Happy Easter everybody. Good luck out there searching for eggs (?) made of chocolate (?) that came out the butt (?) of a rabbit (?). I'm not 100% sure about the mechanics of that, but nonetheless, have fun. I'm just hoping this means that the gym will be close to empty.

Speaking of, there is this new scourge at the gym. It only started recently, but it is spreading. Grown men with ear buds in listening to music at full volume -- SINGING ALONG. WTF. Like OUT LOUD. And as annoying as singing would be to people around you, when you can't hear yourself at all, it's a special kind of horrible. I know of at least 5 people off the top of my head that I will not get on the treadmill next to or sit next to on the stretching mat because I know they'll break out into wincing, breathy, high pitched song the second I do. I wish I was more confrontational, so I could just tap them on the shoulder and ask, "What the fuck is wrong with you?" but instead I just shoot dirty looks that are not understood.

Normally for Easter lately we get together with my parents and have a smorgasbord of food from Honey Baked Hams. I even have a rewards number on honeybaked.com. But between you and me, all of their food is garbage. I mean, the ham is okay, but they also have these boxed sides and everything is just horrible. My dad had a little procedure on Friday and wasn't sure if he'd be up for it, so I was more than happy to accept their decline of getting together. Daniel did ask me what he should buy at the store as a special treat and I said he could buy some eggs and I'll make deviled eggs with salmon roe. That will be our homage to Easter.

My mother decided that I should pull my own weight around the house and assigned me to dinner tonight. Since I don't have jack shit to do all day, I devoted my day to this meal that I just finished preparing and I just had to brag to you all, because its going to be good.

I started out on the internet researching portobello mushrooms. My mom has been dying to make a meal with them in it, so I thought that would be a good starting place. I found a couple of recipes but they were all so damn complicated. Do I look like Iron Chef Chen Kinichi to any of you? Didn't think so.

So I found one I thought I could dumb down rather easily. I set out some chicken breasts to thaw and went to the new Central Market here. Its like a whole foods place, a good place to find fresh portobello mushrooms. I got those, and some greens for a salad, cheese, some spices. The basic dish is a salad with an oil and vinegar dressing. And it has chicken and grilled mushrooms in it. So I marinated the chicken and the mushrooms and then put a muy caliente dry rub on the chicken that I made myself out of every spice in the house. I blackened the chicken and grilled the shrooms until they were soft. I wasn't real sure how long to do that.

Now I'm waiting for my father to get home so I can toss the salad with the dressing, put the shredded cheddar in and decoratively place chicken and mushroom strips on top. Then I'm going to quarter some cherry tomatoes and wha-lah. Anyway, like I said. I just had to brag.

I'll let you all know how it turns out in the end. Peace.