Coq Au Vin; New Baby in the House

Coq Au Vin

Could it be that coq au vin is the most delicious meal in the world? Perhaps. What I do know is that the French person that threw together the first coq au vin was a gastronomic genius. The recipe that I use is from the Fanny Farmer Cookbook (yes, a shocker), is not really that difficult to make, and is a family pleaser.


Here's a pretty picture of coq au vin that I didn't take.

You will need:

6 tablespoons butter (omit if you want to be healthier)
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 - 5 pounds of bone in chicken, chopped into parts
1/2 cup chopped bacon (my substitution, the recipe calls for ham)
3 medium yellow onions
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon thyme
3 sprigs parsley
2 bay leaves
8 oz. mushrooms
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 cup dry red wine

Preheat your oven to 275 F. Melt the butter and oil in a large Dutch oven and brown the chicken pieces on all sides. Remove to a plate. Add bacon, chopped onions, garlic, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, mushrooms, salt, and pepper to the Dutch oven and saute until the bacon begins to crisp. Pour in the red wine to deglaze the pan and put the chicken back into the Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 2 hours. Prepare to momentarily die from the deliciousness.

New Baby In the House

Yes, for the night, we have another baby in our house. Meet Michelle, Kendall's Consumer Sciences baby.



Since we've been home, baby Michelle has had 2 bouts of crying which lasted about 2 minutes each. We've been here about an hour. Tim and I are hoping that Michelle is realistic and cries every 2 to 3 hours all night long. I was a little concerned about Will's reaction to the crying fake baby, but after one episode of crying Uncle Will got his priorities in order and went back about his business.

We are in the midst of a full on Yo Gabba Gabba takeover in this house. Can you find 3 Brobees in this picture? There are more in this house. Along with Plex, Toodie, Muno's guitar, The Dancy Dance dvd - need I go on? It's all good, though, because I think the show is amazing. It deals extremely well with manners, race relations, friendship, and the music is totally rockin'! Only 3 more days until the Jack Black premier episode!