Rosemary Lemon Maple Chicken with Pasta and Rice

juice 5-6 meyer lemons (depending on juiciness)
add 2-3 tbsp snipped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup or so real vermont maple syrup
add some finely ground white pepper
add some sea salt to taste

prepare 1 cup of red himalayan rice according to package (prepare slightly underdone).
prepare 8 oz of black squid ink spaghettoni according to package (prepare slightly underdone) (break into bite size pieces prior to cooking).

pound 2 pounds of organic free range chicken breast into thin pieces, then cut into bite size pieces.
heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large saute pan. pan sear chicken and remove from pan. deglaze with 1/2 cup white wine (I used a non-oak chardonnay). add lemon mixture, boil and reduce sauce, stirring constantly. thicken with a bit of arrowroot if needed.

add rice and pasta and stir briefly. add chicken. serve over greens of choice, garnish with crushed macadmia nuts on top, nasturtiums and lemon slices around dish. serves 6-8.

Thai Beef Salad with Barley Pilaf
prepare 1 cup (4 servings) of long cooking barley according to package directions. while that is cooking,
place a large fry pan that is oven safe in the broiler on high with the door closed. preheat 10-15 min.

prepare the following sauce
1/4 cup of jarred pad thai sauce
juice of two lemons
some thai fish sauce to taste
mix well

take 1 pound of grass fed new york strip and drizzle some of the sauce plus penzey's bangkok seasoning on both sides.

chop fresh spearmint, cilantro, and basil to taste, chop a large red pepper into thin shreds, chop half of a jalapeno into tiny bits, no membranes or seeds
heat some olive oil in another fry pan
saute veggies, spices above plus some shredded raw carrots from a bag, add cooked barley and mix well

place steaks on hot fry pan and return to oven on high broil for 7-8 min until medium rare

remove steaks and slice thin against the grain

to plate, place large mound of baby spinch in center. top with 1/4 of the barley pilaf, arrange thin steak slices in a flower petal pattern on top of pilaf. ENJOY!

this is what the back of our property looks like from the creek.

more creek!

here is our creek that is behind our house.

here is the "crabbing" bridge that we kayak under to go to the intracoastal.

ok, so ed just called me and told me to come to our beach to see the whales, sure enough, two right whales were frolicking. here is the picture, but they are way off at that second wave break, and I couldn't catch em--even if I could, they would be way off. no telephoto. you will have to trust me on this one!

and on the way home, I snapped some more pictures of the road from the beach to our house.