Chicken Salad with Bacon & Mandarin Oranges

I love this chicken salad.

I love it's savory sweet flavors, 

I love that it's easy to make, 

and I love that is consistently a hit at any gathering I serve it. 

It's a great salad.

Like many great family recipes, it doesn't really have an exact recipe, just more of a make it how you like it kinda preparation.  

To make this salad you will need the following ingredients:

I start by baking ten slices of bacon in the oven at 400 degrees until crisp.  If you prefer to fry your bacon in a skillet--feel free ;-) Set aside to cool.

Remove meat from a whole Costco rotisserie chicken (discarding skin and bones) and place bite size pieces in a large mixing bowl.

Add desired amount of Best Foods Mayo and diced celery.

Add 1/4 tsp Onion Salt, 1/4 tsp White Pepper & 1/2 tsp Poultry Seasoning. Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your taste.

Crumble reserved bacon in bite size pieces and stir into salad.

Drain Mandarin oranges (I use one can or half of a large plastic container) and VERY gently fold them into the chicken salad.  Be careful not to break up the orange sections.

This salad is excellent served on croissants.  If I'm hosting a party, I serve it on mini croissants.  It also tastes wonderful served up on a buttermilk biscuit. 

So Tasty.

Chicken Salad with Bacon & Mandarin Oranges

1 whole Costco rotisserie chicken, meat removed and broken into bite size pieces.

10 slices bacon, baked or fried crisp, then crumbled into bite size pieces.

Desired amount of good quality mayo, such as Best Foods

Desired amount of diced celery

1/2 tsp Poultry Seasoning

1/4 tsp Onion Salt

1/4 tsp White Pepper

1 can or 1/2 large plastic container of Mandarin Oranges, drained. 

Serve on croissants

Bake ten slices of bacon in the oven at 400 degrees until crisp.  If you prefer to fry your bacon in a skillet--feel free ;-) Set aside to cool.

Remove meat from a whole Costco rotisserie chicken (discarding skin and bones) and place bite size pieces in a large mixing bowl. Add desired amount of Best Foods Mayo and diced celery. Add 1/4 tsp Onion Salt, 1/4 tsp White Pepper & 1/2 tsp Poultry Seasoning. (Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your taste). Crumble reserved bacon in bite size pieces and stir into salad. Drain Mandarin oranges (I use one can or half of a large plastic container) and VERY gently fold them into the chicken salad.  Be careful not to break up the orange sections. Serve on croissants.

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

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Heart Pie Pops

The moment I spotted these Heart Pie Pops in Williams-Sonoma catalog I knew I had to give them a try.


These can be as simple as store bought pie crust dough and ready made pie filling or jam.  Or, you could go all out and make them totally homemade.  I plan to make my own crust but use canned cherry pie filling. Regardless of how you choose to prepare your pie pops, it's not likely anyone will be able to resist sinking their teeth in to one of these beauties. 



While scanning the Internet for ideas on how to make these lovely treats, I discovered the fabulous Bakerella had already thought of this marvelous idea.  The Bakerella posted a fantastic step by step pie pop tutorial that I will defer to now.


I also think it would be fun to use a lollipop wrapping kit to wrap these individually and give as Valentine's Day gifts.  A sweet for your sweetie. 

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista