I Heart You

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, and we enjoyed a good one. I decided to make some heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and then we exchanged cards. I prefer to find a funny one to give to David; whereas, David usually errs to the romantic side. He always writes a message that is so sweet it almost makes me cry. I'm such a cry baby.
David had purchased tickets to a showing of The Tempest at the Common Ground Theatre in Durham. He read about the theatre in the Independent, I guess while searching for something unique to do on Valentine's Day. I won't say much about the show other than Ferdinand looked remarkably like Ben Savage (Corey on Boy Meets World). Community theatre is a wonderful thing, indeed!
After the play, we picked up some calla lillies (one of my favorite flowers) and my favorite cake from Whole Foods. The cake is angel food with chocolate frosting, featuring a custard center and topped with fresh berries. We had opted to make a nice dinner at home rather than go out since Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday. To be honest, though, we have kind of made it a tradition to stay in and cook a nice meal instead of going out. We've been doing it for the past 5 years. It was a wonderful day that we spent without anyone checking emails or doing work. This is rare for both of us. David's nose was back to the grindstone all day today, though.
Even though many people consider Valentine's Day an Hallmark holiday, I think I disagree. Maybe I disagree because I'm married, but I feel the day brings out the reminder of the many blessings we have in our lives. David and I were talking about how blessed we are to be loved by so many family and friends. And, no matter how old I get, I will never tire of receiving a Valentine's card from my parents. This was truly a happy Valentine's Day.

Bunge Blunders

David and I make a lot of mistakes, most of them small and inconsequential. This weekend, however, we seemed to be particularly good at making ones that mattered.
It pretty much started with me misreading a new recipe I was trying. I wanted to make this "Hearty Chicken and Broccoli Casserole" I received from FoodFit. (Great website by way. I would highly recommend it. Just read the ingredients correctly.) The recipe called for me to poach the chicken in a broth and dry white wine. I saw white wine and assumed it was white wine vinegar. Yeah, not so much. It probably wouldn't have mattered so much if I were just supposed to cook the chicken in this mixture. The problem was that after the chicken fully cooked, you were then to take it out and cook the broccoli in this same mixture. That was the problem. I made David try it first, knowing it wouldn't taste right, but hoping it might. It was definitely the former. The broccoli tasted awful! Good thing there's plenty of take-out options around here.
Our other little mishap was David's fault. We bought this Roku player for our television upstairs to view shows and movies off of Netflix. He read that Roku was adding Amazon.com to it's available sites, and he wanted to check it out. He started exploring this "TV pass" online and noticed How I Met Your Mother was available. He clicked on it to see what the pass entailed, and shortly thereafter received an email notifying him he'd purchased the season pass. To his credit, it didn't ask for him to sign-in or anything. Fortunately, we were able to cancel the pass. And even better, it takes 3 days for Amazon to remove it, so we have 3 days to watch as many Season 4 episodes as we can tolerate. So, that happened...
I've decided to include the chicken and broccoli casserole recipe below. I believe it has the potential to be something special. Just remember it's dry white wine, not white wine vinegar.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

This recipe serves: 6

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 cup grated Gruyere cheese
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup dry white wine
• salt to taste
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 cups broccoli florets
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound yolk-free egg noodles

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

2. In a large saucepan, heat the chicken broth, white wine and a generous pinch of salt over medium heat. Add the chicken breasts and poach them over low heat for 10 minutes or until the chicken breasts are cooked through. Remove the chicken from the liquid and set aside. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, cut it into strips.

3. Bring the poaching liquid to a boil, add the broccoli florets and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the broccoli and set aside. Reserve the cooking liquid.

4. In a separate saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 3 minutes. Whisk in the cooking liquid and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the cheeses. Add the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.

5. Meanwhile, cook the noodles in a large pot of salted water until they are al dente, drain and put them in a large casserole dish.

6. Add the chicken and broccoli to the casserole dish and pour in the sauce. Bake the casserole in the oven for 20 minutes. Let the casserole stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving.