My Day Started In The Trash. And Yours?

Coffee grounds... kitty fur... banana peel... used tissues... dental floss... remnants of last night's dinner...

That's what I was digging through around 6:30 AM. How'd your day start?

Blair had an associate from Korea (Korea? I think that's right.) call this morning about 5:30. Blair grabbed his Blackberry, set the case aside, and took the call.

When he went to leave the house--no case. We searched EVERYWHERE. He'd been feeding the fish when the call came in, so we were even scanning the tank to see if he'd dropped it in there. After looking in obvious places, we started looking in the fridge, in the cat toy box, his robe, the bed, the cupboard where we keep the cleaning supplies... Trust me when I say we took 20 minutes and tore this house apart. And still, nothing.

"What about the trash bag?" said Blair, referring to the bag I'd already taken to the curb. 

"Didn't I take that out before you got your call?" I asked.

"No, you started emptying trash cans around the house while I was on the phone."

Outside I went, bringing the trash bag back in the house. We opened it in the kitchen and proceeded to sort through it. Yuck, yuck and yuck. Thankfully, we found the case not too far down. A thorough washing with hot water and Blair was on his way. 

The good thing about digging through trash in the  morning is it's really hard for your day to go downhill from there. 

I hope.

Happy Tuesday, everyone.

A Few Random Thoughts

I don't have enough for a full blog entry today so, like poor man's soup, I thought I'd toss a bit of everything in the pot and hope it comes out tasting good. Our ingredients:

• As of this morning, I'm signed up to run the 2009 Chicago Marathon on October 11--four days before our 15th wedding anniversary.
• A friend gave us tickets to the Greensboro Symphony, which we attended last night. Next door--and generating much more traffic--was a Monster Truck Rally. As we pulled up to the traffic cop, he took one look at us and said, "Symphony?" and pointed the way. (I could SO fit into a Monster Truck Rally if I wanted to.)
• Neighborhood Superbowl Party today. I will probably eat my weight in chocolate and fried foods.
• Speaking of food, the "You Bought It Now Eat It" week was a great success with the exception of the Red Lentil Load that was, in a word, nasty. Additionally, the dishes all seemed to have a high carb value - lots of pasta, potatoes, and rice. Maybe I could set aside an orange or something this month...
• Blair and I are both spending today working before the Superbowl. Just not enough hours in the week to get what needs to be done, done.
• Ran 11 miles yesterday which is the most I've managed since November's marathon. Good pace, felt great. 30 degrees and a windchill factor encourages one to pick up the pace. 
• Novel writing begins tomorrow. Need to find time today to get organized.

That's it. Stir well and serve.

Commitments

Looking ahead to the month of February and doing a quick count, I see I'm already scheduled for 23 hours of appointments, not including drive time. These range from everything from board and marketing meetings to teaching a class at the Greensboro Women's Center, attending a friend's book launch to my radio show, coffee with friends to Artist Dates. 

In the middle of each month, as I look at my growing list of commitments, I always swear to do better next month and not overburden myself. "I'll just say 'no,'" I tell myself. Doesn't happen.

Part of it is that I want to be at all these places. Board meetings and seeing friends and volunteer work is important to me. But so is writing and sometimes I feel like I let go of my time for that in order to "fit in" everything else, instead of the other way around. But I'm grateful I have the kind of work and schedule that allows me to fit in so many different things. I wouldn't want to stay home every day and just write. I'd go insane.

Balance is key. I keep hoping I'll just luck into it as I go, but it may be time to break down and put a bit more thought into what I can and can't commit too--even as it relates to coffee with friends or driving into town for a run. 

Gotta go. Got to get some work done before I shoot into Greensboro for today's appointments. =)

Salmon Pastry Puffs

When I saw her in November, my sister gave me a recipe book she'd put together for me, complete with subject index, pictures, and the necessary level of dumbed-down Dena directions. Still, I had to phone her yesterday for help.

"Guess what?" I said when she picked up the phone. "I'm going to make your salmon pastry puffs recipe tonight."

"You'll love it," she replied. "Best quick dinner ever."

"Riiiight," I said. "Hey, one question. Um, what's a puff pastry?"

After she walked me through where to find them ("Go to frozen foods near the pie crusts," were my marching orders) and stopped laughing at me (rude), she again emphasized what a delicious meal this was and that I could even use it for entertaining.

Maybe. I haven't had a lot of luck with salmon recipes so I didn't get my hopes up.

Oh. My. God. People--this is a life-changing recipe. SO GOOD. I ate myself sick last night but didn't want to waste an ounce of food. Delish, delish, delish. Definently a new favorite in the Harris household.

So Nicole, I hope you don't mind my sharing the recipe but it's too good--and too simple--to keep secret. Here it is, complete with my sister's italics which are code for "Dena, don't mess this up."

SALMON WITH PUFF PASTRY & PESTO

• 4 pieces of purchased puff pastry, each cut to be just larger than a piece of salmon
• 4 (4-6 oz.) pieces salmon
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup purchased pesto
• 2 tomatoes, sliced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

On a foil-lined baking sheet, place the 4 pieces of puff pastry. Also place the 4 pieces of salmon, being careful to make sure they are not touching (don't cook them on top of the puff pastry.) Sprinkle each piece of salmon with 1 tablespoon of the sliced almonds. Bake for 10 minutes.

To serve, place each piece of puff pastry on a plate. Top each pastry with 1 tablespoon of pesto. Top the pesto with 2 slices of tomato each. Top the tomatoes with the salmon and serve.

Serves 4  / Prep Time: 5 minutes  /Cooking Time: 10 minutes