I'm making french onion soup and the recipe calls for cooking sherry. Can I substitute red wine?

–Rachel

Yes, it kind of all burns off in the cooking anyway. Here's Alyssa's mother's easy recipe for Onion Soup:

2 large yellow onions, chopped

1 stick of butter

2 14-ounce cans of beef broth

cooking sherry

stale french bread, sliced

grated parmesan cheese

sliced swiss and mozzarella cheese

Saute onions in the butter in a large soup kettle. When clear, add beef stock, 1 can of water, and 1 can of sherry. Simmer about 1 hour. While it's cooking, butter and toast the french bread. When soup is ready, put a slice of bread in each soup crock. Cover with soup and sprinkle with parmesan cheese, Cover with sliced cheese, bake in the oven and broil for a minute or two until brown.

I have half a rotisserie chicken left over. Any easy recipes to turn it into something for dinner?

–Sallie

One of our faves: fried rice. A meal unto itself. While your rice is cooking, chop up the chicken coarsely. Heat 2T oil in a large skillet. Beat two eggs and scramble 'em up. Remove them from the pan. Pull out whatever vegetables you can find in your refrigerator or freezer (we always keep frozen peas on hand) and heat them through without overcooking. Add the rice and a few tablespoons of soy sauce, stir fry it up, add back the eggs and chicken, heat through, and serve.

I'm having a 16 for dinner this weekend. Any ideas what I can serve?

–Ali

Real Simple Roast Chicken with Olives Garlic and Thyme. Use baby potatoes instead of the cauliflower that the recipe calls for! Salad on the side. Easy. Done.