The Kinks - Nothin' In the World

I heard this on the radio the other day and was thinking that if I didn't know better I was listening to Pentangle and not the Kinks. Very Bert Janschish.

Dreams

I had a crazy dream the other night where I was driving down a very steep mountain valley in a car piloted by my late brother Buzz. 

Ever have a dream where you are in the periphery of your familiar turf and then are suddenly catapulted into an entirely foreign world that existed right at the fringe?

That is what this dream was like for me.

Buzz was 16 months younger than me, my best friend. We talked every day of our lives, practically. I miss him so much. 

It was nice to see him again even if it was only a dream.

The dream then morphed into my recurring dream where I am naked or in my underwear at a terrible antique show and everybody is trying not to notice.

Hmmm.

Foodish

Dave in Japan sent over an email article on discontinued girl scout cookies that is a trip down memory lane. 

Unfortunately, it will not share but this article I found is fairly comprehensive. 

For the record, the Scot teas shortbread with sugar sprinkles (which was discontinued in 1980) was my absolute favorite but I can eat a box or two of thin mints no problem.

Honestly, I never liked the do-si-dos, the peanut butter cookie, but I don't like many peanut butter cookies.

*

I murdered the Peruvian shrimp dish I tried. Pretty horrible. I blame both me and a horrific recipe.

I should have known. Read it again.

Notice it says grapefruit but doesn't tell you what to do with it. Same with the pasta. Very vague. The ml to ounces conversion was difficult. But the worst part is that maybe a Peruvian could eat 100 grams of the Aji Amarillo paste but it was way too much for me and I love spicy food. Maybe two tablespoons, not seven. I added lime, uncalled for, but something I had seen in other similar recipes and it was too sharp.

Live and learn.

A New Day Yesterday

Jethro Tull at their peak, the best performance I have ever witnessed.

Our refuge

I was walking around the garden, pre bake on Sunday and just enjoyed the sunlight and views, lots of cross shadows but also lovely light. 

Here is a bit of texture from my home and garden captured with my iPhone.

Sadly in a need of a coat of paint but it is home and we love it.

We got our first wisteria flowers blooming this week in the old oak out front.

Spring has sprung

Or has it? Astronomical spring officially begins at 11:06 p.m. Eastern time. Today is the Spring equinox. Normally it falls on the 20th but 2024 is a leap year. It can also fall on the 21st but we are not due for one of those again until 2102. Probably not going to stick around for that one.

Equinoxes and seasons happen because the Earth doesn’t orbit the sun completely upright. Because Earth’s axis is tilted from the vertical by about 23.5 degrees, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres receive different amounts of sunlight throughout the year. On the spring and autumnal equinoxes, however, both hemispheres receive equal amounts of the sun’s energy, causing day and night to be nearly equal everywhere on Earth.

Weathermen and climate people prefer to think of Spring starting March 1st and extending through May 31st. I guess it is tidier that way. The Spring equinox is also known as the vernal equinox, vernal meaning "of and in the spring" according to my old pal Merriam Webster.

borrowed from Latin vernālis, from vernus "of spring" (going back to pre-Latin *u̯esri-no-, adjective derivative from the base of Latin vēr "spring") + -ālis -AL entry 1; vēr "spring," going back to Indo-European *u̯ḗs-r̥-, *u̯es-n̥-s, whence also Old Norse vár "spring," Old Frisian wars, wērs, Welsh gwanwyn (Old Welsh guiannuin, from British Celtic *u̯esantēno-), Middle Irish errach (probably from *u̯esrāko-, with generalization of the lenited initial consonant), Old Church Slavic vesna, Russian vesná, Lithuanian vãsara "summer," Greek éar "spring" (from *u̯ehar, from *u̯esr̥), Armenian garun (gar- from *gehar-, from *u̯esr̥- + a suffix), Sanskrit vasantá-, Avestan vaŋri (locative) "in the spring"

*

I was thinking of Spring and being sprung as I woke up and thought about Boeing. They never should have gone into aircraft, should have stuck with pogo sticks, with a name like Boeing. As in Sproing. A Don Martin word if there ever was one.

