Archives for January 2009

Chicken Salad Sandwich

January 25, 2009 by Charles 1 Comment

With over thirty posts on my food blog, you might think that lunch at my office would be diverse and interesting. That my leftovers from the night before would offer an exciting mid-day meal. You’d be wrong.

Though some days offer exceptions, lunch at my office is unabashedly routine – which is not to say it’s bad. Quite the opposite. I couldn’t possibly have chicken salad sandwiches with the frequency I do, if I didn’t love my recipe. And because my recipe provides enough chicken for the week, it’s one less thing I have to account for while I’m at work. Chicken salad also has the advantage of being relatively light (so no post-lunch siestas), and offering a good source of protein (perfect for those afternoon workouts).

This is my (very) tried and true recipe….

Easy Sticky Buns

January 22, 2009 by Charles 5 Comments

As part of my college application, I had to provide the usual information – SAT scores, class schedules, teacher references, and essays. But unlike the common application, my alma mater had a section entitled “Hodgepodge,” which was an effort to gain at least a cursory insight into the applicant’s personality.

The questions in the hodgepodge section ran the gamut – from your favorite songs and television shows, to the books on your mantle. The Office of Admissions also wanted to know your favorite time of day. While the former questions gave me some pause, the latter I knew in an instant: Morning – which for me, meant breakfast.

Breakfast might only have been …

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

January 22, 2009 by Charles 5 Comments

We live in an era of convenience, where promises of easier and faster abound. We have drive-through windows for almost every facet of our life – from the pharmacy window, to the bank window, to the fast-food window. Indeed, the specter of convenience is particularly pernicious when it comes to the kitchen and our collective eating habits.

In the 1950s, one out of three Americans was overweight, and just one out of ten Americans was considered obese. But with the advent of Jack In the Box (founded in 1951), McDonald’s (1955), and others of its kind, obesity rates have skyrocketed. At last count, 65% of Americans were overweight, and 30% of Americans were obese.

And hamburgers are not the only culprit….

Michelle Obama’s Shortbread Cookies

January 20, 2009 by Charles Leave a Comment

Today, the Nation welcomed its 44th President. Like most, I had to watch the Inauguration from a distance. But since I could not make the trip to Washington, I decided to see how I might otherwise get a taste of this historic event.

In looking for ideas, I read that the Ritz-Carlton Hotels had decided to forgo putting mints on its guests’ pillows. In place of the mints, the Ritz-Carlton catered to its Inauguration visitors by serving them the First Lady’s Shortbread Cookies. These cookies, …

Home Fries

January 18, 2009 by Charles 3 Comments

Whenever I go out to breakfast with my siblings, my two brothers always order hash browns. No matter where we go or what they order, there is going to be a side of hash browns. They love their hash browns – or so they think.

What my brothers really love are home fries. And the confusion is not their fault. For whatever reason, hash browns, especially outside the South, has become a generic term to describe almost any sort of fried potato. This is incorrect, and I’m here to set the record straight.

Hash browns are shredded or finely diced potatoes that are pan-fried to a crisp brown. Typically, hash browns do not have anything added to them. Home fries, meanwhile, …