lily's luncheon

I am officially over missing the original little kitchen and I am full fledge in love with the new one.  You could say this luncheon for 30 was its first big test and it passed with flying colors.  In fact, it makes me question how I did things like this in the original little kitchen.  I have to say it is a combination of having great windows in here and the fact that Mr. Hungry actually fits in the kitchen at the same time to help assemble everything.

This was a luncheon for a darling 5 month old baby named Lily who was christened at her church last week.  The only mistake I made last weekend was not getting a picture of her to share with you.

On the menu was...

Tomato Bruschetta

Artichoke Dip

Avocado Chicken Salad with avocado dressing

Assorted Breads and Crackers

Pesto pasta salad with feta and pine nuts

Egg Salad and Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

Triple Lemon Cupcakes

Chicken with Artichokes and Angel Hair

Finally, a real dinner, a new recipe, in the new little kitchen.  You see, I have been cooking.  It's just that when things have been so crazy around here, it has been much easier to fall back on a few favorites than to explore a new recipe.  But something just felt so right about making this meal.  So the cooking will be picking up again.   Slowly but surely I'm getting comfortable in this new place.

This was a great quick night meal that jazzes up chicken just a bit.

From my little kitchen to yours... Enjoy.

To deglaze the pan, simply scrape the bottom of the pan once the chicken broth is added.  This allows the bits of chicken that get stuck to the pan to add flavor to the sauce. 

Chicken with Artichokes and Angel Hair
Adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food
Serves 4
Recipe Notes
The original recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken breast.  I used boneless, skinless tenders because that is what I had on hand.  Either will work, but the most important part is to pound it really thin.  If your chicken breast is really thick, you can cut it lengthwise first, and then pound it out a little more.  Another key is adding a good bit of salt and pepper to the flour for the chicken.  This is the main flavor for the chicken so add a good amount.  I used whole wheat angel hair pasta, but if I was making this for guests, I would probably use regular.... either will work great.
Ingredients

Salt and ground pepper

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

8 thin chicken cutlets (about 1 1/2 pounds total) see recipe notes

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts 2 tablespoons rinsed and drained capers

2 tablespoons butter

8 ounces angel-hair pasta (whole wheat or regular)

1/2 cup parsley leaves

Set a large pot of salted water to boil. Place flour in a shallow dish, and season well with lots of salt and pepper. Dredge cutlets, shaking off excess. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Cook chicken in batches, adding remaining oil as needed, until light golden, 1 to 3 minutes per side; transfer to a dish.

Add broth to skillet, and bring to a boil; cook until reduced by half. Add artichokes, capers, and the chicken with any juices. Gently swirl to combine, and bring just to a boil. Remove skillet from heat. Add butter and stir until melted.

Add pasta to boiling water. Cook until al dente; drain. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta, topped with parsley.

Cheesy Potatoes

I want to be very clear from the get-go that these are not everyday potatoes; I battled with the idea of titling this post special occasion potatoes or vacation potatoes because they are indulgent and amazing, but it is slightly scary how easy they are to make.

Confession: Earlier this summer, we spent a weekend with a whole bunch of friends at another friend's ranch.   We split up meal duties and one night I was assigned "sides."  Months earlier, when we scheduled this weekend, I had big plans of whipping up something great for a side.  My only excuse for mediocrity was that we were in the middle of this debacle, but seriously that is no excuse.  Long story short, when the day actually came and we were headed out to the ranch, I was blank... I couldn't think of anything to bring.  We ran by the grocery store and I racked my brain, but nothing, nothing came to mind.  I am embarrassed to say that I grabbed a bag of white rice.  white rice?! My brain was fried and I had no idea what anyone else was bringing and I thought maybe my rice would just blend in with the rest of the meal.

Well, I still haven't heard the end of that decision, probably because I didn't even make the rice.  When it came time for dinner on Saturday, I smelled something in the kitchen that immediately made me even more insecure about my rice.  My friend, Amy, made these cheesy potatoes and just from hearing the words cheesy potatoes, I knew my sad, white rice would not be touched.

Once I ate these potatoes, I was feeling even lower (if that is possible), because it definitely seemed like she had been slaving over these all day; and, they were amazing!  I told her how much I loved them and she quickly shared with me how easy they are to prepare.  Well, that is an understatement.  For something that seems so decadent and delicious, the 5 minutes it takes to put these together will astonish you.  You will quickly see why I have the need to call these special occasion potatoes... the ingredient list is probably enough to give you a heart attack, but it is so so worth it.

So, thank you Amy for sharing this recipe with me!

Cheesy Potatoes
Recipe Notes
The recipe called for thawing out the frozen potatoes by setting them on the counter for an hour or two.  I (as usual) was throwing this together last minute and did not have time to let the potatoes thaw.  Instead, I followed the directions on cooking the potatoes to get them warmed up.  Add a tablespoon of olive to a nonstick skillet and heat over medium heat.  Cook potatoes for 5 to 10 minutes.  You do not need to cook them through, just enough to where they are no longer frozen.
Ingredients

2 lb bag of frozen hash browns, thawed (diced potatoes) see recipe note

8 oz. bag of shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 stick of butter, melted

1 can of cream of chicken soup

8 oz. sour cream

Step by Step

Mix all ingredients together.  Spread in a 9 x 13 greased pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 covered and then remove foil and bake for additional 20-25 until gold and bubbly on top. 

