Monday, January 20, 2014

Fruited Chicken Salad

Ruth McLeod brought this to the January meeting.

Lunches at Historical League meetings are so-o-o yummy. This dish makes a beautiful presentation and easy to prepare hours ahead. It can be doubled/tripled to feed a larger group. The fun part is getting fresh fruit in season to garnish. This time I used Kiwi.

Fruited Chicken Salad

Ingredients for the chicken salad:
2 chicken breasts or 2 (12.5 ounce) cans chicken
1 tablespoon lemon pepper

20 green grapes, cut in half
½ cup dried cranberries, slightly chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1/2 cup chopped cucumbers

½ red bell pepper, diced

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Mustard Vinaigrette

Argula
*Note: Adding other fruits makes a more flavorful salad: add 1/2 cup dried apricots, 1/2 cup dried blueberries, 1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries, 1/2 cup chopped fresh oranges, and/or 1/2 cup chopped fresh apple.

Directions for the chicken salad:
Dust the chicken with the lemon pepper and sear or grill until cooked through. Let cool, then chop into ½ inch cubes. In a bowl, mix the chicken with grapes, cranberries, celery, pepper and mayonnaise. Add the vinaigrette and mix.

Ingredients for the mustard vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons honey
salt and pepper

½ cup salad oil
Directions for the mustard vinaigrette:
Place the mustard, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk together. Add the oil in a slow stream while whisking, until fully incorporated.
Prepare in large bowl adding argula just before serving. Arrange sliced strawberries, sliced avocados and/or sliced oranges in circle on top. Sprinkle with toasted slivered almonds.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Pleasant Valley Wars

Jinx entertained us with Western songs and stories.

Book signing after his talk

Feuds, cattle rustlers, honest ranchers and horse thiefs . . . interesting days in the Old West.

January’s speaker was Jinx Pyle from Payson. He took our members on a historical adventure when sheepherders and cattlemen were in such conflict they ended up in a bloody war! Mr. Pyle, a seventh-generation Arizona rancher, told us the story of The Pleasant Valley War. 

As Pyle grew up, he committed often repeated stories to memory. These stories, handed down from great-grandparents, conveyed dates, places, events, and local and state history. He is a walking history book of Payson and the Mogollon Rim Country. Over the years, Pyle and his wife have written 14 books, including The Pleasant Valley War.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Historymakers Gala meeting

Everything is coming together for the Historymakers Gala XI Turquoise and Tuxedos. It will be held Saturday, Feb 8 at Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale with 9 wonderful new inductees. Chairs Jeannine Moyle and Mary Parker presided over yesterdays Gala meeting.