Contest Winner!

Congratulations to Deanne and her fabulous zucchini bread recipe that I can't wait to try. You are the winner of a signed copy of Alison Pace's latest, You Tell Your Dog First

Shoot me your mailing addy to staceyballisinfo (at) gmail (dot) com and Alison will put it in the mail to you, probably after the Frankenstorm is over.

For the rest of you, I cannot recommend it highly enough.  And for those of you in the path of the storm, a perfect new read!  Download it on your Kindles before the power goes out!

In all seriousness, for those of you being affected by Sandy, I hope you stay safe.

Stay tuned later this week for another fab giveaway!

Yours in Good Taste,
The Polymath

Guest post from my pal Alison Pace with a giveaway!

Hello Chickens-  

Stopping in to introduce you to my dear friend Alison Pace.  Alison is the author of such fab books as Pug Hill and A Pug's Tale, and her latest book of essays, You Tell Your Dog First I had the joy to read early, and it is a wonderful series of funny and heartwarming stories about the dogs she has known and loved.  I told her that she could stop by here to tell you about it and give away a copy, as long as she also brought a terrific Fall recipe for all of us.  And she has obliged.  Comment below with either your fave dog story or your fave fall recipe by 11:59PM CST Friday and we will pick one randomly to receive a signed copy of You Tell Your Dog First.

Ali-  Take it away!  Your Polymath

Hi All,

Alison Pace  here.  I’m a fellow writer and good friend of Stacey’s.  And because Stacey is such a good friend, she invited me to be a guest here in celebration of the publication of my new book, YOU TELL YOUR DOG FIRST  Yes, the book is about dogs and life lived with dogs. It’s also very much about family and friendship and finding your place in the world.

In YOU TELL YOUR DOG FIRST, I write a lot about all the dogs I remember from my childhood.  Another thing I remember, vividly, from my childhood is the Hungarian chicken my mom (who shows up a lot in the book) makes.  It’s up there on my list of favorite things to eat and it’s also one of the things I most love to recreate in my own kitchen.  This is a great cold-weather dish, hearty and comforting and fills the house with old-world smells and warmth.  And it’s really pretty easy to make:

HUNGARIAN CHICKEN (Chicken in Red Sauce)

4  Chicken breast half’s boned with the skin on

            2  Large Spanish onions

            3 TBS  Extra Virgin Olive Oil

            2 TBS Butter

            3 Small cans of tomato puree

            Salt and Pepper

Melt the olive oil and butter in a heavy pot.  Dice the onions, add to the butter and oil, generously add salt and pepper and sauté until just starting to brown, scraping up the brown bits as you go.  Add the boned breasts with the skin, mix with the onions and stir until the chicken looses its raw color.  Add the tomato puree and 1 and ½ cans of water.  Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.  Peel off the chicken skin and discard (or feed to your dog*) taste for salt and pepper.

Serve over egg noodles.

*NB: my dog, Carlie, who also shows up quite a lot in the book, is a big fan of Hungarian Chicken. 

If you’d like to read the first chapter of my book, just click here. 

And if you’d like to enter to win a copy, just leave a comment.  Stacey will pick a winner!