Last Night

How long can a food coma last?


Last night, there were people in my kitchen and they were cooking. People= not me. Cooking= fabulous, from scratch, new recipes. And they let me watch.




They made this! Fried chicken, which none of us had attempted on our own before. It was a kick to see so many grown women jumping back from splashing oil and cheering when the pieces were flipped and revealed a gorgeous, golden crust. This has got to be the best fried chicken I've ever had, hands down. It was scrumptious. There were no leftovers.



Then they made this! Well, this is the beginning of something that I didn't get to photograph the end result of because.. we inhaled it before I had the chance. Any guess as to what you're looking at? If you said cheese sauce- then you are right and you may have a problem. You should look into that. This cheese sauce went over some rigatoni and was covered in breadcrumbs and tomatoes to create an entirely too pleasing mac n' cheese. Also, no leftovers. Super crowd pleaser.



And this. I think this dish was the underdog- it came up from behind, everyone dutifully put it on their plates. Most of us had not had greens before, so we were a little unsure about it. But boy oh boy, this was the surprise hit of the evening! So so so so good. It was a bit time consuming to prep and make, but for a big gathering like this it was worth it. It tasted so fresh- which was a great compliment to the mac n cheese and fried chicken!



Then there was this. The finisher, the closer of the meal.

We were gathering to discuss our recent book- "The Help" and if you've read it, then you can understand how we laughed as we ate this delicious pie. It was very hard not to.

As a side note- this was the first book we all actually read! I think that's a testament to either a) what a great read it was or b) how much more free time teachers/people have in the summer. Whichever it was, it was a fabulous book and made for some interesting discussions. I'm always amazed at how a question about the story can lead us to wonder about things in life or the news or pop culture. There are always so many connections and we often meander through the conversations until someone guides us back to the original question.


Most of the recipes came from Food and Wine magazine, they had a whole "The Help" themed menu. Lucky us!

The macaroni and cheese was a classic Ina Garten recipe. So good and gorgeous! The tomatoes were really the kicker there, don't omit them!

Give these a try! Enjoy!

-m