Recipes and Kitchen Stories

Spoon Saga

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in the Kitchen....

where creativity and cast iron mix well.

I grew up helping put dinner on the table. As a little girl it was by helping in the garden and smashing potatoes. When I got older, I was able to help with the cooking.

We used food as a way to learn about far-off lands from our small town life... we had lessons on Latin America over home made tacos and salsa. Asia was covered while making wontons. And architectural lessons came in the form of gingerbread houses.

In the weeks that followed 9/11, I took solace in watching Emeril and Nigella, jotting down ingredients, and serving my family the most wonderful food I could concoct. It was a way to laugh at my culinary mishaps, give comfort and to enjoy our blessings, at the table and beyond.

I still cook... this girl still has to feed herself! Some days I go gourmet, but sometimes, I'm just hungry and want food in a hurry. So here, at Spoon Saga, you might find everything from a duck that took 4 hours to roast to the Friday Flash, which is dinner in 20 minutes or less. You just never know!

Please savor the stories, recipes, and all the wonderful things that come from my kitchen, including the latest dish below.

Recipes and Reveries du Jour

http://blog.spoonsaga.com

2011-12-17T15:49:51Z

Wow.... has it really been that long?

Has it really really really been that long since I wrote a kitchen post? Much less any post? I guess it has. I suppose there are lots of reasons - ahem - excuses, but not really. I think I was just burnt out. And then came Thanksgiving. And Rex Goliath, the chicken.

My mother hates to cook. I hate to go to the grocery store. We have a pact that if I make the shopping list and cook, she will procure. I love this deal. I hate turkey. So off I sent her to get a roasting chicken. Usually when I get one it's 2-3 pounds. Somehow, she found the chicken to end all chickens.... a 5 pounder the likes of which I had never seen. In honor of the wine I was drinking, we named it Rex Goliath.

I know that wine is for a 47 pound rooster, but this chicken was like a girl in a Kink's song.

Rex Goliath produced a wonderful thanksgiving lemon and garlic chicken. An a post Thanksgiving chicken and dumplings. And a post-post Thanksgiving chicken pot pie. Honestly. This is the chicken that kept giving the family wonderful meals.

So thanks Rex, for the food, the joy, the laughs over your oddly humongous size. And here's to the next Thanksgiving.

Every dish needs a little somethin' somthin' good to accompany it,

so here's what I'm having this week.

NEW SUMMER WINE ALERT!!!!

I have found a great bargain I want to share with you. For you lovers of crisp, non oaky white wines, check out Aconga Chenin Blanc - Chardonnay. It's an 80/20 blend and the result yields for me a pineapple, lemongrass taste with just enough chardonnay butter to even it out. I had some last night with a turkey burger, and it rocked. It went well with today's grilled shrimp and water melon salad. And for $3.88 a bottle at Kroger's, well, you won't feel guilty buying enough to share with the whole neighborhood this summer.