Artichokes

I love artichokes. I stuff them the way mom always did: equal parts bread crumbs and parmesan cheese, and a couple of cloves of minced garlic. I use Progresso seasoned bread crumbs (it's good enough for mom, so it's good enough for me), so there's no need for additional seasoning.

1. Cut off the stems so the artichokes sit flat, and trim the sharp points off the larger leaves.
2. Wash in cold water, and open up the leaves a little to make room for the stuffing.
3. Stuff each artichoke, and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil.
4. Cook in 1/2" of water in a large pot for about 30 - 45 minutes, or until the a bottom leave comes off easily.

Chicken Parmesan

This is a relatively simple meal to make, since I always have tomato sauce in the freezer. Simple tomato sauce is good, but I usually have Sunday sauce on hand, so I use that.

1. Pound the chicken breasts flat for even cooking.
2. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
   
3. Prepare 3 pie plates, one with flour, one with 3 eggs (scrambled), and one with bread crumbs.
4. Dredge each chicken breast in the flour, shaking off the excess, then the egg, then the bread crumbs.
5. Fry in olive oil over medium heat until nicely brown. The chicken will not be fully cooked at this point.
6. Cover the bottom of a glass baking dish with tomato sauce.
7. Add the chicken in one layer.
8. Spoon tomato sauce over each breast.
9. Pile mozzarella and Parmesan on each breast. I use 2 parts mozzarella to one part Parmesan.
   
10. Bake at 350F for 1/2 hour.

Serve with linguine or any other pasta.

Pomelos: Who knew?

We have lots of citrus this time of year, but this is the first time we've seen pomelos (they're the big yellow-green ones; the others are grapefruit and lemons). We've always had the tree, but this is the first year it's born fruit.

Pomelos are similar to grapefruit, but milder, and they have a much thicker pith. I love them peeled and sliced with a little salt.

We picked at least 3 dozen grapefruit, pomelos, and lemons yesterday, most of which we gave away to friends and family. This time of year we have far more than we can eat; in a month the season's over, and we'll have to wait for next year.