a Necessary Evil

People ask or tell me all the time,

"you must love to cook," or "you must be a good cook."

...

these are weird statements and or questions for me...

how does someone respond to that?

..."um, thanks"

the truth...

sometimes I enjoy cooking...

but...sometimes...

well, sometimes.... it's just a necessary evil...

   ...those kids get cranky when they don't eat...

and so does their dad...

Am I a good cook?

I make do...and...

sometimes what I cook turns out REALLY good...

...other times just good...or even just okay...

....and then we move down the scale to edible...

and yes, sometimes it's not even edible and it turns into a pizza or In-n-Out night!

not sure how I got the label as "a good cook"...but I'll take it...

I think something that my mother taught me, I think...

...maybe it was her?...

...I think it was more of a learned lesson...

watching her personal actions and reactions in the kitchen...

That the worst thing that could happen is that it will taste not so good...

end result...I learned something that didn't work, getting me closer to something that might work...

and ...now we order pizza!

So...some helpful things that help me in the kitchen...

*a good attitude...

     ...not saying that I always have one when I am in the kitchen,

           just saying that it's helpful...

*research is your friend...cook books and google are my go-to all the time...

*your personal taste...

     if you have eaten something that you like, break down the taste, textures, colors that helped make it appealing to you and try to duplicate them at home...

*figure out why something works (taste/color/texture combos) and why it didn't work...

*when something doesn't work that you made, don't fret, why didn't it work, now fix it...

*ask questions...ask friends...ask for recipes...

all that being said...

I made this recipe out of desperation...

I needed a dinner, I looked through my pantry/fridge and threw this together...and it worked...

How did I know it would work...well, I have a favorite chicken salad recipe that I really enjoy...some of the ingredients, chicken, celery, apples, raisins (or dried cranberries), onions...well I needed a HOT dinner, not a refreshing lunch menu...I had a whole chicken and an apple, some dried cranberries, celery, onions...you get the idea...if it worked in a cold version, why not a hot version...

The first time I made this in the crock pot (yes a whole chicken in the crock pot) the second time I roasted it in the oven using a Reynolds oven bag (buy these...they are A-Mazing!)...both times the chicken was moist and delicious.

Apple Cranberry Chicken

1 whole chicken (or use whatever pieces that you want to feed the amount of people that you need too)

1 apple (any type, I used Fuji)

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 sm boiler onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1/4 cup-1 cup dried cranberries (add little or as much as you like, I think I had a little over 3/4 cup)

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme

salt & pepper to taste

1. Wash chicken and remove all those extra gross parts!

2. Mix all ingredients except chicken together and stuff into the cavity of the chicken, shove in as much as you can and then place chicken into the crock pot* and top with any remaining apple/cranberry mixture.

3. Set crock on low for 6-8 hours (keep a meat therm. handy to check the doneness of the bird)

(if using a Reynolds bag, stuff the bird add 1 Tbs of flour to the bag, place the bird in the bag and bake according to package directions...or since I always lose the directions, google Reynolds Oven Bags, and look for the cooking chart and follow the directions for the weight of your stuffed bird!)

This was my first ever 100% made up, what do I have to throw in the crock pot that works with a whole chicken recipe...

and it worked...I was even taking a meal to another family when I made this so I threw in two extra chicken breast with the whole chicken and it all cooked great. My family all really enjoyed the bird, it had a very festive taste with the apple cranberry combo. I used some of the broth (a sweet broth with the apple) to make a gravy for some smashed potatoes for our family and then some of the broth for rice for the family I took the meal to, both ended up with a hint of sweet, and was really tasty!

I would make this again in the future with just 3-6 chicken breast or whatever I had on hand and the amount of people I needed to feed, no reason that it needs to be a whole bird, but it did look pretty on the serving platter with the apples and cranberries cascading down the sides...yes, I said cascading...

...maybe next time I might use orange slices instead of an apple...orange and cranberry is yummy, might leave out the celery when I do that...

do you have any recipes that you "invented" out of desperation that ended up actually working???