I hate this part of winter!!! In Chicago here we are getting your temps. tomorrow. Got the brooder lamps going on the chickens (not chopping them up) and fear for the several feral cats that I feed. I dream of a sunny lanai in the south with not a cfl in sight :)

Out here in the chilly 'burbs, it's -7F with windchill at -31, headed for -17 overnight. I begged DH not to walk the big dogs, but he scoffed and headed out. They made the 2 miles fine.

We'd have to chop a hole in the frozen-over lagoon to swim - too much work.

T-bred, sending good thoughts for your kitties. Generations of feral cats have made it at the family farm outside Rochester, MN, so maybe yours will be okay, too.

Whitecat8

My chicken is all chopped and not a bit when flying all over the kitchen. You place the cleaver on the chicken and then whack it with a mallet. Goes right through the bones. Wow, we made it up to 2 F today and it feels great. I even went outside without a coat.

So was this chicken cut up before or after cooking?

I got the spices for the sichuan red oil today, and hope to try making it this weekend. Then I get to chop up a (steamed) chicken too.

Kevin, so how exactly do the chicken bones fit into the recipe? I love black beans but I can't quite recall ever incorporating chopped chicken bones in anything!

We made it to 4 today-woo hoo!! We have one of those stupid high effiency furnaces with the pvc pipes protruding from the back of the house,everytime it gets below zero the pvc fills up with frost and the furnace goes out. Great design! DH and I take turns all night "clearing out the pipe" Character building to go out at 3am in 40 below wind chill!!!

Whitecat, your right they are survivors!! I'm not even a cat lover but have come to look forward to seeing the cats.I captured two of the females and had them spayed last summer,plan to get the rest done this summer.

Sounds like we're somewhat on the same page. I got home from work Friday, shut the door and here I remain. We had already chosen our Saturday and Sunday dinners by Thursday so for the first time we weren't running out for groceries. Friday was up in the air and my co-conspirator was poking at the leeks in the fridge saying a potato leek soup might be nice. Fortunately my copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking arrived that day so we launched right in at recipe #1 and made the potage parmentier. It was delicious.

For Saturday I had thawed the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving to make a pot pie. I was poring over The Joy of Cooking and some Food Network recipes just kind of getting some ideas. I picked up MTAOFC just to pass the time and came across Fondue de Volaille which is a variation on the recipe for cream "filling" for shellfish using cooked chicken or turkey. Reading it over I realized with the addition of a few vegetables it would make a decent pot pie filling. It was. Rich and creamy. I'm sure the stick of butter had something to do with that. My co-conspirator was dutifully taking dictation from me as I cooked so once I clean it up I'll post the recipe here. Gosh, it was good!

Tonight the c-c is making dinner and he's mentioned chili, and something about a football game. Since it won't interfere with Project Runway I suppose I'll watch. He's invited a guest so I guess that means I'll have to tidy up a bit. First I think I'll finish my tea while I read about egg dishes and then go for a swim. Oh, no, wait. That's out of the question right now.

9:45 am and it's a whopping -5 F right now. I'm glad the sun is out in full force. It really does make a difference in my mood.

The chicken was chopped up before cooking. I've alway avoided all the Chinese recipes that call for chicken this way because I didn't relish the idea of doing the chopping, but hitting the cleaver with the mallet really works well and eliminates the spray of flesh and blood. I'm not sure why the meat isn't simply boned instead, but that's what the recipe called for. There are a lot of Chinese dishes that call for chicken chopped this way. Now I know I can do them.

T - Are you sure that furnace was installed properly? That doesn't sound like something you should have to do.

Shady - Is this your first experience with Julia's books? They really are wonderful. Two recipes you should check out are: Coquilles St Jacques a la parisienne and Choux de Bruxelles a la creme. I love Brussel Sprouts and this one is really good.

I think I am going to venture out today. I've had my Sorel boots warming on the radiator, so at least my feet will stay warm.

Another apple pie in the works for this afternoon, mustard - honey chicken for dinner and maybe I'll take some pesto out of the freezer.

"I'm not sure why the meat isn't simply boned instead"

Just a matter of a huge diff in flavour. Like how chicken broth from meat only is rather thin. I honestly thought you were kidding about the spray of flesh and blood. A mallet for every kitchen!

Today I am off to the kitchen store to find a better steamer. And I bought some rutabaga yesterday and will have to figure out what to do with it....

That makes sense. The chicken was first stir fried with the beans, garlic and ginger, previously stir fried peppers and onions were added and finally the whole thing was simmered for about 10 minutes. The sauce was quite flavorful.

Rutabaga - one of those veggies I want to try, but never do. Last winter I tackled parsnips. Love those things.

T-bred, are the cats making it? My sister lives near a "collector" of cats and is always hauling one in to be spayed or neutered.

Yesterday, I ran some errands. It wasn't too bad, although almost everyone parking at Target was waiting for a spot close to the store, including me.

Last night, DH and I went out to dinner late. It was worth it.

Today, we went to the spring in one of the 'burbs to get water for the 'chids and for us. Yum. Ran some other errands, and the weather was ok till the sun started going down and a breeze came along.

DH is making chili. He gets creative. When it's ready, no telling what you'd call it, but it'll be good.

Speaking of boned chicken, I hate that a boned chicken is not a chicken that has been boned, but rather an unboned chicken.