The Cheesecake Factory is celebrating it’s 30th anniversary tonight by giving away slices of it’s 30 varieties of cheesecake for $1.50.

It’ll probably be nuts, but Charlene and I are gonna try to go there tonight for dessert.

Charlene and I are making dinner for some friends tomorrow night. Here’s what’s on the menu:

• Grilled butterflied chicken
• Mashed potatoes
• Grilled vegetables (zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers)

It should be pretty tasty, they’re all things I’ve made before, so it should be a no-brainer. I’m excited.

Oh yeah, I’ll be sure to take pictures as well. I know I’ve been really horrible at posting pictures with my food posts. I think the biggest thing is that I feel like if I take pictures, I need to have my photographer or food stylist hat on. That means taking perfect pictures of each stage of each dish. In other words, it should look like it could be featured on the Food Network. But in the interest of actually getting a picture on the site, and having it speak 1,000 words I think I just need to bite the bullet and take less than perfect pictures.

That doesn’t mean I’ll take horrible pictures, just that I’ll post what I can shoot and not be so concerned about having a perfect exposure and perfect composition. And all this so that you, my lovely reader, can really see what I’m writing about.

I had previously promised that I would post pictures of my prime ribeye steaks. So here they are:

Here they are in the lovely blue packaging (most meat comes in red or pink styrofoam containers) You can clearly see the label that marks it as USDA Prime Beef.

And here’s a lovely view of all three steaks.

A nice closeup of the Prime label as well as the weight, pack date, sell by date, unit price, and total cost.

My first steak out of the packaging and on the plate. Look at all that fat! As Paula Dean says “Fat is flavor.”

Again, you can clearly see the amazing marbling on this piece of meat. All those white flecks are fat, which will help the steak to be moist and tender.

Liberally seasoned with Rib Roundup

Overall shot of the amazing thing of beauty.

And that, my friends, is USDA Prime grade beef.

I was quite remiss in not taking a picture of the final product, but it was a mouthwatering sight indeed. As a side note, I did keep all the fat on during cooking to help retain moisture and ensure a moist, tender steak. But before eating, I dutifully removed all that artery clogging fat from the meat as best as I could. But the steak was delicious. It was perfectly seasoned, and tender, moist, and juicy just like I expected. Mmm…can’t wait to eat the other two.

I discovered this amazing culinary creation at Trader Joes. You know how they always have that little counter in the back with samples? Well, that’s where I discovered this. It’s so tasty, easy, and inexpensive, I couldn’t pass it up. It’s perfect for these hot summer days we’ve been having up here in the Bay Area, and it’s an easy smoothie to make when entertaining.

I bought the 16 oz bag of Del Sol Pineapple Tidbits, the 24 oz bag of Mango Chunks, and the 64 oz bottle of Papaya Nectar at Trader Joes. The beauty of the recipe is in it’s simplicity. There are only three ingredients, and because the pineapple and the mango come frozen, there’s no need to add ice. The other great thing is the smooth, creamy texture of the final product. I’m pretty sure this comes from the mango. But regardless, it’s refreshing to have a that great texture without adding any cream or fat.

This recipe makes about 5 cups.

8 oz (1/2 a bag) of pineapple
12 oz (1/2 a bag) of mango
3-4 C Papaya Nectar

1. Add pineapple, mango, and papaya nectar to a blender.
2. Pulse the blender to get it started, and then blend until smooth, 1-2 minutes.
3. If it’s too thick, add more nectar. If it’s too thin, add more pineapple and mango.
4. Pour into chilled glasses, and serve.

Optionally, you could add a slice of strawberry as a garnish. One person suggested adding an umbrella, but someone countered that you can’t do that unless it’s alcoholic. Feel free to customize to your liking.

I decided two things today.  1) That I found the best grilled chicken recipe ever. And 2) That a picture is, indeed, worth a thousand words. This recipe results in tender, moist chicken–even the white meat.

1 chicken (4-6 lbs)
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

1. Create a hot charcoal fire in your grill. Once the coals are lit and ashy, separate them into a double banked fire, with half of the coals on each side of the grill. Thus creating two hot zones with cooler zone along the middle of the grill.
2. Prepare the chicken by opening it from it’s bag and pulling out the entrails, neck, etc.
3. Butterfly the chicken by placing it on a cutting board breast-side down.  Cut out the backbone with kitchen shears. They have to be sharp, or they won’t be able to cut through all the ribs. If you don’t have kitchen shears, put the chicken on it’s back, and use your sharpest chef’s knife to make cuts on either side of the backbone.
4. Pull the chicken open, and place the inside of the ribcage down towards the cutting board.
5. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap, and pound a few times with a meat tenderizer/hammer. If you don’t have one, a heavy pan such as a cast iron skillet works just as well. The idea isn’t to pound the chicken as you would a breast for chicken marsala, but to get the chicken to a more uniform thickness for more even cooking.
6. Season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides (what used to be the inside and outside of the chicken.)
7. Place on the grill skin side down, cover the grill and cook for 30-60 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers 165 in the thigh.
8. Remove the chicken from the grill, let it rest for 10-15 minutes, carve and serve.

And now you know why a picture is worth a thousand words. If only I had taken pictures of my beloved chicken, you’d be able to see how tantalizingly good it looks.

Enjoy!