There's a very slight chance that I may have accidentally poisoned Jenni...

...And quite possibly, myself in the process.

So Jenni calls me up this evening, at about 7:00, and asks if I want to go check out some finnish DJ called Luomo at Holocene. Which I know means that I will have to dance. And I really don't dance. Except at Grateful Dead shows, which isn't really dancing so much as trying to move while tripping on mushrooms. But hey, it counts... And truth be known, I'm always up for going to Holocene. It's a cool place, if a little sceney, and within walking distance of my house. So I struck up a deal with her. Yes, I will go to Holocene and do alarming yet oddly fascinating white man jerky movements, but first you must come eat dinner at my house, because I am roasting a chicken. Not only did she agree to this, but she also brought potatoes.

I'd never roasted a chicken before, so this was uncharted territory. I stuffed the thing, an enormous free range seven pounder I'd picked up at New Seasons (it looked like a small turkey), with apples, onion, garlic and sage, made slits under the skin into which I packed more sage and garlic, and set about to roasting it. I went with a recipe from Linda Carruci's book Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks, which specified starting the chicken at 425F for 20 minutes, then turning the heat down to 350F for another hour. Linda obviously did not take into account the size of my freak bird. Parts of the chicken registered 170, but other parts only registered 155. But the potatoes were done, and we were pressed for time, so we ate it anyway. And I have to say, it was pretty tasty. I just hope I haven't given Jenni any intestinal problems, as she's leaving for a three day backpacking trip tomorrow. Bad time to have a medical emergency.

Luomo was pretty good, but one of his openers, Strategy, was much better. That's Strategy in the photo, by the way. Oh, and Jenni tells me I'm actually a pretty good dancer. Who'd a thunk?

When I got home, I cranked up the oven and threw the now carved up chicken in for another 20 minutes, and I'm glad to report that it's now done to perfection. I'm gnawing on a drumstick right now. Yes, it's almost four in the morning and I'm eating chicken. I'm totally okay with that.

Um... have fun on your backpacking trip, Jenni!