My Own Rotisserie Chicken Salad

I am finally feeling like my old self again.  I have just arrived at 15 weeks and am amazed at the abundance of energy that has suddenly returned.  I have not taken a lunch-break nap in over a week!  The nausea occasionally creeps in at night but it's only when I stuff my face at supper.  I am enjoying eating everything so unfortunately over-consumption is a nightly occurance.  I really need to exercise some self-control...

During the first trimester, Mama had to take over the blog as cooking and reading recipes literally made me gag.  At one point, I felt guilty that we were eating out every night and decided I would try to prepare an Asian dish.  My throat is tightening as I type.  I cannot speak any more of it but will admit that I am not sure I'll be able to eat Chinese or anything Asian for that matter for a very long time!  And it was weeks of take-out until I was able to move past it.

This week I had my first craving for chicken salad and weirdly enough, I wanted my own chicken salad.  I thought that was too strange how I was craving one of the few recipes I actually "created" on my own.  Nothing would do on Tuesday evening except go to Publix and buy groceries for "Marie's Rotisserie Chicken Salad."  I stayed up late making it and enjoyed the best late-night snack I've had in a while.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Marie's Rotisserie Chicken Salad

• 2 lb Rotisserie chicken, original or savory flavor
• 1 cup red grapes, chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup sweet onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup sweet pickle relish
• 1/2 cup + 1-2 heaping Tbsp mayonnaise*

Remove skin from chicken and pull all meat from bone (I use both white and dark meat.).  Use food processor to chop chicken to a fine consistency.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and combine.  (Add more mayonnaise if you prefer a moister salad.)  Serve on sweet Hawaiian rolls or use Wheat Thins for dipping.  Serves approx 8.
*I often use reduced-fat mayonnaise to make the salad a little lighter.  Also, if you're from the South, you know Duke's mayo is the best :)

Enjoy!
     
      Marie

Paula Deen's Copper Pennies and a Southern Living Cheesecake

I have no idea how this dish got named "Copper Pennies".  The only reason I can think of is the carrots resemble pennies. I have no idea about that but I am certain of its deliciousness. And it ranks high on our family's list of top salad items.  I made these "pennies" on Mother's Day this year and they were a hit, especially with Brandon's family. So, a few months back, Brandon's Momaw asked that I make them for Thanksgiving lunch.  I was glad to have a reason to make them again.  They seem to go along with any meal and taste even better after they have sat in the refrigerator for a few days. I prepared the "pennies" on Saturday before Thanksgiving. I simply covered them tightly with plastic wrap and didn't open them back up until the following Thursday afternoon. Okay, that's a lie. I dipped out a small amount to go with my lunch on Tuesday (and if I remember correctly, I may have had a little more on Wednesday, too...oops!).  Anyway, Paula Deen says that they can be stored in the refrigerator for up to six weeks. So there you go, it's a make-ahead type of dish, which adds another reason to try them.

Copper Pennies
Paula Deen

1 cup sugar
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 (10 3/4 oz) can tomato soup
2 pounds carrots, peeled, cooked, and sliced
1 medium onion, sliced into rings
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped

Combine the sugar, vinegar, oil, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the soup. Mix the carrots, onion, and bell pepper together in a large glass dish; pour the sauce over the vegetables, stir gently to combine, and refrigerate overnight. This salad will keep for up to 6 weeks in the refrigerator.

In the words of Paula Deen, "Best dishes, y'all!"


Also, I wanted to share the dessert recipe I made for Thanksgiving. WOW! It was a Pumpkin-Pecan Cheesecake with praline topping that was featured on the cover of November's Southern Living issue. I was very proud of myself after it was completed so I took a picture and posted on Facebook. I received many compliments on it's apparence and several friends mentioned that they wondered if it would taste as good as it looked...

Well, I am here to tell ya that not only did it taste as good as it looked but it was five times better! The praline topping was by far the best part. Check out the recipe Here.

Enjoy,

Marie

A Dish a Day: Eloise Parker's Cranberry Salad

It may be a ladies luncheon, a Sunday-after-church dinner, or a special celebration/holiday meal. Whatever the occasion, no self-respecting Southern hostess calls her family and friends to the table without a congealed salad on the menu. Few things are more quintessentially Southern than a "Jello salad." They can be any of a thousand different flavors and colors and be molded into any shape.
I love congealed salads. I EXPECT to have a congealed salad and feel oddly unsatisfied if one is not offered.

In honor of the upcoming holiday, today's salad offering is, tah dah! cranberry, of course. You may all ready be planning to have something cranberry. Who cares? I, the person who could eat an entire can of cranberry sauce by myself, does not care. Other flavors are going on here, so relax and enjoy them.

This recipe is Eloise Parker's, better known to us as "Miss Weezie." She and her husband, Papa Jim, were best friends of my in-laws.  Our families had many good times together around the table sharing great food. She gave me many recipes I have used over and again. I remember an occassion when she served this particular salad along with a very good chicken casserole. It was a dinner party given 36 years ago in honor of myself and hubby shortly before we married. I don't remember who was there but I remember what we ate!

Eloise Parker's Cranberry Salad
6 oz (or 2 , 3oz boxes) any red Jello (strawberry, cherry, or raspberry)
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 can whole cranberry sauce
1 large can crushed pineapple, drained and juice reserved
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped pecans
 Dissolve Jello in 2 cups boiling water. Place one tablespoon water in a small bowl and sprinkle unflavored gelatin over it to soften the gelatin then add it to the Jello. Add water to reserved pineapple juice to make 1 & 1/2 cups. Mix into Jello mixture and pour into desired dish or mold.

Topping: Mix together: 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 & 1/2 tablespoonfuls honey, and poppy seeds to taste. Spoon over salad servings.