Peanut Butter Patsy's

We spent the weekend at the beach with some friends and had a great time.  So I can report back to all of you who are afraid to go to the oil stricken beach, head on down to Galveston... it's still as beautiful as ever, not a tar ball in sight. Our biggest problem was that we woke up Saturday morning and realized we didn't have anything to snack on all day, which is one of my favorite activities no matter where we go.  We headed to the grocery store to get some snacks  and were doing our best to come up with something quick and easy.  I remembered these little sussies that I hadn't shared with you yet.  Our family friend Patsy told me about these  so I thought this was an appropriate name.
If you like the combo of sweet and salty as much as I do, you are going to love this one. That's about it... They are quick, easy and addicting.

Peanut Butter Patsy's
Ingredients
Saltine crackers
Crunchy peanut butter
Large marshmallows
Step by Step
Preheat to oven to broil.  Spread 1-2 teaspoons of crunchy peanut butter in the center of each cracker.  Place a marshmallow on top of each dollop of peanut butter.  Place crackers on a baking sheet, not touching each other.    Place in oven until tops of marshmallows are golden and bubbly.  Watch carefully so that marshmallows do not burn, they will cook very quickly.  Allow to cool slightly and serve.

Up & Running...

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  I'm sure later in my life I will look back on these last weeks and wish I had the problems that I do now, but let me tell ya, this little kitchen move almost did me in.  I would also like to share the story because maybe, just maybe there will be someone who is as clueless as we were and won't launch into a project that could be poisonous.  I'll start from the beginning...

So we had no plans of moving, but a great deal popped up that we just had to take, which landed us in a charming little house about a block and a half away from where we were living.  We are still renting,which might make this story a tad ridiculous, but as we were moving in, Mr. Hungry decided to redo the kitchen cabinets.  I know that sounds crazy to do as a renter, but he has lots of interest in me being happy in the kitchen and to be quite honest we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  I didn't take the best before photos, but basically you can see that the kitchen cabinets do not close.  Apparently, the hinges had been painted over about 5 times and the cabinets would no longer shut.  They were pretty dingy too so one late Sunday, Mr. Hungry started scraping away, full of hope and determination.

These cabinets are not just left open... they did not shut. 

Dingy...

The culprit of the cabinets not shutting... hinges that have been painted over quite a few times.

Flash forward to the next day, Mr. Hungry gives me the job of cleaning the hinges since we can't find that are similar and finds that scraping about 5 layers of paint off of cabinets is no walk in the park.  With about 2 out of 10 cabinets scraped, we decide we need an electric sander.  I go to sleep that night with an over excited Mr. Hungry in the kitchen who is just blasting away at the paint.

The next day, I continue to work on moving the rest of the stuff and start to research how I can take paint off of the hinges.  One link led me to another and I started reading about lead paint. Long story short, I find that sanding old paint is extremely dangerous and if it contains lead, you could get lead poisoning and basically turn into a vegetable.  I'm about to faint thinking about how Mr. Hungry has just been huffing this stuff for about 3 days.  I mean look, I don't think you could get any closer to this stuff.  {sidenote: we are still not sure if there was lead in the paint, but the test kit takes two weeks to get results in the mail, and this house was built in 1942 so the chances were pretty high}

Enter day 4 (which seems like day 22) when I go pick up a respirator.  I had also read reports that you could absorb this stuff through your skin so poor Mr. Hungry spent the next two days with most skin covered in the blazing Houston heat sanding away.

After working day and night for two weeks, the kitchen was done... I could hardly believe it.  And while this all seems manageable, I for some reason was having a melt down thinking that Mr. Hungry could become a vegetable because of this silly little renovation.  Anyway, the whole thing already seems a bit comical when I see the pics of what seems to be an alien redoing the kitchen....

Moral of the story: Check for lead paint before tackling a painting project that has anything to do with old paint!

Once again, thank you Mr. Hungry for this amazing kitchen.  I promise to make you lots of macaroni and cheese in here. 

On top of that, there has been a broken oven, refrigerator and water heater that are now all taken care of.  But finally, finally, I'm back with a fully functioning kitchen.  I will be back with pics of the new (and not so new features) of the new little kitchen and for goodness sake, I'll get back to the recipes!

from one little kitchen to another...

There is a pretty darn good reason that things have been so slow around here… we moved! I
had big plans of sharing the final days in the little kitchen, but things just got down right crazy. I
of course also wanted to share the new little kitchen (and yes, still very little), but we took on a
project that almost did me in.
We moved into a very old, charming house. It gives us just a little more room, which I had no
idea how nice that would really be. You can actually stand in one room and not be able to see
other people in the house… nuts!
The part I have been most nervous about with this move is the kitchen. I will share more details
about that later, but I have just come to absolutely love the little kitchen and while some people
wouldn’t dare fry an egg in that little space, I had really mastered the art of cooking in there. I
had everything right where I wanted it and I found the narrowness to just make everything at a
very convenient distance.
But alas, it is time to move on and I’m sure I will make a new home in the new little kitchen. The
main reason for the delay is that Mr. Hungy decided that he would redo the kitchen cabinets
and while it is absolutely wonderful now, there were days I thought we would never see the end
of this project.
I will share the journey of our little renovation soon, but for now I have to get ready for the in-
laws to stay with us.

So give me just a little longer and I will get back to the cooking.