I found a great recipe for chicken cordon bleu using panko crumbs for the breading. It's hubby's favorite dish, so I decided that I just had to serve it for dinner. I decided to serve it with roasted red potatoes and asparagus. While I was at it, I picked up a chocolate cake from Sweet Bay, had them inscribe "Happy Birthday Matt" on it and got a bottle of Walnut Crest Chardonnay. The Chardonnay was the wine that we had at our wedding, but I'm sure Matt doesn't remember that. He's not much of a wine drinker, but he does like that one.
So yesterday morning I had a post-op follow up in Tampa, after which I went shopping for Matt's birthday. I knew that Matt needed some new shoes, so I went to Ross and found the perfect pair. They're Polo brand slip-ons with leather uppers and a rubber sole. Then there is a tongue that comes across the top with a magnet that sticks to the other side. They only had one pair and they just happened to be size 11. Ah, fate. I also got me a dress because I decided it would be nice to dress up for my husband. Then, since it was next door, I went into Bed, Bath & Beyond to pick up gifts for the rest of Matt's family who also have birthdays this week. I swear, I am not having children in September. There I found another addition to Matt's gift, a Betty Crocker Grilling cookbook. He does insist that he's the Grill Master, after all. So, got the gifts, picked up the food from Sweet Bay and headed home.
By this point it was a little after 2 pm and Matt was expected home at 7 pm. No problem. Of course, part of my plan included cleaning the house, feeding the animals, prepping and cooking the food, and getting me bathed and dressed up all before he got home. Keep in mind that I still have a bandage, albeit smaller, on my nose that cannot get wet when I wash my hair and face. Problem. Well, long story short, I managed to clean and reorganize the bathroom, vacuum the living room, couch and under the couch, clean off the kitchen counter tops and dining room table, feed all the animals, prep the food, and get a bath all before Matt got home. He also didn't get home until 7:30. So I stick the chicken and potatoes in the oven and start getting ready.
The chicken recipe said to cook at 350 for 20 minutes. Yeah right. The potatoes were still hard and the chicken breading was barely brown. Five minutes more, ten minutes more, it's not much better. Well, I need to get the bread in because it takes 15 minutes, but it needs to cook at 375. So, turn up the temp, rearrange some cookie sheets, and in it all goes at 375, but this time I got smart. I put my digital remote meat thermometer in the center chicken breast. Yeah, it was still at 120 degrees. Needs to be at 180. Well, half an hour later, the chicken was finally done. I'm changing my recipe card to read 375 for 60 minutes. Then we finally got to sit down to dinner and enjoy the perfectly cooked chicken cordon bleu, roasted red potatoes, asparagus and French bread with our Chardonnay. Actually, I think I was on my 3rd glass by that point and realizing that I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch. Oops.
Then it was time for the cake. I, being the funny person that I am, decided to get trick candles for my husband's cake. Unfortunately for me, my husband can spot trick candles from a mile away, or at least from the dining room to the kitchen. He pointed this fact out to me, but proceeded to play along anyway. Then much to both of our surprise, the candles blew out. I always knew my husband was full of a lot of air, but come on! So he relights then off of the candles on the table and tries again. And they go out again. Leave them lit for longer, try again, and still they go out. This is not cool. We gave up because we realized we were spending way too much time trying to figure out the candles instead of eating the cake. Matt says he's going to write to the manufacturer.
In the end, Matt loved his gifts and his dinner. He really liked his drunk wife in her new dress that shows way too much cleavage. We restarted Glee on the DVR and watched that until long after Matt passed out on the couch. We now have enough chicken cordon bleu to make dinner for tonight and I think I can squeeze one more glass of wine out of that Chardonnay bottle.
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