Chunky Chicken Salad

It's just me at home this week.  So girl food abounds.  First on my list?  Chunky Chicken Salad.  See, Spencer detests mayonnaise.  I'm not a huge fan either, except in chicken salad.  This one is simple, fresh, and will give me dinner for a few days!

Chunky Chicken Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, baked or grilled { or 1/2 leftover rotisserie chicken! }
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 3/4 cup finely diced sweet onion
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise { If you can find it, I swear by Duke's! }
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Chopped fresh parsley { optional }

Equipment

• Mixing bowl
• Spatula

Instructions

• Start by prepping chicken.
• Use leftover rotisserie chicken, or, if you're making it specifically for this dish, you can marinate two chicken breasts in Italian salad dressing overnight and bake at 400* for 25 minutes { or until well done }.
• Shred chicken into chunks using two forks.

• Then, dice celery and onion.

• Toss it all together in a big bowl.  { See? Told you this was simple. }

• Add mayo, garlic salt, pepper and parsley. Mix well.

• Now taste it.  Need more garlic salt?  Pepper?  Add away and mix some more.  Heck, toss in some grated parmesan cheese if you're feeling adventurous.
• Then spread it on a cracker, make a sandwich, or just eat it out of the bowl.

Yum.  And it'll all be gone before Spencer gets home. : )

Sun & Sand

So... I've been AWOL for two whole weeks.  And for two reasons, actually.  First, Spencer and I were lucky enough to have a full week here.

{ What is up with my hair? }

It was really a gift.  Peace, quiet, sun and sand.  We saw manatees, dolphins and sea turtles.  And I went through an entire bottle of sunscreen.  { But not a bit of sunburn. Booyah. } Thank you, Truett, for a wonderful week away!

I went with all of these grand intentions of cooking and blogging... and while we did cook, there was virtually no internet connection.  So I abandoned the computer and stuck my feet in the sand. No regrets. : )

As for last week, well, the post-vacation-email-pile-up was compounded by an unusually busy week at the office.  So busy that we ordered Papa John's one night { I forget how much I love that stuff! }, ate PB&J another, and then cleaned out every Lean Cuisine in the freezer.  Hosting a meeting for 1,000 people has a way of eating up some serious time.  { It was a simulcast with wardrobe, lights, cameras and all... I felt like Diane Sawyer!  So fun. }

But now that life is back to normal again, I'm keenly aware that my kitchen feels neglected.  Back to baking ASAP!

Blueberry Crunch Pancakes

I love breakfast food.  We eat breakfast for dinner a lot in this house, and that usually means pancakes.  When I have the goodies on hand, though, we go for more than just our standard recipe.  We recreate our favorite dish from J. Christopher's: Blueberry Crunchcakes.

The method is simple, but the results are huge.  I made these with the "Pancake Posse" at the office last week, and they were a huge hit.

Blueberry Crunch Pancakes

{ You know you want one! }

You'll need:

• A batch of basic pancake batter { use a mix if you must, but I swear by these }
• 2 packages crunchy granola bars { As in two individual packages of two granola bars each; 4 bars total.  I use Nature Valley Oats N' Honey... in the green wrapper. }
• 1 pint blueberries

And the instructions are super easy.

• Prepare batter as usual.
• While batter is resting, wash blueberries and prep granola bars.  Either crush the bars in a mini food chopper... or, if the kids are up, stick the bars in a zip-top bag and let them pound with a mallet.  { Or maybe that's not a good idea for kids.  Not sure.  Don't have any yet! }

• Portion batter onto a hot griddle using a 1/3 cup measure.
• Allow to cook for just a minute, then top wet batter with a generous sprinkle of crushed granola and blueberries.

• Flip and finish cooking as you would any other plain pancake.

• Serve warm topped with more blueberries and crushed granola.

{ Meet Anna, the originator of the fantastic base pancake recipe! }

Then relish in your restaurant-worthy homemade brunch!

Perfect Peach Cobbler

Growing up visiting my grandparents in Georgia, peaches were a summer staple.  And now that we live in Georgia,  I know why.  There's nothing better than a sweet, juicy peach.  Peach ice cream, peach salsa, peach cobbler... it's not hard to sound like Bubba Gump here.

Last year, I made Paula Deen's Peach Cobbler.  It's a good one.  But my great aunt recently passed away and I've been feeling nostalgic.  I called Mom to get Grandmomma's recipe.  And here's my version of it.

Perfect Peach Cobbler

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 3 peaches
• 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1/2 cup traditional white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup { 1 stick } cold butter, cut into cubes
• Up to 3 tablespoons milk

Primary Equipment

• Cutting board
• Knife
• 1 1/2 quart baking dish
• Mixing bowl
• Pastry blender { or knife and fork }
• Spatula

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375*.
• Next, prepare the peaches.  You can peel them by blanching, but I think that's a pain in the rear.  My preference is to cut each peach in half...

• ... and into slices.

• Then, take a paring knife and cut away the peel from each slice.  You'll waste a little fruit, but there's no blanching involved.

• Roughly chop peeled peach slices, place into baking dish, and top with 2 tablespoons brown sugar.  Stir and set aside.

• Now, prepare the crust.  In a mixing bowl, combine self-rising flour, sugar, cinnamon and remaining brown sugar.

• Add butter and incorporate using pastry blender.  Mixture will be coarse and crumbly.

{ before mixing }

{ after mixing }

• Add milk, one tablespoon at a time, until just incorporated.  Dough should be moist but not too sticky.  Almost like cookie dough.

• Spread crust mixture on top of peach chunks.

• Bake at 375* for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

• Then let a lucky member of your household enjoy any leftover crust dough.

• Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream and enjoy!

YUM.

A Sticky Situation

It stinks when a cake sticks.  You've spent all this time mixing, pouring, baking and planning { not to mention dreaming of eating } and in a matter of moments excitement gives way to disappointment.  Boo.

My mom taught me a trick years ago that's a fail-proof way to keep a cake from sticking.  It only works on layer cakes, but it's well worth the extra thirty seconds it will take you.  All you need is wax paper or parchment and a pair of scissors.

First, cut a square of wax paper just large enough to cover your whole pan.

Then, fold corner B over to corner A along the dotted line { so you're also folding corner C over to corner D }.  It should look something like the below, where the dotted line represents a fold and the solid lines represent a loose edge.

Now, fold C up to B and D up to A along the dotted line.  You should have a little square.

Fold corner D over to corner B along the dotted line.  A little triangle is all you'll have.  Depending on how large your cake pan is, you may need to fold B over to the end of the dotted line below.  This is a lot like making those paper snowflakes in elementary school.

Now for the slightly tricky part.  Hold your paper wedge above the pan so that point C is in the center. Using the scissors, cut a slight curve along the dotted line.  You'll end up holding what looks like a triangle with a curved base.  And if you unfold it... you should have a nice circle.

See if it fits within your pan. If it's too large, fold it back up and trim off a hair more until it's just barely smaller than the bottom of your pan. { I guess you could get all scientific and use pi and such, but I'm more of a generalist than a specialist. Especially when it comes to numbers. }

Place your circle in a greased pan, fill with batter and bake.  Once cakes are inverted on to wire racks, remove wax paper and allow to finish cooling.  No dark spots, no sticking.  That's a win in my book!