Tuesday, February 7, 2012

How Do You Feel About Lemon Chicken?

I like lemon chicken, don't you? And not just the kind you get at your local Chinese restaurant either. When I roast a chicken, my favorite thing is to stuff the cavity with onion, celery, and carrots (and put a layer on the bottom of the roasting pan too) and then rub lemon pepper seasoning under the skin. After that, I rub a little oil over the skin and sprinkle it with some sea salt, and then into the oven it goes.

Here's the thing though. How would lemon pepper chicken soup taste? Well, I'm here to tell you: not so great.

I always ("always" means probably about 90 percent of the time) use our leftover roasted chickens to make chicken soup. And most of the time, the leftovers consist of the carcass and breast meat from one of the breasts. And I've never had it turn out with a noticeable lemon flavor . . . until this past weekend. Really, really odd. And I can't figure out why--I really didn't do anything differently. The soup tasted kind of interesting at first, but by the time we were about half way done with our bowls, we were really tired of lemon.

Keeping in mind the rather large container of leftover chicken soup in my refrigerator, I decided today to ask some of my friends who have pretty good cooking sense what they'd do to cut the lemon flavor. All agreed it probably needed some kind of cream--half and half or maybe a little sour cream. And maybe just a touch of honey. Or perhaps a can of cream of chicken soup would help. So I came home and added a can of cream of chicken soup, a dollop of sour cream, and about a tablespoon of honey. Now it tastes pretty good. There's still a slight lemon flavor but not in a bad way, I think. Of course, I haven't eaten a bowl of it yet, so only time will tell if we can make it past the half-a-bowl point.

And speaking of leftovers, although I'm done cleaning out the Sweat Shop (I think!), I still have a couple things to give away. Here's tonight's giveaway:


These are parts that were leftover from the first bed-sized applique quilt I ever made--kind of a farm animal applique using Debbie Mumm fabrics. I'm sure I've shown the quilt on my blog before, but I'll have to take a photo or search to see if I can find an old one to show you. In the meantime, if you're interested in becoming the recipient of a bunch of star blocks, nine-patches attached to triangles, and a few other miscellaneous pieces, please leave me a comment saying you'd like to be entered. I'll draw a winner Wednesday night. The second place winner might get some lemon chicken soup--but only if it turns out that I still don't want it. Good luck!

19 comments:

The Queen Bee said...

Ooh, I've always been fond of Debbie Mumm fabrics and yellow and blue is a favorite combination. Please enter me.....

Thank you.

Pam

Brenda said...

Love the colors. I would love to win the quilt squares and do something with them.

Anonymous said...

Love to win those blocks. Thanks!

Mary said...

I would love to win your leftovers - fabric, that is. These would be great for quilts I'm making for the Quilts for Kids program.

quiltgrammy said...

Would love a chance to win these great blocks,thanks.

Nancy E said...

I like the colors. If I win, I would make a "Kid's Quilt" to donate to my guild. The guild donates quilts each year to various organizations in our county.

Sheila said...

I'm wishing upon a star that you pick my name.

Josie McRazie said...

I love the yellow in this!! Hope the soup comes out better!

kcenya1950 said...

i love the old debbie mumm fabrics so winning this would be super. i probably have some things buried deep in the stash that would go with.

Gwen said...

Pretty!! I would LOVE to win these pretty blocks--- blue and yellow are one of my favorite color combinations! :-)

Marge said...

Oh Kim, your blog helps start my day. I would love the blocks to use as a donation quilt for my guild.
Thank you for your generosity.
Marge

Donna said...

It looks so nice. I would give them a good home!

Sandie @ crazy'boutquilts said...

Hmm, interesting sounding soup... I'm glad the cream of chicken and sour cream cut the flavor. Hope it tastes good tonight. ;-)

Gayle said...

I think it would be fun to try and make something out of these orphan blocks!

jen said...

I'd use them in a charity quilt! Pick me

Teatime Creations said...

Would love to win these. Love the colors

Anonymous said...

Blue and Yellow is the colour combination I like best and you have farm animals as well. I am a first time grandmother of a beautiful baby girl, these could be part of an amazing quilt for her room when she moves out of her crib.

Gwen said...

About the lemon chicken, shake the seasoning container well before using. For some reason it separates into layers in the container.

Sandy said...

Love Debbie Mumm and would love to complete your blocks into a project. Thanks for a chance to win!