27 Years!

A little over 27 year ago, my Uncle Popp who is a US Citizen, applied for the green card for  my parents and I.  The green card is an identification card that shows that you are a permanent resident.  It didn't take long for us to receive the green card, only 3 short months.  After we received our green cards, my parents finalized their business in Taiwan, packed us up and off we flew to Los Angeles, which was our first stop.  The flight from Taiwan to LA took about 14-16 hours, 6,888 miles!  I don't remember much about the flight.  I just remember when we arrived in LA, I looked out the window of the plane and all I saw was a sea of lights.  I remember thinking how pretty it was.  A pretty good introduction of the US for a little girl.  I think we were in LA for maybe a day or two before taking another flight to Atlanta, where my mom's family lives.  But our final destination was Waldorf, Maryland.  We lived there for about 3 years before making the decision of moving down to Atlanta permanently. 

I still can't believe it's been 27 years already!!!

Garlic Lime Marinade

My husband and I were down in West Palm Beach a couple of weekends ago visiting our dear friends, Mr. Sam and his wife Rachel.  Why do I call him Mr. Sam you ask?  When Mr. Sam first met my husband's nieces and nephews, they were getting confused as to why he was also called Sam since I'm Sam to them.  So we came up with Mr. Sam to make it easier for the little kiddos. 

Mr. Sam is a great cook, I especially love his hummus.  He made us dinner that weekend out by the pool of his condo.  He made this marinade that tasted and smelled so good that I just had to steal the recipe.  I couldn't decide what to make for dinner so decided to try Mr. Sam's marinade.  I'm so glad I did!  The chicken turned out beautifully.  YUM YUM YUM!  Mr. Sam grilled his but I pan seared mine.

After I finished searing the chicken, I took a pat of butter into the same pan and took the remaining marinade and cooked it down for additional flavoring/glaze on top of the chicken.  I served the chicken with a side of sauteed broccoli and rice.  I made 3 1/2 pieces of chicken breast and 3 small heads of broccoli.  I made enough that we both had leftovers for lunch the next day!

Mr. Sam's Garlic Lime Marinade

Chicken breast
4 cloves of garlic (more or less depending on your taste) minced
Juice of 1-2 limes
Olive Oil
Salt

Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk.  Place chicken into the bowl and marinate for about 30 minutes.  Heat your skillet on medium low heat.  Add olive oil to heated pan.  I cooked my chicken for about 3-4 minutes or until brown on both sides.  Once all the chicken are cooked, place it on a plate to let it "rest".  Put about 1 tablespoon of butter into the hot pan and let the butter melt while deglazing the pan.  Once the butter has melted, pour the remaining marinade in.  Reduce the marinade by about half.  When the glaze is finished, slice the chicken breast and drizzle glaze on top and enjoy!

Creamy Garlic Pasta

I'm always browsing Pinterest, looking for ideas and came across this recipe and thought it looked good enough to try.  I was looking at the ingredients and knew I had it all in my fridge and pantry.  I made it that same night and the results were delicious! It was super easy to make and taste really really good.  It's also a really heavy dish so I skipped most of the heavy cream that it calls for.  And the next time I make it, I would eliminate the heavy cream altogether.