A gourmet cupcake display at a family wedding reception we went to!!!

There must have been ten different flavors...at least that!!!
OH, they were stunning to look at....

My favorite was the White-Strawberry filled. It seriously was like cupcake heaven. I could not get over the lovely flavor of these cupcakes. Yes, I sampled several. Duh.
And there were so many.
And so many flavors too!
Strawberry
Chocolate
Double chocolate
White
Red Velvet
Pink Lemonade
Cinnamon roll (cinnamon roll!!!)
Rainbow (rainbow!!!)

These were gourmet all the way...from the gorgeous decorating to the stunningly moist cake and most importantly, the exquisite flavor of each cupcake.
The gals who make these are out of the Iowa City/Lone Tree area. They should open a bakery eh!!

Finger lickin' good is what this turns out.

Mix your thyme and rosemary together.
Now, I wish the store would have had fresh rosemary but they have been out for three days straight.
So I just used a smaller amount of dried rosemary and it was fine.

You wanna talk about crowding?
Try having claustrophobia and being in any number of those crappy spaces at O'Hare airport with low ceilings and no windows and suffocating air and then you're supposed to take some crappy space prohibitive tiny train to the other side to locate your people? Uh, yeah, no.
Or tiny dark 1920's elevators that barely fit two people in a historic downtown Kansas City hotel with creepy, garish carpeting to boot.
Or standing in line outside an AC/DC concert in the early 80's and being 95 lbs and 5' 2" and people are pushing and shoving and you can't move and you start getting heart palpitations because you just know this is the time you're gonna finally get crushed liked a splattered tomato and they'll never be able to identify who that tiny flattened girl was cuz she was all st

Anyway, drizzle olive oil over the non-crowded chicken pieces.
By the way, the hindquarter pieces were fabulous with this recipe.
P.S. That tiny 95 lb teenager?
Uh, not so "wispy" anymore :):):)
Uh huh.

So this is how everything should look before going into a 400 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

And this is how the Lemon Juice Oil should look all mixed up.
Now just set that aside and let's start on the Basil Chive Red Potato Mash.

So these are the fixins for this nice potato accompaniment to this Roasted Chicken recipe.
Very few ingredients here pack a nice punch.

Cook your red potatoes in water until tender, about 25 minutes.

Drain and then start adding the following goodness...

Grab a spoon and start diggin' in!


Pour your olive oil lemon mixture over the baked chicken pieces...be generous now.

walla!!!!
You have Roast Chicken with a Parsley Lemon Juice Oil.
PLATE 'ER UP!!

Look at the scowl on that chicken!
The fresh lemon rind brings a nice layered flavor to this dish.

And being the starch freak that I am,
here's the potatoey goodness.

In fact,
Little Boy Blue is doing his best scowl impersonation for you.

But now he's lost his concentration.
As 7 month olds are wont to do.
And 48 year olds.
Gotta go start prepping for a Blackened Fish Taco Salad recipe tonight. We'll see how this one goes :):) Yikes.
Thanks for checking in!!!!
See ya soon!
Courtesy www.turnkeyqualitycars.com
Ingredients
For the chicken:
1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken cut in 8 serving pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 sprigs fresh thyme
Olive oil, for drizzling
The rind of 1/2 lemon, zested
For the parsley drizzle:
1/2 bunch parsley
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.
Trim off any excess skin or fat from the chicken. Cut off and discard the wing tips. Place the chicken pieces in an 11 by 13-inch baking pan, or any pan that that they fit in without crowding. Season the chicken pieces generously with salt, pepper, olive oil, the herbs, and the lemon zest. Toss through all the seasonings and then arrange the chicken piece skin side up in the pan. You can season the chicken pieces and set them up in the roaster up to a day before you cook them. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Roast until the skin is nicely browned and there is no pink near the thigh bone and the juices run clear, about 35 to 40 minutes. Check both white meat and dark meat. If the white meat is done before the dark meat, take it out and set it on the serving plate until the dark meat is done.
For the parsley drizzle, wash and dry the parsley. Remove the leaves from the stems and chop the leaves finely. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and use immediately to garnish the roast chicken.