 I do not own a smoker. A weird way to start a blog titled "Smoked Chicken", I know. 🤣 I do have a Big Green Egg and I use that to do all of my grilling AND "smoking". I've had very good results by soaking wood pieces in water and then adding them to the hot charcoal and turning the "egg" into a makeshift smoker. It's worked great for many years but I've lately been tossing around the idea of getting a proper smoker as well. I would love to hear from my friends who use smokers. What brand do you use? What do you like about your smoker? Do you think it would be worth it for me to invest in one? Can you monitor or adjust the temperature using a phone app?  Just so you know, the irony is not lost on me that I myself, a non-meat eater, is in the market for a smoker. 🤣 The thing is - even though I don't crave brisket, Boston butt or a giant slab of ribs - I love smoked poultry.🍗 I think that I've smoked either a chicken or a turkey every single week since January. I love the smoky flavor and one chicken can feed the two of us for most of the week so I feel like it's efficient cooking. And if you're wondering how I prepare my chickens for smoking - look no further. Simple, efficient and delicious.  Smoked Chicken 2.0 4 teaspoons kosher salt 1 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon cayenne 1 whole chicken
 Soak wood chunk in water 2 hours. Place on top of charcoal in grill and light grill. Place chicken on grill, breast side up.  Grill until breast registers 160 degrees. (about 1 hour and 20 minutes)  Let rest 20 minutes before carving.
Ciao!
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 Anyone else disappointed because they missed out on Girl Scout cookies this year?😥 This is going to show my age my I still genuinely expect a uniformed Girl Scout to show up at my door every January and present me with an old school full color spreadsheet and a pen for me to make my cookie choices. Yes, I know that I can actually order Girl Scout cookies online but I'm just old enough to not accept it.🤣 I realize that it's not realistic to expect to order cookies at my front door anymore so I choose instead to buy them from the troups who set up a table outside of local businesses. At least this way I still get to interact with the Girl Scout - or at the very least - their parent. 🤣  This year I was out of town during the 2 weekends that the Girl Scouts set up their cookie stations in my little town, so I missed the boat.😭 I'm still craving Girl Scout cookies though so I had to take it upon myself to create some delicious Girl Scout-esque cookies for myself. The upside is that I can make a customizable version of my favorites. In this case, I was looking for a gluten free and dairy free cookie recipe and these Samoa Bars hit the mark. Make a batch for yourself and I think you'll agree that these cookies are equally (or even more🤫) delicious than the Girl Scout version of this chocolate, coconut and caramel drizzled cookie.  Gluten Free/Dairy Free Samoa Bars Cookie Layer 1 1/4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut ¼ cup coconut flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted 2 Tablespoons honey 1 teaspoon vanilla Chocolate Layer: 3 Tablespoon maple syrup 3 Tablespoon coconut oil, melted 2 1/4 Tablespoon cocoa powder Coconut Caramel layer: 1/4 cup coconut oil 1/4 cup maple syrup 2 Tablespoons almond butter pinch of salt ¼ tsp vanilla ⅓ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
 Sprinkle with additional coconut and drizzle with reserved chocolate.  Ciao!
 I'm making my first trip to London this Fall and I am sooo excited.🏴 My husband has been there several different times with work but this time - we get to have the London experience together. This is the point where I solicit all of you to send me all of your London travel tips - favorite restaurants and sights that are not to be missed while I'm there.🕰️ ⛴️ I am so excited about this trip that I started to make restaurant reservations even before we had our flights booked. If you know me, that is probably not a surprise but what might shock you was that my very first booking was for HIGH TEA!! 🫖 I feel like high tea is a quintessential London experience. I can tell you that my husband is not matching my enthusiasm over this experience. Not to worry though, I made sure to book tea at a restaurant with burgers on the menu alongside the tea options.😂 🍔  Since this will be my inaugural high English tea experience - I'm not really sure what to expect. I have visions of a beautiful tiered tray stacked with delicate finger sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and dainty cookies.🍡 Eeeeekkk. I'm so excited. Now who can help guide me as to what one should wear to a proper tea on a Thursday afternoon in London?👒 You better believe that I will report back with a full photo diary of my London tea experience this Fall.😂 There are a LOT of high tea options in London on any given day. They range from formal to casual and expensive to reasonable. And there are various menu options as well. There were even a number of restaurants that offered gluten free tea options. I'm not sure why that caught me by surprise because I seem to hear about even more people who are eliminating gluten from their diets everyday. If you are on a gluten free diet - I invite you to try my Gluten Free Banana Bread. It might not be up to Englands high tea standards but it does pair perfectly with a cup of hot tea.  Gluten Free Banana Bread 2 very ripe bananas, mashed ½ cup sugar ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil ¼ cup almond milk 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1½ cups gluten free flour mix ½ cup almond flour 2 teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped 2 Tablespoons rolled oats
 Bake 42-48 minutes at 350.  Ciao!
