Wonderful dinner!!!

I'm back on the cooking and ejoying it bandwagon :)

Tonight we had cranberry marinated chicken and roasted sweet potatoes with a butter and cinnamon sugar glaze. They were both AMAZING!!!

For the chicken...
I did 4 leg and thigh quarters (Frozen)
over them I poured (combined)
1 can cranberry sauce
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 cup French/Catalina dressing


I let the chicken defrost and marinate for about 6 hrs on the counter-top.
I put foil over the top and cooked it at 425* for 20 minutes, then I removed the foil and dropped the oven temp. to 375* and cooked it for another 30 minutes.


For the potatoes...
I melted 1/2 a stick of butter and combined it with 1/4 cup of cinnamon and sugar (1tsp cinnamon, 1/4 cup sugar)
I tossed 1 inch potato cubes in that.
I used 2 medium peeled, cubed potatoes

Those were cooked uncovered in the oven (on the lower rack) while the chicken cooked on the top rack. The potatoes were a little too done, I will probably only cook them for 30 minutes if I do them again with this chicken.

The kids loved the potatoes and the chicken, it is definately going to be a do-again here.

Bread pudding

I love Magpie's. It's a little restaurant in Old Town St. Charles. The food is AMAZING! The salads, soups, sandwiches, quiches, and even desserts. I discovered their bread pudding a couple years ago with my sister. Since then, I'm always looking for an excuse to go with friends or family members just to induge some more in it. While googling a few months ago, I found their recipe for bread pudding!!! Since it's dreary and rainy today, I thought it would be a perfect day to make bread pudding. :) It will also make the perfect ending tonight to my London Broil and potato dinner.

2 French baguettes (day-old or older, each 30 inches long and 8 to 10 ounces)

1/2 gallon whole milk

1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

4 eggs

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) cold butter

The day before serving, tear bread into 1-inch pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Pour in milk, pushing on bread so that it is covered by milk. Cover bowl; refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan (see note).

Stir apple, raisins and cranberries into soaked bread. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, sugars, cinnamon and vanilla. Pour into the bread mixture; stir well.

Pour into prepared pan. Cut the butter into small pieces and randomly insert into the pudding.

Bake about 1 hour, until a knife inserted into the center comes out sticky. (If it looks milky and wet, the pudding is not quite done. If "set" pudding clings to the knife, it is done.) Cut into pieces; serve with caramel sauce and/or vanilla ice cream.