Chicken Salad and other good stuff

I love good food and I don't know a soul who doesn't feel the same. I enjoy the prepping and cooking almost as much as I do the sampling. It's just as important to me for my plate to be visually appealing as it is to taste good. The adage that you 'eat first with your eyes' rings true - maybe it adds to the overall appeal of your meal. I know that once I ordered stuffed shrimp at The Chimney's on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and when they served me just four shrimp, I bet five bucks my neck did a ghetto roll. I'd already eaten those shrimp "with my eyes" before that waiter left my table good, and I was still hongry. (No, that's not a typo. Some of you know what hongry is, and it's way worse than hungry.) Admittedly, I couldn't even finish the last stuffed shrimp! They were so rich and like Mamaw Reid used to tell me, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Restaurant - 1, Dana - 0.

Now that I'm all grown up, I get to play restaurant for real. I have four regular customers: three of the cutest little girls you've ever seen, and one tall, dark, and handsome man. He eats 2 out of 3 meals a day here! (I think he's got a crush on me.) I really like to make our meals interesting and tasty, and part of the way I do that is to serve the food on visually appealing plates. I pick up odds and ends at Ross and TJMaxx when I see something that I'm drawn to. I'm so over everything being matchy-matchy...like when I was a new bride umpteen years ago.
Guess how many dinner parties I've had on all that good china I registered for? These days, I'll throw one of those fine plates in my microwave and zap some hotdogs without batting an eye. My point is (new brides, I'm talking to you) mix it up and have some fun.

I've been craving some good homemade chicken salad ever since my good friend, Joy, blogged about a favorite café she haunts. Finally, I whipped up some just for ME. I put in all the stuff I like: freshly cubed chicken breast, mayo, sour cream, poppy seeds, apples, walnuts, pecans and sweet relish, along with some spices. OMGosh, was it good! It nearbout killed me, but I took the time to prepare a crisp lettuce wedge, topped it with two scoops of chicken salad, and washed some ripe strawberries as a side. The colors were so appealing together and it just made me want to dive right in. As soon as I got my Mason jar full of crushed ice and some Arizona Raspberry tea, honey I did! I have to give credit where credit it due: every time I make chicken salad, I think about a lunch forever ago that my best friend's mama, Sybil, put together. She plated chicken salad, a bakery roll, some pineapple spears and plump red grapes...and apologized for it being "so simple". All I know is it must have made an impact on me, because I copy and reinvent her menu over and over. Thanks, Mama Syb. ♥

Next time you're at Sam's, buy the good cheese. Serve a dipping sauce in a little cup on the side of your plate. (a cute plate, too...don't embarrass me) Serve your dessert in a martini glass. Just spoil yourself once in a while in the best restaurant ever -- HOME.

~DPG