Friends – hi! I have so missed you. I hope all is going well with all of your summers. I am desperately clinging to July and hoping it doesn’t pass as quickly as June.
Well, we did it! We have officially left (and closed) on Shady Lane and are adjusting to our new home on Canyon Creek. The adjusting period didn’t take very long as L woke up the first morning saying ‘this already feels like home.’ And I couldn’t agree more.
It’s funny looking back now. After having ALL THE EMOTIONS over leaving my beloved Cape Cod I have thought about it maybe all of two minutes since leaving. We so made the right decision for our family and, as I sit out on the deck for a brief few moments to have my morning coffee, I actually have thought ‘did I die?’ It all seems too perfect.
Cars filled with family and friends and baseball players and delivery men have been in and out all week. It’s been all crazy fun good stuff happening. I’ve barely seen B as he’s been running around with our new neighbor boy Blaze (4) who is completely adorable and followed by his sweet younger brother Nico (2) all the while L is playing ball with the oldest Bowie, (7). Yep, five boys. Our neighbors join us today (!!!) which will round out the tally to six boys and one girl. If there was any girl that could handle those odds it would be Meadow.
The actual move went almost flawless. I was so impressed at how fast it all seemed to go and we made it through the (long) day almost unscathed. A fooseball table falling on B was just bound to happen. He is that kid.
In the midst of all the chaos, one of my mother in laws stopped by with an absolutely unbelievable platter of grilled lemon chicken, perfect little roasted potatoes and green beans and tomatoes all tossed with a mustardy herby vinaigrette. I think she had barely set it on the counter before I was grabbing at it. You know what you don’t do a lot of while getting read to move, staging a home, and actually moving?
Eat.
I was…..starving. And we inhaled in and immediately I was craving more.
Dinner this past weekend with the new neighbors and dear friends seemed like the perfect opportunity to make the beautiful platter myself. I love meals like this for entertaining, love them. I marinaded the chicken the day before, prepped the vinaigrette and blanched the green beans in the morning, sliced up the tomatoes mid day, grilled the chicken prior to company arriving and roasted the potatoes right before people walked in the door so something delicious smelling greeted them. All that was left to do was, well, enjoy a glass of wine together.
Summer entertaining at it’s finest. Can’t wait for more!
- 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 lbs small potatoes, halved if needed into 1/2 inch or so chunks
- a few heirloom tomatoes, sliced and sprinkled with sea salt
- 1 lbs green beans, trimmed, and cooked in boiling water for a few minutes then rinsed in ice cold water to maintain a bit of a bite and bright color
- 1/4 c Dijon mustard
- 3 TB white wine vinegar
- 3/4 c olive oil
- 2/3 c chopped shallots
- 2 TB fresh chopped rosemary
- 2 tsp chopped sage
- Marinade the chicken the day or so before. Grill on medium high heat until cooked, roughly 5-7 minutes per side. Slice and spear on sticks for easy eating.
- Make the vinaigrette: mix mustard and vinegar in bowl and gradually which in olive oil. Add shallots and herbs salt and pepper.
- For the green beans, once cooked and cooled toss with a few TBS of the vinaigrette. Let marinade.
- For the potatoes, arrange on a large tray with a few TBS of the vinaigrette. Roast at 450 for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 375 for another 30 minutes or so.
- Once done, toss the potatoes with the additional vinaigrette.
- Assemble everything on the platter: sliced tomatoes, marinaded green beans, grilled chicken, and roasted potatoes. Enjoy!
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Courtney
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So glad to see you back to blogging! Although I can’t say we were overly sad about leaving our old home, the emotions were there up until moving day. And the second we landed…I never looked back. Totally get it! Glad to see everything is on the up and up, Court!
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