The recipe box.  Do people actually have these anymore?  Or are they obsolete because of computers and smart technology?  (I don’t own any smart technology but I am assuming if it is so smart it would have recipes loaded on it.)

I was cleaning one of my kitchen cabinets and found my cute little recipe box.  I think I bought it in my teens and had about 100 or so recipes tucked into it.  It was a treasure chest filled with memories of how I’ve grown as a cook.  (I found a little treasure too…there was a twenty tucked in there for a rainy day.)

Some of the recipe cards were very, very basic like hard-boiled eggs or “macaroni.”  (Not homemade pasta, just how to boil water, add salt and add noodles.)  There were some more complex dishes like Salad Dressing Chicken (um, chicken with salad dressing) and Cheese Chunk with Bacon Bits (that was doused in salad dressing too.)

I could tell when I started to read cooking magazines because all of the sudden my terminology was evolving.  I used words like sauté, season and deglaze in my directions.    (I also used some abbreviations that I am still trying to decode.)

My cards were also a bit calculating as they uncovered which recipes were meant for “love interests” and “man gittin’.”  (Okay, I also found a couple of articles from Cosmo but I am too embarrassed to tell you their titles.)

I think the funniest part of the recipe cards is that my “authentic” ethnic recipes were developed without any real research.  I probably looked in the encyclopedia (Do people still own encyclopedias?) for foods common to different regions but I don’t think I went any further than that.  (I may have made a list of common exports/imports too because you never know when that may come up in a conversation.)

So when I found my recipe for Greek Chicken, I questioned the authenticity of the dish but never questioned the genuine great taste that I remembered.  *See Note Below.

“Greek Chicken”

Ingredients

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts

½ cup olive oil

½ cup lemon juice

1.5 Tbsp dried oregano

Salt and Pepper

Lemon Slices from one lemon

Directions

Oven 350,

Lay your chicken breasts in medium casserole dish.  (Don’t overlap so they cook evenly)

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice and oregano.  Pour over chicken.

Top with sliced lemon.

Bake for 30 minutes flipping the chicken at the 15-minute mark.  (Adjust time accordingly if you are using huge breasts.)

*Please note:  I would probably make Greek chicken differently if I made it today but I love how this chicken tastes over pasta so I wouldn’t change a thing….except the name!