Bring Sexy to Your Chicken

Perhaps the sexiest chicken I have ever prepared for someone is what my children refer to as "Mommy's Juicy Chicken." It's finger-lickin' juicy and I get asked to cook it for friend's parties the most. It is the perfect blend of savory, crispy, juicy, tenderness. Its succulence is down-right sexy. If you're shy when it comes to eating with your fingers than this may be no fun for you. But if you're like me and like to get a little dirty when you eat, then you'll love this chicken.

I like all parts of the chicken. I am not one to discriminate from the thigh or the breast or leg. As long as each part is juicy, then I will eat it. I like to cut my chicken into parts and if I am preparing this for a large party that has a lot of children in attendance, then I will cut the breasts in half as well.

One thing I detest is an over cooked and dry chicken breast - the type they often serve at banquets and weddings. Boring!

So, here is how I keep my breasts just as juicy and tasty as my thighs. The secret to their juiciness is in the basting. Once I put the chicken in the oven, every fifteen minutes I reopen it, uncover the chicken and baste it with a broth I have made. Soon it blends beautifully with the chicken's own natural juices. This is tedious, but well worth the time and care. Like anything I love, I want to spend time with it, nurture it. My chicken responds well to this attention and so do my guests. Yours will too.

I find that simple, natural ingredients are best with chicken. Fresh herbs wake the senses, natural sea salts enhance the poultry's potential for mouth watering savory goodness and lemon invigorates and balances. My favorite for chicken roasted in the oven are the juice of ripe lemons, fresh sage, thyme and rosemary, a hearty extra-virgin olive oil, butter, garlic, crushed black pepper and sea salt. Bake the chicken in a 400 degree oven for approximately an hour and fifteen minutes. I take off the foil for the last ten to fifteen minutes of cooking and turn the oven to broil. These final moments give the chicken its beautiful crispy skin.

I like to serve the chicken with a fresh crust of bread and a warm pasta, mixed with uncooked veggies such as grape tomatoes, crisp sugar snap peas, toasted pine nuts, fresh basil and shavings of one of my favorite cheeses, Grana Padano. Top with crushed black pepper and sea salt to taste.

Pack this meal up, take it to the beach or to Central Park - my favorite is Strawberry Fields, a couple of hours before sunset. It makes the perfect meal for a romantic dinner at sundown. Eat your chicken with your hands, share with your partner and have fun.

Wake Him With a French Kiss

It's your first weekend sleepover.  He's rented a romantic bungalow along the eastern shore.  You're taking your relationship to the next level and your self-imposed expectations are high.  He's still sleeping in the next room.  Tender memories of the night before enter your mind; a curl from your lips meet your cheek bone and you think, "How do I wake him just as sweetly as I put him to bed?"

You want him to appreciate you; see that you too have put a lot of thought into this weekend.  Your grandmother said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and if this is true, you want your breakfast to tell him he is adored.

I find that French Toast is a perfect first breakfast.  It's sweet and sticky and the aroma of toasted bread and syrup will give your man an enthusiastic rise.  It's  simple to make and easy to dress up with your own personal touches.  It's also nice to taste  the sweetness from the syrup and the saltiness of the butter on his lips when he kisses you after his first bite. 

I like to make mine with a loaf of challah bread, generously sliced and dipped into an egg and vanilla bean mixture.  I top with fresh berries, a dash of cinnamon, confectioners sugar and toasted coconut.    It's a bit indulgent on the toppings, but he's worth it, after all.

Serve with a warm maple syrup and drizzle melted butter atop.  Be prepared for lots and lots of sweet kissing.

Recipe:

1 Loaf of Challah Bread

3 - 4 Eggs

1/4 - 1/2 Cup Half & Half

1 Tsp Vanilla (I like to use fresh vanilla bean paste)

1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

Pinch of Salt

Butter

Maple Syrup

Toasted Coconut

Confectioners Sugar

Slice bread into six healthy slices.  Whisk together eggs with cream, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a pie pan.  Heat skillet.  Dip bread on both sides into mixture, ensuring each side is completely covered.  Melt about a tablespoon of butter in skillet and cook in skillet until nice and toasty on both sides, (about 2-3 minutes).  Dust with confectioner's sugar and top with fresh berries and coconut.  Melt butter in skillet until light brown then drizzle over your French Toast.  Serve with warm maple syrup.

