"When The Walls, Came Tumbling Down" "Cindia's Sunday Chicken DInner"

Ok so I have 4 blogs drafted and this is where my head and heart are first and foremost. I have some eager with anticipation of the previous 3 but I really have to throw this out there first. Hope you can understand..

My heart has been trampled on more than a time or two and thus fore I have built a strongest, tallest wall around it. Kryptonite couldn’t weaken the concrete and iron structure my inner demons have constructed to protect me from those malicious, heinous creatures known as men.

My life has been a consistent run of “bad boys” in one way or another. It would always start off nice but then our dark sides would collide and it would be a tumultuous ride on a year long roller coaster as I would try to fix things in every way. Tried to make things right and not seek the truth in any form. I would keep working on re-building the past and never look ahead and say “what’s gonna change this time”? Well this time I am going to change. This time I am the one working on myself and how I control the goddess we all know and love. My goddess is a rambunctious one. She likes to be the center of attention and adored by many. She is the one who shields my inside from those who don’t know me and plasters the fake smile across my face that you see in public. Those who know me see the pain behind that smile and the loneliness in my heart that is yearning to be touched by someone that will fill it with love and emotional stability.

Then all at once he walked into my life like the cyclone of emotions I have imagined and written about so many times. Now please don’t think I am rushing into things, but this is the most emotional and spiritual relationship high one could ever imagine. It’s the one time in life that you just go with your gut and swallow up every other bad experience and realize that this is the one you have been waiting for to make the bad ones worthwhile.

Sometimes it just feels right and damn it you just have to take a leap of faith and let the decaying walls start slowly crumbling to the ground and fill your heart with air and light. Take the darkness of monsters that lie internally and remove the chains that kept them hidden and bound. Show them the love that fills your soul and allow them to sleep soundly as the return inside, as they will always be there for you when you summon them for protection.

Yes, I have let someone in where I swore I wouldn’t. Yes, he has touched me in so many ways that to sit here and write them down would take hours. Yes, the feelings are mutual and growing everyday in leaps and bounds. I am actually convinced this is the reality I am destined for….and I am happy. Happier then I have been in years and when I am in his arms no one can ever come between us…….ever. Then there is the passion, I just don’t think I can get into that with you now but it’s there and it’s real. No man has ever made me feel the ways he does when we are together. I am serious about that friends, I have had my fair share of relationships, most long-term, these feelings are different, they are effortless and natural and when he touches me everything and everyone around us goes away.

 So if you dare to ask this goddess if she is in love, well I may have to say I think so......oh heck Yes! There I admitted it. I am "in love" with someone who fills in all of the blanks on my application.

So for today's recipe I put a pure classic out there dedicated to my sister Cindia June Cannon, who I love with all of my heart and soul. This is the only recipe my sis keeps bugging me to post so I am and at the most perfect time in my life to post this perfect classic.  ENJOY and TASTY TASTINGS EVERYONE!!!

"Cindia's Sunday Chicken with Vegetables"

Enjoy the inviting aroma of roasted chicken infused with a subtle zest of lemon and fragrant rosemary. Yam, carrots and red potatoes bring seasonal color and nutrition to this deliciously tender chicken dish. Serve with a fresh green salad and dinner rolls, if you like.

Ingredients

1 lemon
2 sprigs rosemary
1 (4- to 5-pound) whole chicken
10 small red potatoes, halved
3 large carrots, cut into large chunks
1 yellow onion, cut in 6 wedges
1 (1/2-pound) yam, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup white wine
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Pierce lemon all over with a fork. Place whole lemon and rosemary sprigs into cavity of chicken. Truss chicken with butchers' twine and place breast-side up in a large roasting pan. Arrange potatoes, carrots, onions, and yams around the chicken. Pour both and wine over chicken and vegetables, then drizzle chicken with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover chicken tightly with foil and roast chicken and vegetables for 30 minutes.

Reduce to 350°F. Remove foil and set aside for later use. Continue to roast chicken, basting periodically, for 1 1/2 hours more. Transfer chicken to a platter and set aside to let rest for 20 minutes. While chicken is resting, cover vegetables with reserved foil and continue to roast for 20 minutes more.

Carve chicken and serve alongside the roasted vegetables, drizzled with pan juices, if you like.

"Don't Misunderstand Me" "The Goddess Drinks Pinot Noir" and "What The F--k Duck in a Pinot Noir Pop My Cherry Sauce"

Please don’t misunderstand me when I say I love you as being something other than genuine. But you see, the key is to love yourself enough to be able to share the overflow of your heart with others. I don’t fall in love easily nor do I allow the steel walls to buckle. My heart has been laid out on the altar for sacrifice too many times that I have learned to safe guard it with care and summon the inner demons to protect it as needed. As much as we all enjoy the idea of being in love we only see one part of the story. One side of an intricate pattern on a lace tablecloth like the one your grandmother would pull out on special occasions ONLY. The one with the distinct smell of either cedar or mothballs. That tablecloth was guarded just like my heart. Kept safe from ruin and age. 


