Garlic Chicken on the Grill

Barbecue are one of the time-honored traditions of the summer season. Getting together with friends and family to relax outdoors and enjoy freshly grilled food with delightfully cool beverages, falls somewhere just short of paradise. With all the local warm weather as of late, I felt it time to shovel out the small path to the grill and formally fire up barbecue season. For this weeks I went with Chicken breasts grilled with a marinade of lemon or lime juice, garlic, and chili powder, along with oregano.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup purchased salsa or picante sauce
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf oregano, crumbled
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Preparation:

Flatten chicken breasts; place each chicken breast between sheets or plastic wrap or food storage bags and pound gently with flat side of meat mallet until about 1/4-inch thick.

Cut each flattened chicken breast into strips about 1-inch in width. Place chicken strips in a glass baking dish or nonreactive shallow container.

Combine remaining ingredients: pour over chicken until just covered, reserve the remaining for basting to avoid cross contamination. Cover and chill chicken in marinade for 1 to 2 hours.

Thread chicken onto metal skewers or well-soaked wooden skewers. Grill over hot coals for 6 to 8 minutes, turning a few times and basting with remaining marinade. Serve with additional salsa, if desired.

PB & J Blossom Sandwiches

As any parent will tell you meal times can be a point of stress among a family. When kids are younger finding things they will eat is a chore, and as the grow older simple getting time to squeeze a meal into there busy life is the challenge. For myself my two beautiful daughters seldom agree on a meal. However I find success very often when I combine the simple and add a dash of fancy. Flowers is the shape of choice with my daughters however this works well with nearly and Theme; space and Halloween are two such examples. But for two little girls nothing beats a Sunday afternoon fancy tea party with facny sandwiches.

These cute sandwiches made with peanut butter and jelly (or cream cheese and jelly, or any other fillings) are perfect for parties, lunch boxes, or snacks.

Ingredients

• Bread
• Peanut butter or cream cheese

• Jelly or jam
• Water bottle cap

Instructions

1. For each sandwich, cut two slices of bread into flower shapes with a cookie cutter.

2. Cut a hole in one of the slices by pressing a water bottle cap into the center.

3. Spread the peanut butter and jelly on the whole piece and place the slice with the hole on top.

Braised Rabbit with Grainy Mustard Sauce

Wow! This recipe is absolutely fantastic as is, but I halved the recipe (only one rabbit) but used the full amount of garlic. I didn't thicken the sauce, just reduced the sauce. Just delicious. I served it with red potatoes, roasted tomatoes and braised fennel (saute fennel in butter until it's golden, add white wine and simmer until the fennel is tender. Add a bit of cream or half and half).

yield: Makes 8 servings

active time: 50 min

total time: 2 1/2 hr

• 2 (3-pound) rabbits*, each cut into 6 serving pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (14 fluid ounces
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups)
• 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
• 2 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup whole-grain mustard
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cold water

Preparation

Rinse rabbit pieces and remove any fat, then pat dry and divide into 3 batches. Mix together salt and pepper in a small bowl for seasoning rabbit.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Heat a dry 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot. Season first batch of rabbit, then add 3 tablespoons oil to skillet and brown rabbit on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer browned rabbit to a flameproof roasting pan just large enough to hold all 3 batches in 1 layer. Season and brown remaining 2 batches of rabbit in same manner, transferring to roasting pan and adding more oil to skillet between batches if necessary. Reserve skillet.

Add broth to roasting pan, then cover pan tightly with foil and braise rabbit in oven 15 minutes.

While rabbit is braising, pour off any fat from skillet, then add onions, garlic, thyme, and 3 tablespoons butter and cook over moderately low heat, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add wine and boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes.

Pour mixture over rabbit and continue to braise, covered tightly, until rabbit is tender when pierced with a fork, 45 minutes to 1 hour more. Transfer rabbit to an ovenproof serving dish and keep warm, covered loosely with foil, in turned-off oven.