*

I got sproinged myself on Sunday. Hate to air my dirty laundry but you do enjoy it so. So like I said last week, I rarely smoke pot and the few times in the last forty or fifty years that I have ingested edibles, well, it has not been pretty. Take my word for it. I am supersensitive and it gets almost nightmarish at night.

But I made these scones and thought that it was my duty as a baker to try one, as I had given a couple away.  Have to know what you are doling out. Steve said they were pretty tame as did Leslie. I think they both have high tolerances for the stuff but what do I know?

I ate one of my blueberry, cranberry, ginger, walnut, panama red delectables at about 9:30 Sunday morning. Hey, they are weak, I went super easy on the butter, give it a go during daytime, everything should be okay, right?

Around an hour later I started feeling light effects. By eleven I was seriously tripping and feeling very uncomfortable. Walked around inside, walked around outside, listen to my wife make a short exposition of my deficiency list, took a bath, laid down, could not really find my sea legs. Seriously overactive brain syndrome and not one I particularly enjoy.

She drove to Temecula, after first inquiring if I was going to be okay and I had a very big world weighing on my mind. Tripping my balls off as we used to say on the lower east side. But not exceedingly happy, more like, why the fuck did you do this again, you know what happens, you idiot? Slow learner I guess... Not quite make it stop, Mommy but not real comfortable in my own skin, if that makes any sense?

I finally decided to do something constructive and comet cleanser, windex and sponge in hand, cleaned the shower and sinks as well as the bathroom mirror. There is an old zen koan that says when your world is drifting apart, it helps to go do the dishes. You know, pick your brains off the floor...

I did feel better and continued to ride out the afternoon. Ultimately I drove up to the neighbors for a preplanned drink, bottle of Ukrainian vodka in hand, we made screwdrivers with their fresh navel oranges and toasted the Ukrainian people. Leslie joined us shortly thereafter and the vodka did a nice job dulling the brittle buzz and harsh brain of the scone experiment.

I don't need to do that again for a long time, if ever.

I saw Steve the next day and said, "Hey I thought you said they were mild?" He looked at me and said," Well, I only ate half." 

Thanks, Steve.

The Rocky Road To Dublin - The Ramparts

You Don't Love Me

Color Study

 

Leslie found this beauty at the market. Such lovely colors. This is unedited iPhone.

Love Will Win

B.K. Nicholson and Desperado

Peruvian chicken

I was flattered that RoxAnn made my Peruvian chicken recipe last night but wish it didn't look so much better than mine did.

She was worried that it would be too spicy with its aji amarillo sauce for Mick but while the first bite had some zing they both loved it.

I found an aji amarillo shrimp and pasta dish I am going to try next.

P.J. Proby

What was that?

Yesterday afternoon we had one of the most intense and concentrated storms I can remember. Hail, lightning, thunder and flooding, all in an hour or two.

This is a picture of my back porch.

The water was extremely high in the creek ditch that runs down Brandon and really running hard.

I hear we got two inches of rain in a single hour.

Pretty insane. 

Nick and Sugaray

Remember Sugaray? Bluesman? He used to live and play a lot in Fallbrook. Great band, was it Aunt Kizzy's Boys? Bear of a man. As we all knew he would, he went on to great things. He has a new album out. Here is an article about him.

There is also a great interview with Fallbrook's wonderful mandolin player B.K. Nicholson in Bluegrass Today. Great player and even better guy. Never knew he was once a horn player and jazz guy.

Obviously Five Believers

I was listening to this cut from Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde the other day and marveling at various things. The rhythm section was so tight I was wondering if it was Arnold and Lay from Butterfield's band. Was that Mike Bloomfield on guitar? Such a great harmonica too, definitely not Bob. I did some research.

I was blown away to see that it was actually Robbie Robertson on guitar. I love his writing but was never a big fan of his twang and guitar style. Too many off notes. Yet in Levon Helm's book Wheels on Fire he says that J. Robbie could play circles around Bloomfield at that point in time. I guess the late Hawk and Band member was once really good.

