Cranberry-Pear Chicken

I made one of my favorite chicken dishes last night, one I like so much that I am confident enough to share with you. I even took pictures while I made it. (I'm a wanna-be.) And I looked up the word fond (the browned and caramelized bits of meat stuck to the bottom of a skillet after cooking a piece of meat) so I could use it correctly. What is it they say about the best-laid plans? Mine went a little awry, but dinner still made it to the table.

Cranberry-Pear Chicken
2 tsp canola oil
¾ lb. chicken breast, boneless, skinless - cut in
1-inch cubes
1 ½ tsp all-purpose flour
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp salt

3 green onions, chopped
1 pear, peeled, cored, and chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries
¾ cup pear nectar
2 tsp coarse multi-grain mustard I'm not a huge mustard fan - I just used 1 tsp

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Toss with flour and sauté in 1 tsp oil for five minutes, turning once to brown all sides. Remove from pan.

At this point your pan has a beautiful fond. This is the best part. It makes the dish. Don't burn it.

Add additional teaspoon of oil; sauté chopped green onion and pear for three minutes to brown the pears.

It smells so good right now!

Add the cranberries, pear nectar, and mustard; simmer, uncovered for 3 minutes.

This is the part where you deglaze that wonderful fond from the pan with the pear nectar. I used a little chicken broth too, because I like it saucy. Imagine my horror when I turned from getting the mustard out of the cupboard and saw/smelled my precious fond blackened and burnt. I guess I took too long hunting for the mustard. I guess I had the heat a little too high. I guess I am not the cook I wish I was. I know it was not the end of the world, but it upset me. I had to transfer the pears and onions minus the fond to a nonstick skillet. I added a little more chicken broth and pear nectar and hoped for the best.

Add the reserved chicken and simmer for one minute to glaze the chicken.

Maybe all is not lost.

Garnish with green onions and... 

Serve immediately.

with brown rice, Mmmm!

So, it turned out OK. It was delicious actually. The real question is, did the girls eat it? They asked for 2nds - of broccoli. They did eat the chicken after picking off all those pesky green & red things. They must think I'm insane for messing up perfectly good plain chicken with fruit and vegetables and sauce. That won't stop me from making it again though. I hope you like it too. Good luck with the fond!

Reading

The other night Gwen pulled out a stack of books at bedtime and instead of asking me to read them all to her, sat down and read them to her little sister. I love watching my girls learn to read. It is fascinating. I love the independence and discovery that comes as the letters on the page become words and the words become stories. I have loved watching Bethany read to Gwen, becuase it is such a sweet little act of kindness & because then I don't have to put down my book! Now, Gwen is reading to Cate. It fills my heart with love and gratitude for my little readers. I am excited for them to see worlds open up through books. I anticipate with joy the discussions we'll have about my favorites and the books that they'll introduce me to. The ability to read is a blessing of infinite worth and opportunity. I love seeing it sprout and grow in my children.

That night, her stack included:

Trashy Town

The Napping House

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

I don't think she finished Sylvester, but she read the rest of them. (Sylvester is a great book by the way, very silly & sweet, all of William Steig's books are.) I have a low tolerance for bad children's book and I'll vouch for that list. Each one will hold up to multiple readings without making you want to stick a fork in your eye. Other picture books that make the cut:

Zen Shorts

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean

The Witch's Broom

Fanny's Dream

The Waterfall

Where the Wild Things Are

Olivia

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

What are your favorites?

Recipes

I made chowder last night with a leftover ham that's been in the deep-freeze since Christmas. I got the recipe from Jena & Dedo. It was delish. Each one of my daughters' liked it which was a pleasant suprise because soup is not the little Lowe girls' favorite food. There are too many ingredients to worry about, too many spices, everything's all mixed together & there's no way to divide the vegetables from each other & leave off the sauce. 

