It all started with a pair of shoes!

So last night after closing the store, I went to pay a bill.  Just a quick trip, dash in, pay bill and head for home and oh, yea there is that bag of things on the back seat of the car to be dropped off at Value Village.  OK, dash in pay bill, drop bag off at Value Village and head for home.  But there is a Winners in the same plaza with the Value Village.  OK, dash in pay bill, drop bag off at Value Village and then because you are strong and can resist temptation you may have 10 minutes just to have a quick peek but no buying Wendi!  But they were a pair of Franco Sarto's (all the women out there are sympathetically nodding) and if they aren't completely right, I can return them, right? (all the men out there are saying "Like that's going to happen!)  So the pizza that I was going to get for dinner is out of the question - I mean I have to economize now.  So what to do?  I am hungry and I want something now.  I had a chicken breast in the fridge, so I can saute that, right?  But that is pretty plain - what to do?  What to do?  Then the brainwave hit.  I had taken home a container of Dana Shortt's Butternut Squash Apple Ginger Soup ($9.98) for dinner the night before - it was chilly out and a nice bowl of soup was just the remedy for that.  There was a little bit left - too much to throw out without feeling guilty and not enough for a full meal, so what if I used that as a base for a sauce?  Brillliant don't you think?  So this is what I did,  I heated some Walnut Oil ($14.99 a tin) in my skillet and used some of that bottled garlic and ginger to add additional flavouring to the oil.  Then I sauteed the chicken breast, salting and peppering both sides.  When there was a nice browning on both sides of the chicken, I deglazed the pan with a little of the same white wine that I was sipping on and added the rest of the container of the soup into the skillet.  I allowed the soup to reduce(throw in a little tarragon or thyme if you have it) and meanwhile threw (not literally) some veggies into the microwave.  By the time that the soup had reduced to the a nice sauce consistency, the veggies were done and Voila a delicious dinner AND a pair of shoes - how good is that?  So, I hear you asking, where is the cheese part of this story?  You may remember that I brought in some Sir Laurier Brie for Easter.  Well, it has reached its due date so I had brought one home to see how it was so as the chicken was doing its thing, I was enjoying my Chardonnay with the Sir Laurier and it is PERFECT!  That is the problem with due dates and cheese, they are just reaching their peak and then BAM - due date!  So, here is the deal - if you come into the store this weekend and spend $25.00, I will give you a Sir Laurier (sorry, you'll have to get your own Chardonnay and shoes for that matter!) to enjoy as you are cooking your weekend feast.

Bon Appetit!