I can't wear pointy shoes anymore...and 35 other ways my mid-30s differ greatly from my mid-20s..

1. My flats now officially outnumber my heels.

2. My freckles are combining to form one, large superfreckle.

3. I will never experiment with dark hair colors - gray is only well concealed by blonde.  Sorry my brunette friends.  It's a fact.

4. Vodka is (still) not my friend and more importantly, I am finally realizing she never really was.  Bitch.   

5. I rarely stay up past 11 or sleep in later than 7. 

6. I floss....more than once a day and without anyone telling me to. 

7. I unashamedly buy prunes at the grocery store and actually like the way they taste. 

If you buy this bag, you can trick yourself into thinking you're eating "plums" and not prunes.  Let's not get all attentiony to detailsy ok?  I know they're the same.

8.  My idea of a fun birthday is going to a midget restaurant and going to bed early enough that I can still make the Saturday morning market at 0730. (Seriously, that's what we're doing tonight.  Going to the "Hobbit House" - please try to tell me you're not jealous.  LIAR!)

9. My coffee maker cost more than most people's yearly salary in the Philippines. 

10. I still spend hours at the gym but I have realized life is too short not to have a piece of cake every once in a while. 

11. On the rare occasion I am spotted at "the club", I am usually trying to locate an empty barstool because...#12.

12.  I can't wear pointy shoes anymore....or let's be honest, ANY heels for more than 2 hours.  Screw you heredity and bad decisions!! Screw you!  

13. People are FINALLY doing the math.  She's 35?  Yeah...maybe she's really NOT having kids.  

14.  I think I'm in a different census bracket.  

15. My oldest nephew is in college....and has been for a while now.  This must hurt my sister worse than it does me. BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!  

16.  The outside of the card that my husband gave me this morning says, "To the 35 year old woman who lives with me." WTF?!?!  I shudder to think what it says on the inside.  Then again, it's atop a Hermes bag so how bad could it be??

17. OMG 17! I don't even remember you anymore!

18. I no longer tight roll my jeans although I did give into the skinny jeans trend some time ago.  I am ashamed....(yes, I know that tight rolling was not a 2003 kinda thing but a 35-item-long list is tough ok??)

19. My toes are perpetually polished....and almost always by someone else!  BAM!  I found a 35 year old perk. 

20. I cook.  Like....a lot.  Real meals and shit. 

21. I barely remember what it's like to live in Texas but I will never stop being a Texan!

22. I haven't cried at the sound of a Matchbox Twenty song in over 10 years but I still sing along (er...yell) with P!nk.  That bitch speaks the truf!

23. I no longer consider tight jeans and a halfsy top wardrobe staples.  That is HALF true.  

24. I am a responsible and dedicated pet owner.  Consider this an open apology to Harley, Chevy and Rufus - who I loved but didn't really know how to take care of. 

25. There it is - 25.  TEN EFFING YEARS AGO?!?!  What the hell happened? Well, everything, thank god. 

26. In six months, I will have been away from "home" for 10 years. 

27. I looooooooove grocery shopping.  I liked it in my mid-20s but I couldn't afford anything so, as you can imagine, not so fun.  Now I could (happily) spend a whole day at Wegmans or Harris Teeter or Kroger or Target Superstore.  Sigh...I miss 'Murrica. 

28. I am a wife...and a pretty good one most days. 

29. I regularly plan for retirement and can visualize the library I will build in our dream home....on a lake...surrounded by animals...and family...and....you get the idea. 
 

That picture is like porn to me.

30. I don't thoughtlessly destroy furniture on creative whims.  Hello decoupage!

31. I covet...and can actually afford a full set of Le Creuset cookware.  

32. I have transitioned into quality vs. quantity.  At least, in my mind I have.  Hard.to.let.go.

33. I am pretty good at keeping plants alive.  When I first started dating Z, he had me watch his cactus "Clint" when he went out of town.  I left Clint on the patio - in the winter - in Virginia.  Whoops.
 

RIP Clint

34. I realize I still have a lot of growing up to do but I try to be a better person every day because even though I hope I have a lot of livin' to do, you just never know. 

35. I am happy.  For real....really happy.

How has your life changed in the last 10 years?  Hey FB friends and family...feel free to respond on my actual blog.  I can ask you to do this because, dammit, it's my birthday! :)

Spicy Pork Chops

Le Creuset Doufeu Pork Chops (Spicy)

AKA Everything but the Kitchen Sink (EBKS) Pork Chops in either a Dutch Oven or a Crock Pot

Every good recipe starts with a nice glass of wine, duh!  Since the weather has gotten a wee toasty, I have been woefully behind in the red wine drinking department.  Something about the mercury rising leads me to prefer beer and fruity drinks over a glass of red.  Nevertheless, I decided to reverse that trend this evening with a crisp Pinot Noir, Domaine de Valmoissine.  Good but not great and therefore PERFECT for the unpresumptious meal I am about to make. 

-The EBKS label for these chops is because you truly can dump just about whatever you want in a dutch oven and you won't go wrong as long as your flavor combinations aren't too whacktastic.

(Before you set out to make this dish, please take a look at the "Hindsight is 20/20" bullets following the recipe.  There are definitely some changes you could/should make for this to turn out just a little bit better.  My chops were a little dry but that's mostly because of impatience....)

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees
• Coat the small dutch oven (I used the 6 QT Le Creuset Doufeu) with 2 Tbsp olive oil 
• Add about half onion to the bottom of the dutch oven (you can dice the onion or chop the onion into rings)
• Add half of a jalapeno, sliced into rings
• Sprinkle onions and jalapenos with Lawry's seasoning salt, paprika, pepper, and cayenne pepper
• Add the fat-trimmed pork chops (I squished four in my little Le Creuset.  It doesn't really matter how many you use as long as the chops lay fairly flat)
• Sprinkle the pork chops with the same spice mix as above, adding about a tablespoon more olive oil. 
• Add the remainder of the onion, half of a bell pepper, and another jalapeno - all sliced in rings.
• Dice half of a small tomato
• Add tomato, 1/4 can of rotel, and 1/4 cup water to dutch oven
• Sprinkle the whole mess LIBERALLY with paprika
• Cover and bake for an hour and 25 minutes
• Remove pork chops and bring contents of dutch oven to slight boil - pour this "gravy" on the pork chops and serve. 

HINDSIGHT IS 20/20

•  Dredge dredge dredge these puppies!!!  Mine turned out dry both because I didn't dredge/braise the chops and because I upped the oven temp and lowered the cooking time (silly girl!)
• I would recommend dredging the chops slightly in flour (adding dashes of salt/pepper to each side) and cooking them on medium high heat until they're just brown on both sides.  This should lock in the flavor and moisture.

• If you don't like to actually EAT onions, dice  them so they're just for flavor. Otherwise, they're kinda hard to avoid.  
• If you can't take the heat, get out of the....just kidding!  Lighten up on the jalapenos.  Most folks won't want two whole fresh jalapenos with their dinner.  We just have no taste buds left!

I used Old Bay but you can use Lawry's or whatever you like

Rings aren't necessary if you'd prefer to dice the onion/BP

That's ice in the recessed lid to kick up the moisture in the meat.

TA DA!!!  Just kidding....that's Cassie's dinner. ;-)

My presentation isn't so great (I was ready to eat dangit!) but somewhere under there is a slightly over cooked pork chop...I swear! Normally, I would make corn bread or some other side but I'm flying solo this week and just wasn't that hungry.)