Mothers Judging Mothers: Where is the love?

Recently I read a thread line on breastfeeding. The question posed to women was, "what age is appropriate to stop." Boy it got heated. I breastfed both of my girls for 19 and 18 months. I would have gone longer but that is another story. There seemed to be a lot of judgement of one another on mainly the side of stopping nursing sooner rather than later. I asked myself if we could ever free ourselves of being so critical and judgmental of one another and turn in the direction of support?

One woman made an excellent argument for continuing breastfeeding into the toddler years: Basically she compared the health benefits of human milk (for a human) to cow's milk. I thought it was a good point. Wouldn't it make sense that our own milk is what was intended for our children and since milk is a necessity long after toddler years wouldn't it be better to provide them with the best?

I admit, I do feel a little uneasy when I see a mom nursing a six year old, but that is my issue. I cannot say that the mother is getting some sick pleasure out of it and I have to admit that being raised in a society where breast were seen a purely sexual and formula feeding was the norm, my societal upbringing has tainted my initial reaction.

What is truly sad for me is how quickly I see women turn against one another when we already have so many obstacles outside of the home. We are seen as the weaker sex, get paid less for doing the same job, overlooked on promotions, and experience harsh bias in family courts even when faced with domestic violence and so much more. I look to my sisters to find support in loving and supporting myself and my children.

How can we support mothers who do it a little different but love their children the same? Are we capable of making a universal network that supports each one of us without harsh judgment or criticism?I'd love to hear others thoughts on either of these issues (breastfeeding and/or support vs. judgement).

Volunteer Vacations

Dear Friends, I wanted to share with you a brief description of my trip to New Orleans this past week. My girlfriend Beth and I went with One Brick http://onebrick.org/ which has five chapters, one of which is in New York and the others; San Fran, Boston, Chicago, D.C and Minneapolis/St. Pauls. We teamed up with Habitat For Humanity, AmeriCorp and the St. Bernard Project. I am sharing this with the hope that someone else will feel inspired and do the same. I'm happy to say that already one friend is now going on the July trip and a close friend and his wife will go on the October trip.

I booked this vacation because, as many of you know, life has not gone my way in the recent years (does it really ever) and the last thing I want to do is sit around feeling sorry for myself. My older brother Mike used to say to me, "Get off the cross, we need the wood." No truer words have ever been spoken when it comes to the waste of time and energy it takes to sulk around feeling sorry for myself. There are four other influences that brought me to the decision to volunteer on my vacation: 1. My children. I wanted them to understand the value of giving, 2. my sobriety and the value of being of service to others to get out of my own way, 3. My Grandmother always said, "Work will never kill you and idle time is the devil's workshop." and 4. the old expression, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

Beth and I met amazing (and I'm sure life-long) friends while there. Each morning we got up at 7 and were at work by 8:30 or so. We worked until 4 PM on a few houses doing everyhting from debris removal, painting, priming to protect from harmful molds regrowing and lots and lots of caulking!!! I never laughed so much while working. It was very gratifying to meet the families who would soon be moving into the homes after living in FEMA trailers for over two years, and some even living in tents under the highway.

We worked in St. Bernard Perish where Katrina left the most devastation. 20,000 people now reside in St. Bernard Perish where once 65,000 lived and flourished. There is still so much work to be done and they could use as much help as possible.In the evenings we did everything from overdose on beignets (French Donuts) and coffee from Cafe de Monde to dancing, listening to amazing jazz at The Spotted Cat (or as I like to refer to it as the Spotted Kitty) shopping and just simply chilling out. I wound up on stage twice, crunked to oblivion and laughed so hard.

I have taken many vacations to amazing destinations and yet this was by far, the most rewarding and fun vacation I've ever had. If it is in you to take such an adventure I encourage you to check out One Brick's website. You will never look back and say, "Damn that Queen, I wish she didn't suggest this vacation!"