Food Talk--Chicken Parmesan and Togetherness

Inspired by Ward's sister, Ward and I are tying to be more conscious about ETHOOLing. One way we want to do this is to spend more time together. We've come up with several different things we want to do and one of them is cooking. To begin with, we decided that we will cook together at least one meal every week and hopefully turn cooking from a chore into a fun time.

To start the process, I brought an interesting cookbook home from the library, Sheet Pan Suppers by Molly Gilbert. The book basically puts together meals that are baked on a sheet pan. Ward picked out the first dish from there that we were going to make--Chicken Parmesan. As luck would have it, Theo was visiting for the afternoon and joined us.

After reading through the ingredients and instructions, we all went to the kitchen to start the fun. Ward set to work preparing the chicken and Theo began preparing the dipping and dregging mixtures for it. I pitched in here and there where needed. When we were about done coating the chicken, Theo had an idea. He said that we should put the left over coatings on some of the zucchini in the fridge and it would be like Eggplant Parmesan. Great idea, especially coming from one of the carnivores. And before you knew it, we were sitting down to a hearty meal of chicken and zucchini parmesan served with steamed broccoli and a salad.

So how did it all turn out? The food was very good--especially the Zucchini Parmesan. Something to remember as we are about to enter the overflowing zucchini season. We worked well together and enjoyed eating together when it was all done.

Were we able to turn a chore into something fun? Well, we're not quite there yet, but we were able to make a chore more pleasant. Also, Ward and I and Theo got to spend time together. That part was great. And when it really gets down to it, we can't ask for anything more.

Food talk--strawberries

One of the great things about this time of year is getting fresh produce from local gardens (or out of the backyard). And we had another one of those treats a few days ago. Aunt Martha and Uncle Billy invited me over to pick the last of the berries from their strawberry patch. So early one morning before the thermometer climbed into the 90's, I went. Aunt Martha and I picked a quart or so of the remaining strawberries not counting the ones we ate or fed to the dog while picking. They were delicious--sweet, juicy, and gently warmed by the sun. I usually think of eating strawberries cold, but the ones off the vine that morning were perfect. We have now finished the strawberries and I'm a little sad. But the blueberries will be here soon enough.

Aunt Martha was already picking when I got there. Dog was eagerly awaiting anything that might be tossed outside the fence for him. BTW, after a few years, the fence is still keeping the deer out even though they could jump over it if they wanted.

The end-of-the-season strawberries were small, but sweeter than ever.

Even though there weren't that many, my fingers are still stained from cleaning these.

Besides eating them by the handful, we enjoyed the strawberries on our cereal every morning.