Normally, I work 11- or 12-hour days, rendering me exhausted and unable to cook when I get home.
But yesterday, God blessed me the ability to leave work at 4:30 PM...and blessed me with the presence of Michael, who came up for a visit!
After a 30 minute dog-walk, I spent an hour and $109 at the food store, just buying food for the next two days. It's incredible how things add up so quickly.
By 6:15 PM, the car was unloaded and my kitchen was stocked...and I was ready to roll up my sleeves and get started!
Joining me in my efforts would be the beautiful stainless steel frying pan that Michael recently gave me (and which I was very excited to use). It has high sides and a clear glass cover. [Michael gave me several new pieces of cookware, actually, since I recently threw out all my Teflon-covered pots and pans. The research out there shows that cooking in Teflon just isn't safe!]
Then, I moved the chicken thighs into a baking dish and painted them generously with the glaze. I chopped up a huge bulb of fennel (which is a sweet-tasting, light green vegetable that looks like a giant onion) and placed them around the chicken pieces.
And then, contrary to what it says on the recipe, I baked it in the oven for an HOUR, not 10 minutes.
I was going to serve it with mashed potatoes, but Michael asked for the long-stem asparagus which I had, so we went with that instead!
The end result was, I dare say, quite delicious! Michael told me to put a star by that recipe. :)
