Easy weekday chicken - a template, not just a recipe

Everyone who eats chicken should have a simple and quick chicken dish that they can whip up on a weekday.  Although I call it a recipe because I’ve given the detailed directions, it’s really a template because there are probably infinite ways you can vary the basic cooking techniques to come up with your own version.

This recipe works for me on so many levels (besides how simple and easy it is to make):  

• it incorporates vegetables, so it’s really a 1 dish meal that only needs a starch and salad; 
• it uses only 1 pan, which makes the person who cleans up your mess (maybe you) very happy;
• it has sauce, so it’s moist;
• it’s incredibly adaptable – you can make it as long as you have chicken, chicken broth, cooking oil, some vegetables and an herb or two; and 
• it’s great reheated the next day, so you can make it ahead of time, or enjoy the leftovers.

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How a bag of rice can save your iPhone and your tech life

A bag of rice saved my iPhone a few days ago.  I am often klutzy, sometimes dumb and occasionally very unlucky.  On Sunday I hit the trifecta, managing to be all 3 at once.   There’s a happy ending to this story and this may be the most useful piece of advice you ever get from this site, so read on.  

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Can this city girl dry fresh herbs? We'll see.

Saturday morning at the farmers’ market was supposed to be a quick trip for fruit and vegetables.  I had errands aplenty and an evening baseball game. (Fast forward to evening activity - "my" Washington Nationals got creamed by the worst team in major league baseball, the Houston Astros, by a score of 9-3. Ouch!)  But as often happens when I see great stuff at the farmers’ market, I ended up with an impulse purchase.  This time it was 2 huge bunches of basil - 1 green and the other purple.  I'm surely not the only impulse buyer, but I am always chiding myself afterward, for not sticking to my shopping list. 

Purple basil is beautiful. It has a stronger, less sweet taste than the green type.

The basil only cost $1 per bunch, so it wasn’t a major budget-buster, but I did need to figure out what to do with them.  I realized my predicament standing in front of Anthony’s farm stand and he suggested drying the herbs. 

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