WHERE'S EMMA?

Can you see her? We love playing in the leaves!!! Tomorrow morning we leave for beautiful North Carolina.......today, I had to finish up a few errands. This is how it went. I walked with a friend early, early this morning, got the kids to school, well, actually James Avery stayed home with a stomach ache, so I cancelled a doctor's appointment.......took Emma to school, Steve called and said James Avery was feeling better, so he took him on to school! Thank goodness....I really needed to go into Cool Springs and finish off my list. I showered, and got all comfy in a black skirt and white tee. I couldn't wait to pull into Starbucks and get that Pumpkin Spice Latte. I did. Mmmmmmm. That first swallow is a true taste of Heaven. I ran into my first store, then came back and jumped in the car.......somehow I lost control of my coffee for a moment, it tipped over, and not all of it, but plenty spilled out straight onto the front of my, yes, white tee shirt. It was everywhere. I couldn't shop like this, what should I do? Hey, there's an old wadded up hoodie on the floor, along with stale pb&j's, old papers, spilled drinks, dirty socks. I'll just put that sucker on and zip it up.....oh, there's a TJ Maxx. So, I put on the wadded up wrinkled dirty hoodie, zipped it up over my coffee stained white tee, and headed in TJ's looking like "Country Come To Town". I grabbed the first tee I could find, and wore it out of the dressing room. Yes, I did pay for it. Finally, I'm ready to shop now. I had several more errands to do, and one was Costco. That was relatively painless, except when my very large container of grape tomatoes tipped over in my basket, and tomatoes were rolling around everywhere and all around me. It reminded me of the other day when I was in the grocery, and my eggs were on the bottom rack of the cart, and they fell out the front of the cart, then I ran over them. Busted egg yolks were all over the produce section, because of me. Then when we got to the check out, the other 18 carton of eggs was still on the bottom, and I looked over and Emma was standing on them to make herself taller to help get the stuff out of the cart. What a Helper......another pkg of eggs, busted. I just handed them to the bag boy, and said, please go get me 2 more 18-pk cartons of eggs......I've managed to bust 2 of them since I've been here. Ok, so, more today stuff. Oh yeah, I got in the car to take Emma to dance (which was cancelled and I didn't know it) and set my hot tea, not in the cup holder, I know, My fault, but in the middle, and when I took off, it fell forward smack dab into my open purse.....completely saturated the mail I had just put in there, and got on my camera that I just happened to have in there because I was taking the disk in to be developed. That's about how my day has gone. A comedy of errors, it seems. Now, however, I am packed, practically, and getting ready to load the food into the car. I can't wait to get to the the cabin, put on my pjs and relax. I won't be blogging for a few days, but will share stories upon our return. Here's you another recipe for you to enjoy! J

PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN

1 5-6 pound roasting chicken

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs

1 lemon, halved

1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise

2 TBLS butter (1/4 stick), melted

1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced

4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks

1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges

olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and pat the outside dry. Liverally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

Great over couscous, mashed potatoes, or rice.