McCoy and Dylan

So who else is playing? It is the great Nashville session player Charlie McCoy on harp. Obviously Charlie could play the blues harp as well as, well, anybody. 

Dylan is also credited on guitar as well as Wayne Moss, a Nashville session guy who started the excellent Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry bands. Not sure which licks he was playing, will need to listen again. Joe South also played on the record but apparently not on this song.

Al Kooper on organ, Pig Robbins on piano, Kenny Buttrey on drums and an amazing performance by Henry Strzelecki on bass that just kills. The first call Nashville bass player of his time, he played with Roy Orbison, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash, Ronnie Milsap and Merle Haggard among others.

I read Robertson say that his performance on this track is what got other musicians to finally respect him. What a great song. No wonder the Allman Brothers and Berry Oakley later borrowed the syncopated bridge for You don't love me.

*

Charlie McCoy and Dylan (from Wikipedia)

McCoy was visiting in New York in 1965; his friend and producer, Bob Johnston, mentioned that he was producing a Bob Dylan session, and he invited McCoy to come and meet Dylan. They were recording tracks for the upcoming album. "Highway 61 Revisited ". After the introduction, McCoy was surprised when Dylan said that he personally owned one of McCoy's records, "Harpoon Man"  Then Dylan said, "Hey, I’m getting ready to record a song, why don’t you grab that guitar and play along.  The song was "Desolation Row", and McCoy remembered that it was 11 minutes long. It took only two takes.  The success of this impromptu session is credited in part with Dylan later agreeing to come to Nashville to record, and doing so against the wishes of his label and management executives.Several months later, McCoy got a call that Dylan was indeed coming to Nashville, and a date had been set. McCoy would be the session leader and was tasked with picking the musicians. It was a big deal back then, because Nashville's connection for recording with folk singers was not stellar.

In 1966, Dylan recorded "Blonde on Blonde" in Nashville, his seventh studio album, a double LP. McCoy brought Kenny Buttrey and Wayne Moss, Hargus Robbins, Jerry Kennedy, Henry Strzelecki, Joe South, and Wayne Butler.Dylan brought Robbie Robertson and Al Kooper. One session was booked for 2 pm, but Dylan did not arrive until 6 pm; he said he had not finished writing the first song.  They ended the song "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" at 4 am.  McCoy said the album took 39 hours to record, "an eternity by Nashville standards". 

Critics called Blonde on Blonde "a benchmark in American Music". In 2003, it was ranked number nine on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".McCoy said, "There were no folk-rock people performing here [Nashville] before Blonde on Blonde; and after that came out, it was like the floodgates opened...It was Joan Baez, Buffy Sainte-Marie, The Byrds, and Leonard Cohen."

Dylan returned to Nashville to Columbia Studios in late 1967 to record "John Wesley Harding", with McCoy playing bass. Dylan's third Nashville session was "Nashville Skyline" again featuring McCoy. Johnny Cash also performed on the album.

* 

At the session, Dylan told the producer to temporarily name the song “Five Believers.” After the recording was complete, Dylan asked the group what it should be called. Robertson said, sardonically, “Obviously, Five Believers.” Dylan said, “that’s it”.

         Dylan didn’t play the song live until he started using it as the show opener in 1995. 

I Feel So Bad - Chuck Willis (1953)

Checking in again

 

Early spring is a special time in Southern California.

This was sunrise this morning in my garden.

I cut the echium in front of the jubea palm and I think it is liking the extra light. Magnificent palm but very slow grower.

Gophers are starting to raise havoc, and dirt piles again the last couple weeks.

Lots of pretty colors coming out in the plant life.

We have beautiful orange African daisies growing wild on the roadside, fitting right in with the native poppies.

And the hills are awash in cobalt colored lilac or ceanothus bushes.

They are quite the sight, blue purple mountain majesties indeed!

