I love my man for so many reasons, but I'd be lying if I said his awesome talent in the kitchen wasn't one of them. Though we own many cookbooks, they don't come off the shelf very often, because the best meals he makes are not those from a recipe followed to the letter. They are the ones which come about when he thinks, "Hmm, I wonder what this would taste like..." This past Sunday saw not one, but two such meals.
We'd heard of cooking a whole chicken in a crock pot, and Chris decided he wanted to try it. Without any idea how others had gone about it, he just decided to chop up some veggies - onions, carrots and celery - and put them in the bottom of the crock pot in a few inches of chicken broth, then put the bird, generously coated in a poultry seasoning rub, on top. We bought a chicken with a popup thermometer already inserted, and he simply cooked it on low until that popped. I believe it took about five hours. It was some of the juiciest, most tender chicken I have ever eaten, and so delicious! I paired mine with some potato salad from Walmart's deli (which you should definitely try if you have a Supercenter in your area). Chris just had meat. 
After we ate, he stripped the remaining meat off the chicken and put it back into the broth and veggies, added some rice and turned it into meal #2: the absolute best chicken soup ever made. That's not even an exaggeration. The seasoning he used on the chicken infused with the broth, giving it almost a lemony flavor. I've never had anything quite like it before. I'm having some for dinner tonight for the third night in a row. 
![[my Christmas cupcakes]](http://www.confoozled.com/archives/assets/cupcakes-thumb-200x150.jpg)
The finished product: The most festive Christmas cupcakes you will ever see!
And speaking of adventures in the kitchen, I had one of my own last night. I made some highly festive Christmas cupcakes for a Yankee Swap party I'm attending tomorrow. Devil's Food, of course, with very vivid red and green frosting, and four different types of adorable Christmas sprinkles: snowflakes, candy canes (which are actually peppermint flavored), gingerbread men and holly berries & leaves. I had a little bit of help with the parts I couldn't quite manage myself, like cracking eggs and actually putting them in and out of the oven, but for all intents and purposes I made these things myself. That seems like a silly thing to be so excited about at thirty years old, but hey. I got cake batter all over my shirt and my hands, frosting on my hands, and sprinkles everywhere, but I'm told that's all part of the fun. 
It just sucks that I can't get my hands to my face to be able to lick them! I even think I spotted some batter on the edge of my shoe this morning...
![[photo of me]](/glasses144.jpg)
![[album thumbnail]](/photos/flood2010/thumbnails/albumthumb.jpg)
![[album thumbnail]](/photos/oregon2009/thumbnails/albumthumb.jpg)
