Weekend Fun!

What a weekend! The living room has been painted all one color! We've been waiting for this for quite some time. Fresh paint goes a long way for making a 70+ year old house feel new again.

A quick pic from my phone.

Dan's probably just glad to be able to sit down for a few! What great help he is!

Now..what did we eat? 

Friday night, in an effort to not clean up two separate messes, we went out to eat at Samurai at 37th St. N. & Woodlawn. So. Good!

Their yakisoba noodle plates are fantastic. Look at all those veggies! Tender chicken & steak (Dan's order) & a great sauce. Check them out!















Ok, but could I make it through a weekend without cooking? No way!
Grilled lemon-pepper chicken with fresh corn salad
Serves 3-4 (or 2 with fantastic leftovers)

1 whole chicken
4 lemons
2 ears corn
1/4 onion, finely diced
1/2 package feta cheese, crumbled
1 green pepper
1 bunch chives, finely chopped

To prep the chicken, take it out of the packaging, give it a quick rinse & pat it dry. You can grill your chicken as is whole, but it helps speed the cooking process if you cut down the back with kitchen shears & flatten out the chicken. The chicken can be grilled either in a foil packet or in a cast iron pan. Place the chicken in your vessel of choice.

Cut the lemons in half & squeeze the juice over the chicken. Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon salt & as much freshly ground black pepper as you like. Wrap the chicken with the foil packet or if in a skillet, cover with foil. Grill over a hot fire for about an hour (or in the oven at 450 degrees for about an hour), checking with a meat thermometer. You can brown the chicken & crisp the skin by removing the top layer of foil in the last 15 minutes or so of cooking. When the chicken is about 160 degrees, remove from the grill or oven & cover to rest for about 10 minutes. The chicken will continue to cook while resting.

Meanwhile, roast the red pepper in the oven or over the grill until well charred & bubbly. Place in a paper sack to sweat until cool enough to handle. Cut the corn from cleaned ears & place in a bowl. Add onion, feta, chives, & a swirl of EVOO. Season with salt & pepper to taste. When the pepper is manageable, peel the skin from the pepper and remove the seeds. Finely dice and mix in with the salad.

Carve the chicken & serve with salad. Enjoy!