‘Southern Living’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Broiled Herb Chicken with Lemon Butter Sauce

October 8, 2009 · Narrative

When it comes to the timing aspect of cooking dinner, I’ve always been a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl. I’ve been lucky and usually everything just falls into place and different dishes get ready around the same time. My mom, on the other hand, is way more organized about it; usually when it’s a holiday or she’s otherwise entertaining, I’ll spy a nice, neat little timeline in a notebook on the kitchen counter, with each step meticulously calculated.

The timing gods were smiling on me when I made this dinner. This Broiled Herb Chicken with Lemon Butter Sauce was served alongside the Savory Vegetable Patties last week. The chicken literally takes minutes to put together, and as soon as I put it into the oven, I went to work on the vegetable patties. By the time the patties were done, so was the chicken. Absolutely perfect.

Broiling gives the chicken a nice, crispy skin and the meat inside ends up very tender. The seasoning on the chicken and the lemon butter sauce on top just finishes it off nicely. This is a great go-to recipe when you’re looking for something quick to get you in and out of the kitchen. Served alongside the vegetable patties or some nicely whipped mashed potatoes, you have the perfect comfort food meal to fight the slight chills of the Fall season.

Three years ago today … a beautiful sunset, a dreamy vacation and an introduction to escargots.

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Straight from the Cookie Jar: Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

May 21, 2009 · Narrative

“Mmmm, these are a definite keeper.”

So said my mom after she took her first bite.

I’ve been making a lot of flourless cookies lately and am totally in love with the lightness they give the cookies. It’s a completely different texture and bite. Light, airy and oh so good. And these cookies were no exception.

This recipe comes from the April 2009 issue of Southern Living magazine, and I’m loving that it yields only 2 dozen cookies. It’s just enough to have some for us, and some to give away … without being faced with 4-5 dozen and cookies that we can’t bear to look at days later. Those batches are for big care package giveaways, holidays platters and so forth, you know? Two dozen is just enough.

And when they’re this good, any more would be dangerous. Ten minutes and they’re in the oven. Fifteen minutes later and you’re enjoying cookies warm for the oven. Perfect for filling up that cookie jar and little tummies after school.

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Hummingbird Cake

May 12, 2009 · Narrative

Last week, I gave the kids in car pool a choice … strawberry cupcakes or a Hummingbird Cake. Hummingbird Cake won hands down, no doubt because they had no idea what it was. I love the adventurous spirit … we could all use a little more of that sometimes.

Of course, midway through making the darn thing, I was cursing letting the kids make the choice to begin with. I can count on one hand (and have fingers leftover) how many times I have made a double layer cake, let alone a triple layer cake, which this was. I was trying to hurry the process along so I could get the kids off to bed and the layers were sliding all over the place. I also r-e-a-l-l-y suck at frosting layered cakes. Truly.

I was tempted to skip the cream cheese-based frosting and going with my to-die-for buttercream, but I ended up keeping with the original recipe. It took great restraint, I assure you. By the time I was done, the frosting was soft and the cake ultra-messy. I slid the plate into the refrigerator and herded the kids upstairs. I was sure the next morning would be a sad one indeed, with a lopsided, unedible cake waiting for me in the fridge. As I got Nick ready to head out the door, I snuck a little piece. What? Is there a problem with cake for breakfast? It has fruit in it! Besides, I wanted to see how terrible it was.

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