Saturday, May 3, 2008

Recipe Swap

In the same spirit of the "If God gives you time" posts, I also thought it might be nice to help you and help myself. Ever get really, really sick of eating the same thing, week after week? I think I get this from my mom. She's a great cook, but she's also a great collector. She's got a cabinet in her kitchen which is filled with papers...stacks and stacks of papers. Some cut from magazines. Some printed off the internet. Some from friends. All recipes that she just knows she'll get to one day. She also loves to try new things which did mean that we had some "amazing" combinations as I was growing up. (Was that nice enough, Mom?!)

It's also one of my greatest joys in being at home with Mom that she lets me cook! What's so special about that? Well...1) Mom and Stan buy the ingredients and they really love good food. That means I get to cook cuts of meat that I never even see at HEB! 2) I get kitchen prep help. Well, that's what I call it. Mom and Paula (my baby sister!) call it slave labor. 3) I don't clean. And any day without cleaning a kitchen is a good day. Especially after I cook. (I tend to make a bit of a mess.)

So, here's what I was thinking...I'll share a recipe each week that our family loves and that's easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner or toss together for a quick lunch or whip up for dessert when company's coming. Many of these recipes are from y'all anyway! In return, though, I'd love to hear back with more from you.

I'm going to start with a chicken salad recipe that is similar to one I saw my sister-of-my-heart, Katharine, make when she hosted a luncheon in her home. The only thing that's missing is the YUMMY dressing that she drizzled on top of it. She served it with cornbread muffins and fresh strawberries. And served fresh Georgia peach ice cream for dessert. It was so pretty and delicious. We made it the night before and plated it in no time as they sat down.

So, Katharine, in between feeding Lauren, chasing Henry and running with Emma Kate everywhere, think you could share the honey, poppyseed stuff with us? Hugs to everyone in GA, by the way...we're working on coming back!

Lemony Chicken Salad

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 sour cream
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 lbs. chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
3 to 4 cups fruit: red and white grapes, crisp apple
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 bag salad greens

Stir together mayo with next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut grapes in half and dice apple. Add chicken and fruit to sauce. Toss well, cover and chill 1 hour. Stir in toasted pecans just before serving. Serve over salad and drizzle with a light, sweet dressing (Hopefully Katharine's!) like a poppyseed dressing or honey based.

Notes: Light ingredients work well, too. Instead of using just cooked chicken breasts, I usually roast a whole chicken that's been basted with lemon juice and also stuff the cavity with the lemons. Salt and pepper liberally then bake at 350 for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on how big the chicken is.

Got another salad recipe you'd like to share? Look to the right side of the blog. You'll see a heading that says "Contact Me". Use that address and once I have a few, I'll post them all together.

4 comments:

Katharine said...

It was such a fun luncheon!! And even sweeter cooking beside you! We are ready to have you again, this time at the Lake! Just let me know when you are packing your bags.

Honey Poppy Seed Dressing

In a jar combine the following and shake well:

1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 honey
1/4 apple cider vinegar
1 T poppy seeds
2 T sesame seeds
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t Worcestershire

easy enough!

The honey always reminds me of my dad's dad who was a bee keeper. Bee keepers let their bees get the pollen from different kinds of flowers to make the honey taste different. Well my crazy 'Ole Pops' used to put the bees in the back of his station wagon to take them where he wanted them to gather pollen, with his wife and children in the car!!! There was a great price to enjoy the fruit of that labor! Thankfully, you can just pick yours up at HEB, sigh. or Kroger. And may the Word of God be just as sweet to us. Love from GA. kw

Kim said...

Thank you! I'm planning to serve this Tuesday and just knew that it would be so much better if I had that dressing.

I'm trying to imagine being in the back of that car with the constant hum of the bees! What an amazing Prov. 31 moment for your grandmother! I travel to a lot of footballs that I may not want to necessarily see, but she puts my "sacrifice" to shame!

Wayne and Cassie are traveling to the Ukraine in early to mid July. The girls and I thought a road trip might be fun while they're gone! We'll let you know when the dates are firm!

Love you all...

eileen mom nana said...

Thanks for not actually naming the "amazing combinations"!! Stan would say that I still do those.. He came in from the store this afternoon with fresh strawberries so I made the pound cake in "Hearts & Flowers"; made (from same book) the Strawberry Cream Sauce & put sugar on the strawberries to sit until after dinner; can't tell you what a wonderful dessert that was all stacked up on the plates! Uncle Johnny was here ~ Stan said to tell you that's why we got to have dessert!!
I can't wait to try the salad! Hugs to K for sharing that one.
You know I love "this recipe idea".. God's Love to Everyone...

Cassie said...

Hey Mrs. Williams! It's Cassie! I love you by the way! And i thought i'd let you know that the dressing is Amazing! it was wonderful! I miss y'all bunches! Give my love to the rest of the fam!~Cass