Jamie and I found a beautiful mushroom on the ground at the building next door. Giant!

I drove out to my wildlife area on Wednesday and pretty much got skunked, for birds anyway. Had a nice hike but raptors were few.

Still it was lovely to be out there. Saw three owls in a tree, although far away, a turtle and some other stuff. Lots of egrets and tree swallows. Ibis.

This tamarisk like plant's normal green foliage is turning a pretty pink.

That's about it. Not a lot more to report.

I didn't take one picture worth a darn and I really don't care.

The ponds are starting to shrink a bit. The decoys are all beached. Sort of funny.

Jefferson Airplane - Fat Angel

Cranberry, blueberry, ginger, walnut, sativa scones

Although I smoked my share of pot growing up and into adulthood, I hardly ever do anymore. Frankly it has been many months.  I'm not drinking either, prefer to be clear right now for some reason. Honestly haven't missed it, know where to find it if I do. It's legal, right?

Last week I made my first scones with chocolate. Tonight I made my first scones with marijuana.

You see, I have a friend who fell off a ladder and broke his leg recently. He is in terrible pain. Leslie used to make pot brownies for cancer patients and gave them away, never took a penny. It was the only relief I had when I had cancer or major surgeries and it gives a person an appetite. So we felt like we should be there for my friend.

In any case I asked my pal if he would like some scones and he said that he would. Being a true child of the North County, my friend told me that he, like I, preferred sativa strains. I just happened to know where to find some organic pure landrace Panama Red that had never been hybridized with indica. 70's Fallbrook red hair, anybody?

Just what the doctor ordered.

I decarbed the marijuana in the oven for about 40 minutes at 240 degrees. 

I then gave it a quick grind but not too fine, you don't want to turn it into powder.

I then mixed it in with a cup of water and two sticks of butter and cooked it on the stovetop on simmer for three hours. 

This is called an infusion, you give it an occasional stir.

Strained the butter through cheesecloth and a metal sieve and froze it for a day. 

Threw out the vegetable material.

Tonight I prepared my scones, after getting some advice from Howard and Ivan on proper dosages. 

I went very easy, not wanting to overdue it. 

I myself am extremely sensitive and might not even try them.

My wife has agreed to be my initial test subject. 

I whipped up a batch of blueberry, cranberry, ginger, walnut scones.  

I marked the "special" ones with a hazelnut, in addition I added cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, more ginger and brown sugar to the whole batch. 

Couldn't find the nutmeg.

I may do a lemon icing as Leslie loves it. We will see. They need to cool first.

I hope that he really likes them.

*

I broke down and tried one of the non marijuana ones. Yum! And added a tangelo icing, per the boss.

Will Ferrell and Chad Smith Drum-Off

Same old...

I have had my gallery on Main Avenue for going on twenty eight years now. We've always had responsible and good neighbors on the block but have had less luck with the building in back of us. 

When it was a welfare office their "clients" liked to park in my marked parking spaces out back and then said I was selfish when I complained.

Then the powers that be had the bright idea to cut the three beautiful trees out front down and let the place go ragged.

Finally the Mission Resource Conservation District took over, a group whose ostensible purpose was to tell people how to manage their properties responsibly, and decided to create a "what not to do" jungle environment and let the weeds go native.

They finally realized that the sweetheart deal from the county was still not enough to make a go of things. Goes to show that you can never give anybody anything because they probably won't take care of it. A sinkhole mysteriously entered the equation at some point and they vamoosed off the property, which I am assuming has a new owner.

But not before leaving all their trash outside to blow around and keep the shithole vibe alive. Been there for several weeks.

Bravo.

Hasta la Vista. It hasn't been so great.

On the earth (and nose) front

Mars affecting earth in a 2.4 million year cycle.

Mysterious rivers on the ocean floor.

Invasive plant with a 177 year dormancy ready to pop.

Solar eclipses won't last forever.

Ant diversity and flowering plants.

Frequent nose picking may increase Alzheimers risk.

Coastal cities disappear. 

Earth's ice caps are in serious trouble, on thin ice...

