Moving on: Not wanting to crash and burn, I've been easing back into culinary activities very slowly. Or I'm lazy. Whatever.
My first stop-- a spicy peach smoothie!
This thing was soooooooo good! I cut up one GINORMOUS fresh white peach along with a couple of ice cubes, some light unsweetened soy milk, french vanilla protein powder, and for the spicy kicker --- some jalapeno simple syrup that I made for our latest beach excursion. It was FABULOUS! Sweet and refreshing and then punched you in that little dangly thing in the back of your mouth on the way down...LOVED IT :)
Then, an unexpected event occurred. I turned 30! Okay it was expected. But what was not expected was that I reached 30 with all of my fingers and toes attached! I have legit problems with keeping those phalanges healthy and with a constant blood supply. Chef knives, doors, filing cabinets, walls, baseballs, my brother's shin...if we were on Jeopardy, the question would be "What form of torture does Laura typically choose for self-mutilation of the hands and feet?" So, what's the best way to celebrate this unexpected accomplishment you ask? Receive a freaking bougie mandolin from RAIME!! YEAH!!! I had been wanting one for so long, but I was actually kind of scared of hurting myself...even with a cut resistant glove and the safety guard attachment. But I'm 30 now. It's time to act like a grown-up.
I only almost cut myself once, which is definitely a sign of maturity, in my opinion. And it was in the R&D phase of figuring out how to work it so it doesn't even count. No, it doesn't! I've decided that I am going to lobby that all merchandise capable of decapitation should include an instruction manual that consists of more than 5 pictures on how to operate said machinery of death. The first couple of pictures were fine. "This is a mandolin. It's cuts things. It makes you happy. Note the happy person in picture 3--that's you!" But they needed to insert a few more in between the step of picking the food up off of the counter with the intent of slicing, and then the picture of the finished product. Like "Here's me wondering how to make the legs of the mandolin pop out so it's sitting at an angle. Nope, that's not it. How about this piece....got it!" and then "Sticking the food on the safety guard device is not as intuitive as you would suspect. No, your Master's degree and CPA will not help you here." followed by "WOAH that blade REALLY is SHARP!!! GEEZ!! Do I need a parent to supervise me?" and then "Huh, I wanted to make a chip, not a shard of tissue paper. Where is the chip setting?"
It was scary. And daunting. I was frightened the whole time. But, I did it!
I sliced up a sweet potato, brushed a little bit of canola oil onto the slices and then sprinkled with a smidgen of sea salt. I put them in the oven at 375 and baked for 12 minutes, then flipped them, re-oiled and salted, and then baked for another 8 minutes. Considering the fact that they were not charred black, nor covered in my blood, I think it was a success. I will, however, definitely need to tweak my technique in order to obtain crispy chips that don't have burn freckles.
It felt awesome to be cooking again on a Monday while watching TV and hanging out with Skeeter. I'm so ready to get back into the regular habit of cooking/freezing/sharing/sending texts of pictures/and BLOGGING dangit! It really is fun and rewarding.
I type this post while enjoying a bowl of sweet potato and black bean slow cooker chili that I made a few weeks ago and froze for future delights. It tastes deliciously sweet and spicy! I've included a cup of Red Dye #40 to wash it down :) Until next time...
Laura
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