Remember when I showed a photo of that absolute bounty of spice mixes? I wanted to try some of those out, and naturally I aimed that urge to cook at game night, so I could cook in quantity and share the wealth. I paged through the cookbook that the spices correspond to, and got an inspiration to pull together things I already had (plus a little cilantro that I had to acquire, because I'm terrible at growing it). We had a big pack of chicken drumsticks in the freezer, some vegetables and chickpeas, and a Costco-sized bag of rice. I used a chaat spice blend sprinkled on the chicken, which I baked, and I sautéed the vegetables with it, before pouring them on the chicken. I made rice in the instant pot, with a little curry powder and chicken stock. Lastly, I made my first chutney (yes, first, if you can believe it), with cilantro, mint from the garden, and yogurt I made myself.
I also made a tart. I baked a gluten-free shortbread recipe as a tart shell (it was meh). I mixed cream cheese and heavy cream and almond extract for the filling. I topped it with a mix of berries from our yard, including raspberries and service berries, and chopped pistachios. It all came together and felt like special flavors we don't often indulge in.
I spent about 7 hours straight cooking and cleaning. By the time game night was over, I was too sore to stand up, even after self-medicating with some sangria. Thank goodness there were other adults capable of helping load the dishwasher. I didn't want to face all that in the morning.
I saw that our clematis has started blooming in a couple places. We inherited them when we bought the house, and they surprise me every year with how pretty they are. Right now we have a lot of gorgeous blooms all over, but these are catching my eye right now.
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