Fried Chicken Sandwiches!

My mom said that when she and my dad first lived together, practically all she made was deep fried food in a cast iron skillet, because it’s all she knew how to cook. And my grandma, from Oklahoma, has bubbling hot oil running through her veins. But I was raised in the Pacific Northwest, in the 80s and 90s. Back when health crazes were all the rage. In a time when margarine was better for you than butter (although the lower price is more likely what kept that giant tub of Country Crock in our fridge my entire childhood). The days of Slim Fast powder and Jane Fonda aerobics tapes. Back when my mom only deep fried a couple times a year, and usually just to make breaded fried zucchini, and taquitos on Amanda’s birthday. Contrary to my mom’s belief, deep frying prowess is not something you’re born with. It’s not something I was born with. In fact, it’s something that, while brave and adventurous in the kitchen, I’ve always been intimidated by and have failed at every time I tried.

Ready-To-Go TJ Salad

I was eleven or twelve years old, and beyond excited to go to the movie that everyone said made them literally scream and jump out of their seats with fear. Of course my cousin Coco, 13 years my senior, took me. The same cousin who let me watch Candyman four years earlier (I would go on to brag, for years, that Candyman didn’t even give me nightmares, a fact that I wore like a badge of honor and maturity). The same cousin who couldn’t wait to binge on the movie Fear with my sister and me every summer since it came out… in 1990. When I was 5. (While the Marky Mark/ Alicia Silverstone Fear is amazing and the ferris wheel scene taught middle schoolers across the country everything we knew about sex at the time, I’m talking about the earlier movie Fear, starring Ally Sheedy, in which she’s a psychic who uses her powers to track down murderers and ps. it’s the best movie ever). The same cousin who later took us to see The Blair Witch Project… the night before we went on a family camping trip. 

Shredded Chicken Gorditas

Today I’m joining some other fun people on the interwebz in sharing recipes for Cinco de Mayo (scroll to the bottom for links)! Before we get started, a few notes:

Warm Lentil Salad with Butter-Crumbed Eggs | #SpringPantryPurge

I have a tendency to hoard but a desire to live minimally.

I have a nostalgia for things, which I come by naturally. My dad was a first generation child of immigrants, growing up in a family who had left everything behind. I think that probably makes you hang onto things a little tighter. When my parents were young and child-free, they travelled around the American southwest, living in a tiny travel-trailer in small towns along the way. That forces you to live minimally. Then when I was born, they settled on a 5 acre property, with lots of room for stuff. When I was growing up, we didn’t have a ton of money, which I also think makes people hang onto things. And we never moved. My entire childhood. So we just kept saving stuff and filling up our space. And overtime, we grew very attached and sentimental about our things. My mom still has all of my childhood toys. So, getting rid of things is hard for me. But I feel so much better in a clutter free environment. I truly feel like clearing the clutter in my house helps clear the clutter in my mind. So, I’m trying.

Kristy Taco Salad (with Doritos and French Dressing)

In my pre-teen through teen years, taco salad night was a pretty regular occurrence at my house. I would help my mom season and cook the ground beef (seasoning taco meat was where I got my start in the kitchen), my sister would prep the veggies, and Tami, my sister’s best friend, would grate the cheese. Seriously, I don't have any memories of anyone else grating cheese in my teen years.

Panama Travel

Facebook keeps reminding me that around this time last year, I was in Panama. I just realized I hadn’t posted photos here!

Baked Chicken and Mushroom Rice (aka Chicken No Peeky)

Toward the end of high school, my dad been laid off from work at the aluminum plant, and was doing small, part time jobs here and there. My sister was off in Seattle, at UW, my mom was working... and my dad and I were driving each other crazy.