Country BBQ Chicken and Fried Onions-n-Potatoes

I didn't have time to post my last recipe in the challenge until now.  Day 4 was a BBQ sauce recipe I came across.  I have no idea where it came from, I found a copy I had printed or someone had given me.  We eat a lot of chicken, and it is always nice to have a dish you can count on.  The sauce was very easy.

Combine all of the following in a saucepan over medium heat:

• 1/2 cup chopped onions, sauted briefly to soften (this was my addition to the recipe, the original did not call for sauteeing the onions first.  I prefer the cooked onion flavor)
• 1 cup ketchup
•  1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon dry mustard
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  I wouldn't skimp on this part - it really needed the 15 minutes to get the best flavor.  Then I just poured the sauce over a batch of boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  I usually eat the boneless breasts, but we did not have them in.  Bake  in the preheated oven until done and the juices run clear.  This would be even better on the grill, but I didn't have the time to stand outside and watch it.

I served it with just mixed vegatables, pretty ho-hum but I had them in the freezer, and my best fried onions-and-potatoes. 

For my potatoes, I used three large baking potatoes, and microwaved them for 5 minutes after piercing the skins with a fork.  This makes for a much faster side dish.  While they are microwaving, I chop onions, and start them in a frying pan in some olive oil.  After 5 minutes in the mircowave, the potatoes are almost fully cooked.  Remove the skins if you like (I prefer them on but hubby does not), and chop into bite size pieces.  Add to the onions, and let them brown a bit before turning. Stir periodically. 

After about 10 minutes (and here is the part that makes them so yummy), add some chunks of butter to the bottom of the frying pan, and allow that to melt.  Then mix the butter into the potatoes, and let them sit again.  A few minutes later, add a few more chunks of butter (think Paula Deen) and wait for it to melt and mix again.  Add some salt and pepper to taste.  By now, parts of the potatoes and onions have gotten nice and crusty and brown.

Good comfort food.  The BBQ sauce tasted good mixed into everything.

Welcome, and Thanks for stopping by....

Welcome to my new blog! I’ve been wanting to write again and Facebook isn’t exactly the proper medium for lengthy writing. So I decided to start blogging again, about the things that matter most to me – my large family, cooking for them, sewing and quilting, and any other things that happen to come up. Maybe I can get some of my family to do some Guest Posting here, as well. I could probably convince my sisters, at least (hint, hint).  Or maybe a couple of my foodie cousins - you know who you are, ladies. 


Probably because I work full-time from home, blogging over the last two years became almost like a window to the outside world, and with that, brought people into my life I might never encounter otherwise. I have had the opportunity to meet bloggers whose writing I enjoyed, and also people who enjoyed my own. A personal relationship develops when you read someone’s thoughts and dreams, even if you have never met. They become your friends, your family in a way, and perhaps you share things with your readers that you might not share in person. It opens up a whole world of varied thoughts, opinions, pictures, feelings – the list is endless. Oh, and I can’t forget – recipes!

When I first started working from home, I thought I would finally be able to spend time cooking the way I always wanted to. Unfortunately, I was mistaken, since my time is spent working and taking care of my five year old when she is not in school. I often get tired of thinking up new ideas for lunch and dinner. So, to challenge myself during the upcoming month of November, I decided to begin a ‘30 Recipes in 30 Days’ marathon of sorts.

So here are my rules for myself – Every day during November, I must try a new recipe I have never tried before, or make up a new one. To make it more interesting, I cannot use the same cookbook twice. This rule may not work for everyone, but I have a large cookbook collection and decided I should make good use of them. For that reason, I am excluding online recipes from my marathon. I can also use them, but they can’t be my main new recipe of the day. The recipe does not have to be a main dish, but it can’t be a recipe that only I will eat - my husband does not eat seafood so I can’t just cook seafood all month. Crazy, I know, but I love him anyway.  The perk is, I never have to share my food when we go out to eat! 

I suppose I should not just make 30 desserts, either, huh? Maybe I will save that for January's recipe marathon.

Here are just some of my cookbooks that I keep in the kitchen.  The beige cookbook on the bottom right is my much-loved Family cookbook, put together some years ago by my cousin Marge et al.  My copy is getting pretty dirty, which is how you can tell the most-used ones.  As much as I try, I cannot seem to keep my cookbooks clean.

Beginning November 1st, I will start posting about my recipe marathon. Feel free to join me, and let me know how you make out. And be sure to share your recipes and ideas, I am always looking for something new!