Chicken soup. But not on purpose.

Monday, my parents invited the kids and me over for dinner.  They do this every once in a while when my husband is traveling to help me out and give me a little break in the meal and night-night departments, and I appreciate it.  I especially appreciate it when the invitation is prefaced with, "We're trying a new recipe..."  

You know how I love eating at Chez Sweeny.  My parents are very good cooks - especially my dad. Monday I was sent into anticipatory mode.  My dad had started brining the chicken at 9am, and it was going into a one-pot recipe with sweet potatoes and cream by Jamie Oliver.  

When the chicken was supposed to be done (and was still pale in the pan and medium rare), the sauce was separated and soupy.  We added 10 minutes an turned the oven up 15 degrees to get it up to temp and get at least a hint of brown on the skin.  

This is not the sauce you are looking for.
It has no resemblance to this.
PS there's no asparagus in the recipe - what is that in your picture, Parade?

The first step is admitting you need help.  Call me.

It left us all wondering if anyone actually tested this recipe, or if they just trusted a well known chef at his word that it would work.  I'm going with the latter, as there is no description of how big these breasts are supposed to be, it took 55 minutes, there's nothing green in it like the picture suggests, and the sauce did nothing but separate.  Needless to say, I'll be doing further study on how to actually cook this meal - the components tasted good, but who could even attempt to eat that sauce?

Parade Magazine: I am an experienced Home Kitchen Tester for magazine recipes. Let's talk. 

Oopsie-doodle!

You may have seen last night's post about grilled chocolate sandwiches that started with me dropping an egg in my fridge.  You may also have heard on Twitter about my dumping an entire box of spaghetti on the floor.  Well.  Although these incidents were embarrassingly close together, they were not the first, nor will not be the last time I #fail in the kitchen. 

I am reminded of this summer when I wanted to see what a delicious spaghetti squash would taste like on the grill.  I grilled half and microwaved the other half to compare the nuttiness of their flavors and the stringy goodness of their textures.

Yeah, Virginia, that's not a Spaghetti Squash.  That's a Canary Melon.

THAT'S a Spaghetti Squash.

You nut.