Re-Discovering the Old

Things I've (re)discovered by being rendered to my couch (otherwise I'm walking in public and dry heaving in the aisles - nothing says Tuesday morning like the old feeble man who bags your groceries at Kroger checking to make sure you don't need a bag to hurl in)...

1. Fried Green Tomatoes the movie - OK, so I watched this movie when I was a teenager and I liked it. I understood the themes and plot of the movie. But I recently watched it again (because it's been playing on HBO a lot and what else do I have to do) and I think it might be one of the best movies EVER. Seriously, there is just something about this movie that I understand so much better now that I'm grown and married with kids (mostly the parts with Kathy Bates going off the deep end). If you happen to be stuck at home on a rainy day with HBO, I highly recommend it.
2. The Cosby Show - I tell you this show transcends time, ethnicity, fashion, trends. If I catch it on I can't not watch it. Tad made fun of me for the longest time and a few weeks ago he was sitting in the den working while I was watching it. It was the episode where Vanessa is suppose to be watching Rudy (but of course she's on the phone) and so Rudy and Peter decide to make a snack using Cliff's juicer. Tad couldn't help but start laughing and soon we were laughing so hard I was crying. Sarah-Grace and Charlotte didn't get it.
3. I don't know if I'm channelling the pioneer woman (or if I think I am because of my new found obsession) or if I'm just protecting my pride in public, but I really do not want to leave the house after about noon each day. And since I'm so sick of restaurant food and I feel like crud each time I eat it - I've been cooking almost every week night. Of course the minute I sit down to eat I think "OK I can stand this smell for about another 20 minutes and then I'm going to die" which means Tad or Debbie must clean the kitchen, dispose of ANY leftover food and take out the trash immediately after dinner, but they say it's a fair trade.

Tonight we had a one dish meal of cod with potatoes, fennel and onions. It's the first time my kids and my sister have eaten fennel (and they liked it), of course I didn't tell them until after they were done that there was fennel in it! It's also the first time my kids have eaten fish at home without me frying it or using a deceptively delicious recipe. My sister kept insisting that the dish had to have butter because it was so sweet and rich, but alas the only fat it had was olive oil. Many of you have been asking for recipes so tonight's recipe is pasted below courtesy of Rachel Ray and the Food Network site.

1 large build fennel, trimmed of tough tops ]
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium to large yellow skinned onion, thinly sliced Salt and pepper
1 large or 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds cod, cut into 4 portions, 6 to 8 ounces each
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a couple of handfuls
Crusty bread, to pass at table
Heat a large, deep skillet over medium high heat and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Cut tops off the fennel bulb. Quarter the bulb, then cut into each quarter on an angle to remove the core. Thinly slice the fennel.
Add extra-virgin olive oil, fennel and onion to the pan and saute them, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Season with salt. Add 1 cup chicken stock and reduce by half. Add potatoes to the pan in thin layers, completely covering the fennel and onions, working all the way to the edges of the pan. Pour the remaining stock evenly over the pan. Season fish with salt and pepper. Arrange the fish on the potatoes. Bring the liquids to a bubble. Cover the pan and transfer to oven. Bake fish 15 minutes, until opaque, then uncover and bake for 2 or 3 minutes more. Transfer fish and vegetables to shallow bowls or dinner plates and garnish with parsley. Spoon juices down over the food. Serve with crusty bread for dipping.