Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day calls for a special dinner. It is a different kind of day for me now, but my memories are sweet. I had a couple of friends over for dinner, friends who have the same situation I have. We had a nice dinner and shared Valentine's Day memories of our husbands. 

Good Memories

When I think of Valentine's Day and Sam I can't help but think of conversation hearts.  :)

In the days leading up to Valentine's Day Sam was famous for buying a bag (maybe more) of these and handing them out to me and I think to the girls, too. He might silently hand me one that said "My Girl" or "Kiss Me". It always made me smile when he would hand these to me one by one. Sometimes he would pour out a handful for me and we would have silent "conversations". He would give me "Kiss Me" and I might respond with "Bad Boy" which might bring his "Later". Well, you get the idea. Sometimes the "conversations" were a bit sketchy, but they always ended well. The memories of it all make me smile.

Back to the purpose of this blog, sharing the possibility of good food.

Ranch Parmesan Chicken

This was one of Sam's favorites and I baked it for tonight's dinner. Here's the easy to do recipe, which was one of the most requested recipes from my Foods II class at NHS.

1/2 cup crushed cornflakes

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons Ranch dressing mix

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 cup butter, melted

Line baking dish with parchment paper or grease the dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a shallow bowl combine the cornflakes, Parmesan cheese and ranch dressing mix. 

Dip chicken in the melted butter, then roll in cornflake mixture to coat. Place chicken in prepared baking dish. Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until juices run clear from chicken. Serve at once.

Just a little bit more . . .

I use the flat side of my meat mallet to gently crush the cornflakes in a ziplock freezer bag. You could also use a rolling pin.

My chicken breast halves were too big for one serving, so I cut them in half. If it is very thick on one end I pound it a bit with the flat side of my meat mallet to flatten it a little.

This is very flavorful and has a nice crunch on the outside. Don't over bake or the chicken will be dried out and tough.

Tonight I served this with some green beans with cherry tomatoes and a fruit salad. Nice dinner. We started the meal with a Strawberry Bellini and ended it with Chocolate Valentine Cookies.

Enjoy!