I Achieved My Goal and Baked a Cake and Cooked a Pan-Fried, Mushroom & Spinach Chicken Dish for the Alicea Family.

Sundays are for football, but also for cooking, and although I didn't cook for myself, I did cook for a friend who lost her father (and left it to Pam to cook for me...and Bev...a pot roast that was delicious). I fried chicken thighs with garlic and onion, adding thyme and parsley, peppers, and then made a cream sauce that can easily be heated up. I also made a Crandall cake and the ganache is resting in the refrigerator to be spread on the cake. 

I worked on a second syllabi, did laundry, walked the dog quite a distance, and reflected on 2025 bringing forward too many losses. Life is about beginnings and endings, but when the endings come so abundantly, it stumps you a little to figure out what it's all supposed to mean. 

I am simply hoping that my time in the kitchen relieves some of the stress of arranging a funeral, contending with family from out of town, and trying to figure out what everyone is supposed to eat. I didn't succeed with dry tomatoes, but did my best with tomatoes I had in the fridge. 

Pam made incredible potatoes and carrots, and a nice load of bread, that was out of this world for a Sunday dinner. Yes, they're calling for another arctic blast (I can hardly wait). If I can get a long walk in everyday, I'm good to go. When I can't mood, I get grumpy. 

I definitely give and feel love through the food I cook (and are cooked for me). If such effort brings even the slighted smile, then I know it is a good deed in the end. 

Congratulations to the Bills for winning once again. Let's hope they keep the energy moving forward. I will decorate the cake, see my optometrist, and then plan a trip to Syracuse for Wednesday and Thursday (a return that means a lot to me...childhood, meets adolescence, meets adulthood). 

Phew. Bring on the 50s they said. Yep, the 50s are something, indeed.