Chicken Baked With Honey and Soy Sauce and a Banana Split

I notice that many people find it easiest often when they go grocery shopping to buy a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken.  My boyfriend and I did this a couple of times and then I decided to make one for myself. It was easy. There was hardly any worked involved. Most of the time was spent with the chicken roasting in the oven for about an hour. The chicken I made was twice as juicy as the chicken from the supermarket -- why? Because my chicken wasn't be tortured sitting under the horrible heat lights drying out.  

Last night I fixed my boyfriend a luscious  chicken feast.  I made Chicken Baked with Honey and Soy Sauce. The recipe called for a 3 lb chicken but I had bought a roaster because it was on sale and doubled the cooking times. Here is my tasty bird. It has to be just as good as Bree Van de Kamp's from Desperate Housewives.

The lovely recipe I followed was in Jeff Smith's cookbook The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines China Greece Rome. 

And if I am going to mention a recipe I am definitely suppling the recipe for you to enjoy. It is on page 232 of the book.

 And even though this ice cream is not Chinese, what better to finish off with dessert than Haagan Daaz Banana Split ice cream.

This ice cream is so mouth watering.

Their are real cherries in the ice cream, and the hot fudge really gives it that extra flavor. Why make a banana split when you can buy one? But then, I almost love ice cream as much as I enjoy tea. My favorite tea is Tazo Awake.

I would love to hear about recipes my readers think I should try along with other foods that you love.  I love to get in the kitchen and make something scrumptious.  Hope to hear form you soon.

Cassandra

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at the Ivoryton Playhouse

This image is courtesy of the Ivoryton Playhouse on Facebook.

Tonight is opening night for the play Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at the Ivoryton Playhouse.  If you love such oldies as  Peggy Sue, That'll be the Day, Rave On, Chantilly Lace and Johnny B Goode you will be dancing in the aisles when you leave this show.  It traces the last three years of Buddy Holly's life up until his last concert. The play is both interactive and fun.

This show last I heard was sold out before it opened. It is running from July 7th to August 1. Both Saturday, July 10th and Sunday, July 11th are sold out. Saturday, July 17th was almost sold out last I heard and for all I know could be sold out even now.

This show is a local show and was directed by Jacqueline Hubbard.  Gregg Hammer makes his Ivoryton debut as Buddy Holly. Robert W. Schultz Jr  is the Big Bopper, and if you loved him in The Full Monty (which was performed last year at the playhouse in which he played the character Dave) you will love his antics as the Bopper.

Image courtesy of The Ivoryton Playhouse.

All the performers are outstanding, they have lots of energy and they definitely project it to the audience.  I wasn't kidding about dancing in the aisles either, this show is as great as going to see the musical Mamma Mia!. People go back time and time again to see that show, and this show rates just as high. This is a show worth seeing more than once. You can not miss purchasing a ticket to see this show, take my word for it.

Another thing, stay cool,
until next time,

Cassandra

Happy 4th of July

Here is a salad I made recently. It is Greek Pasta Salad with Feta and Chicken and it is a recipe by Robin Miller.
Here is the recipe for which I have also linked it to the Food Network where this recipe is posted. (Although this recipe came from the CD Kitchen).

GREEK PASTA SALAD WITH FETA AND CHICKEN RECIPE                                       Serves/Makes:   8

Submitted by: jlows

Ready in: 30-60 minutes   recipe difficulty 3/5 Difficulty:   3 (1=easiest :: hardest=5)

12 ounces ditalini or other pasta	1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth	salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil	1 pound cooked cubed chicken
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar	1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced	¼ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard	½ cup crumbled feta cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano

 Cook pasta according to package directions.

In a small bowl, whisk together broth, oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Add diced chicken, green pepper, and mint.

Drain pasta and add to bowl with dressing and chicken. Toss to combine. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until ready to serve. Top with feta cheese just before serving.

My boyfriend loved this recipe but he wanted the feta to be in the salad. The fresh mint, although wonderful did not last very long sliced.  The pasta I used was hard to eat with the other items in the salad.

I made this salad once again but made a few changes that gave this salad a absolutely wonderful flavor. 

1. I used elbow macaroni because it is easy to eat in a macaroni salad with other items (That is what my mother uses) for which I also used 16 oz instead of 12 oz.

2. I added sun dried tomatoes with their liquid which I chopped up a little smaller which about to about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup

3. I added dried parsley to the recipe and I negated the mint

4. I made twice as much dressing to keep the salad moist

5. I added container of herbed crumbled feta to the pasta salad at the very beginning.

Here is what it looked like...

It had more color, flavor and taste. It was a great hit at the 4th of July party too.

Stay cool on these hot days coming this week and Happy Independence Day!

Cassandra