Since I am all out of stories for the week I thought maybe I would do up a few recipes. With the coming holiday season I figured there’s no better time to get creative.

Since flying-by-ties-of-my-apron is usually the way I cook, I pulled these together at the spur of the moment. Just like last week, not knowing what to make for dinner, I scrounged the fridge and cupboards and 40 minutes later laid chicken parm on the table with pasta. Last minute is what I’m good at. This chicken was originally intended for Chicken Tikka Masala but I didn’t feel like making that.

How about some Oven BBQ’d Chicken (with homemade sauce) and a Blogging Mama’s Red & Green Cocktail instead? Surely that screams holiday. So let’s get started.

You will want to make the chicken first. Unless of course your dexterity with knives increases with alcohol. If that’s the case start at the bottom of the post and work your way up.

Oven BBQ’d Chicken:

2 to 2 1/2 pounds meaty chicken pieces (breasts, thighs, and drumsticks – I used thighs)
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cooking oil
3/4 cup bottled chili sauce
2 tablespoons honey (I don’t like honey and don’t normally have any around, but I had some lavender honey and used that instead)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

You can also add 1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish and 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, neither of which I had on hand.

1. Skin chicken, if desired (I did). Rinse chicken; pat dry. Arrange chicken pieces, meaty sides down, in a 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Drain fat.
2. Meanwhile, for sauce, in a saucepan cook onion and garlic in hot oil until tender but not brown. Stir in chili sauce, honey, soy sauce, mustard, horseradish and red pepper (if used); heat through.
3. Turn chicken skin side up. Brush about half of the sauce over the chicken. Bake for 20-30 minutes more until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Reheat remaining sauce and serve with chicken.

(makes 6 servings)

Blogging Mama’s Red & Green Cocktail

There is no exact science to this and I am sure this is called something else, somewhere else but here is what I do:

Into a highball glass mix the following:

a few cubes of ice
3 oz of cranberry/raspberry juice
3 oz of tonic water
1 shot of vodka
two slices of lime

You could add a few cranberry’s for extra color and flavor but I didn’t have any to hand.

Do you plan out meals in advance or take it as it comes? What sort of traditional holiday foods do you eat? If you have a favorite recipe or food item please share. It can be for any December holiday, not just Christmas.