Paella 2nd try

Here are the pictures (in reverse order) from my attempt at paella. I think it turned out good I was not able to get the crust on the bottom because my husband thought that everything was going to be bad if he didn't put in a can of chicken broth at the end (he didn't want the crust on the bottom). Other than that it turned out really good, next time I will get some old bay for the seafood, no matter what. The biggest question that came out this is do you cook it the way you know it should be cooked or do you not make it crusty on the bottom because somebody doesn't like. I think that if it is not crusted on the bottom then it is just a rice casserole. Everyone that was over loved it, anyway.

I did the cross thing with the rice and it turn out great, thank you. Now I need to buy a smaller pan for my husband. This time turned out much better than the first time but then the first time the smoke pit wasn't level and I didn't add as many types of meat, this time it had chicken, sausage, scallops and shrimp. Good thing I tried it before I had company over. :) Have a great summer.

Finals....Already??????

Let me start off by saying it is much easier to stay on task at school than at home. This seemly easy meal took me almost 5 hours to prepare. Why you ask 4 kids and one not so well mom. I know to begin with that I was not feeling well, I just didn't want to go to the ER (its much easier to the doc on Monday than sit in a waiting room). Hopefully it won't happen again for finals. Then my nine year old won't have so many questions (its really hard to tell her on mother's day to go away). My boys decided to fight over who got to drive the most, they both won that one (the driving mom crazy. It was not so hard for me to tell them to take the fight else where, it was just hard for them to hear. Sorry off topic, I had to get it off my chest.

The recipes will be emailed to you Chef I couldn't get them to post.

Here it is altogether.

On the stir fry, I bought tofu for it however my husband would not let me put it in. I have been thinking on it, I think I would like to try pineapple and ham. I think it would go good over the butternut squash risotto. Will tried everything together and he liked the stir fry and risotto together. That might pull the to together. I'm going to make it again and see this week.

On the baked apples I have done these for a long time with breaburn apples in the microwave for years. I tried it yesterday with the granny smith apples and they needed alittle more time in the oven. I'm also thinking they need something else, maybe honey. Everybody else said to leave less apple but if you take away more apple then you what are you paying for?

The chicken and rice pilaf really paired up great. I am so glad that I ditched the paprika idea. I went with a mid eastern chicken with Garam Masala from Penzeys Spices. It is absolutely a great spice, I love the combination of spices. Originally I was going to try a pair the chicken up with something else until I tasted the rice pilaf. I was made for this chicken, the rosemary from the pilaf adds so much flavor to the rice. I have been looking online to see if there are any figs that are in season, I think there might be some in California. If I can get some I think a grilled fig would go great on top. Being from the south I know you can't go wrong with a fig :)I can't wait to have it again.