Posts from — March 2012

Me, my mom, and my brother, Dennis, on Easter 1961 in our front yard near Pima and Chaparral Rds. in Scottsdale. My mom is 26 years old in this photo.

Today is my mother’s 77th birthday. It’s funny how we see our parents – kind of through rose-tinted glasses. My parents divorced after 28 years of marriage in 1981 when I was 20. Because of the way things went down, I took my dad’s side, and my sister sided with my mom. When it comes to our parents; my sister, Sloane, and I now take the “divide and conquer” approach. She deals with our mom and I deal with our dad.

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Boneless, skinless chicken breast is one of, if not the, most popular protein choices of Americans. Why? Because quick and easy meals begin with chicken, specifically breasts.

We love chicken for its taste, healthfulness, and low-fat content, along with how easy and versatile it is to cook. And there is no question that Americans overwhelmingly prefer white chicken meat to dark. According to data from 2007, on average, we eat chicken almost 10 times a month, but on less than two of those occasions do we choose chicken thighs or legs.

The average American was eating 36 pounds of chicken a year in 1970; by 1985 this had risen to 51 pounds; in 2010 it climbed to 60 pounds. Today, over 80% of that chicken consists of breast meat.  Americans prefer white meat because it has long been touted as “healthier” than dark meat.

But when it comes to fat and calories, there is very little difference between boneless, skinless chicken breast and boneless, skinless chicken thighs. According to the Department of Agriculture, 100 grams of white meat contains 0.56 grams of saturated fat and 114 calories, and dark meat – 1 gram of saturated fat and 119 calories. Dark chicken meat is also nutrient-rich, containing higher levels of iron, zinc, riboflavin, thiamine, and vitamins B6 and B12 than white meat.

You see, back in the late 60’s and early 70’s poultry producers realized that they could market and advertise the slight disparity in calories and fat content between dark and white chicken meat to perpetuate the “chicken over beef” craze.  And more importantly – they could retail a “premium” poultry product that could be sold at a higher price. The chicken was a healthy option, but chicken breast was the “healthiest”, and it turned out that we consumers were willing to shell out for it.

Since you probably have chicken breasts in your freezer, I’m going to give you an easy-breezy recipe using boneless, skinless breast; but boneless, skinless thighs could be easily substituted if you would like to save a little coin.

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Spaghetti, Angel Hair, or Linguini
Fresh garlic cloves or Trader Joe’s frozen garlic cubes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Red pepper flakes

If you always have these four items in your pantry – you always have dinner ready in less than 10 minutes!  Seriously, you can use only those four ingredients for a meal or add in whatever you have on hand.

Some of the things I’ve added to this standby dish?

For protein; cooked shrimp, chicken, bacon, scallops, or slivers of leftover pork or beef.

Generally, I keep it vegetarian, in which case, anything I have in my fridge goes in; green beans, asparagus, mushrooms, leftover caramelized onions, herbs, snow peas, sugar snap peas, leftover cooked squash, sliced summer squash, arugula, or spinach.

Honestly, the list is endless. For dinner last night, I only added sliced Belgium endive and cherry tomato halves.

This is the go-to meal when the goal is to get dinner onto the table before anyone has a chance to whine, “When are we eating, I’m starving!”

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Last weekend I shared with you my two projects – the porch curtains and some interesting gardening ideas.

BFF, Peggy, had a birthday on February 26th. Anne and I took her out to dinner the Thursday before her big day. We first went to Barrio Queen for appetizers and margaritas (so dang good!) and then walked across the street to FnB, where we had an amazing dinner. Sadly we did not get a picture of the three of us together, so the photo above is one I have not yet shared. It is from several years ago, taken in my kitchen, before heading out for a night on the town.

Anyhow… after our dinner, we “acquired” some seriously awesome wood crates. One of my boards on Pinterest is dedicated to the cool stuff you can do with wooden crates and pallets… so I already had my eye on these specific crates for some time. We each ended up with two crates and there was one more left over. All seven crates have been stored in my garage since that night. [Read more →]

Recently, one of you asked me, “Do you cook a big fancy meal every night?” The answer is “NO!” I am just like you, racking my brain about what to get onto the table.

This recipe is a good example of shooting from the hip to get dinner done in a pinch.  I made a nice meal one night with a large piece of salmon that I grilled and glazed with raspberry-chipotle sauce.

The next night I used the same bottled sauce to turn the leftover salmon into a quick pasta dinner.  Just like you, I’m throwing stuff together at the last minute with what I find in my fridge!

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I saw this gorgeous pink cocktail on Pinterest and knew it was in my future to make! The original recipe actually comes from the Barefoot Contessa’s How Easy Is That cookbook.

Since I have a ruby red grapefruit tree, and the grapefruit is huge this year, I used half fresh juice and half purchased Ocean Spray Ruby Red juice. The Ocean Spray was needed to get the richer pink color. Plus I added fresh zest, which really showed off the fresh grapefruit.  You could always substitute vodka for tequila if you are one of the hundreds of thousands who swore off tequila after your college days. 🙂   I didn’t have Blanco tequila, instead, I used the Añejo I had on hand – Blanco will keep the pink color pinker though.

I experimented a little bit more and muddled in 1/4 cup of fresh basil. And that is the recipe I’ll be making from now on – a real winner – just strain out the basil before blending with the ice to ensure the lovely pink color.

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I thought this was a cooking blog!  I know, I know – I haven’t posted a recipe in nearly a week. It’s not that I haven’t been cooking, it’s just that so many much more interesting things have been going on.  In fact, I was cooking up quiches like a fiend for the last couple of days but I won’t be able to post those recipes until after an article about their runs in the Arizona Republic food section in a couple of weeks.

Food editor, Karen, and food photographer extraordinaire, Michael, were here at the house this morning.  My plan to was to take pictures of Michael taking pictures of the food, but yeah, I forgot and just chatted it up with the two of them instead. Darn ADD gets me every time! 

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About one month ago today, there was a wonderful article in The New York Times about a mom who handed over a portion of the weekly cooking chores to her two sons.  Here is a small excerpt from that article:

“I cannot remember exactly when it occurred to me that my children should be cooking dinner for me instead of the other way around…

…So, about six months ago, I asked each of my sons, ages 14 and 10, to cook dinner once a week. I was not proposing a heartwarming mother-son bonding experience. I made it clear that they could cook only when an adult was in shouting distance, but the goal was to have them plan and execute the meal on their own while I commuted home or ran errands — or drank a glass of wine on the couch.

The boys did not protest too much, mainly because I offered a reward. Our longstanding routine had them cleaning the kitchen after dinner under my husband’s supervision — loading the dishwasher, scrubbing pots, wiping counters, sweeping the floor. Now I was offering a get-out-of-jail-free card: You cook; we clean. They were elated by the idea.”

CLICK HERE to check out the entire inspiring read.

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