Cicadas pee like racehorses.

The mad stone.

Happy feet

La Jolla trek

Leslie and I left Fallbrook, both in a good, mellow mood. We made our way to La Jolla to see Stan and Tracy, my GPS wanted to take the 52, hers wanted the 56 so we compromised, the 56. Easier to do it her way, what the hell. We got on La Jolla Village Drive and I said, "That's odd, 5.2 miles but it says it will take 26 minutes to get to Casa de Manana.

It ended up taking every bit of that and more. Insane dehumanizing trafffic.

We had a nice time with our friends, and a nice lunch, she loved the scones by the way. 

Walked across the street and watched the seal pups scurrying around.

Lena and Ron were also in La Jolla, meeting her brother Barry so afterwards we stopped by Lilli, a coffee shop that sits in the same spot as his longtime haunt the Pannikin did.

As beautiful as La Jolla is, I could not live there. 

It was a zoo, people everywhere and I have discovered that I can not handle tons of people and compression anymore.

After all those years in New York, it doesn't matter, crowds freak me out.

Fallbrook and wide open spaces has ruined me for civilization.

No wonder I never want to open my shop.

By the way, do you know what La Jolla means? Neither did I and in fact there are two schools of thought on the matter... I will go with cave.

Chocolate, caramel, hazelnut scone with candied lemon rind

I have been really busy and embroiled at work, haven't had a minute to relax so I am going to try to not think about work and stress today if I can avoid it. This week looks like it will be difficult. We are going to visit dear friends in La Jolla today, Stan is in some sort of late stage with his pulmonary disorder and we are overdue.

I got up at six this morning, which was really five, and made scones.

This is a very different type of scone than I have ever attempted, all out of my head, of course.

This is a chocolate, salted caramel, hazelnut scone with candied lemon rind. 

I have never put chocolate in my scones before.

But I had to make some changes on the fly with this batch. I didn't realize I only had 3/4 of a cup of all purpose flour so I made up the balance with self rising. Because of this I reduced my baking powder from two teaspoons to a single teaspoon. 

I wasn't sure what would happen with the self rising but I honestly can't tell after the bake.

The verdict on the scone itself? Interesting. A great dipping scone if you have a cup of coffee nearby. But I used unsweetened chocolate chips and probably wouldn't do that again. When I looked at the package and saw what I had put in the dough I found a Ritter salted caramel bar and cut it up and mixed that into the batch for a little more sweetness. 

I used a lot of hazelnuts but the flavor still got lost a little bit. The caramel comes through in a beautiful toffee like way. I probably could have put more of the candied lemon rind in but wanted it to be subtle and need to eat a couple more to really get a sense of its impact. I have only had two bites, waiting for my wife to wake up to get her opinion.

I didn't ice this batch, figured the chocolate was enough and there were plenty of flavors going on. I did add lemon zest to the dough and vanilla extract. No cinnamon this time, no sugar wash. I am thinking about maybe adding a little coffee if I ever do this again, the scone reminds me of a nice Mexican Mocha.

A scone for a cup of coffee. We will see what Stan and Tracy think.

Red Rocking Chair

Back to the Kitchen and Laundry

Some interesting stuff out here. Growing interest in repealing the right of women to vote. Not just Mark Robinson, the North Carolina GOP candidate for Governor.

“I absolutely want to go back to the America where women couldn’t vote.” Mark Robinson

Some say that the quote is out of context but it speaks for itself. This guy has gone off on a lot of strange tangents and it is frightening to think that he could be elected. And he is not the only guy that has been talking like this.

The desire for an end to women's suffrage and a repeal of the 19th Amendment seems to be a growing trend with a certain constituency. 

Amanda Marcotte can be a little strident but this is an article of hers worth pondering. 

