Cashew Garlic Chicken and Tofu with Sugar Snap Peas

Dear Lauren,

Loved having you and Brooke here these last couple of days. Look, I'm glad you are in summer school and all but have missed having you here all summer. And Brooke, well, she is a treat! She is welcome back any time! I'm so glad she will be joining you, Becky and Caysie as your 4th room-mate at school this year.

Fried Chicken Tasting

Dear Lauren,

I wouldn't say we have the most conventional holidays. But we always have fun and there's always an element of surprise.

This Easter was no exception.

I decided to have a Fried Chicken Tasting for several reasons:
1) I've never made perfect fried chicken.
2) Publix has great fried chicken.
3) Our neighbors, Patrick and Tim, love and adore fried chicken. And I felt it was our duty to serve them something they actually like since we've sort of forced them to explore food they otherwise wouldn't. We dragged them. We bribed them. We kidnapped them. (They still like us.)
4) I read The Glory of Southern Cooking by James Villa (a book in my book club called Cook My Book, submitted by Woo Brower) and there were FOUR fried chicken recipes in a row!
5) Dad said he'd help.

So here we go.

From left to right:
Publix Fried Chicken
Perfect Southern Fried Chicken
Beer-Battered Fried Chicken
Maryland Fried Chicken with Cream Gravy
Arkansas-Style Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Naan

Dear Lauren,

The next time you are home, you HAVE to come with Dad and I to eat Indian food. We found a place and I love it and Dad likes it. I love it so much, I was inspired to make naan for a bread challenge we're doing over at 37 Cooks.

Just look at it! YUM! I might just go eat from Indian food for lunch today! Hmmm, I might ask the server if they'll let me back in the kitchen to watch them make their naan. Ever since I saw this video, I've been fascinated!

Egg and Cress

Dear Lauren,

Let's recap.

You sent me a text that said, "I want an egg and cress sandwich."

I thought, wow, this child cannot spell. And then I went about trying to figure out how I would make sure there were fresh croissants here for Christmas.

I asked all my cooking friends. They had great suggestions. One of my cooking friends actually made croissants from scratch! I decided since Williams Sonoma was offering free shipping, I'd order their croissants. 

Killer Brownies

Dear Lauren,

Sometimes you get right up to the days before Christmas and you realize there are a few people you'd like to give a gift to but you haven't. The picture above it of some brownies all tied up with some cellophane and a bendy snowman from Walmart ($1) that looks pretty fantastic! These are so easy to make and are our favorite brownies. Are they "homemade". Well...they ARE made at home! But our favorite brownies actually come from a box!