live free or...who the hell chose that for a license plate?

First, a somewhat overdue snippet of the Eldest, from a conversation about the fish:

Eldest: (holding a plastic baggie with some worried looking fish) I'm worried about the fish.
Mama: why?
Eldest: I'm worried they'll get scared out of the dickens
Mama: (glancing at the fish, sloshing in their baggie) Oh, they've already had the dickens scared out of them. But the question is, what happens next?
pause
Eldest: (hopefully) They'll get the other dickens scared out of them!


The fish, by the way, survived. Dicken-less.

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We are freshly returned from New Hampshire, our second visit this summer to the granite state. I happen to adore New Hampshire. I'm also rather fond of Maine, but I do like the big, chunky rocks that litter New Hampshire - thus the name, I suppose. Ah. I offer here a composite blog, of snippets, trip review and finally a recipe.

Here are some short impressions of the state:

*Whither art thou, Starbucks? Hast been ousted by Dunkin? Better coffee, then…but no good chai.
*Who let the vanity plates loose?
*Oh, good gracious. Motorcycles at 2 am? I’ll give ‘em all leather wedgies!
*The family homestead survives, in ramshackle houses with addition after addition.
*Hurrah for the local supermarket, with it’s wonderful array of gluten-free foods!
*I must be seeing an odd cross-section of the population here, because I see mostly very heavy or very thin women. Being neither, I feel somewhat left out. And the collection of local Barbie-types is impressive.
* “Shriners Live Bait” on a sign. Is that all one sentence? Local customs confuse me.
*happy crowded sleeping people, and no basement ‘ick’ to keep us awake! Just small, wriggly, sleeping bodies. Hm.


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Wild Rice and Chicken Salad, slightly adapted from epicurious.com

1 cup uncooked wild rice (I like the Lundberg wild rice mix)
rinse and cook according to instructions.

1 package chicken thighs, cooked. (I roasted mine, then sliced off pieces. I recommend using a wok on some dead bird, preferably boneless breasts. I suspect this would be faster, if more expensive.)
Most of a bunch of scallions, sliced.
1 pineapple, ripe, cut into chunks. Any juice that runs off the board is good - save and add with pineapple, if you can. If not, don't sweat it.

Dressing:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4-5 Tb lemon juice
2 tsp honey
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground (if you can)
2 tsp fresh tarragon leaves (or more to taste)

Mix dressing, toss with rice and chicken. It's best to add the dressing while the rice is still warm. Taste to check flavor, adjust spices as necessary. Let sit in fridge for at least 2 hours. Add pineapple before serving.

Serve at room temp.
Optional: add green pepper, almonds, dried cranberries, pine nuts/pignola, sumac.