No white Christmas with no snow
Snow

I’ll soon be there with snow
I’ll wash my hair with snow
And with a spade of snow
I’ll build a man that’s made of snow
I’d love to stay up with you but I recommend a little shuteye
Go to sleep
And dream
Of snow

4 Day Weekend!!

School has been cancelled for Tuesday. Considering they closed the Wiggles and Giggles Daycare Child Development Center hours ago, it was only due that they’d close RRISD! 😉 I’m kinda bummed ’cause we’ve gotta make it up later but I get an extra day at home tomorrow. I’m going to take the day and clean out my office and make something with a chicken. Kelly, I’ll make sure and post the recipe once I figure out what I’m gonna make, okay?

Brrrr….

It’s cold out! I tried to go to the store to get some milk and a few other things and I couldn’t get my door open. On the passengers side, the door won’t open but on the drivers side, the handle won’t even lift. The ice is over an inch thick in my yard but my silly cat Pfema doesn’t realize how cold it is out because he keeps trying to go outside. He stood around in the grass in the backyard for a minute or two and when I brought him back in, he took several minutes to warm up his paws and nose.

So, I’m trapped in my house through tonight. I have a feeling at least the first half of school will be cancelled tomorrow. I might just go ahead and call all the kids and cancel Jazz Ensemble rehearsal tomorrow morning. I don’t want to take any chances of kids trying to get there that early (by 7am) and getting hurt. Or me for that matter! I do hope they have some school tomorrow though because I hate loosing those bad weather days at the end of the year. They are so necessary at the end of the year….

Well, I hope everyone is safe and somewhere they can keep warm.

———————UPDATE———————
They say tomorrow’s not going to get any warmer. They just mentioned that it’s supposed to be bad down through the Rio Grande Valley! Many school districts have announced closures and delays for tomorrow but not Round Rock. I haven’t called my Jazz Ensemble kids yet but unless I hear otherwise from Brian, I’m going to make the call. We just meet too early to think that any of this ice will have melted by then. The temperature has gone up a few degrees so I think I’m going to run to the store and get some soup, as well as some milk and other things I could really use. Thanks for the suggestion for soup, Piojo.

Back to work.

If you can’t tell, school has started again and I’m back to work. The postings always decrease as we ramp up for a new semester. We’ve had 4 days of school yet so much activity. Here’s what has happened in a nutshell:

  • We entered 175 or so solos & ensembles in UIL Region 26 Solo & Ensemble contest (getting in all the paperwork – acurately – is always quite stressful).
  • Took 4 students to Waco for Area D Band Contest. Everyone did well in their rooms and we even had 1 student become a TMEA All-Stater. (The 2nd in SP history.)
  • Had our first Band Booster Meeting for the Spring.
  • Had my first Jazz Ensemble rehearsal for the year (it’s a zero hour class).
  • Played at a basketball game last night.
  • Had a fundraiser night at Gatt-i-land last night.
  • We had a photography company take pictures for a composite last November and that company has been here this week to make packages available to parents.

    • It’s little things but they add up and I’m exhausted already. I’ve also taken down Christmas from my house and did some more post-New Years Eve gathering clean-up (there were a lot of champagne glasses to wash). So, nothing too exciting; just busy.

    This afternoon, I have an appointment with an orthopedic specialist to see what we can do about making my knees healthy. They’ve gotten to hurting too often and my regular remedies of pain relief aren’t working as well. It’s time to get this thing fixed. As good as surgical procedures may be now, I really don’t want to have to go down that road quite yet. Let’s hope whatever the solution is, it’s mostly covered by insurance (yeah, right) or reasonably affordable. Whatever happens, I’m excited that I’m going to be able to have a better understanding of what’s going on with my knees. Let’s hope for the best!