After planning board

I'm just home from a town planning board meeting (we are struggling with an ordinance which will encourage traditional neighborhoods and infill developments instead of sprawling subdivisions) and I stopped at the neighborhood market to grab a few things for dinner. I bought two chicken breasts and four thighs, a packet of spinach for salad, eggs, milk, and a can of mandarin oranges.

So what's for dinner? A casserole of mashed sweet potatoes (I had the potatoes on hand) with cottage cheese and eggs -- I might separate the eggs and make it more souffle-like, or I might not. A spinach salad with mandarin oranges and toasted walnuts and a garlic vinaigrette dressing; roasted chicken.

Right now the potatoes are simmering and the chicken is brining. I'll put the casserole together and put it in the oven as soon as the potatoes are done; the chicken goes in when Dear Husband arrives. I nearly always brine chicken to make it juicier; I also brine pork. I put a double handful of kosher salt in my big mixing bowl and add water; sometimes I add a little sugar or some peppercorns, but not, I confess, usually.

Winnie is back at school so there are five for dinner tonight: two vegetarians and three meat-eaters. I hope there's a bottle of white down cellar -- it's so cold that it doesn't need to be refrigerated to be at pouring temperature.