There is just nothing better than walking in the door after a crazy Saturday to the sumptuous scents of dinner cooking away in the oven.

And what a dinner.

Victor marinated chicken breasts in fresh-squeezed orange juice and a bit of olive oil all day.  He drained them, breaded them with homemade bread crumbs and toipped them with parmesan cheese.  Into a 425° oven for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, he cubed a couple of red potatoes, chopped a couple of carrots and a red bell pepper and roasted them in the same 425° oven.

The chicken really had a pronounced orange flavor that was both unexpected and totally delightful.  I really liked it.

It’s definitely giving me some ideas for Spring!

In the meantime, I received a couple of real treats at work today!  Before Christmas I had been speaking with a customer about our Christmas cookies and, as she is German, was mentioning the Springerle cookies I had made.  She said she had a spice cookie that was excellent and would bring me in the recipe.  Today, she brought in the recipe for Anisplätzchen – the anise cookie, plus a short dough Butter cookie, and her mother’s Kraftkuchen – a spice cake!

I am psyched!

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy day, so I may just have to make a spice cake!

There are just so many foods and so little time!

The second treat came in the form of a woman I have emailed with for years – my counterpart from Batavia, IL!  Finally, after all these years, I finally got to meet her in person!  Anne and I traded recipes and ideas back in the good ol’ days and she has contributed several recipes to the “Quick and Easy” section.  She’s even more fabulous in person!

A great day, indeed!