There is never a dull moment in our family. With that said, getting dinner on the table often starts with me scrounging through our refrigerator to see what I have on hand. I don’t recommend this disorganized strategy at all, especially when it’s 6 pm and there are hungry kids constantly asking when dinner will be ready. But on a positive note, the time constraint and the use of limited ingredients can also be a time of creative recipe development. [click to continue…]
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Having mom live here has its privileges. For instance, she hold holds me accountable to get dinner going around 5 p.m. instead of 6:30 p.m. because she knows if I haven’t started by 6:15 p.m. there is a strong probability we will either be eating out or having eggs, pancakes, and bacon for dinner -which isn’t a bad option if you ask me.
Flying home from Atlanta late Sunday night I hadn’t taken inventory of the food situation in our kitchen yesterday and was a bit panicked about what I could muster up for dinner. Thank goodness for the two partially frozen chicken breasts in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator. Yesterday was the only instance I could remember in a long time where I was actually glad the bottom fridge drawer was acting like a confused freezer. However, the partially frozen mozzarella balls I found down there grossed me out. The sliminess around each ball of goop screamed stomach flu to me, so I said goodbye to the cheese and embraced the chicken. [click to continue…]
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There is no question of whether or not Fall has graced Seattle with her glorious autumn presence. The leaves of Japanese maple trees once full of lush dark tones of amber, deep saturated yellows, and various shades of green are changing with the addition of bright copper red edging and golden warm tones. Last night I embrace the seasonal change with a comforting meal of roasted chicken and polenta using recipes from blogger Pour Girl Gourmet – Amy McCoy’s new cookbook, Poor Girl Gourmet: Eat in Style on a Bare-Bones Budget
. Her recipe for roasted chicken legs with olives was a beautiful reminder how simplicity can not be underestimated and outdated.
The aroma of oven roasted chicken lingered throughout the house signaling to our family dinner was almost ready. Seasoned with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and fresh thyme. the chicken itself only reaffirmed what I often evangelize here – salt and pepper is all you ever really need to season food to be good and wholesome. And wholesome our meal was. [click to continue…]
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Today’s post is brought to you by… the practical side of me – which is pretty much is all of me. When I used to work at my uncle’s deli, one of my responsibilities was making chicken salad. Because the deli also sold fried chicken, I would use the leftover fried chicken, remove as much of the crispy outer shell, and use all the meat I could pull off the bones. Looking back, I can see what a valuable skill this was for me to learn.
Earlier this week my husband brought home some Ezell’s fried chicken and we had several pieces left over. Being the resourceful good girl that I am, I decided to make chicken salad the old school deli way. Keep in mind, this recipe is pretty simple, basic, and forgiving. You can use any type of cooked chicken you have on hand and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. [click to continue…]
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in my carry-on bag. I received her cookbook in a bag of goodies from an all-day food blogging workshop in Pam’s summer home. While soaking in all the beautiful photos and recipes in her latest book, I started to make mental notes of which recipes I wanted to try first. I plan on writing up a formal review in a post soon, but for right now all I can say is this book is gorgeous and practical – my kind of book. I’ve already cooked out of it three times and I’ve only been home for a few days!!