 Where are my Gluten Free followers? It's Gluten Free Week on the blog and I'm sharing 3 of my favorite gluten free recipes: Pancakes, Banana Bread and Samoa Bars! 🥞🍞 I feel like I should disclose my criteria for finding the best gluten free recipes. I'm not on a gluten free diet so I actually test all my Gluten Free recipes on my gluten loving husband.😅 I would describe him as a gluten super critic. He tends to reject anything labelled as "gluten free" so if I make something gluten free, I ask for his honest opinion before I tell him that it doesn't contain gluten. If it passes the husband test, I know it's a good recipe for EVERYONE.  The coolest thing about this pancake recipe is that it can be prepped in advance for those last minute pancake parties.🥳 (Can we please make pancake parties a thing?😂) I measure out the dry ingredients, store it in ziploc bags and I'm ready for quick and easy pancake making. I mixed up a few batches of gluten free pancake dry ingredients and took them on a weekend get away to the North Georgia mountains last Fall. All I had to do when I got there was whisk together the wet ingredients, add my dry ingredient packet and then fry up the tastiest gluten free pancakes around. 🥞 These were a huge hit in mixed company. Both the gluten eaters and non-gluten eaters LOVED these pancakes - including my husband.  Gluten Free Pancake Mix 2 Tablespoons sugar 2 Tablespoons canola oil 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup gluten-free flour 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum 1 Tablespoon gluten-free baking powder 1/4 teaspoons salt 3/4 cup almond milk
 Serve pancakes with fruit, syrup or powdered sugar. (Or all of the above.)
Ciao!  It's the First Day of Spring!! 💐 I know that there are a lot of Fall lovers out there - sweater weather people. But for me, Spring trumps Fall. It's the time of year when my yard is bursting with blooming cherry trees, purple phlox, lenten roses and delicate yellow daffodils.🪻 Warmer weather + longer days - what's not to like?🌞 It's also the season that I get to move all of my plants that have been living inside for the last 4 months - back out to their natural habitat. I'm pretty sure we regained at least 20% more square footage in the house after the plant evection process.😅
There's so much that I love about Spring but if there's one thing that puts a damper on my Spring mood - it's pollen.🥴 If you live in the South, you know about pollen. That layer of yellow dust that permeates absolutely everything from March through May. ⚠️ I haven't yet learned to embrace the pollen that comes with Spring but I do accept it now. It's taken me a whole lot of years of living in the South but I think I'm finally gotten used to having a yellow car and a yellow porch for a couple of months every year. I used to wash everything down every couple of days to keep the pollen at bay but now I just patiently wait until pollen season is over before I drag out the pressure washer. So in the spirit of Spring and the yellow hue that everything seems to have right now, I've decided to share one of my favorite yellow desserts - lemon tarts. Hope you enjoy!!🍋 😂  Lemon Tartlets Crust 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature 1 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 eggs, room temperature 3 3/4 + 2 Tablespoons flour Filling 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons lemon juice 3 eggs 1 egg yolk 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter Topping 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
 Make whipped cream and pipe on top of cooled curd. Garnish with fresh raspberries and fresh mint leaves.
Ciao! |
