Home again...again

So after returning from Disney World, I did the laundry from that trip and packed up and headed off to New York for the weekend. Hey, it's school vacation...and after all, who knows how much longer I'll have to do the occasional footloose and fancy-free weekend in New York?

I stayed with friends. The weekend plans with them included staying up playing games until an ungodly hour and brunch (where I had French toast with strawberries and chocolate chips, I might add) for a friend who's leaving New York to move to Minneapolis.

My weekend also included meeting some other friends for the very first time, though I've known them for quite a while now. The former brought some wonderful homemade rosemary grissini, crisp pencil-thin breadsticks, all the way from California; we munched on them as we walked to breakfast.

After eating some decadent challah French toast at the Carnegie Deli, we gallivanted about Central Park for most of the day. We made time for a mid-afternoon stop at the Buttercup Bake Shop, for Red Velvet and Devil Dog cupcakes.

The evening found us headed to Brooklyn, where we met up with another friend - the one responsible for any of us knowing each other in the first place - and had a fantastic dinner at D.O.C. Wine Bar; I highly recommend it, should you find yourself in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Along with a lovely red wine, we shared a bowl of mixed olives, some delicious paper-thin crisp flatbread, a selection of meats and cheeses, and a "pistokku" - a sort of flatbread pizza. Dinner was followed by some beverages at a couple of establishments, including this one.

Lots of fun. Thanks, you guys.

Home again...

If you've wondered about my absence, I've been in the Land of the Mouse - also known as Walt Disney World - for the past week. It was a lot of fun, and I managed to eat some good food into the bargain. Reviews coming soon.

Moo Goo Gai Pan and Molasses Spice Cookies

If ever I write a post that gets me hauled off to the funny farm, this one might be it.

My dad's been talking to me recently. This might not seem like such an odd thing, except for the fact my dad passed away when I was fourteen. Now, I frequently have conversations with my (also passed on) Gramma Bonnie, particularly when I'm getting ready for a big family dinner or hanging wash out to dry in the sunshine, but Dad's always been pretty quiet.

I was listening to the radio the other morning, and an ad came on. I don't remember what they were trying to sell, which means it wasn't a very effective commercial. However, they mentioned Moo Goo Gai Pan, which made me start giggling like a four-year-old. When I was little, whenever we ordered Chinese food my dad would suggest that we get Moo Goo Gai Pan. They were irresistibly silly syllables, and always had the intended effect of making me laugh. (We never did order it.)

A day or two later, I heard the commercial again. Then a song started playing, which very nearly made me pull over to the side of the road. It was Paul Simon's "Father and Daughter," which is the song I would have loved to use as a father-daughter dance on my wedding day. The chorus is:

I'm gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Who loved his daughter more than I love you

I may be completely nuts, but I think my dad's excited that his first grandchild is on his or her way (see my other blog), and has been trying to let me know.

I'm going to post the recipe for my dad's favorite cookies, so stay tuned...but right now I need to take a little break. I think I've got something in my eye.

Sure is quiet 'round here

It's not really quiet around here. I've been pretty busy, which is why the blog's been a little quiet. Vacation planning, adoption planning, knitting Christmas stockings and finishing our wedding scrapbook have been eating up some of my spare time, of late.

Excuses aside, I made a really easy, quick dinner tonight. I don't tend to rely on recipes that are based on pre-packaged ingredients, but Chuck declared this chicken to be "quite possibly the best" I've ever made, so I think I'd better record it here for posterity. I'm also going to include my favorite side dish, rice and noodles, which I made to go alongside the rice. I rounded it out with some broccoli, steamed with a little garlic...yum.

Italian Marinated Chicken
1 envelope Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup oil
boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat

Pound chicken breasts, if necessary, so that they are of a uniform thickness.
In a heavy-duty (freezer) zippered plastic bag, combine dressing mix, vinegar, and oil; zip bag and shake to combine. Add chicken. Marinate at least 2-3 hours. (I put mine in before I left for work and let it marinate all day.)
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
Arrange chicken in baking dish; add a bit of marinade to the dish as well. Bake for 25-35 minutes, depending on thickness of chicken.


Rice and Noodles
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 generous handful fine egg noodles
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup rice

Over medium-high heat, melt butter in saucepan until foaming. Add chopped onion and cook until fragrant, 3-5 minutes. Add noodles, crushing a bit as you add them, and brown with onions. When noodles are golden-brown, pour in chicken broth. Raise heat to high, and bring broth to a boil. Stir in rice, turn down heat, and cover. Simmer until all liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.

You can serve this as a main dish, if you add some veggies and some chopped chicken, pork or beef.