Let's keep this thread going. We enjoy Lidia's Family Table/ Italian-American shows. She featured an easy recipe using chicken breasts, capers, red wine vinegar. She said it could be made using pork chops. This appealed to hubby so he made it for dinner one nite this week, using boneless pork chops. It's a delicious sauce. Skillet Chicken Breasts Aglio e Olio source: Lidia's Italy 6 chicken breast halves, skinless and boneless, about 2 pounds (we used boneless pork chops) 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed 1/2 cup flour, for dredging the chicken 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons butter 8 garlic cloves, sliced 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 3 tablespoons capers, drained 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 cup vegetable broth 3 tablespoons Italian parsley, freshly chopped 1 tablespoon bread crumbs Trim the chicken breast halves of all bits fat, skin or connective tissue with a paring knife. Do not cut off the tenders-the small loose flap of muscle on the underside of each half-but flatten them firmly against the larger piece, to form a neat oval. Sprinkle both sides of the breasts with salt, using about 1/2 teaspoon in all. Spread the flour on a piece wax paper and press and toss each breast to coat lightly on all surfaces; shake off excess. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and all the butter in the pan over medium heat. When the butter is almost completely melted, lay the breasts in the pan, with space between them. Let them cook in place, without moving them, until they're sizzling. After 2 minutes or so, lift the first breast you put in the pan and check the underside. You want it to be lightly tinged with brown (not merely pale, but not brown all over either). Cook longer if needed, and then turn all the breasts over when they've just begun to color. Quickly scatter all the garlic slices into the spaces between the chicken, turn the heat up slightly, shake the pan and stir the slices around in the hot fat so they separate. After a minute or a bit more, when the garlic has begun to sizzle, sprinkle the red pepper flakes in a hot spot; toast for a minute; then spill the capers in several hot spots around the pan. Give the skillet a few good shakes to distribute the seasonings and run the hot juices all around the breasts. Raise the heat another notch: when everything's sizzling hard, pour the red wine vinegar into the open spaces and shake the pan to spread it. Let the vinegar sizzle and reduce for a 1/2 minute or so, then pour in the broth. Cook at full blast now, quickly bringing the liquid to a boil. As it cooks, drizzle the remaining two tablespoons of oil all around the pan and sprinkle on another 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Let the sauce bubble and reduce for a couple of minutes, shaking the skillet frequently, then sprinkle the bread crumbs into the sauce (not on the chicken) and stir and shake to mix it in. Within a minute or two, the crumbs will thicken the sauce visibly; cook, shaking the skillet, until it has the consistency you like. Turn off the heat, scatter the parsley over everything-and shake the skillet again. Serve immediately.

Such great stories! I don't have terribly funny experiences, but a cute one...Christmas Eve I tried to get the kids to bed, but had little luck. We kept telling them that Santa couldn't come till everyone was in bed, so they headed off to their rooms. I could hear the boys giggling in their room and then I heard DD2 (who was 6 at the time) loudly whisper to them "BE QUIET! I heard the reindeers on the roof!" And the boys gasped and shut up really fast. That morning as they were opening gifts she told us that she heard the reindeer on the roof and she saw the shadow of Santa's sleigh on her window shade. She was utterly serious! That same year at Easter she was up early and caught me as I was trying to hide eggs. Her eyes got really big when we heard a thump on the porch (the dog) and she whispered "mommy, do you think that's the Easter Bunny?" I whispered back yes, and she quickly ran back to bed to wait till her sister got up so it would be safe to come out. Only other story is the year my Aunt was getting married. The wedding was on December 26th and my Mom was hosting Christmas dinner. She'd had the 28 lb turkey sitting in the sink thawing (they did that back in the 70's!) and our dog got hold of it while everyone was at the rehearsal dinner. We got home to find a VERY sick dog and a half eaten half frozen turkey carcass. Dad had to find an emergency vet (on Christmas Eve) and mom luckily found a butcher open so she could find a ham instead. The dog survived, but my mom has never trusted another dog since.

When I was young, somewhere around 5 - 8 or so, I was doing something in church, maybe squirming, that displeased Dad, so he reached over and gave the lobe of my ear a substantial tweak. I made a sound of protest, rather loudly. Wrong move. Dad led me out of the church, across the lot to the church shed, built when we had horses drawing buggies, with concrete walls and a high, metal roof. I think that he took me to the far end of the shed and ministered to my legs and rear end with his belt. On the conclusion of the exercise, we were headed back into church, with my hand in Dad's, and I, embarrassed, said that I wasn't going back in there. Dad gave me a choice - back into church ... or a return to the shed. I chose to return to church (as the least unpalatable of two evils, possibly?). It was mid-June, with all of the windows in church open, and after church, Dad asked the man of the family that occupied the next pew for many years whether they'd heard any of the operation. "Every crack ... and every yell", was the reply. Ole joyful ... who made the mistake, a couple of years later, of leaning over and advising younger brother, when he began doing a similar activity in church, that he'd better stop ... or Dad would take him out to the church shed

It isn't so much where it is, but where it's not. Think of the expression to "get your _ _ _ in a wringer" literally and that's where I, tongue in cheek, come out on this.