Honeymoon Chicken

My 25th anniversary has been fast approaching and I admit that I've been feeling unsentimental about it-- until today. For some reason I Googled "Door County, WI" with a thought of searching for accommodations.

Hmm...Maybe we could do a family trip with our two sons here in CO, my son and his wife from CA, and maybe my parents from GA; all of us going to WI to stay in a rental house for a week. Tom and I haven't been back to Door County since our honeymoon in 1981. I have memories of the many green trees, little towns dotting the coastline, walks beside a very cold Lake Michigan, seeing BIG trout, finding art galleries, buying a couple of special things to take home, and eating at a fish boil. Their famous fish boil is a dinner of potatoes, onions, and whitefish cooked in a kettle outdoors. Door County is all coastline and seems we drove around a lot during that week. Going online today and seeing photos and descriptions of lodging took me on a little virtual tour of a place with many memories. Before the honeymoon I had visited a few times with friends and stayed in different villages. Suddenly I was feeling sentimental and wanting to go back there, and wondering if a big family trip would be a nice way to re-experience it, or whether Tom and I would do better to just go as a couple again. No plans yet. Finances are probably too tight right now and any time off should be spent in CA helping out Tom's parents (presently with health problems) or in GA with my relatives. But still, it is an appealing thought. So much so that I spontaneously changed my dinner plans today to recreate the first meal I cooked on our honeymoon. Through friends we were provided a wonderful house surrounded by trees and across the road from the shore. We arrived there after the wedding on Day 2 and promptly decided to pull the mattress off the bed, out of the bedroom, and place it on the living room floor to enjoy the view of the trees and sky morning and evening. We slept a lot. Exhaustion and stress from our jobs and months of planning caught up with us when we finally relaxed. We cooked some of our meals at the house when we weren't driving around exploring. Here is the recipe for the Greek chicken dish we enjoyed 25 years ago:

Kotopoulo Kapama (Braised Chicken)

1 chicken (or 4 chicken breasts)
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
1- 1/2 c. chopped peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 c. white wine
1 bay leaf
2 in. cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut chicken into serving pieces and wipe dry.
2. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan, frying pan, or dutch oven. Brown chicken on all sides. Remove to a plate.
3. Reduce heat and add onion and garlic.
4. Fry gently until onion is transparent and add remaining ingredients.
5. Return chicken to pan, cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes or until chicken is tender.
6. Remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick and serve with boiled spaghetti, linguine, or macaroni and grated fresh parmesan.

Tonight I served it on a rectangular ceramic platter. The chicken was placed on the pasta and covered with the cinnamon-tinged tomato sauce and fresh grated parmesan. I decorated it with fresh basil and sage from the garden. We dined on our small side deck--the one with the aspen tree coming up through it. Just enough room for our little red table and 2 chairs. The candle bravely lit our small space even though it had wilted earlier in the hot sun. On the CD player was Natalie Cole:" Take A Look" (we couldn't find "Unforgettable.") The wind in the trees above was so loud we had to keep turning the volume of the music up. After eating we re-oriented our chairs toward the bench to put our feet up for a while. We had some planning to do--not for our anniversary, but for a young man's engagement. Our son's friend is going to use our back yard to propose to his girlfriend. They met last year when both were in Jeff and Krista's wedding. We hosted the rehearsal dinner here in our back yard. It was a romantic evening in the garden at its peak, with lights strung through the trees, music, good food, and a special time of visiting with loved ones we seldom see. This weekend we offered to recreate the romance for another go 'round.

Tonight we had our own little romantic meal. An anniversary-eve surprise. Tomorrow (June 6) is our actual anniversary date, but the weekend will be the soonest we can go out. Maybe we can yet plan something more special--like a trip?