Robinson is the most prominent Republican leader so far to speak out against the 19th Amendment, which was ratified in 1920. But this idea of repealing women's suffrage has been percolating in far-right circles for a while now. Prior to the Trump-endorsed Robinson, a Michigan congressional candidate endorsed by Trump in 2022, John Gibbs, supported the end of women's right to vote. Prominent conservative commentator Erick Erickson, who has worked for both Fox News and CNN, has also called for the end of women's suffrage. Joel Webbon, a conservative activist tied with the group writing "Project 2025," Trump's blueprint for a second term, also spoke in favor of repealing the 19th Amendment. 

 

Crazy time for sure. I wonder how the women in Texas would vote on this issue? Wouldn't be too surprised if the Tradwife movement there willingly gave up the vote. No abortion, no contraception, no abortion pill, no voting, just make babies and do as you are told.

Have you read about the SACR, the group that is calling for a national divorce and wants a new Christian nation that does not include Mormons, Jews, Jehovah Witnesses, Hindus, Muslims or Christian Scientists? This is quite an interesting read as well.

Women are not allowed in SACR, whatever their faith. The group emphasizes a traditional role for the man in the household, a robust and muscular exercise of temporal authority by men, and the forceful application of male dominion in civic affairs. 

Good luck with that.

Black Muddy River

Jesus to the ICU, stat

 

I saw this painting on the floor at Jennifer's the other day.

I said, "Whoa, when did Jesus start the shift at the surgery center?"

She looked at me with a slightly pained glance as the older woman who owned the painting walked in at the very same moment.

A miracle.

The lord is a very talented fellow to be sure, of course he would excel at anything he put his mind to.

And obviously he is so clean he doesn't even need scrubs.

God bless him.

*

I didn't watch the State of the Disunion. Apparently Republicans are amazed that Biden could walk and talk and had a pulse.

They have spent so much time creating this ridiculous Sleepy Joe Biden cartoon and they were starting to believe their own spin.

Both sides demonize their opponents so intensely now, read Lakoff's how to frame an elephant, that the divine surgeon in the painting couldn't run for office without being knocked by one side or the other as an absolute cad. "So what's with the brown tunic?" My lord.

Politics is such an ugly business. The spin machines are so ramped up that they have people character assassinated before they have a chance to even utter a word. Every utterance or gaffe is ground down to a fine pulp. So you need to heavily filter information from either side in order to look at things in an objective and critical manner.

*

I rarely agree with anything that Bernie Sanders says but when he said that Senator Sinema would not be missed, I had to agree. 

She was a specialist in screwing over her own team. She stopped so much meaningful legislation and along with her DINO buddy Manchin, managed to keep the filibuster alive. 

Friends like Kyrsten, who needs enemies? 

She can hang around with her rich peeps now.

*

I actually liked both Schiff and Porter, both very bright but I liked Schiff a little better for this race. I hope that she finds another great opportunity to serve. Steve Garvey is a MAGA lover who walked out on his own kids. No thanks.

His oldest daughter from his first marriage, Krisha Garvey, 49, said she felt it was important to tell voters that her father’s public image hasn’t always reflected his personal life. She said her father cut off almost all contact without explanation about 15 years ago, an action she finds painful.

“There is something lacking in him, something not authentic,” Krisha Garvey told The Times about what she described as “complete abandonment” by her father.

Beginning in the late 1980s Garvey became entangled in legal battles over paternity and child support, all while embroiled in a bitter divorce and visitation disputes with his first wife and Krisha’s mother, Cynthia Garvey.

Two of Garvey’s children, Slade Mendenhall and Ashleigh Young, were involved in his 1989 paternity embroglio and said they have never known their father. At the time, two different women — including his fiancée — accused Garvey of fathering their children before he ultimately married a third woman, his current wife, Candace Garvey.

Mendenhall and Young, both 34, told The Times that Garvey declined multiple attempts for meetings or even phone calls. They said they only had a relationship with him through the family court system.

*

Republicans have sizable majorities in both the Kansas House and Senate. The people in that state overwhelmingly voted for abortion rights and to keep government out of their bedrooms and reproductive decisions, just like they have in seven other states where the proposition got through.