Straddle roasting pan over 2 burners and boil braising liquid until reduced to about 3 1/4 cups, about 10 minutes. Transfer 1/2 cup reduced liquid to a bowl and whisk in mustards. Add mustard mixture to reduced liquid in pan, whisking to incorporate. Dissolve cornstarch in water and whisk into sauce, then simmer, whisking, 2 minutes. Add remaining 3 tablespoons butter to sauce and swirl pan until incorporated. Season sauce with salt and pepper and pour over rabbit.

Pot Luck Etiquette Advice

Organizing Your Potluck Party Although the term "potluck" suggests a random assortment of dishes, it's likely to turn out better when the host does a little bit of organizing. If you don't want to risk the chance that all of your guests will bring only desserts, begin by assigning your guests a specific course to bring along. Next, ask each guest to commit to a general category of food even if they're not prepared to tell you the exact recipe. After all, as much as I love brownies, five plates of brownies wouldn't give much variety to your potluck and there would be a lot of leftovers!

1. The host generally provides one of the main dishes, plates, silverware, napkins, and glasses.

2. If you are a guest, ask the host what to bring. The host may have food categories divided among the guests such as bread, salad, appetizer, main dish, side dish, dessert, and beverage.

3. Arrive on time. Do not inconvenience the other guests by making them wait for you and your dish to arrive.

4. Bring the appropriate serving utensil for your dish. The host may not have the utensil or have enough serving utensils for everyone's dish.

5. Unless you have an unusual serving dish and utensil, it is best to tape your name to both for easy identification. Have your name attached is helpful if you forget to take your dish home.

6. The dish should be ready to serve and kept at the appropriate temperature until placed on the table. If bringing hot food, keep it hot until it is placed on the table and bring a hot plate to protect the table surface. If bringing cold food, keep it cold until ready to serve.

7. When at the buffet line, only take a small portion of each item to taste. Part of the fun of a potluck is to sample everyone's dish.

8. Help the host with clean up. If everyone helps with clean up, it will get done in a fraction of the time with little effort on everyone's part.

9. If your dish has leftovers, then take them home unless you would like to offer it to the host. Do not take someone else's leftovers.

10. Show appreciation. Let everyone know how much you enjoyed their dish and thank them.

Grilled corn on the cob with a thyme & roasted red pepper

The smell fills the air around you and it just waters your mouth. You can enjoy it any way you want. But I would definitely recommend the butter, and salt. My daughter is so much into corn that it is hard to displease her when this is being roasted. Kids can help dehusk the corn. A sense of accomplishment comes from doing chores in the kitchen and picky eaters are more likely to eat the food they helped cook.

Yield: 8 servings
Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 15 min

Ingredients:
Unsalted butter, room temp: 1/2 cups
Roasted red peppers, dry & fine chopped: 2/3 cups
Large shallots, minced: 1
Sherry vinegar: 1 1/2 Tbsp
Fresh thyme leaves, chopped: 1 Tbsp
Kosher salt: 1 Tsp
Black pepper: 1/2 Tsp
Ears of corn, shucked: 8 pcs
Olive oil: 2 Tbsp

1. Put the butter, red peppers. shallots, vinegar, 2 tsp. of the thyme, 1 tsp. salt and pepper in a food processor and pulse until blended. Transfer to plastic wrap, roll tight and refrigerator up to 1 week.

2. Dehusk the corn and heat grill, brush the corn with olive oil, the remaining tsp of salt and a pinch of pepper.

3: Put ears on the grill, reduce heat to medium low cover and grill turning every couple minutes. until brown all over and tender; about 15 min. Transfer to a large platter, top with half the butter and remaining 1 tsp. thyme. Serve with remaining butter on the side.

10 Smart Breakfast Tips for Families

Breakfast time will be a snap with this smart advice that includes 10 tips for on-the-go families, breakfast-averting kids, and moms who can feed everyone but themselves. Enjoy!

1. Don’t have time for breakfast? Make it ahead so you can grab-and-go. Make a batch of muffins on the weekend, wrap them individually and freeze. Just take one out the night before to thaw by morning. Or spread some peanut butter on a whole wheat wrap, drizzle on some honey and a sprinkle of dried cherries, and wrap it up. Stash it in the fridge overnight and then eat it on your way out the door in the morning.
   
