The holidays always bring about the need for great main courses, lavish tables and … Snacks.  Lots of snacks.  While there are hundreds that can be made to please the kiddies and the less adventurous in the house, there will always be a few people hoping to find something just a bit different to nosh on while the family meal is being prepared, or afterward while friends and family reminisce about the year past and tales of childhood.

This year I also had to consider snacks that would ship well so that I could send them off to my lovely wife in Turkey.  One obvious option was Tea Cookies, and we did make a batch or two of those to send her way, but one of my fondest food memories with her was her reaction to the Spicy Salt-Roasted Peanuts we made around Valentine’s day last year.  she could not stop eating these delectable little morsels, though she complained mightily about it.  They were the perfect choice.

The thing is, I hate predictability.  I wanted to add a twist to the nuts she already knew and loved to go along with the ones she remembered.  Since Curry is a very large part of the rub I use on our Thanksgiving and Christmas birds, I thought that it would be an appropriate choice…  I was right.  These are amazing.

Thanks again to David Lebovitz, from which the inspiration for this recipe belongs.

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It’s been a while since I mentioned the package that was sent to me by CurrySimple. To be honest, I was on such a curry kick for a while that I burned myself out on the concept of trying any of the three remaining pouches in the box.

When we moved in to the new house, the package went missing for a bit. I ran across it the other day in the “pile of things we haven’t unpacked yet” in my bedroom closet and immediately knew I had to give it another shot. The problem was, I still had three choices and I couldn’t figure out which one I wanted to try first. It took me two days to decide on their Gourmet Yellow Curry Sauce and I’m glad that I did.

This dish is decidedly simple and relies on some pretty simple ingredients and can be whipped up by anyone. It came to be simply because these are the things that I had in my fridge, freezer and pantry. The whole affair took about 30 minutes, including cooking the rice and was happily gobbled down by the adults in the house in near record time.

The cauliflower went incredibly well with the curry, as did the pork. The red, green and yellow bell peppers added just the right combination of sweet, tart and in-betweens to make this a tongue-tingling experience, but to be honest, this curry is only the tiniest bit spicy, and in my mind could have used just a hair more of a bite, even the next day.

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It is with great pride that I present you with Your Pantry or Mine No.1, Part two of 3 2 highlighting the contents of the Computer Diva’s pantry. We’re back for round two of our scheduled three rounder.

Unfortunately, there won’t be a round three this time around. Budget and time constraints simply wouldn’t allow three dishes, but I’m hoping that this gem will be enough to make up for that.

When Jess sent in her list of ingredients and I asked for the updated list of teas and coffees, I think she thought I was insane, but I was hoping I’d see one of a few items for something just like this, and to my delight, chai spice tea was on the list.

This is probably one of the simplest recipes I’ve ever posted on Cooking… by the seat of my Pants, but don’t let that stop you from giving this a whirl. The flavors and aromas of this dish are something just this side of heaven, with hints of Indian spice tugging at all of the senses at the same time.

Set aside a bit of time though. While the method is as simple as it gets, you will have to remember to get the chicken brining in the morning if you’d like everything to be ready after work, and a full 8 hour brine time will impart the maximum amount of flavor to the meat, which is definitely what you’re looking for here. As a lovely side effect, the brine will keep even chicken breasts moist, tender and delicious when cooked.

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