Chicken Piccata, AKA The Irishman's Favorite Meal

The Irishman is fairly easy to please in the food department. If the meal starts with a salad and goes on to contain both a meat and a starch, he's pretty happy. With that said, his hands down favorite meal is Chicken Piccata. We've been to so many restaurants around town looking for the perfect version. Apparently, there was a dive in South Florida who had perfected the dish and everything he's tried since then has fallen short.

So one year (fairly early in our relationship), I decided to figure out the Piccata mystery. After a host of different attempts, he named this version the official Piccata champion. Naturally, I wanted to share it with all of you.

Ok, here are our ingredients: juice of one lemon, 2 Tbs. butter, 1/2 cup white wine, 1 cup chicken broth, olive oil, capers, 2 shallots (sweet onions) chopped, 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley chopped, 4 cloves of garlic and 2 Tbs. flour.

**This recipe comes together really quickly, so it's quite helpful to have all of the ingredients measured out in advance. Usually, I'll do the measuring and chopping before I get Parker from school and then throw it together in about 15 minutes.



Oh and the chicken of course. Here, you'll see that I sliced two chicken breasts in half (so I have 4 pieces) and I've put them between two sheets of plastic wrap so that I can make them thinner. I do this by pounding the crap out of them with the bottom of a heavy pan. It's loads of fun.



If you're going to serve this with spaghetti (all the cool kids are doing it), you'll want to go ahead and get that started first.

Alright, first, put about a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan and add your chicken breasts. Since they're thinner cuts, you'll only need a couple of minutes on each side.



When they're done, go ahead and move them to another plate and put your pan back on the burner. Next, we're going to add another tablespoon of olive oil, one tablespoon of butter and the garlic and shallots.



Saute the garlic and shallots for a couple of minutes. Now, add your 2 Tbs. of flour and stir the slurry constantly.



After another minute or two, add in the wine.



After about a minute, it will start to thicken and look like this.



Next, throw in the lemon juice and broth and stir for yet another minute or two. Wait until it starts to bubble (shown here)...



And add in the parsley, capers and the second tablespoon of butter.



Now, we're going to put the chicken breasts back into the sauce to warm them back up.



And after a minute or two, it is ready to serve.



Put a nice pile of spaghetti on your plate, add a couple pieces of chicken and top it with a nice helping of the sauce. It's lemony, it's capery, it's simply delicious. So go on and give it a try!

Is That A Parker On Your Back?

It has been a looooong 4 days. Mr. Parker got a nasty cold and had a fever almost continually from Wednesday through Sunday. When Parker doesn't feel well, he gets even more snuggly than normal. Translation: he wants to be held continuously. Now, this normally wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that he is not a wee infant anymore. He's a 34 lb. toddler who's over 3 feet long. My poor little biceps today are protesting the effort of carrying him for days at a time. The alternative to carrying him is that he lays listlessly on the couch looking utterly pathetic. So, in my arms he goes.

He's back in school today and *cross my fingers* I hope they don't call me to come and pick him up. Both he and I have been completely thrown off of our normal routines, so hopefully this week can start and stay on track. Only time will tell.

I wanted to share with all of you that I've been working on a bunch of recipes that I hope to post for the remainder of this week. If I can get my act together, I'll be posting one new recipe a day. Yippee! So, go tell your pots and pans that they're on standby and get ready for some cooking.

P.S. If there's ever a recipe you want me to share, just leave me a comment and I would be happy to oblige. I have a cute, little Greek mother who can make most anything and I'm sure she'd be a willing contributor to the cause of good food for the masses.

Inherited Mannerisms?

When I was walking by Parker's desk the other day. This is what I saw:



I thought, hmmm, what's that tissue doing there? When I grabbed it, I noticed that it wasn't just hanging out by itself, but that it was laying on top of something. The remains of his snack.



I sat there staring at this for a couple of minutes because for the longest time, I used to do the same thing when I was done eating. I didn't like looking at my food after I was done (generally it was because I was stuffed). My friends used to say that I was laying my food to rest. As I wracked my brain, I couldn't remember the last time I did this. Which makes me wonder, nature or nurture?

Happy National Carrot Day!