Nan's notes: I didn't know what I would do with half a can of cranberry sauce except eat it so I used the whole can in the salad with no effect on the finished product. For this entry I used strawberry Jello because that is what I all ready had.

Happy cooking!
Nan

Of Projects and Passions

Gosh, I have been so busy lately! I have been involved with a couple of painting projects for friends. One project is complete, the other one, almost. It happens to be a mural on the outside wall of a garage and I am racing to stay ahead of the cold weather.

I did take a day off Friday from painting and went to "Christmas Made in the South" in  Augusta, GA with Marie. This is a large craft, gift, Christmas-themed type festival. We had a good time looking around and purchased a few Christmas gifts. But can you guess what we were always immediately drawn to? That's right...the food items! All of them had samples, of course, which we partaked of. One of the best things we tasted was Red Velvet fudge. The gentleman in the booth said it was his own creation and it tasted just like Red Velvet cake! Marie could not pass that up. I purchased hot drink mixes and pie and dip mixes from a huge variety of flavors and choices. After test tasting, we were almost too full to eat lunch. But we did anyway!

After lunch, we shopped a little before meeting John and Pat Curry for a tour of their business, Buona Caffe. Marie had purchased the tour on livingsocial and neither one of us had any idea what it would be about but it sounded like fun.

Buona Caffe is a husband and wife team who are artisan coffee roasters. Their operation is small by most standards but has seen considerable growth since they started in 2009. John showed us huge bags of coffee beans he had purchased from around the world...Sumatra, Brazil, Haiti, and Indonesia. He turned on the commercial roaster to heat to 400F then poured in about 8 lbs of beans. It takes 11 to 14 minutes to roast them. Then, they are misted with water and allowed to cool before they are ground. John showed us a couple of different ways to brew the coffee, one of which used a french press. (I told Marie to get one for me for Christmas!)
John says that your coffee will only be as good as the water you use to make it so always use filtered water. He and Pat are so passionate about it they donate 50 cents from every 12oz bag of coffee they sell to a program that helps provide safe drinking water to children around the world. Indeed, we enjoyed a couple of truly delicious cups of coffee with two very interesting people.
Marie and I came away a greater appreciation for the process of roasting coffee and bags of Buona Caffe's own unique blend.

You can find out more about Buona Caffe at www.buonacaffe.com. You can purchase coffee from their website and they do gift baskets. Also, check out the restaurants that serve their coffees. Some of them have their own special blend meaning it will be unique to their establishment. Oh, and they do blends for fund raisers. The Augusta Symphony sells a blend done especially for them to raise money.
I think I have caught you up so time to get down to business with the recipe I have today. One is from a cook book done by Wadley Baptist Church which has some fine cooks among its membership. The recipe for Ranch Pasta and Potato Salad was submitted by Willoise Brett, a great cook and a dear friend. Love you, "Miss Willi!"

Ranch Pasta and Potato Salad
  From "Taste and See that the Lord Is Good" Wadley Baptist Church.....Willoise Brett

6 small new red potatoes
6 oz rainbow spiral rotini pasta
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup sliced green onion
8 slices bacon
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Ranch salad dressing
 Cut unpeeled potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. In 4-qt saucepan bring 10 cups water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add potatoes and cook 3 minutes. Add rotini pasta and return to a boil. Cook potatoes and pasta an additional 10-12 minutes or until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool. Drain well. In large bowl combine cooked potatoes, pasta, bell pepper, and onions. Fry bacon until crisp and drain on paper towels. Break into 1/2 inch pieces. Sprinkle over salad when ready to serve. In a small bowl combine mayonnaise and Ranch dressing, blending well.  Add to salad, tossing to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour or until serving time.

*Nan's notes...I really like to make up the packaged dry Ranch dressing and use it in this recipe. It seems to have less of a preservative taste than the bottled dressing.

Happy cooking!
 
Nan

Pizza Pasta Salad

Ahhhhhhh, the cooler days of autumn. What is it about the mild weather, bright blue skies, and turning leaves that would make a very UNsports NONfan like me think of football? Okay, I did my duty when the kids were in school and Marie was a cheerleader. I never missed a game. And I have never tailgated but it sounds like such fun!

Today I am sharing a pasta salad recipe that I think would be perfect for tailgating. That is, if I was of a mind to do it. The salad can be made in about 30 minutes. And because you make it ahead of time, it's ready to pack up and take along. Or you can serve it to your favorite football fans/couch potatoes.

This recipe was in one of the very first "Taste of Home" magazines to come out years ago. It makes a big bowl and I've rarely taken it anywhere that I didn't get requests for the recipe. I think it can be easily halved if you don't need that much salad.

This, friends, is "spiral" macaroni. Wonder how it got its name? Hey, wouldn't it be pretty to use tri-color spiral macaroni instead of the white? Go for it!

Now, isn't this pretty and colorful? Tasty, too.

Here it is all put together.Yummm! I'm going to divy up this salad into plastic containers and take it to the ladies at work. It will make their day!


Pizza Pasta Salad
1 pound spiral macaroni, cooked and drained
1 container grape tomatoes
16 oz. cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
3 or 4 green onions, sliced
3 ounces sliced pepperoni (I cut the slices in half because I don't like such large pieces of pepperoni, but, guess what? Hormel now has pepperoni in tiny slices! Cute and the perfect size!)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (the kind you find in the cheese section of the dairy. NOT the kind in the shaker can)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
In a large bowl comine macaroni, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, green onions, and pepperoni. In a small bowl combine oil, Parmesan cheese, vinegar, and seasonings. Pour over macaroni mixture; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Yield: 16 servings

Happy cooking,
Nan