jalapeno burn

A piece of advice: always wear rubber gloves when handling jalapenos.

I learned that the hard way. My chicken taco recipe turned out fabulous, though. Can't say the same for mom's reheated Mexican rice-turned-soup. Rice can only be refrigerated a few days, I found out. And when it is good, it's best to add water a little at a time so you can keep adding more to achieve the perfect level of moisture. If not, you have soup. Like me!

Anyway, I chopped some onions and scallions and minced some garlic. But I didn't really know what to think of the jalapeno. I guess I approached it like a green bell pepper. I quartered it lengthwise and pulled out the seeds with my bare fingers. The pulp went in my good ole GB.

As I cooked the chicken and steamed my corn tortillas, I noticed my eyelid started to heat up. It felt like my eyelid was heating rapidly, so I covered it with a cool damp towel and had no idea what could possibly be happening to me.

It was jalapeno burn. My fingers turned red and swollen as I served my husband a bit later, so we researched remedies a bit later. He suggested sour cream since it's a base, but didn't appreciate my impulse to dunk my fingers in our 3/4ths-full container. That worked for minutes, as did peroxide and aloe vera. (the website we found recommended milk -- JT is a genius!)

Moral of the story: always wear gloves and don't touch your face or skin when working with jalapenos. (Funny thing is: we couldn't even taste them in our meal!) You can find my chicken taco recipe here. JT says it's one of his favorite things I've made. Just take my advice about the jalapenos. I'm telling ya! And make sure you don't burn your oil when you turn the pan on high like I did! I scrubbed at my pan for 20 minutes before resorting to a degreasing agent.

* * *

The excitement of the evening continued when JT discovered a small mouse in our kitchen. He set an animal-friendly trap out and has already caught the little guy. So our mouse friend is safely freed about a mile away, but there are several stray cats and skunks between him and our house to deter him from returning.

This weekend promises to be fun and exciting. We went on a date tonight to kick off Birthday Weekend the right way. There is nothing like hole-in-the-wall Italian chicken, red wine, and spumoni to lift the spirits. If you're ever in Tulsa, try Mary's Italian Trattoria on Cherry Street. Look in the coloring books for a picture with my name on it, too.

Saturday, we're working at the church and keeping tabs on college football kickoff. For the record, I bleed burnt orange all the way! I've been looking forward to this day for oh so long. Sadly, both JT and my favorite teams will not air on TV. That's what happens when a big school plays a small school. The spanking breaks at least a couple of amendments so they don't make it public.

Sunday is the big day, so I'm sure we'll be doing something with my family. Monday I have a brunch date of my friend Type A's apartment. I volunteered to bring muffins, so I'm planning to make six blueberry and six banana muffins. I'm so excited to bake it's not even funny.

I'm telling you. It's the little things in life that make the world go 'round!

good clean greens

Tonight I made pistachio-crusted tuna steaks with a homemade lime and dill cream sauce and "steamed" broccolini. My finished product didn't look as nice as this picture, but that's what it was. Some of my bread crumb mixture stuck to the pan when I flipped one of the steaks, and my entire stock pot of boiling water evaporated twice before my broccolini would steam, so they were a bit crunchier than I'd have liked, but my husband ate all of his helping and asking me to box up the rest for work tomorrow, so it was worth it! You can find this delish recipe here.

It's the simple things in life that keep JT and me happy, like finishing a jug of milk before it expires. We waste so much food since we're so busy. Cooking and shopping for two is a lot more difficult because you pretty much need to go by the store every evening on the way home from work to pick up the necessary ingredients, and if you get too many scallions, they are sure to wilt before you have the chance to use them in a different recipe.

This week's lifesaver, which I am not too prideful to use, is pre-mixed salad containers. Twice in the past two weeks have I picked up a container with mixed greens, a tube of dressing, and bags with croutons, nuts, berries, cheese, and everything else my salad needs. I recommend Organic Girl and their "good clean greens." I like that they are washed to the third power and that the leaves are perfect and crisp and green.

Last, but not least, cue shameless plug for my baby brother. Please vote for Mike as the Senior of the Week here.

not-so-maiden voyage

Ahhh...the fresh feeling of a first blog.

I was going to call it my maiden voyage on uncharted territories, but maiden wouldn't be appropriate because I am exactly the opposite!

Well, JT and I have been married for 4 months and some change now. I intended to start this blog sooner, but life happens.

We have been incredibly busy adjusting to married life, working, and helping to start this church. Yeah, it's awesome. Every one we talked to told us to take it easy and enjoy our new marriage. Oh well. At least we see each other plenty.

Work has been super busy. I'm still a book publicist for a marketing firm in Tulsa. My drive to work is 35 minutes each way, so I bought this CD. Yes, I am learning French in my car and making the best out of my modest jog.

So, about this blog. I switched over from A Day at a Time because a) I'm married now, and b) I'm not Girl in Tulsa anymore (the blog domain). We actually live in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a suburb of the city. The purpose of this blog is to show what happens in the life of a newlywed and how much patience one husband can show to a wife who will probably still be getting the hang of marriage forever.