Please don't misunderstand me as I often find it difficult to express my true feelings as I have learned that someone is always going to take it the wrong way and use it to destroy me, or at least try to. Recently that happened to me, I admitted my feelings to someone. It was not love in any way other than friendship as I knew his situation from the start. It was just telling him that I cared enough about him to let him follow his heart....that's if he had one. I started to carry on with my life and decided to take on something else to another level, but not with him. The outrage and disgust I could see in his eyes when I came home that day. I don't know why he would ever feel that way as he claimed he didn't care. It has been difficult to deal with his unholy terror he unleashed on me subsequently in the past 2 weeks but I am having to re-structure everything and everyone around me. His lies and deceit have hurt my reputation and made my life a living hell......until today. Today is the first day I actually felt human in 10 days. I felt stable and secure as I am making sure the good girl rides away and finishes this blog........  it may take a few more days but I am calm in my decisions today that fact speaks louder than fiction and my life will be much better off as will my heart for even having to go through this kind of pain and emotional torture. I am a better person and will rise out of the ashes like a phoenix. I am the goddess I write as, she is my protector and always keeps me safe from harm. With a sheath draped across her shoulder and the thorny crown that is bestowed atop her head as her love shines down and forgives those that intend to harm me. That goddess is me and lives and breaths inside my heart as my heart is open and accepting to my friends who truly understand my purpose in their lives. My heart understands imperfection and realizes that no one is genuinely without flaw as I am not. 


So please don't misunderstand me when I tell you that I am the person you thought you knew, the person that you gravitated to as you spun around in my orbit and lost sight of the stars above as you watched me fall into a black hole. As I lay dying you breathed life back into my soul and filled my heart with light and hope. You are my true friends the ones that saw this person falling and caught me in yours arms and showed your love and trust for me. This goddess is blessed to have those in her life that through words of light made me realize that this is temporary and will get better and helped me acquire the tools to fix what was broken in my life. Those that made me realize the person I trusted was out to harm me and make me trip and fall even though he would passionately hold me at night. Wife, fiance, girlfriend.....were was I in this mix? I just knew I needed to get out and not be caught under his domain but it was too late. 


So please don't misunderstand me when I say I am sorry. Not just for what he did to me and those I love but for what I allowed him to do to me that caused the spiral downward. I was a sitting duck left saying WTF!


And now the goddess speaks Pinot!


Why do I have such a passion for Pinot Noir. Why does it speak to me in only a language the two of us can understand and engulf my body in it's warm and berrylike essence. I would lay in a claw foot tube full of Pinot Noir and suck it dry with a straw if given a chance (hint to potential beau's). The love and care put into a quality Oregon Pinot makes my heart light and my palate orgasm. The nose itself hits me like the way the room smells after a night of passion and lust, deliciously satisfying. The first taste in my mouth just arouses my passion for this varietal even more and sends a current through my body that fills my mouth with joy and makes me crave more.
I savor every drop of Pinot Noir like it's the last on earth. The first rain after a summer's drought is the refreshing finish to this delicate varietal's appeal. Yes I am a Pinot whore and I am proud. 


It took me a couple of days to perfect the "Pop My Cherry Pinot Sauce" on my "What The F--K Duck" but I hope you enjoy. Duck has always been my favorite members of the poultry family and although I never back down from a kitchen challenge it has sometimes been difficult for me to master. 


Here we go peeps, life goes on and WTF DUCK!!!!


Enjoy and Tasty Tasting Everyone!!!!!!




"What The F--k Duck in a Pinot Noir Pop My Cherry Sauce"


Ingredients


3 tbsp Sugar
3 tbsp water
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tspn salt
1 pinch fresh ground black pepper
24oz Fresh Duck Breast boned, halved and skinned
1/4 cup shallots
1 garlic clove
1 1/2 cup Pinot Noir
1/2 cup chicken broth (organic)
1/4 cup whipping cream (not whipped cream)


Combine sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a small, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until sugar dissolves, stirring gently as needed to dissolve sugar evenly (about 1 minute). Continue cooking 5 minutes or until golden (do not stir). Remove from heat; carefully stir in cherries and vinegar (caramelized sugar will harden and stick to spoon). Place pan over low heat until caramelized sugar melts


Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper over duck. Add duck to pan; cook 5 minutes. Turn duck over; cook 4 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from pan; let stand 5 minutes. Cut duck across the grain into thin slices
Return skillet to medium heat. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil, shallots, and garlic to pan; cook 1 minute or until tender, stirring frequently. Add wine to pan; increase heat to medium-high. Bring mixture to a boil; cook until reduced to 3/4 cup (about 6 minutes). Add broth; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 6 minutes). Pour wine mixture through a fine sieve into cherry mixture; discard solids. Bring cherry mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in cream; simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt. Serve sauce over duck.