Who do I still think I am??

This one's about cooking and other silly things.

30DBC PROMPT: "Do you cook? Share with us one of your favorite recipes to prepare. Did you invent it yourself? An old family creation? If you don't cook, remind all of us why we shouldn't let you near a stove."

Good afternoon friends! It's another weekend, and it's "Creation Saturday" in the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ...today's entry is about cooking and recipes. Good thing I'm pretty solid with the eating thing, because I'd hate for this to turn into me babbling about something I know very little of.

I actually like cooking. Even if it's kinda fancy stuff. I enjoy the willful disdain of following a recipe's directions only when you absolutely want to, and then finding out that your deviancy became deliciousness. They say people who enjoy gardening and are good at it are "have green thumbs"...so what do you call someone who makes up stuff in the kitchen occasionally and it turns out to be more than edible? Ponder that while I figure out which recipe I wanna share with you...

I could go with my legendary Heineken Chicken I suppose, but I'm not sure how well anyone else outside of the northeast would do in trying to replicate it because it requires one main ingredient that is local to Western New York (but available online and through many outlets around the nation). Also, I don't have an actual recipe I follow...every time I've made it, I've used the second-best measurement system made by man: the eye. It's been awhile since I've attempted it last, but I think I remember how it goes...

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 32oz bottle of Chiavetta's barbecue chicken marinade http://www.chiavettas.com/our_products.php3
         *This can be substituted for any kind of chicken marinade I guess, but you can't go wrong with Chiavetta's.
1 24oz bottle of Heineken beer
         *This can be substituted as well, and the flavor and amount you use are up to you
1 small onion, sliced or diced
1 small green pepper, sliced or diced
Frank's Original Red Hot Sauce (optional) http://www.franksredhot.com/
         *This can be substituted for any type of tabasco or hot pepper sauce, or left out entirely
Worcestershire Sauce
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper
4 slices of Provolone (or Muenster) Cheese
5 Ziploc sandwich bags

Preparation:

Tenderize the chicken breasts with a mallet and place one in each Ziploc bag, saving the fifth bag to make extra marinade to be used while cooking. Fill each bag with enough Chiavetta's and Heineken to completely cover the chicken. Add the onions and peppers, and a sprinkle each of garlic powder, salt and pepper. Throw in a few shakes of the worcestershire sauce and the hot sauce, and a couple of healthy sprinkles of parmesan. Carefully seal each bag, trying to squeeze out as much air as possible. Make sure you gently knead each bag in order to really mix all the ingredients. Refrigerate at least 24 hours, turning each bag occasionally and gently swishing around the contents.

Cooking:

Take the bags out of the fridge and let them sit at room temperature for about a half hour before cooking. If you've got any Heineken left, crack it open and start responsibly enjoying it. If not, now would be a good time to get some. Grab a large frying pan, and empty all of the contents of two of the chicken breast bags into the pan, along with the remaining two chicken breasts, onions and peppers. If the liquid in the pan isn't as high as the chicken breasts, add a little more from one of the bags...but try not to let it get higher than the chicken. Start cooking at a low heat, increasing to medium. Once the mixture starts to simmer, cover the pan. Every five minutes or so, you might want to stir and/or flip the chicken. The mixture in the pan should eventually cook down as the alcohol evaporates and the chicken soaks in some of the marinade...if it cooks down too much you can always add a little more at a time from the fifth Ziploc bag, but there should always be a little in the pan at all times. I usually let it simmer a total of 20 minutes to a half hour, and after that I check the chicken with a knife to make sure they're properly done inside (you know, the whole "internal temperature" thing and it's not pink and the juices run clear, etc.). When they're done, lower the heat (you might even be able to turn it off completely), top each piece with a slice of provolone or muenster cheese (if there's way too much of the marinade left in the pan at this point you can always drain some of it...I like to have a few pieces of onion or green pepper atop the chicken before I put the cheese on it), and cover the pan again for just a few minutes, until the cheese melts. Serve it over white or brown rice with broccoli (or any green vegetable) on the side, or skip the rice and serve with fettuccine alfredo and corn. It makes enough to serve four.

I've thrown a few impromptu dinner parties in my stay years ago at the locally-renowned 542, and that was my go-to meal when having company on a day or two's notice. I've never not had the chicken come out tender and moist, echoing the best parts of the flavor of both the Chiavetta's and the Heineken. I've never tried this with anything but Chiavetta's, so I can't say how well other brands will work, but I guess you could substitute. I've also never tried this recipe on a grill, although I imagine it could work as long as you keep a good eye on the chicken and you baste often, but I can't say for sure. If you ever do find yourself trying this recipe though, let me know what you think of it and how you tweaked it...next to eating, altering recipes and making them your own is probably the best part of cooking.

