Week of Oct 17 - 23

Sunday morning my wonderful husband made Bud's French Toast for breakfast!  We were going to ride our bikes on the Greenline, but my bike's front tire was "flatter than a fritter" so we just took a walk around our neighborhood.

Remember the pizza I made last week with the butternut squash?  Well, the squash showed up again in this bisque that I made for lunch.  I substituted my leftover carmelized onions for the shallots, and I used the leftover bechamel sauce to come up to 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk.  It was very good, but I think I'll add about half again more squash next time.  I also made Sour Cream and Cheddar Biscuits from a recipe that I got from Smitten Kitchen.  As you may know, I'm on a mission to duplicate the wonderful cheese biscuits that they serve at Kojay's in Blowing Rock.  Kojay's is very stingy with their recipe!  Today's biscuits weren't even close, but they were good just the same.  They have Jalapeno peppers in them, so they have a little kick.

Sour Cream and Cheddar Biscuits

No cooking Sunday night - our homeowners association had our annual fish-fry, yummy!

This was a fairly busy week for me as I had several site visits for the Women's Foundation.  So I fell back on what my family considers "favorites."  These are very quick, very easy, very good, and very inexpensive dishes that they request over and over.  I'll set up a page with links to these recipes so that they're easy to find.  These are the tried and true dinners that get my highest recommendation!

Monday 10-18-10

Summer Sausage Skillet Supper

Boys love this - Walter will even eat leftovers!  I cook this a lot on class nights cause I can fix it before I leave and it's on the stove for Walter when he gets home.

Tuesday 10-19-10

Chicken Salad

A couple of weeks ago in needlepoint class, we were comparing what we had brought for lunch and my friend Leslie had chicken salad.  So we started talking about the multitude of recipes for chicken salad and Leslie said one of her favorites was from the 1964 Women's Exchange Cookbook.  The Women's Exchange is a Memphis institution.  They have a tearoom (fabulous food!) and a shop where they sell exquisite handmade items to support the women who make the items and to fund their various charitable projects.  I asked Leslie to send me the recipe and I made it today.  It's very different from the recipe I usually make.  I like pecans and grapes in mine; this one has almonds and capers.  But I have to say it's pretty good.  I coated the chicken breasts with olive oil, sprinkled them with kosher salt and pepper, roasted them in a 450 degree oven until the internal temperature was 165, then covered them and let them rest for about 10 minutes.  Usually I flatten the breasts to an even thickness then saute them, but this worked just as well and was not as messy.  I doubled the recipe because I wanted to take some to my neighbor who has just had some surgery. 


Wednesday 10-20-10

Slow Cooker Pepper Pork Chops
Rice
English Peas (yes, from a can!)
Buttery Pecan Rounds & Ice Cream

My former neighbor and soul sister, Tandy Gilliland, was in town and came over for dinner.  She lives in Lexington, KY now but still has ties to Memphis.  It was so good to catch up with her!  One of my PAR buddies, Kay McAdams, brought these cookies to the picnic Saturday and she kindly sent me the recipe.  I served them with ice cream, really frozen vanilla yogurt.  Delish!

By the way, my favorite frozen yogurt is Fresh Market's Homemade brand.  It has just the right flavor and consistency and no yucky aftertaste.


Thursday 10-21-10

Fiesta Enchiladas

First I have to say that I met with my needlepoint group today and took some of the chicken salad and cheddar bisquits for my lunch.  The ladies loved both, but the big hit was the container of Buttery Pecan Rounds.  We even got a lot of stitching done between the eating and talking!  I'm almost finished with my current piece, which is a good thing since we're supposed to start a new piece soon.  I'll post a picture, hopefully in a couple of days.

Fiesta Enchiladas is another family favorite.  Very easy and tasty and quick.

Friday, 10-22-10

Ok, my kitchen is closed for the week.  Friday is International Date Night, you know, and tonight we're going to see Wicked at the Orpheum.  We have dinner reservations at Felicia Suzanne's (no relation, darnit!)  Have a great weekend!