This is a more kid-friendly version of the Party Chicken, and a really easy week-night dinner idea.

Chicken Breasts with Crusted Parmesan and Parsley

• 6 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3/4 c. Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 c. chopped, fresh parsley
• 1-1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1 large clove garlic, pressed
• 1/2 tsp. coarsely grated black pepper
• 1/4 c. butter, melted in a wide, shallow bowl or baking dish

In a large, shallow bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, garlic and pepper. Dip the chicken breasts in the butter and then dredge in the cheese mixture, being sure to get a good coating of the mixture on all sides of the chicken. Place in a baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

If you’re serving chicken at a party, or taking some to a pot luck, you might not want to serve full-sized pieces. Chicken breast tenders, if you can find them, are a perfect portion size when people want to sample a lot of different dishes.

Party Chicken (makes 20-25 modest portions)

• 3 lbs. chicken tenders
• 1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 c. minced, fresh parsley
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
• 3/4 c. butter, melted in a shallow bowl
• 3/4 c. bread crumbs
• 1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
• 1/2 c. pine nuts
• 1/2 c. capers

In a large, shallow bowl, mix together the Parmesan, parsley, oregano, garlic and black pepper. Line a large cookie sheet with foil (non-stick is best). Dip the chicken pieces in the melted butter, then place side-by-side in the pan. Sprinkle on the mixture, pressing lightly into the chicken. Evenly sprinkle/arrange the artichokes, pine nuts and capers over the chicken. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

For a more kid-friendly version, and to see an idea for a smaller serving which would be ideal for a week-night dinner, see this post: Chicken Breast with Crusted Parmesan and Parsley

Bake the pies in some interesting oven-proof dishes and they become edible works of art.

Don’t panic—this is actually an easy dish to make! And what an elegant use for leftover turkey, chicken or beef. Not to mention that this tastes infinitely better than frozen, prepared pot pies. These can be very free-form in their assembly. Look around your kitchen for small oven-safe dishes in which to bake these. I used 4-1/2″ square Pyrex oven-proof dishes. All the kids happily dug into their dinner tonight!

Turkey Pot Pie (makes 4-5 small pies)

Pie crust for double crust pie (click here for a link to a recipe)

For the filling:

• 1-1/2 c. cooked, chopped turkey (or other meat)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 3/4 c. frozen peas
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbs. olive oil

For the cream sauce:

• 3 Tbs. butter
• 4 Tbs. flour
• 1 to 2 c. milk
• salt
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 large bay leaf

1. Saute all of the vegetables in the olive oil until the potatoes and carrots just begin to get tender. Stir in the turkey and set aside.

2. While the vegetables are cooking, make the pie crust and set aside in the refrigerator.

3. Make the white sauce: Melt the butter in a sauce pan, whisk in the flour. Turn the heat to very low, and very slowly, while continuing to whisk, pour in the milk just a little at a time. Put in the bay leaf and thyme, and continue to stir while the sauce thickens. When it’s as thick or thin as you like, take it off the heat and set aside, season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Assemble the pies (the fun part): Roll out the dough very thin, cut into pieces a bit larger than your baking dishes, and line the bottom of the dish, overlapping about 1/2″. Repeat for each of your dishes. Fill each dish with about 1/4 of the meat-vegie filling. Remove and discard the bay leaf from the cream sauce, and top the filling with 1/4 of sauce, then use a spoon to gently mix it down into the filling. Roll out remaining dough and cut pieces to top each pie. Fold the extra 1/2″ of bottom crust up over the top crust and roughly crimp.

5. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the crust in nicely browned. Serve piping hot.

Fill each pie with 1/4 of the meat-vegie filling.

Pour over 1/4 of the cream sauce.

This rich and flavorful broth cured my cold.

I know I’m supposed to make chicken stock from scratch, but at the tail end of a cold, who wants to fuss with that? I wanted some chicken soup, and I wanted it in an hour.

Spicey, Ricey Chicken Soup

• 3 qts. prepared chicken stock (I like College Inn brand)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 Tbs. olive oil
• 2/3 c. uncooked brown rice
• 3 stalks celery, sliced
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 1/2 c. parsley, chopped
• 1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, sliced thick
• 2 cloved garlic, crushed
• 1 lb. chicken tenders (boneless, skinless chicken breast)
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• salt to taste

Saute the onion in 2 Tbs. olive oil. When onion is soft, stir in the rice. After a minute or two, add 2 cups water along with all other ingredients except for the chicken and remaining olive oil. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the chicken into small, bite-sized chunks and brown in the remaining 2 Tbs. olive oil. Add the chicken to the soup and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Season to taste.

These two are the more unusual varieties of jam that I can.

I like to buy these tiny 1/4-pint canning jars. Two or three of these sampler jars, packaged together, make a nice gift.

Leo, my brother-in-law, loves spiced cherry jam and several years ago he asked me to make some. I’m sharing that recipe, developed after some trial and error. The blueberry conserve is a combination of blueberries, lemon and orange slices. Both of these are extra tart, and great on a biscuit with some strong coffee.

For each of these recipes, cook up the ingredients until thick, as in any jam recipe. Then spoon into hot, sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

Spiced Cherry Jam

• 4 c. tart cherries
• 2-1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Blueberry Conserve

• 4 c. blueberries
• 3 c. sugar
• 1 large lemon, peel and all, sliced paper thin, then cut in half
• 1 medium orange, peel and all, sliced paper thin, then cut in half

Here I am with this year's crop of canned jam. (photo by Max Walker)

This only takes 30 minutes to get started, and then you can put it on the lowest flame on your back burner and forget about it until dinner. Don’t worry if you don’t have all of the ingredients. I made mine today without green pepper, mushrooms or parsley.

Beef Stew (serves 6-8)

• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 c. coarsely chopped onion
• Lawry’s season salt
• 1 lb. stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 28 oz. canned tomatoes, cut into large pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 c. frozen peas
• 1 c. frozen green beans
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 lb. mushrooms, quartered
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Tbs. basil
• 1/2 tsp. coarsely ground pepper
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 c. red wine
• additional salt and pepper to taste

Liberally season the meat with Lawry’s season salt, and brown, along with the onion, in the olive oil. Add everything else and simmer for 3 hours. Serve in a shallow bowl, ladled over a fresh biscuit.