Just a little mashed potatoes

I don't actually know how to cook a little of anything. I have enough Italian in me to make me want to make sure there's enough for everyone who might think about stopping by for dinner. And I have even more Irish in me, which means I like potatoes. I really like potatoes.

Tonight we made chicken thinghs. Jeffrey Came home grousing about having to to go 3 stores just to find plain 'ole chicken thighs. He kept finding the skinless, boneless ones and that's not what we wanted. I calmed him down by reminding him we still had Rice Krispie treats. That worked. We cooked the chicken simply, but it's one of our favorite methods. Olive oil (or butter) and Old Bay seasoning. And then we bake them on 350, or 380 if you're hungry and want them to cook faster. It usually takes between 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the temp you're using and how many chicken thighs you're cooking.

For sides, we had asparagus (after a couple false starts when we totally overcooked it, we really grew to love asparagus) and mashed potatoes. I made a lot of mashed potatoes. I have no pictures, mostly because we were hungry when dinner was ready. But oh man, they were some delicious mashed potatoes. I used heavy cream, because we had some leftover from making ganache this past weekend. I used butter, and salt and pepper. And that was it.

I might have had seconds and even some for lunch tomorrow.

It's easy, AND good for you

This recipe is one of new favorites. It's all over the internet, so I certainly can't take credit for it. I have tweaked it a little to make it mine, of course.

I've been researching lots of recipes the past few weeks since I've been doing the Whole30 meal plan. Basically, Whole30 means no dairy, no grains, no sugar, no legumes, no alcohol, for 30 days. You can have butter, if it's clarified. But no cheating with gluten-free anything. The idea, for me especially, has been to make myself less dependent on bread, pasta, sugar and high-fat foods. I think I've been doing pretty well. I'll write more about my whole journey on a future blog. And check out the Whole30 site for more info on the plan.

So this recipe has a few of my various tweaks -- just use the flavors you like best, or to keep it an easy dish even suitable for a busy weeknight meal, just use whatever you have on hand. On a side note, Jeff would like me to point out that he is awesome. He is, so there you go.

Ingredients

• 8-10 pieces of bone in chicken thighs 
• 1 lb . baby red potatoes (or whole small potatoes, or cut yellow or russet potatoes)
• 1/2 in onion - cut large pieces (I skip this sometimes)
• carrots -- either baby carrots or whole carrots cut in pieces similar in size to your potatoes
• 2 lemons and 2 limes (this is my biggest switch from the other recipes, which only use lemons. We really love the combo of both fruits)
• 1/3 cup olive oil (I don't actually measure, just drizzle over everyone in the pool)
• 2 cloves garlic minced (I skip this sometimes too)
• 1 tablespoon fresh Rosemary plus sprigs for garnish (or thyme, or dried if you don't have fresh)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I definitely skip this - can't eat red pepper flakes at all)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt (again, why measure???)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (see salt note above - just use how much you think looks good)
• sprinkle paprika or other seasoning if not using sprigs of rosemary or thyme

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Spray a glass 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange chicken pieces (skin side up), potatoes, sliced onion and lemon slices evenly in pan. Or, use foil-lined cookie sheets (with a raised side). Make sure the thighs are sitting on the sliced limes and lemons.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Pour mixture all over chicken and potatoes. Sprinkle all over generously with additional salt and pepper.
4. Bake uncovered for about 1 hour, or until chicken and potatoes are fully cooked.

Christmas dinner was just right

It was just the three of us for Christmas dinner this year. I poured through cookbooks, scoured my favorite foodie websites and mulled it over for days. What in the world would we have for dinner? I grew up with this particular holiday being a "thing."

My parents always hosted a Christmas open house, all 22 years I lived at home and even before I was born. It was quite a production. We started welcoming guests about 1 p.m. and sent the last ones home about 2 a.m. the next morning. Both of my parents have large families, and one year I counted -- 72 people came to our party.

The gathering itself was casual, with food served buffet style mostly in the dining room. On the table, Mom used a tablecloth my Dad's grandmother made. It is white with a red embroidery pattern. Mom put a piece of hard plastic down over it that was the same size as the table, which helped keep it white all those years. I'm really glad she did, since now it's mine. The slow cookers with meatballs and sausage and hot roast beef for sandwiches were in the kitchen. We had chairs and small tables set up everywhere and somehow, we had enough room. Usually my Mom's family came in the afternoon, and my Dad's family came at night. Friends and neighbors dropped in here and there.

We cooked for days to get ready. My Mom didn't really like to cook, but she had these party preparations down to a science. She had a folder of recipes we used every year. Some things were added and some we dropped if they weren't popular. There was always ambrosia, jello mold with fruit, coleslaw and potato salad (more on the McGarry potato salad in a future post), macaroni salad, pineapple casserole and petit fours from a local bakery.

We also opened our presents and had our family Christmas at night, usually after midnight mass. Then it was up and at 'em early on Christmas day, chopping vegetables and spooning out dishes we'd made the day before. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it.

I knew I wouldn't have to cook for days for just the three of us, but I still wanted to do something special (without spending all day in the kitchen). Hello London Broil.
I marinated the meat for about three hours, in nothing more than equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a really big clove of smashed garlic and some black pepper. I caramelized some shallots and made a butter with those, salt and pepper and fresh thyme. I sauteed some pancetta and shallots to go with green beans, and I made some potatoes. I boiled small Yukon gold potatoes, smashed them a little and drizzled with a little olive oil. Some salt and pepper and shredded cheddar and they were ready for the broiler after the steak was finished. And that was it. Simple in terms of effort, yet fancy enough to call it a holiday meal. It was just what I wanted for my family. I hope all of you enjoyed your family celebrations as much as I enjoyed ours.