WHO am I?

No, this is not necessarily a confession of a Rock Band addict who is currently stuck on playing anything by The Who!

This morning, I had a really good cup of coffee, and I resolved to go outside to work in the "camper thing" where several projects need my attention. However, I got stopped in the kitchen by a grocery bag full of cucumbers that our neighbor had very kindly brought down to us! What to do with all of them? I went right to work on them! I started washing them down, and I cut off the ends, and I started slicing, chopping, and dicing. I now have the biggest and best salad ever to have graced the planet!

Garnesy's Salad



1. Romaine lettuce
2. Cherry tomatoes
3. One of each color: red, yellow, orange, AND green bell peppers
4. Cucumbers, both English and regular garden cucumbers
5. 2 large red onions
6. Garlic (to taste)
7. 2 skinned chicken breasts (cubed and seared in a wok to a perfect golden brown)
8. A passionate shake of some Red Crushed Chili Peppers - just for the heck of it!
9. Another strong shake of some chopped parsley!

I placed all of it in a giant "lock-n-lock" container, and I had John shake, shake, SHAKE that container to mix it all up really good! This salad is flippin' HUGE!

The finishing touch (once I'm ready to set up individual servings) is to top it off with some lovely crumbled Greek feta cheese, and Mmwaaah!. Perfection!



While I was preparing the cucumbers, we decided it would be nice to have some freshly baked bread. I thank mom every day for that awesome bread machine! It makes the perfect loaf of bread - every single time. The bread smells great, and it will be ready any minute now. Once we top it off with some real butter (no margerine, thank you!), then, we're set to have a scrumptious late lunch or early dinner (might as well yank the grill cover off, while we're at it).

Now, we still had plenty of cucumbers left over, so I sliced them thin (but not too thin), and I placed them in another "lock-n-lock container" (those things save so much space in the fridge). Roll out the Red Onions! I cleaned them, and John sliced them into rings (because my eyes started going crazy), and we made a really colorful Cucumber and Onion Salad. But, something was missing, so I pulled out the extra-virgin olive oil, and I grabbed some Red Wine Vinegar, and I made the tastiest viniagrette, too.

Lastly, I had been long been craving some tzajiki (a Greek recipe, it's basically a "cucumber and yogurt dip/spread"), and although I didn't have any thick Greek yogurt, I made it with what I had on hand. It's not quite the same, but it's close - until I can buy some cheesecloth and make my own yogurt.



Tzatziki
1. Dannon Plain Non-Fat Yogurt (2 cups)
2. 1/2 cup of freshly grated English cucumbers
3. 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
4. 10 cloves of fresh garlic (or more, I love garlic, so stay away, haha)
5. 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Oooh, I can't wait for this stuff to properly chill! It'll be great with the crusty part of the bread as an appetizer for any meal. Better yet, this is good in the fridge for a couple of days, so it will only get better. Tzatziki is especially yummy with fried chicken (but that's not on my agenda today).

Everything is in the fridge (but the bread), and the cucumber salad will be perfect tomorrow (it's best when it sits a day, anyhow).

WHO IN THE WORLD AM I? I do NOT normally get into things like this, and I've scared myself!

After lunch (ok, it'll be an early dinner at this stage), I'll go outside to my workshop and complete a few projects. My IPOD and The Who are going with me!