Plus also, this wasn't just soup, it was chowder, so not only is everything all mixed together, but you can't even see everything that you're about to eat! They ate it though. The biggest suprise was Gwen. Gwen loved it. That is huge. She is our pickiest eater and will go days without food before tasting something she doesn't think she'll like. We've tried everything (bribes, shame, physical force) and now we're back to this is what we're having, if you're hungry, you'll eat it. The girls set the table while Matthew raved about how good the soup smelled and how much everyone was going to like it. I was trying to be optimistic, but suspected that Gwen would go to bed hungry, preferring to wait until she could have a bowl of Shredded Wheat for breakfast. I told her that this soup only had things she liked in it: potatoes, ham, corn, carrots, onions - wait, I didn't tell her about the onions, we don't talk about the onions, everyone knows they're there, but there's no need to bring them up in front of the children. I sat down determined to enjoy my bowl no matter what faces the girls made about the hot dinner sitting before them that I had slaved for hours in the kitchen to make. The faces never came. The comment about this not being their favorite never came (after hurting my & their grandparents' feelings one too many times, they are not allowed to say they don't like something at the table). The I'm not hungry statement never came. They ate it all up, thick broth, spices, onions, and all! Gwen actually finished her bowl. You only have to glance at her little bird-legs to tell that that is a rare occurence.

I have been on a high ever since, feeling like a success as a mother & all that. I'm enjoying it now, because it will only last a few more hours, then I'll have to make dinner again & start all over.

After lunch today, I made the girls peanut-butter balls. I'm not sure why I'm admitting making such a thing on a semi-public forum, but maybe I have a niece or nephew out there that will appreciate the things. (Not a Fowler niece or nephew, your mom will feel nauseas just reading this.) Peanut-butter balls (& the next person to make them, please help me come up something else to call them) are a mixture of powdered sugar & peanut butter. That's it. Roll them into balls, roll them in a little powdered sugar and feel good about giving your kids a healthy snack. Except that they're not all that healthy. It's a great way to get them to eat peanut butter though! As if it's hard to get kids to eat peanut butter in the first place. Basically, they're something sweet when you don't have the time or energy to make cookies and you've already raided your marshmallow & chocolate chip stash.

That reminds me of a recipe Matthew & I discovered years ago... 

Have a hard time getting your kids to eat hot dogs and Ramen noodles? Try this!

Although I have not yet and never will make the Octopus and Seaweed Special, I've been on a roll in the kitchen and can't wait to try a recipe Jamie gave me for dinner tonight. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, here's last night's success story:

Cheesy Vegetable & Ham Chowder

2 c. water

2 c. chopped potato

1/2 c. chopped carrot

1/2 c. chopped celery

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. flour

2 c. milk

2 1/2 c. shredded cheese

15 oz. can cream style corn

1/4 t. black pepper

2 c. cubed/cooked ham 

In a large saucepan combine water, potato, and carrot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer covered for ten minutes. DO NOT DRAIN. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour and 1/4 t. black pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Add cheese to milk mixture cook and stir until cheese melts. Add cheese mixture to potato mixture. Stir in corn and ham. Heat through but do not boil. If desired, season with additional pepper.

(I simmered the ham bone in water, strained it out, & then boiled potatoes & carrots in the ham-water. Oh, & I added onions of course! I sauteed them with the butter before adding the flour & milk.)

Bike Ride

Today was a beautiful day for a bike ride. We went to Zion and rode along the Virgin River on the Pa'rus trail.

Gwen really is too big for the trailer, but Bethany's bike had a flat tire, so she rode the trail-a-bike & Gwen & Cate got pulled. It was nice to have all three girls attached to our two bikes though; it made crowd control much easier.

Of course, we couldn't just enjoy the sunshine & nature without me trying to hold a photo-shoot. With my new shake resistant, water-proof camera & recent discovery of Picasa's photo collages, I am unstoppable.

Story Time

Catherine, reading to her class of stuffed animals:

"Please can we do something Mom?" said the kids.

The mom said "No."

"Puh-lease!"

"No."

"Please Mom, can we get a horsey?"

The mom said yes!

"No!" said the dad.

Ouch, mean parents. I wonder where she gets the inspiration for her stories...

Traditions

Christmas was wonderful of course. It was so fun to see everybody. Let me recap the holiday with a list of family traditions (new and old) that were carried on in 2008.

Christmas Eve Pot-your-luck

Daughters, niece & nephew acting out the Christmas story & Dad reading Luke 2.

Christmas Eve jammies - thanks Mom!

Sausage

Hygiene Kits the day after Christmas

Rappelling

New Year's Eve Pot Luck

New Year's Eve Ball (Save the Last Dance for Me, Michael Buble)

Tea Party with Grandma Barton

Cross-country skiing up north

I cry the day...