Cooking for Seven

Today for lunch I had a salad of organic baby greens and radicchio topped with cheddar cheese, pomegranate seeds, and honey french & blue cheese dressings. Absolutely delicious.

Recently I acquired a few things that make food photography a pleasure: A new tripod, a couple sheets of card stock (one black and one white), and white foam board. I’ve been having fun experimenting with them. The card stock I use as backdrops, and the foam board for a reflector.

Here I demonstrate different reflectors. All photos were taken with the exact same exposure settings. The only thing that’s different is the reflector used. All photos SOOC (straight out of camera).

1. No reflector | 2. White foam board | 3. Silver reflector | 4. Gold reflector

I ended up using #2 for the final shot.

Now for the Giveaway Winners!

Commenter #33: Michele, who said: “I baked whole wheat buttermilk biscuits!”

and

Commenter #158 garysgirl, who said: “The last thing I baked was some delicious bread.”

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the giveaway!

Please share what you had for lunch today in the comments!

I must admit that I used to avoid creamy salads. They were usually filled with marshmallows and candy bars. This seemed so wrong in a salad. Then, some good friends of ours introduced us to this delicious salad.

Continue Reading for the recipe » »

I was introduced to this salad by my cousin Krista.

She has graciously allowed me to publish it here.

Delicious Asian flavors are combined in this bright, healthful salad. Rice noodles are tossed with lettuce, vegetables, & chicken. Served with peanut sauce, fish sauce, and chopped peanuts. How could you go wrong?

Continue Reading for the recipe » »

We first tried this recipe about five years ago, for a tea party. It was a hit (at least among the female tasters), and it has been our chicken salad of choice ever since.

This recipe is creamy, yet not too greasy; rich, but balanced with fresh vegetables, sweet fruit, and toasted nuts.

It is excellent all on its own, but it makes a special little treat when served on buttered and toasted bread.

.

:: Waldorf Chicken Salad ::

Adapted from The New Best Recipe

Ingredients:

Chicken

• 2 large whole, bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (for the best taste) or boneless, skinless chicken breasts (for ease of preparation)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt

Salad

• 2 medium celery ribs, cut into small dice
• 2 medium scallions, white and green parts, minced
• 1 large crisp apple, cored and cut into medium dice
• 6 tablespoons chopped, toasted walnuts
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
• Salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

1) For the chicken: Heat the oven to 400 °F.  Put the breasts in a foil-lined lined baking sheet. Brush with the olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt to taste. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 160° F, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature. If using bone-in skin-on chicken breasts, remove the skin and bones and discard. Shred the meat.

2) For the Salad: Mix the shredded chicken and celery, scallions, apple, walnuts, mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, and parsley together in a large bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve. Can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 day.

Serves 6 as a main course

To make the sandwiches:

• Your favorite bread for toasting, cut into triangles.
• Butter
• Lettuce
• Waldorf Chicken Salad (see above for recipe)
• Chopped green onions, for garnish, optional

1) Toast the bread, either in a toaster or under a broiler. Spread with butter. Allow to cool slightly.

2) Place a piece of lettuce on each triangle. Carefully spoon a portion of chicken salad on top of each. Garnish with green onions. Serve immediately.

Note: The sandwiches can be covered and refrigerated for a short while. The longer they stand, the soggier the toast will become.

Last Friday us girls hosted a party for a few friends. It was so much fun to quickly throw a menu together. Join me for a look at our splendid little party.

Th

.

:: The Menu ::

Lunch

Appetizers:

Piped Deviled Eggs

Cheese and Crackers

Soup:

Creamy Onion Soup with Croutons

Sandwiches:

Chicken Salad Sandwiches on Toasted Bread

Salad:

Fruit Salad

Dessert

Vanilla Rice Pudding with Whipped Cream

Poppy Seed Cake with Orange Cream

~

.

Creamy Onion Soup, made by yours truly.

Janna made these delicious Chicken Salad Sandwiches, served on buttered, toasted bread.

Sister Amanda prepared these cute little deviled eggs. They were seasoned just right.

We decided to serve the fruit salad in tea cups. They looked so elegant.

We played a delightful little game. It is a Scandinavian tradition to place one almond in the rice pudding. Whoever finds the almond is promised to be the next to marry.

Breanna found the almond.

Amanda also made poppy seed cake. We served it with orange cream.

.

Are you hungry yet? I promise to give you at least a few of these recipes. For now, I must away and roll out tortillas for supper. How prosaic.

Would you like to see more photos of our party? Stop by my photo blog.

App