A little something for lunch and dessert...

This weekend Russ and I did no cooking or baking at all. We had a lazy weekend and ate out or picked up something for every meal including breakfast. That’s right we didn’t even brew our own coffee. While I enjoyed the break I was anxious to get back into the kitchen, so on Sunday night I started working on two things for today / tonight.

We have been trying to eat at home most weekdays for lunch and while I have tried to keep things varied I think we are both tired of turkey sandwiches. So, I decided to make a batch of Russ’ Mom’s chicken salad for our lunch the next couple days. It is really tasty and simple to make. You boil chicken in a pot with green pepper, onion, celery and pepper. Once the chicken is done and has cooled you pull it and add mayonnaise, a little lemon juice, salt, pepper and chopped celery. You can eat it in a sandwich, by itself, or on top of a bed of lettuce. I have watched his Mom make it several times and have made it myself a few times, but Russ and I both thought this batch was the best I’ve made. Russ and I both really enjoyed the chicken salad and the break from turkey sandwiches!

Tonight was Bachelor Night and Emily and Dowe hosted. Russ and I were in charge of the appetizer, bread, and dessert. Russ had an idea recently of doing an antipasti platter for an appetizer using some of the goodies that our new Whole Foods has including olives, roasted tomatoes, stuffed grape leaves, prosciutto, spelt etc. Since we weren’t really making anything for the appetizer and just bought a baguette for the bread I decided to make the dessert. I went with Ina Garten’s Chocolate Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Icing. I made the cupcakes last night and then made the frosting tonight. They are not too complicated to put together and I always have fun using my Kitchen Aid mixer (one of my favorite wedding gifts!). The cupcake batter does have several steps, but the result is a rich, chocolate, fluffy batter. The icing comes together quickly using the KA mixer and spreads well over the cupcakes. The icing is wonderful and tastes like a Tag Along (Girl Scout Cookie)! The only change I made was to omit the chopped peanuts on top. Russ doesn’t really like nuts on things and I wasn’t sure I wanted a crunch to my cupcake. While we really liked the cupcakes I think the icing is what makes them, so next time I plan to either make mini cupcakes to have less cake or to pipe some icing in the center of each cupcake in addition to having it on top.

Emily made her Mom's corn flake chicken which was really moist and tasty. Elizabeth was in charge of the sides and made stuffed, baked onions and a yummy salad out of the new CL. It is one I had marked to try, so I was excited when she said she planned to bring it. It is the Asparagus-Apple Salad with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette. It was wonderful! I always like fruit in salads, but I really liked the addition of asparagus in this one. I think I will be giving this one a try soon.

Russ rates the chicken salad a 9 and the cupcakes a 8. Tomorrow night Allen is coming over for dinner and he and Russ will be bottling the beer. I am planning to make a salmon dish of Ina Garten's... I think there may be a trend in the recipes for this week....