Variations on a Bird: The Erin & Francesca Story

Erin and I have been having some lovely cooking dates recently. The flavors and techniques, while all very different, have revolved around the same canvas: a whole chicken.

It began with the simple roasted chicken, with carrots, fennel, and onions.


The saga continued with Coq au Vin...delicious, falling off the bone, and totally worth the wait.


Tonight, we mixed it up. While roast chickens are amazing, they are definitely not a weeknight-friendly meal (unless you feel like eating at 10:45). So, we decided to make steak fajitas with sweet potato and chipotle. They were delicious, and very quick, thanks to our friends at Real Simple magazine, whose articles on organization and home makeovers make me want to be a better, less messy person.
In our cooking frenzy (and rush to get to the couch to watch The Wire - my new obsession that Erin is enabling), I forgot to take a photo. Below is what Real Simple thinks it should look like. Our version, of course, was not perfected by a food stylist, but I trust it was equally awesome.


So, as you can imagine, writing (or attempting to write) 7 pages a night has taken up a lot of my time, and the blog has been a little neglected this week. Also, I'm running a 5k on Saturday, so I've been on the treadmill fairly religiously lately. Things should calm down this weekend, and I'll have some more updates and novel snippets to share!