I’m obsessed with the olive bar at the grocery store. I almost always get a container, whether we need it at home or not. We used to do a snack dinner once a week and the olive bar was the main star. Now that my teenagers are eating way more than ever before, we can’t just do a snack dinner. The kids would end up eating an entire second dinner after snack dinner.

It’s still my favorite dinner so I’m finding new ways to integrate olive bar into as many meals as possible. This is my latest favorite. You cannot beat this Olive Bar Chicken! I’m obsessed for a few reasons:

• Olive Bar is the best part of grocery shopping

• A split fryer is a cheap and easy way to feed your teenagers

• You can’t over bake the chicken when the bone is in

• Swap out what ever is your favorite on the olive bar! Some people love those marinated mushrooms and that would be perfect here too.

One of the secrets to making this dish is to use something heavy to bake it in. I love my Le Creuset because it’s thick and holds the heat nicely. You can also use a cast iron pan with a well fitting lid or lots of aluminum foil.

Olive Bar Baked Chicken

serves 4

1 split fryer chicken (that’s all the pieces, but cut into parts)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 cup marinated artichoke hearts

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil

1 cup kalamata olives (pitted)

1/4 cup olive tapenade

1 cup chicken stock

salt & pepper

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In the bottom of a large dutch oven, brown the chicken in the olive oil.

STEP 2

Turn off the heat and pour in the onion and all of the olive bar bits. Pour in the chicken stock and cover.

STEP 3

Pop the pan into the oven and bake 25-40 minutes until the chicken is done. Test it with a meat thermometer. How long it takes depends on how thick your chicken pieces are. Serve with bread and pasta!

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Classic Negroni

A classic Negroni is the perfect cocktail to go with this Italian flavored dinner!

Click here

Last year I discovered that it is perfectly acceptable in the south to put pimento cheese on white bread and call it a sandwich! A SANDWICH! Out of the very best cheese + squishy white bread. Who has been keeping this miracle from me?!

I have a girlfriend who makes a version of this regularly for parties. It’s good, but there was something missing. That’s when I found out she doesn’t use mayo in hers. It’s the mayo that makes it a spreadable delight! And I know there will be discussion about the kind of mayo I choose. I cannot be talked out of my Best Foods mayo. I know there are lots of in the Duke’s camp. And they also can’t be swayed. So you use your mayo that you prefer. Just know that the correct mayo is Best Foods.

I also use a hand mixer when I make this. It feels more authentic. The stand mixer is great. But doesn’t it feel like a good southern kitchen would use a hand mixer instead? And I like to be sure that I don’t over mix this. Using the freshly grated cheese can lead to clumping if you aren’t careful. The hand mixer lets you get in all the corners of the bowl. Which does let you mix it a little easier.

If you’re thinking of using pre shredded, shredded cheese, let me advise against it. Preshredded cheese get a little coating of potato starch or other starch to make sure it doesn’t clump in the package. I think the starch does something weird when you try to mix it all together - the cheese just doesn’t blend right.

At the Masters, they serve pimento cheese sandwiches. This is the most epic way you could possibly serve pimento cheese. But it’s also perfectly acceptable to serve with celery, Ritz crackers, salami - whatever else you like on a charcuterie board. But I can’t tell you how good it is on white bread.

Epic Pimento cheese Spread

2 cups freshly shredded cheese

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup mayonnaise

4 ounces pimento

1/2 jalapeño, shredded

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

2-4 shakes Tabasco sauce

STEP 1

Grate the cheese yourself. The combine the mayonnaise, cream cheese, and the grated cheese with a hand mixer or a stand mixer.

STEP 2

Grate in the jalapeño and add the pimento. Mix together.

STEP 3

Add the spices and mix one last time. Spread on white bread or eat with Ritz cracker and celery.

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It’s golf season again! I don’t know how many of you are excited, but I’m excited. We live on a golf course so we spend a lot of time watching people golf. In the summer, we head out to the course - but I refuse to golf when it’s raining or cold. If it’s not a sunny day, a lovely walk and a fun outing - then I’m not going.

So I get particularly excited when the sun comes back out and the season starts back up.

Golf season is the perfect time to whip out your best goofy outfits, strong cocktails, and great visors. Do you play? What’s your vice on the course?

Arnold Palmer ‘Tini

2 ounces good lemonade

1 ounce tea vodka

lemon garnish

STEP 1

Pour the vodka and the lemonade in a shaker. Fill with ice and shake.

STEP 2

Strain into two martini glasses and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Tea Vodka

1 cup vodka

1 tea bags

Pop the tea bags into the vodka and let soak until dark brown. In the sun, it takes about 2 hours.

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