BCF PROMPT: "National Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend Day! Prompt: Would you or better yet have you done that to a friend in fun? What other silly things have you and a friend shared looking back on? If you could write this friend an anonymous letter would they know by the situation that is was from you without you signing the letter?"

I'm gonna share a fun tidbit of info about this prompt in honor of "NSIAPASYF Day": it's a scientific fact that 87.823% of all people who knowing and purposefully jump in a puddle with intent to splash their friends are usually called some form of the word "A-hole". Look it up; it's on the internet somewhere. Or better yet, try it. Catch someone who's hurriedly trying to get out of the rain, and blindside them with a torrent of water coming from another angle. I'm pretty sure the first words out of their mouth would be "Hey! What'd you do that for, you a-hole?!", no matter how much that person likes or is indebted to you.

But since I don't have all day to wait for it to rain out wherever you are so you can see this phenomenon in effect (more so because I'm daring you and less than I think you don't believe me), let me see if I can spout off a few other silly things...these all don't have to be with the same person, right? Good. I could spend an entry a day just on different people I've done stupid shit with.

There's the time a couple of us raced around the mall on razor scooters (helpful hint: mall security guards can't catch you when you're on a scooter).

In high school, there was a small group of us who played Tecmo Super Bowl for Nintendo and some of us wagered on the outcomes of games. Yes, we contributed to the downfall of society by way of conspiring to form organized gambling rings and screaming at 25" tv sets from six inches away while playing this: http://nintendo8.com/game/321/tecmo_super_bowl/.

There was that bar that was closed by the time we managed to get out slightly intoxicated asses there, so we unfurled the tarps protecting their patio. That should've taught them to be closed before 4am.

Childish pranks. Done by adults. Usually, as long as they're harmless, they're pretty hilarious. Now, about that letter thing...I couldn't do it. Oh, I could write the said letter, but I'd never be able to get it through anonymously. If the situation itself wasn't a dead giveaway, my writing style would definitely blow me in. I can't tell a story without adding every little detailed nuance to save my life, so any letter I could possibly bang out would instantly out me as the author. Well, that and the fact that I'd probably get caught trying to slip it into a friend's jacket, or pocket, or trying to look inconspicuous in some other way. If we order Chinese food and you see me trying to bust open your fortune cookie with a screwdriver, just pretend you don't see me. Or if I linger a little too long while hugging, but notice your rear end being fondled in a way I normally wouldn't touch you, just go with it. And if I wake you up for any reason in the middle of the night...uhhh, well, there's no excuse for that, and no, that's not an invite to wake me up super early the next morning. Friends gotta draw the line somewhere.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

Yes, I did actually invite friends over and make that chicken recipe I wrote about up above...one of the rare times you'll catch me not trying to come up with something off the top of my head as I'm actually typing. And when I'd have guests, I'd throw on "dinner music", which was basically just a couple cd's I had of Christopher O'Riley doing versions of Radiohead songs like this rewritten especially for piano. http://www.christopheroriley.com/

This is what you get...when you mess with us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TagBFTSt0wE

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

Imagine that...I've probably posted as many quasi-serious entries as I have quasi-fun ones so far this January. Hmmm...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2hidavo1Yw.

More playoff football this weekend, which means I'll probably have @Fivesixer fired up over on Twitter for the better part of today and tomorrow. Well, maybe not the better part, but for the most part.

Speaking of rain and puddles, I decided to take a little trip to the store this morning before I locked myself in for the day because it was considerably warmer and more tolerable outside than it's been all week...and when all was said and done at CVS, it was raining sideways. I don't care how close to a store you live...nobody's comfortable in that kind of down/over-pour. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgNoY3MqpZg

Prompted by yesterday's, uhhhh, prompts, I went ahead and finished the rest of the season 4 episodes of Arrested Development. I have a few more questions now than answers, and the biggest one is "How are they going to ever put out more episodes?". They can't possibly do another season like that...it's too much of a hot mess and it lacks the ensemble feel. But what do I know?

While thinking of childish pranks, it occurred to me that some adults take longer than others to outgrow them. There are reasons why I'm not a parent, and it's examples like these that I find hilarious enough not to help my case in that department.

And "Dad Of The Year", FTW:

And since YouTube's acting a little sketchy right now, I better just nut up and post this before the internet decides to follow it right down whatever sinkhole it's headed in.

Enjoy your weekend folks...see ya tomorrow for the all-too-important "Sunday Review"! Peace, for a minute there I lost myself, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!