Meet our February Mom of the Month, Kathleen of Sugar and Spice and everything nice.
A lover of life, fashion, food, photography, and family; the beautiful Kathleen is mom to three rambunctious children and three frisky beagles.
The scene opens at Williams Sonoma in South Coast Plaza with Kathleen anxiously awaiting her moment with Ina Garten at a book signing of her new book, Barefoot Contessa, how easy is that?
Kathleen: ”Hi Ina, how are you today” {it was loud and I was standing}
Ina: {smiles}
Kathleen: squats down to eye level “what is your most favorite recipe from this book?”
Ina: “the lemon chicken breasts (see below) add some couscous and vegetable. Throw it together and put it in the oven. You’ll love it – do you cook?”
Kathleen: “Yes, and will you sign my wooden spoon?”
Ina: “super… great spoon”
Kathleen: “Your poor hand, it’s going to be tired”
Ina: “good thing not yet”
Kathleen: “Thanks for being such an inspiration to me, I can now cross something off my Bucket List; meeting you”
Ina: {smiles with a little giggle}
William Sonoma representative: “….Ms. Ms. this way please”
Kathleen: {smiles with a little giggle}
I had just met a woman on my Lifetime’s Greatest Influences list – and she was lovely 
And now for her favorite recipe from ”Barefoot Contessa, how easy is that?”.
Lemon Chicken Breast
From Barefoot Contessa, how easy is that?
Ingredients:
» 1/4 cup good olive oil
» 3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
» 1/3 cup dry white wine
» 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
» 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
» 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
» 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
» Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
» 4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each)
» 1 lemon
Serves 4
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just one minute — but don’t allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme and 1 teaspoon salt, and pour into a 9-by-12-inch baking dish.
Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in eight wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn’t browned enough, put it under the broiler for two minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.
Photo credit: Quentin Bacon, Barefoot Contessa ”How Easy Is That?” by Ina Garten
Hi Kathleen, what a fun experience…and she signed your spoon
Beautiful dish, love all of the garlic
Love it! Great Job.
I love the post. And your new photos in your Banner are fantastic, just like you.
@Kathleen – Aww, thanks. And thank you for being a Top Mom and sharing Ina and her lovely lemon chicken with us
Must be really exciting to meet Ina Garden….how fun that you even brought the spoon for her to sign
)
So funny…Zomppa Patty has a she-crush on her too!! Happy for you for meeting her!
I love meeting people who inspire me!! Ina is my favorite Food Network chef (she’s one of the few that remain who doesn’t completely suck… sorry, but it’s true). That’s great to find out what her favorite recipe is from the book. Thanks for sharing
What a great post, thanks for sharing it! The recipe looks amazing too. It is always so nice to meet people that you really look up to!
What a great recipe! (And, I’m so sad I missed this opportunity to meet Ina.) We actually have everything we need in the garden right now to make this. Perfect for a mid-week dinner.
[K]
Hi Kathleen…thank you for sharing this delicious recipe with me. I love chicken breasts, and I’m always looking for new ways to prepare them. You can never go wrong with Ina! Thank you for sharing, sweet woman. May your Sunday be one of peace and love.
Such a fun experience and the chicken sounds lovely with the lemon flavor and fresh thyme! Nice!
How awesome is this? Delicious recipe – my mouth is watering! You can never go wrong with one of Ina’s recipes!
made this last night and left cookbook at the office. This post saved me. So so good. I used bone in chicken breasts and had to cook a bit more.
Ina is my favorite food network star! I have made several of her recipes and have enjoyed them all. I plan to prepare her lemon chicken recipe for dinner tonight and look forward to serving this to my family. Thanks!!!!!
LOVE Ina Garten! Watched her make this recipe yesterday and then looked it up online to discover this post. Made it last night and it came out great. I used skin-on, bone-in split chicken breasts which is what my grocery store had available and it worked. Would have preferred bone out, skin on, but unless you go to a butcher, it’s difficult to find. Also didn’t have fresh thyme. I used an Italian spice mix which was great, but I’m sure the fresh herbs would have really knocked it out of the park.
@Liz Ann – Glad you found her recipe here
It’s such a simple recipe that yields great results!
Hi, I found this recipe on Pinterest, and OMG this was the most delicious chicken in the world! Dare I say, my absolute favorite EVER!
I actually reviewed it on my blog. Feel free to check it out at http://www.2girlsandapin.com/2-girls-and-a-pin-test-ina-gartens-lemon-chicken/
Thank you SO SO much for posting this recipe. It was absolutely divine!
Take care,
Jelena
Awww, this made my day – so glad you liked it. I love it when readers take the time to tell me how much they love a recipe! Thanks, Jelena