Roasted Chicken

There are about a million ways to roast a chicken. I looked. For my first chicken roasting attempt, I was dismayed to find the grocery store shopper picked out a monster, 6.5 lb. bird. Was it going to be raw? Was it going to overcook? I had no idea, but you gotta' start somewhere and apparently this beast would be my first roast chicken. I needed a base recipe and could improvise from there. I found a two step process that I will cherish. 

Step 1: Brine that bird.

I dry brined the bird. This means salting the hell out of the whole chicken, and seasoning with additional flavors. On the skin. Under the skin. In the cavity. Do not fear the seasoning. The bird's mighty girth made maneuvering a bit difficult, but I got the job done. Have it sit in the fridge between 24-72 hours. I did 48 hours. I did not truss the fatty, but this did not seem to be a problem.

• Link: Best Dry-Brined Roast Chicken from Simply Recipes

Step 2: Cook that bird.

The bird cooked at 350°F in a roast pan on the second from bottom rack (had to take one out). The regular heat method called for 20 minutes for each pound, plus an extra 15 minutes. My final cook time would be 2 hours and 25 minutes 😳. That seemed...excessive. I seriously thought I was going to pull a lump of coal out of the oven. I pulled it out and let it sit for about 20 minutes as I prepared the sides.

• Link: How to Roast Chicken: Tips and Techniques from one of my long-time favorites, Allrecipes.com

It was perfect. Juicy. Crispy skin, flavorful meat fell off the bone. I also learned I need some better kitchen shears, but the struggle was worth it. I really should have taken a picture, but it really didn't look that amazing. It appears looks can be deceiving. 

Air frying is great + cookbook recommendation

In my house, we like to use all kinds of gadgets in the kitchen, from little garlic mincer machines, to stuff like the Instant Pot and air fryer. I have had much more success with the latter.

Air frying is a great way to cook with much less oil. As with any new gadget, it takes a second to get used to and probably the biggest complaint about air fryers is that they are too small. As with any recipes, you'll have to think about how many you'll be cooking for and opt for the proper size air fryer.

Also, when getting an air fryer, I would recommend making sure the dial for the temperature can turned at 5 degree increments. Mine only does 25 degree increments, i.e. 300 to 325 to 350 degrees and requires adjusting times and stuff.

I found a book that was pretty great and gave me tons of ideas and temperature/time charts to work with: The Super Easy Air Fryer Cookbook by Brandi Crawford. I checked it out from the library and will immediately be adding it to my book birthday wish list to own.

Five stars ★★★★★ for both the book and the cooking method.

Year of Gratitude - Day 26 - Allrecipes.com

Cooking is one of my favorite things to do. I wish I could spend more time on meal planning and trying new things, but that's just not where I'm at. However, Allrecipes.com is easy to use and many of the recipes I've tried are either great as they are or leave wiggle room for creativity. The app for iPhone is pretty great as well, since that's usually what I'm looking at in the kitchen. 

Year of Gratitude - Day 4 - B*tches Brunch

The inspiration for starting my year of gratitude came from many places. One was a book called Life is Meals. It's a book of days for the foodie, but also the lover of history and knowledge. This book made me reflect on my book of (food) days and I fondly recalled my first B*tches Brunch. This brunch was created by a dear friend who wanted to invite her female friends over and start the new year off right by sharing intentions and letting go what doesn't serve you. We've done it for a few years now and it is cleansing each time.

Basically, it's about 10-12 ladies who get together at her house. Everyone brings a dish, from Bloody Mary fixin's to the annual spinach frittata. Then after our plates and glasses are full, we sit around and reflect on what we want to let go for the year and what we'd like to work on for the next. This has been such a great group to be a part of. Some of these ladies I see just a few times a year, but we have shared such deep conversations, such personal and intimate stories, that we are bound by the healing effects of friendship. This last year we instated No Britches B*tches Brunch, a mid-year, summertime regroup. Same idea, except it's in the summer and pants are optional.

Food, drink and friends - what more do you need?

For anyone that cares, my dish this year was a Corn Souffle with cream cheese. It was a hit and very easy to make. Next time, I'm totally adding green onion.

Gingerbread Haunted Houses

I think that this would be a fun project with kids. It'd also be a dentist's nightmare. Perfect Halloween Project. Plus, gingerbread is good no matter what holiday it is. Very spooky, but I would go Godzilla and/or Cloverfield monster on one of these babies.

Haunted Gingerbread House