Siblings

You all may not know this but I have a brother, and in my humble and completely unbiased opinion, I think he’s the best.  I mean, sure, your brother is probably pretty cool, but mine sends me random mock-up photos of Arthur the Aardvark with Supreme Court justices during finals for a laugh.

He so gets me.

He’s been away from home for school for a good four years, but is back in Chicago for the summer.  Having him back home made me think about our relationship and how lucky I am to have such a great brother.

We’re close now, but it didn’t start out that way.  My mom tells me often that the worst day in my brother’s young life was when I learned how to pull myself up on a couch and could reach all his toys which he had moved to the couch to avoid my grubby little hands.  He lost his private play area then and life was never the same.

I was definitely an annoying little sister.  When I think about it, I probably still am.  I constantly wanted his attention and crashed in on him playing with our neighbors more times than I count.  I also spilled holy water that my grandparents had gotten him from Lourdes, France all over the floor.  I don’t remember the circumstances of that particular instance, but I do remember the yelling afterwards.  I eventually grew on him, though,especially  when he learned that the best part of having a baby sister is teasing her.

Over the years we went from being these siblings bothering each other to ones who genuinely rely on each other for advice and help.  He has been my biggest champion during this long, long journey known as law school, and I like to think I’ve been his, too.  He’s at law school over at University of Pennsylvania (which is an Ivy League, btw, he’s such a smartie), and I’ve called him more times than I can count seeking help on a certain problem I’ve encountered or advice about the job search.  Or that one time my car wouldn’t start the day before I was supposed to drive home from school and I called him in a panic because my knowledge of cars does not exceed driving them.

I also get to hear him complain about University of Pennsylvania specific things, which will never, ever stop being funny.  At U of I, it’s just a completely different atmosphere.  I complain about undergrads crowding the Starbucks or people sleeping at tables in the library, and he complains about John Legend’s impromptu concert on campus interrupting his studying.

#IvyLeagueProblems

So, here’s to great siblings!  Tell me about yours!

Lemon Chicken Breasts

I love fresh herbs, but I hate spending three dollars on a pack of them where I only end up using about a quarter in a recipe and then the rest molds in the back of my refrigerator.  I’m not the type of person that thinks – oh, let me think of every way to use up this leftover rosemary!  I wish I was!  I’d be making all these fancy soaps and herb-scented everything, but I just don’t have time for that.  So, this summer I really wanted to work on getting my own little herb garden going.  That way, I only pick what I need and don’t waste a bunch of perfectly good herbs.

Last week Whole Foods had a sale on small potted herb plants and I picked up three.  I got myself thyme, rosemary, and parsley.  I was really excited about the rosemary because it’s one of my favorite herbs outside of my beloved basil.  I love the scent of rosemary and the earthiness it adds to dishes.  And, now that I have my own little pot, it was such a joy to just step into my backyard for the rosemary in this chicken dish!

I implore all of you to try this out, even if you’re not big chicken fans.  I personally don’t love chicken – especially when I cook it – but I was looking for something quick and nutritious.  This takes about an hour to make, but you are only active for probably fifteen or twenty minutes.  After that you just pop the chicken in the oven, and you can do other things, like clean the kitchen or catch up on Vampire Diaries.  I may or may not have done the second.

Lemon Chicken Breasts

Ingredients

1/4 cup of olive oil

9 cloves of garlic, minced

1/3 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

salt/pepper

4 chicken breasts

1 lemon, halved and cut into eight wedges

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Heat the oil in a medium sauté pan and add the garlic.  Cook just until fragrant, not letting it brown.  Remove from heat and add the wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, and rosemary.  Whisk to combine and then pour into a large baking dish.

Take the chicken breasts and generously season each side with salt and pepper.  Place in the baking dish and then tuck the lemon wedges in between the chicken breasts.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Source:  Slightly adapted from Ina Garten