I am so excited that it's National Carrot Day. The carrot is an under appreciated vegetable that is so good for you both inside and out. In fact, one of my new favorite natural products is this:



It's "Yes To Carrots" shampoo and conditioner. A couple of months ago, I realized that I was paying very close attention to what I was putting in my body, but I wasn't as diligent about what I was putting on it. So, I started my search for good home and beauty products that still did a great job because let's face it, while I want to be healthy, I'd still rather not look freaky or disheveled in the name of being "green."

My criteria for body products was two-fold. (1) The products had to do as good of a job as the traditional, chemically products and (2) they had to be easily purchased. In other words, I was hoping to find them at either the supermarket or Target or some other mainstream store. Oh and I didn't want to spend huge $$$ on this stuff.

My search lead me to the "Yes To Carrots" stuff and you know what, I love it! It smells nice and even the Irishman agreed that my hair is actually softer now than it was when I was using my other stuff. Oh AND it was around $8 a bottle. I've been using the shampoo and conditioner for about 2 weeks now and I think that my Yes to Carrots stuff is definitely here to stay. So, if you are in the market for healthy, inexpensive hair products, go give Yes To Carrots a try. You won't be disappointed!

P.S. Martha Stewart is talking about Yes To Carrots on her show!!

P.P.S. Please don't tell anyone that I watch the Martha Stewart Show. I have to admit though, I like her better post-incarceration. I think being in the joint gave her some edge.

P.P.P.S. Disheveled is one of my favorite words and I like to mispronounce it on purpose.

Are You Ready For Some Football!?!?

Well, it's no secret that today is the Superbowl and the Irishman's beloved Pittsburgh Steelers are playing in it. He made sure that we were all ready for the game.

Here I am in my brand new jersey.



It's (of course) my fictitious husband's number so I'm representing defense today.



Here's little man Parker in his jersey that he's had since birth.



It's (of course) the quarterback's jersey so he's representing the offense.



And the Irishman? Well, the Irishman is actually there.



Yup, he decided yesterday morning at 9am that he just couldn't miss out on this opportunity, so he's going to be there live and in person while Parker and I hold down the fort. I sent him down there with a camera and I'm fully expecting a full pictorial report of the day's festivities. Of course, I will post them here when he returns.

Hopefully, he has a blast and leaves with memories that will last a lifetime.

Question Of The Day

Why will Parker eat Play-Doh, construction paper and leaves, but not 'conventional' foods like Mac & Cheese, spaghetti or turkey sandwiches? It's just a mystery to me.

Hiding from Father Nick

It's no secret that I am quite anti-social. In fact, my brother bought me a t-shirt for Christmas that reads, "You Read My Shirt. That's Enough Social Interaction For One Day." Sadly, it's true. I have a fairly serious aversion to most everyday interactions. It's mainly because I don't like to waste time and I don't like small talk. I really just don't understand the point of interacting with people who aren't a fairly permanent fixture in my life. I've tried to reform my anti-social ways, but I can't stop myself from trying to disengage from a conversation with a stranger less than one minute after it began.

In all fairness, I come by my introversion honestly. You see, my father is also a classic introvert. This is probably why we get along so well. We are perfectly happy to spend days and weeks completely alone. In contrast, my mother (and brother) are textbook extroverts who love meeting and entertaining people.

With all of my mother's social activities, there were a lot of people coming by the house on a regular basis. This did not bode well for my father and I when we were home alone. In fact, one of my funniest memories is the day that Father Nick, our priest, came by the house looking for my mother. That fateful day went down something like this.

Father Nick knocked on the door and, knowing that any visitors were naturally for my mother, my father and I ignored it. When he knocked again, we stealthily crept into the kitchen just in case Father Nick looked in the windows. As my dad and I waited patiently for him to leave, we were suddenly startled by the sound of someone turning the knob of the kitchen door. We looked at each other and took off at a sprint to the master bedroom closet where we fought mightily against a fit of giggles that was threatening to make noise and give us away.

Meanwhile, Father Nick left something on the kitchen table for my mom and let himself back out. As soon as the coast was clear, we slowly reemerged from the closet and continued with our anti-social day. To this day, I can't help but chuckle at the ridiculousness of our flight. That's not to say that we wouldn't do the same thing today if we happened to be the only two in the house, but at least I can recognize my neurotic ways for what they are.