Question for Mom

What are chicken tenders? Alexis R.

Chicken tenders are skinny pieces of white meat that are part of a chicken breast but not fully attached.  You used to see them in packages of boneless chicken breasts.   About 15-20 years ago stores starting selling them as separate cuts of white meat, and they were cheaper than regular boneless breasts.  Now they’re priced higher. 

If you’re squeamish about cutting boneless chicken breasts into skinny pieces, by all means buy chicken tenders.  But you can easily cut boneless chicken into pieces yourself.  If you use a fork to hold them steady, you don’t have to touch the raw chicken.

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Meat and Salad in One Bowl = Strange Bedfellows

I don’t usually have meat in my salad – or salad on my meat.  In fact, when I was growing up, my mother set out “salad plates” so that her salad wouldn’t mingle with other dinner items.  No gravy ever touched a lettuce leaf in our house.

In college I discovered Chef’s Salad: hard-boiled eggs, strips of ham and/or turkey or roast beef, tomatoes, cucumber and grated cheese, mixed into chopped iceberg lettuce and covered with Thousand Island Dressing.  It made a great dinner on the run.

Mom Cooking Tip 114

To crisp bacon, pour off the fat into a disposable container—not down the drain—while it’s cooking.

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Remember Recipe Cards?

Back when I first started cooking, some grocery stores offered free recipe cards.  They were made of heavy-duty paper, cut into a 3” x 5” shape so they would fit into a wooden or metal recipe box.  On one side would be a detailed recipe and on the other a picture of the end result.  The cards were marketing tools.  If the picture looked attractive and the recipe called for a pound of stewing beef, why not buy some right now?

Fava Beans: What Are They and How Do I Cook Them?

The reputation of fava beans got much darker after Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter confided in The Silence of the Lambs, “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.”

That’s a rather grim image to bring up at the dinner table, but it did give fava beans their 15 minutes of fame.

Mom Cooking Tip 113

If you want to ripen a rock-hard avocado, enclose it in a paper bag for a day or two.  It will soften right up.

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If You Are Drinking Chocolate Syrup…

I don’t necessarily advise drinking chocolate syrup.  But if your chocolate craving is on the rampage and there’s no other chocolate in the house, why not?  My dad liked Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup, and he would occasionally imbibe straight from the can of syrup we always had in the fridge. 

Maybe that’s why I developed a taste for it too.  However, as my cooking skills progressed, I tried to make a better version.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup is considerably tastier than what comes pre-packaged.  It’s also incredibly easy to make.  It takes 5 minutes.