Continuing with day two of Gwen Bell’s Challenge.

December 2 — Share the best restaurant experience you had this year. Who was there? What made it amazing? What taste stands out in your mind?

Sharing good food with family and friends is one of my life’s passions. One year could not possibly be summarized with a single meal. Love, laughter, and adventure were exchanged as glasses were refilled and desserts were served.

I got to witness my niece sleep in her stroller while at Bob Chinn’s on March 17. Surrounded by my Doland family, I ate luscious crab legs drenched in garlic butter.

PJ and I relived a night of our honeymoon at Artist’s Point in April at Walt Disney World. The evening ended with a baby armadillo running through the grass and stopping to let us coo over him from the car window.

In late May, PJ and I stumbled into Basso 56 in New York City. This dinner by chance included mouthwatering crispy sage, brown butter, and handmade ravioli.

On the same trip, I ate healing pickles that cured an unhappy stomach at a corner bar recommended to us by an Unclutterer reader. By far, the best pickles I have ever consumed in my entire life.

Ralph’s, a buffet restaurant conveniently off I-95, served up some amazing Lexington-style Carolina barbecue. We stopped in on our way to pick up Dashiell.

With an extremely nervous stomach, I was blessed to find steamed clams in West Palm Beach, Florida. The clams and an ice-cold beer helped calm my nerves the night before we met Dash.

Weekend mornings wouldn’t be the same without the sausage gravy over whole wheat toast at the local Canteen. The familiar faces of the employees, families who join us at neighboring tables, and sounds of the jazz band are comforts of our life in Virginia.

For December, I’m going to take on Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 Blog Challenge.

December 1 — What was your best trip in 2009?

When his foster mother pushed the pram into the room, PJ was standing by the door and I was about 10 feet away in front of the couch where I had been sitting. I tried to see him, but all I saw were a bundle of blue blankets wrapped tightly around legs and arms of more blue blanket. If it were any other situation, I would have waited. I would have kept standing there. But it wasn’t any other situation.

I navigated my way around an ottoman and a chair to make my way to where PJ was already standing.

Finally, I had a view of more than blankets and pram.

His smile extended into two full, squishy cheeks.

I looked at PJ and insisted that he be the first to pick up Dashiell. If I would have grabbed him, PJ wouldn’t have had a chance to hold him for many days. I wouldn’t have let Dashiell go.

I cried. I touched his face, his thick curly hair, his long narrow feet.

This journey to being Dashiell’s mom took three years.

Not only was it the best trip of 2009, but the best trip of my entire life.

Our son has arrived and he is beautiful and he only cries when he is hungry and he even appears to like my singing. Bonus! Unfortunately, I cannot post pictures of him in public spaces online per our adoption agreement. So, if you wish to see our bundle of joy, you will need to “friend” me on Flickr. He is quite the photogenic little man, so I highly recommend checking out the pictures. His cheeks are the best cheeks I have ever seen on a baby (sure, being his mother might be clouding my judgment just a weeeeee bit).

I have decided to embrace my curls. I’m saying goodbye to straightening my hair unless I have a major public appearance. Not only will I be curly, but hopefully my hair will be healthier, too. I’m stopping use of silicone-based shampoo, conditioner, and styling products. I’m also getting rid of harsh sulfate-based cleansers from my routine and returning to only washing my hair once a week (but conditioning throughout the rest of the week). It’s going to take about two weeks for my hair to start to “recover” from all of the crap I’ve put it through over the last 10 years. So, if you see me in the next two weeks, please be nice!

Create a simple syrup by boiling one cup of sugar in one cup of water with one sliced jalapeno (remove stem and seeds from jalapeno)
For extra spicy syrup, use two or three sliced jalapenos
Boil until all sugar becomes a liquid, stirring constantly
Remove from heat and let cool for at least 20 minutes
Remove jalapeno slices

Squeeze the juice from 10 lemons

Mix lemon juice, simple syrup and water (if necessary) to obtain your preferred lemonade consistency and flavor

Add a cup of ice and a shot of vodka to a tall glass
Fill the rest of the glass with lemonade

Stir

Drink

If you read this post, you are required to pick up a copy of The Elegance of the Hedgehog and enjoy every single page. Such a truly beautiful work of fiction.

Pour an inch of vegetable oil into a deep pan, cover with lid, and turn the burner to medium. While the oil is warming, prepare the following in three bowls:

Chicken —
Two skinless, boneless, dry chicken breasts at room temperature

Liquid mixture —
1 cup of whole milk

Breading mixture —
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 T. salt
2 T. ground mustard
2 T. paprika
2 T. garlic salt
1 T. pepper
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried, ground oregano
1 tsp. smoked sea salt or celery salt

(The above dry ingredients will make enough breading for four recipes. Store excess in an air tight container for use within the month.)

Season:

One at a time, dip the chicken breast into the liquid and then into the breading mixture. Be sure to thoroughly coat the chicken. Then, dip the chicken breast back into the liquid and then back into the breading mixture. (The second time is vital for crispy chicken.) Place the chicken breast into the oil.

Cook:

Cover and fry for 10 minutes on first side, flip
Cover and fry for 5 minutes on second side, flip
Inspect chicken, it may be done or may need 5 more minutes