..a day in the life..: ..sunday afternoon..

" better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere"

-psalm 84:10

today has been a fantastic sunday other than susie had to work.

I decided I would spend the afternoon in the kitchen cooking and baking while listening to praise music and sermons.

cooking and baking relieves my stress and makes me forget about everything around me that was previously on my mind.

I was able to warm the kitchen up on this cold day with the oven working non stop and also my singing. I felt like I couldn't get my day or my heart right but what's I got cooking, I felt a hundred times better.

I started out with an Indian dish that I hope Susie will love when she gets home (we don't cook a lot of Indian)

There are a lot of spices that are used in Indian food that most people already know that it's potent but also very delicious.

The spices I've used today are a things from cardamom, turmeric, cumin, curry, cinnamon, salt, pepper, which are mostly things I never use in other dishes. It is interesting what goes into a dish like this.

Butter chicken

4-6 boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces

1 onion diced

3 cloves garlic minced

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp oil

Stir fry chicken, onion and garlic in frying pan on medium heat until the chicken has some color and the onion is translucent. Then pour entire contents of pan into crock pot. Then add:

15 green cardamom pods

2 tsp curry powder

1 tbsp curry paste (like Patak’s mild curry paste)

1 tsp cayenne powder (optional) It’s really hot if you add this

2 tsp tandoori masala

1 tsp garam masala

1 can coconut milk

1 cup plain yogurt

1 5.5 fl oz can of tomato paste

Salt to taste

Mix gently and cook on high heat 4-6 hours or low heat 6-8 hours (crockpot)

Next I made apple crisp.

The cool air is here and the apples are fresh and delicious and what better to combine them with brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon.

Apple Crisp

6 - large apples (2 - 1/2 lbs)

peeled, cored & sliced thinly

1/4 - cup water

juice from 1 lemon

2 - cups rolled oats

2 - cups all purpose flour

2 - cups packed brown sugar

2 - Tablespoons cinnamon

1 1/4 cups melted butter (2 1/2 sticks)

1 - large iron skillet

Preheat ove to 350 degrees. combine the apples, water, and lemon juice add to a large Iron Skillet. In a bowl, combine the oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon. pour in the butter and stir to make a crumbly mixture. Spread the topping in an even layer over the apples and bake for 45 - 55 minutes, or until the topping is crisp and brown. You may have to cook a bit longer just watch closely.