Howdy Cowgirl

I have a bit of a country and western thing going on at the moment. My iPod has old school Kenny & Dolly on high rotation, I am loving the Saloon Bar at our local pub and I have started to think that line dancing classes could well be a legitimate way of getting fit. The commitment to all things western has even extended to my wardrobe by way of a checked shirt, which I wore today to meet Eady for lunch in the city. I am not usually a shirt wearer by tradition, no doubt because my essential house-keeping duties do not extend to ironing. But the beauty of this shirt is that it is best worn a little rumpled which means just wash, hang until dry and whack it in the wardrobe until it is needed. Oh yes, I do lazy well and to paraphrase Dr Phil, this shirt is an enabler.

Tonight I am making Eady and I an asian-inspired chicken dish for dinner, kind of like my own special version of Sang Choi Bow. Whilst it isn't strictly in keeping with my current cowgirl vibe, I am excited because it means I get to use my new multi-function stick blender for the first time. I did have one previously but we parted ways a couple of months back. I am what is known in the biz as a pretend chef in that I can't stand chopping, grating or slicing the old-fashioned Master Chef way and so I used my handstick nearly every time I cooked and I guess the handstick took the old adage of "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" quite literally and stopped working permanently. I finally got around to replacing it and in honour of the first use, I have chosen a dish that will allow every ingredient to be processed with the handstick. Obsessed? Well, I guess it is kind of hard to argue against based on my comments above but geez, I do love a multi-function handstick blender...