Rachel Ray's Ravioli Vegetable "Lasagna"

RR makes this lasagna by layering veggies, sauce, and ravioli before baking it in the oven. I made it with the Sandra Lee spirit by using pre-made (Butoni) alfredo sauce instead of Rachel's recipe. Cooking and timing the artichokes, asparagos, spinach, and pasta turned out to be enough of a challenge, anyway. I wasn't really sure how to drain the frozen spinach. Rachel says to wring it in a kitchen towel, which sounded messy, so at first I tried smashing between two plates--another tip I read online. I ended up also using a towel, since the plates didn't seem to get all of the water out. In the end, I thought it was tasty enough, though Nick didn't like it. But he doesn't really like asparagos or spinach, so his reaction was not surprising.

Aunt Jemima: Two Ways

Making Aunt Jemima waffles or pancakes is much like real cooking, because you do have to add eggs, oil, etc. Aunt J. has simply sifted together the flour and baking powder and stuff for you. So, a waffle with strawberries and whipped cream is always safe and classic. I've done that successfully and often. Recently though, I decided to try pumpkin pancakes. My motivation for this was extra pumpkin left over from making pumpkin bread. All they had at Safeway was a giant can of pumpkin. I don't remember the recipe I found for the pancakes, but it had to do with replacing some of the wet ingredients with pumpkin, and adding cinnamon. The consistency never turned out right, however, and the thick batter only produced heavy, and almost chewy pancakes that never even tasted that pumpkin-y.

How to Broil Chicken

I wish I knew how to properly broil a boneless, skinless, chicken breast, because sometimes I don't feel like grilling outside! Here in San Francisco, the temperature drops significantly in the evening hours, leaving me unmotivated to stand out at the grill for twenty minutes. So, I cut my chicken breasts in half, gave them about fifteen minutes in a Ziplock with Italian salad dressing, and then popped 'em in the broiler while I watched Project Runway. I turned them a few times, but ultimately overcooked them. They were dry and chewy, and less than delicious. I ended up cutting them up anyway, making a chicken salad, because the last chicken breasts I defrosted I never cooked and ultimately threw out. I didn't want to waste ALL of my chicken. Oh well. Does anyone know how to broil chicken?