2. If you are never hungry for breakfast, it could be you are eating too much at night. Try eating a light dinner and have no more than some fruit as a snack in the evening. Chances are you will get up in the morning with a healthy appetite. You’ll be better off because you’ll be get energy early in the day when you really need it, and probably eat fewer, more nutrient-packed calories overall.
   
3. Skipping breakfast to save calories is like skipping homework to save brainpower. People who skip this morning meal tend to make up the calories and then some later in the day. Plus, eating breakfast has been tagged one of the key habits of people who have successfully lost weight and kept it off.
   
4. Who says you have to have breakfast food for breakfast? If your kids don’t like cereal, eggs, and such, give them their favorite mac-n-cheese leftover from last night's dinner, make them half a turkey sandwich, or try mini pizzas made with some pasta sauce and part-skim mozzarella atop a whole-wheat English muffin.
   
5. A bagel with cream cheese can run you close to 500 calories. Instead try a whole-wheat English muffin with some peanut butter. It is deliciously satisfying and only 320 calories.
   
6. Crave the smoky, meaty taste of bacon? Well, you can have it in a healthy way. Canadian bacon is actually lean ham that is smoked liked regular bacon and is perfect at breakfast time for a third of the calories and one fifth of the fat.
   
7. If your child just won’t sit down to breakfast in the morning, don’t force the issue. Instead, make a little snack bag with nuts, dried fruit, and their favorite whole-grain cereal. (Note: Dried fruit and nuts can be a choking hazard for kids younger than age 4.) Give it to them with a low-fat milk box to eat on the way to school.
   
8. Now it's easier than ever to grab a healthy breakfast on the road. I love that Starbucks now has delicious hot oatmeal to go, with yummy toppings like dried fruit, nuts, and brown sugar. Next time, grab that with your skim latte. Or look for similar healthy choices -- such as low-fat yogurt or a hard-boiled egg -- at your usual morning pit stop.
   
9. Turn your supermarket's cereal aisle into a treasure hunt for your kids. They’ll learn about nutrition and be well on their way to a healthier breakfast. Challenge them to find a cereal to buy that has less than 9 grams of sugar per serving and whole grain as the first ingredient. With smaller children who can't yet read, talk to them about different cereals, and why you won't buy one cereal but you will pick another choice.
10. Smoothies are like milk shakes, so kids love them. Always keep a variety of unsweetened frozen fruit on hand -- peaches, berries, cherries, mangoes -- so your kids can pick and choose. We whir it up with yogurt, milk, and a dash of honey for a smile-inspiring quick breakfast.

How to Make Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

This surprisingly simple recipe to make chocolate dipped strawberries has some expert tips to help you achieve the best possible results. Once the strawberries are coated with chocolate, you can decorate them with Valentine sprinkles or, once the first layer of chocolate is dry, you can drizzle the strawberries with a contrasting chocolate color. However you serve them, chocolate dipped strawberries are a perfect offering for any Valentine.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries Recipe
Ingredients:

1 pint of perfectly ripened strawberries with stems and leaves intact

about 4 ounces of chocolate chips - dark, white, milk or even chocolate mint flavors

microwavable bowl and microwave

cookie sheet covered in wax paper

optional: Valentine sprinkles, small candies, contrasting color of melted chocolate

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries:
Instructions

Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper and set aside.

Wash strawberries and pat dry, leaving stems and leaves intact. Strawberries should be completely dry before proceeding with the recipe.

Melt chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl, using the Defrost setting (or 10% power). Heat for 90 seconds, then stir; repeat until the chocolate has just melted and can be stirred smoothly. (Chocolate goes from melted to burned very quickly, so monitor the procedure and remove the chocolate from the microwave as soon as melting is complete.)

Hold a strawberry by the stem and leaves and dip it into the melted chocolate. Withdraw the strawberry and swirl it in a tight circle to spin off excess chocolate. If desired, shake sprinkles or small candies over the wet chocolate coating.

Place the chocolate dipped strawberry on the wax paper and set aside to dry. A cool room temperature is preferable for drying. Repeat with the remainder of the strawberries, reheating chocolate for a short time, if necessary, to keep the coating consistency.

If possible, dip and serve the strawberries on the same day. Once dry, you can place each strawberry in a small paper candy cup.