Dinner dash

I've lost the kitchen mojo.  It's no secret that cooking and I have had a rocky relationship.  I had no desire to learn how to cook as a young girl.  My early twenties consisted of quick boxed meals.  I'm sure that my first husband would tell you that he did 95% of the cooking; he'd be right. When I became a single mother, I thought that it would be prudent to learn some kitchen skills so that my daughter wouldn't starve.  It was still fairly basic, but, it was something.

Fast forward to August 2008.  I met my husband and he showed me how to enjoy cooking.  Since then, spending time together in the kitchen is soothing.  We'll open a beer or a bottle of wine and work together on a new recipe.  It's therapeutic.  We share the trials and triumphs of the day.  We laugh at the silly things the other does.  We dance.

Even though I've come a long way with my skills, there are times when I have nothing prepared.  Call it being in a slump, I just have no desire to cook.  Maybe it's the weather? I don't know.  I do know that I am hit with the dinner slump more often than not lately.  On days like that I have to do what's called the dinner dash.  Find something that will defrost quickly and find a recipe that will be a crowd pleaser.

Last night's dinner dash resulted in Crispy Onion Chicken and Golden Parmesan Roasted potatoes.  The bulk of the prep was spent defrosting the chicken.  Normally I'd pull it out in the morning and let it defrost during the day and cook it in the evening.  Clearly that didn't happen yesterday.  I didn't let that stop my mojo from happening.  And, I'm glad that I didn't.  Dinner was a success! Even my toddler enjoyed it.

I'll call this a DINNER SUCCESS.  Thank you very much.