Living Under A Rock

So where the heck have I been these past few years?  Why didn't anyone tell me what I was missing!  Or was I told but I chose not to listen?  Well never again!  I will jump on future bandwagons and go along for any ride.

The first ride I took last week was Dexter (that doesn't sound right).  Why has it taken me 7 years??!  I needed a new television addiction and decided to go with Dexter from the beginning.  It's sooooo good!  I mean, you probably already know that because you're down with the kids and know what's going on.  I live a sheltered life with basic freeview and series from the States take longer to appear.  Even if they are played merely a week later than North America, Facebook "friends" will have posted a spoiler or two.

I'm making good progress here - 3 days and onto the 3rd season.  And it's making me more productive - I've ironed pretty much everything in the house (though I've ignored the husbands request to iron his underpants); fixed 2 pairs of broken earrings; finished my first complete item of clothing, a skirt I started at a sewing class 2 years ago; hemmed the husbands pants he bought 4 years ago; sewed the missing 4 buttons on my winter coat and embroidered the beads on shirt that fell off.  Make do and mend - or watch Dexter and mend.

I've been a little less productive with the blogging though since I use my laptop to stream the episodes to my television and only managed this one post last week.  I haven't slacked on the cooking part though - a girl's gotta eat to keep up her television and mending stamina!  So I have a back log of recipes to share that I hope to get through but with 4 seasons left to watch, I can't make any promises - but really I should savour the Dexter experience and take my time - plus for the last two nights, I've been in cahoots with a serial killer and dismembered bodies are not what I would call "sweet dreams".

One of the recipes I got to during a brief Dexter intermission was for kale chips (or crisps in the UK).  Over the holidays I read this article about the trends in food blogging that should go - I wasn't aware there were trends, I just share what I like -  and I know this was meant to be a little tongue and cheek but when she said that everyone has made kale chips, I wondered where I was when THAT bandwagon went by?!  I had to try them - everyone else has.  Sometimes I like to be a sheep.  And the bonus of being the last to know is that there are plenty of people out there who can tell you how to do it.  I used a combination of this blog and this video (skipping the nutritional yeast) to point me in the right direction.

I could only find pre-washed, pre-chopped (can we not do anything ourselves anymore?) kale at my supermarket.  I layered it between some paper towels, pressed down gently and left them there for one Dexter episode to dry them out.  I then massaged some olive oil into the leaves and made sure every inch of the kale was covered, sprinkled with sea salt and spread them evenly on a baking sheet. The pieces were small and so took only about 10 minutes in a hot oven to crisp up.

Hard to believe but these actually taste like crisps (or chips)  I have wondered for years why there couldn't be a great tasting treat with a very low calorie content, and here it is.  And weirdly, it's also on Big Guy's Bite on the food network, as in right now as I type - big tough looking Guy Fieri is ripping up kale leaves and making kale chips with his son.  It's probably a few years old though knowing how long it takes to get programs from overseas.  So I'm still the last to know.  Or maybe you are?

Right, off to eat kale chips (crisps, whatever) and watch more Dexter - I'm going to need to find some other television friendly crafts to make - who knows, by season 7 I could have a full on king sized quilt made.  I should learn to knit.