But the GOP won't take no for an answer. Now they are demanding that women that get abortions tell them why. What the fuck about stay out of people's personal business don't you get?

*

Joe Biden is in hot water with progressive liberals for calling illegal aliens illegal. Hey, you come into this country illegally that is exactly what you are. My father and grandparents did it the right way, as bad as immigration policy needs to be reformed, our laws have to be respected. So I have no problem with it personally. We can't save the world, we don't have the resources to do so. Too many people want to come in and sponge off our system and generosity and a lot of bad apples are coming in that should not be. If we don't have enough manpower then we can start another bracero or green card program if it's a problem. But don't come over here illegally and then whine about your immigration status.

Jim Beard

Peruvian roasted chicken

I came home from work and my wife informed me that I was making dinner. She said that she had defrosted chicken and was in the mood for Peruvian. No problem. But she hadn't really checked what she had defrosted and it turned out to be a measly five drumsticks. 

No problem. I would make this work.

When she saw how small the package was she suggested that I just do our ordinary lemon garlic chicken instead but now my stomach was set on Peruvian. Since our favorite Peruvian restaurant, Panca, closed in Oceanside, I have nowhere close by to get Peruvian chicken. 

Peruvian chicken and much of Peruvian food is built upon a piquant little pepper called the Aji Amarillo (capsicum baccatum.) 

While not particularly hot, it has the most wonderful and rich flavor. Really, there is nothing else like it in the culinary world or at least anywhere that I have found. 

The pepper is native to the Andes and it grows in both Peru and Bolivia.

Amarillo means yellow in Spanish but when mature the pepper turns a brilliant orange.

We buy it as a paste. If you have never tried it I suggest you do so.

You may have to hunt around for it, not always easy to find but most hispanic groceries will have it. You can also buy it online.

In any case I roasted the five legs with potatoes last night and it tasted wonderful. Just not quite enough.

I was talking to Gina about my dinner and she asked for my recipe and I told her I would post it on the whole blog. Simple, easy to make and good with the whole bird.

Ingredients: 

whole chicken (or any amount you happen to have, I would not cut down on the marinade.)

2 tbsp avocado or olive oil 

2 tbsp aji amarillo paste

juice of half a lime

5 or 6 garlic cloves minced

1 &1/2" tsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 dash of smoked paprika

1 dash of garlic powder

To Prepare:

Pat down the chicken dry with paper towels.

Mix the marinade in a small mixing bowl and pour it over the chicken which you have placed on a parchment covered baking sheet. Turn the chicken over and rub it in with your hand so the entire piece is covered. 

Let it rest on the sheet at room temperature and marinate for an hour. You shouldn't let chicken stay non refrigerated for over two hours but the hour sit at room temperature supposedly will give you a juicier bird. If it is really hot, by all means put it in the fridge.

I had a bunch of small yellow potatoes that were starting to grow too many eyes and decided their time had come. I scrubbed them, cut them in half and filled the voids on the baking sheet. I hit them with salt, garlic and pepper and a drizzle of oil and a spray of duck fat. Added paprika and rosemary and a squeeze of lemon over everything.

Stuck it in a preheated 425° oven for forty minutes or until the interior temp was at least 160°. I cooked mine until it was 180° and with legs it was perfect. Hard to overcook legs.

The chicken skin can get dark but it is from the sugars in the lime juice, not to worry, it doesn't taste burned.

Dinner was delicious. The potatoes absorbed some of the marinade flavor and were absolutely divine. Crispy outside, fluffy interior.

Traditionally this meal would be served with an aji verde or cilantro dipping sauce but I didn't have enough time or any juice left in my tank. Maybe next time. If you are stuck doing chicken the way you always do, give this one a try. I think that you will like it. I cut the salt a little bit so season to taste.

We both were wondering last night why they put five drumsticks in a tray, sort of a recipe for disaster, or at least a tug of war, no? We split the last one.

Let me know how yours comes out.

*

By the way, if you have not bought this duck fat spray at Walmart, you need to. 

No preservatives or GMO, it is a mainstay in our kitchen.