Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and dumplings is a dish that brings back wonderful memories for me.  My grandpa, Pap-Paw, owned a cafe here in Rush Springs and chicken and dumplings was one of his specialties.  Unfortunately, Pap-Paw didn't really have recipes, so we've had to come up with our own.  It's very, very close to what he served.  This is also a rare recipe where Mom and I each have our own version.  The variations are slight, but I'll point them out where they exist.

Chicken Chilaquiles

After two days of Christmas leftovers, I was in desperate need of something different today.  I woke up craving Mexican food, so I decided to make chicken chilaquiles for breakfast.  It's probably not meant to be a breakfast food, but it reminds me of great brunch food and I love it for that.

Jack's Pumpkin Doggie Treats

There is little that Mom, Jason, and I agree on, but there is one thing that we all believe wholeheartedly - King Jack the wonder mutt is the coolest member of our family.  Jackson is a German Shepherd-Chow Chow mix that Jason adopted from a shelter nine years ago.  He's an 80-pound moose that not only shares our house, but dominates it.  He naps on Mom's bed, spends the night on the couch, and has the three of us wrapped around his big, furry paw.  Given how spoiled he is, it's not surprising that he's the best fed member of the family.  He's only allowed to eat organic food and Mom cooks his treats for him to ensure they're the healthiest possible thing we can give him.  Since Mom and I are still consuming the mountains of leftovers from Christmas, I thought I'd share this recipe for our four-legged friends.

Feijoada

The Barefoot Contessa  has done two shows on roasted fruits and vegetables today.  On one of her shows, she said roasting is a great trick for the wintertime when vegetables have less flavor, because it concentrates the flavor.  I've been on a roasted vegetable kick lately, so it's all I can do not to go to the grocery store, buy a bunch of veggies, and spend the day roasting away.

Anyway, Mom is feeling much better today.  She's buzzing around like a very annoying little bee, putting away all the Christmas decorations.  I told her if she'd chill for a bit, I'd gladly help her.  Her response was, "I can do it.  And, if I'd a felt like it yesterday, it'd already've been done, ya'll."  Buzz, buzz.

Although she's feeling better today, yesterday was probably the worst of Mom's cold, so I was on my own to concoct dinner with a house full of food.  Brother Jason and I ate at a Brazilian restaurant in OKC last week and I had an amazing dish called feijoada, which is Brazil's national dish.  It's a black bean stew with pork and beef served with rice and collard greens.  Since I didn't have access to all the ingredients included in a typical recipe, I came up with my own using the ham leftover from Christmas dinner.