We're talking/daydreaming about going to DC in the fall to visit family, and as part of my daydreaming I hit the Menu Pages website to see what the area restaurants had to offer. I came across a Mexican restaurant that sounded appealing. As I read through their menu, I saw flautas listed and it occurred to me that I hadn't made those in years. That omission was quickly rectified later in the evening. But, I upped the ante by making homemade flour tortillas as a base.

I've posted a recipe for homemade tortillas here before, but it's been a long time and I decided to re-post the recipe because the difference between store-bought vs. homemade tortillas in this dish is pretty huge. It's really worth it to make them yourself because they are softer than store-bought. When their soft texture gets fried? It's practically a religious experience. I also made a cilantro lime sauce to serve with them, which is completely delicious. I made an extra batch just to snack on with the tortillas.

A good chicken sandwich can mimic a hamburger, becoming a delicious vehicle for toppings. We don't go out to eat very often, but when we do my eyes always stray to the hamburger menu. I stopped eating beef in my late twenties because I had burned out on it and I've never fully redeveloped my taste for it. So, hamburgers are just little sandwiches that taunt my memory. When we do go out to eat, though, I'm a hamburger pusher for Jedd.

“Oooh, they have bacon and monterey jack cheese. You should definitely have that. Oh, wait! They have guacamole too! You should definitely have the bacon, monterey jack and guacamole burger. Or, they also have...”

You get the idea. I'm like an ex-smoker who inhales patron's jackets in a club when they come back from smoking outside. Or like someone who's given up coffee, but still hangs around coffee shops because they love the smell and the conversation.

Ah, memories.

But for some reason I've never thought to treat a chicken sandwich like a hamburger. Then suddenly the other day it dawned on me that I should grill a chicken breast, slap it on a bun, coat the bun with chipotle sauce, cheese and pico de gallo and embrace the sandwich with open arms.

And I'm going to make these at least once a week. They filled a longing I had in my heart that I didn't know existed, outside of watching Jedd dine on pub food.

A few days ago I was watching an episode of “Law and Order” about a young Hispanic boy who was kidnapped and brainwashed into becoming a hit man. When ADA Connie Rubirosa went to talk to the boy's parents, the mother was cooking dinner and she was reluctant to cooperate. Connie tried to put her at ease by asking the woman if she was making birria and if so, did she use pork or beef. The woman responded that she used pork. That opened the door to communication and the mother relented, giving Connie information about her son. By the end of the episode, the boy became himself again – but only after Connie brought him some of his mother's birria. The delicious smell deprogrammed him.

I was pretty impressed. If birria could help reunite a family, what could it do for someone who hasn't been brainwashed into becoming a hit man? Well, the answer is it's made my life much easier because we've been eating the leftovers for the last 2 nights. And I'm going to make another batch over the weekend. "Law and Order" got one thing right: birria is amazing.

The recipe that I used as a guide looked fantastic, but I had to change some of the ingredients to accommodate what we had on hand. One of the main changes I made was to use dried chipotles instead of guajillo chiles because that's what I had. Also, I love chipotles and thought they would bring a nice smoky heat.

I can't recommend birria enough.

A blood orange salsa can be a beautiful little pick me up in the middle of winter. February makes me crave color. We don't even have a lot of white outside right now, which is fairly unusual for Vermont at this time of the year. With that in mind, when Jedd hit the grocery store last week he picked me up a couple of gorgeous, locally-grown Cortland apples and some beautiful blood oranges because they were pretty. And he knew I needed to see something colorful.

I have other plans for those beautiful Cortland apples, but I made a simple (and for my first time ever) non-spicy salsa with the blood oranges. I just wanted them to shine and to not have to compete against heat. (I know, I know I've just come close to anthropomorphizing fruit, but I'll just chalk that up to cabin fever.)