Catalina Chicken and Whistling Women
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Cooking does not have to be a complicated thing. Neither does life. Keep it simple whenever possible, like this Catalina Chicken!
This past weekend I came across a book that I could hardly put down. I generally go to bed about an hour early each night to give myself time to read. (Sidenote: It is amazing how much giving up television has improved the quality of my life!).
So I came across this book and I’m going to tell you a little about it, but not enough to spoil it should you decide to read it, too. It’s called Whistling Woman and it is based on the ancestors of the authors. So many of the history, stories, and personalities of the characters echo those of my own heritage. My people were descended from Cherokee and “Black Dutch”, with a little Swedish, Irish, and German thrown in for good measure. The women in this book, and the men, too actually, could have easily been related to me. Their background, personalities, and even some of the family stories sound like they came from my own people.
The main character is a girl named Vashti Lee. Only, she hates that name so she insists that everyone call 
her Bess. Her grandmother is a Cherokee from North Carolina (where my Cherokee ancestors are from). One day, Bess is picking berries with her great grandmother and a lady walks by. Her grandmother tells Bess “She’s a whistling woman”. Bess asks what this means and her grandmother declares “You know what they say, a whistling woman and a crowing hen will never come to a good end. That there is a whistling woman. She whistles all day long and she don’t care none who hears it!”. (This is paraphrased from my memory of the book).
Bess decided right then and there that was exactly the kind of woman she wanted to be. The rest of the book follows along as she grows into a woman, struggles with a life that washes over all of us unexpectedly from time to time, and learns to be strong – just like her grandmother told her she would be someday.
I come from a long line of whistling women. Some might view them as eccentric, head strong, stubborn, or even trouble makers. Some of them were tiny little women in stature but never afraid to go head to head with a man twice their size. So many stories swirl around in my mind that were passed down to teach us inner strength and fortitude, joy and gratitude. Unfortunately, not many of the stories are fit to be shared in such a public venue so you’ll have to catch me when I’m doing one of my talks in person to hear them :). Some of my best friends have been whistling women and those who I admire most..whistlers all.
Looking back on my life and even living it from day to day, I do believe I was born to be a whistling woman.
And I find my whistle becomes louder and more out of tune the older I get…and that suits me and my maker just fine 🙂 You can find out more about this book and buy a copy in paperback or ebook by clicking here.
Today’s recipe is simple. It needs only three ingredients but you can feel free to dress it up and add more if you like. But you know, cooking does not have to be a complicated thing. Neither does life. Keep it simple whenever possible. That gives you more time to whistle 🙂
To make this, you’ll need an onion, a bottle of Catalina Dressing, and some Chicken.
I am using boneless skinless chicken breasts here but you can use whatever you like and you can easily make enough chicken for 6 people with this same recipe, without having to add any additional dressing or onion.
Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker, top with onion and dressing. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or on high, 3-4.
Now we’re gonna make our yummy sauce to go over it!
Oh by the way, when your chicken is done it will be pink. I don’t mean pink like it was before it was cooked, but I mean pink as in the red catalina dressing will have turned it pink. We’re fixin’ to cover that up so don’t worry. Besides, take a spoonful of that sauce or try a forkful of that chicken. Chicken that tastes like that can be any color it wants!
When chicken is done, remove chicken breasts from slow cooker and ladle the sauce into a saucepan.
Take 2-3 tablespoons of flour and vigorously stir it together with equal amounts of water. Pour this into the sauce.
Bring just to a boil over medium heat while stirring constantly.
Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for a few minutes, or until desired thickness.
Pour over chicken.
Enjoy.
Were you destined to be a Whistling Woman? Do you have Whistling Women in your life? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
Ingredients
- 4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 16 ounce bottle Catalina Dressing
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2-3 tablespoons flour
Instructions
- Place chicken in bottom of 5 or 6 quart slow cooker. Top with chopped onion and entire bottle of dressing. Cover and cook on low, 7-8 hours or high, 3-4 hours.
- Once chicken is done remove it to plate and cover with foil to keep it moist. Ladle sauce in slow cooker into a small sauce pot.
- In a cup, vigorously stir together flour with 2-3 tablespoons water using a fork. Pour into pot with sauce.
- Place sauce over medium high heat and bring to a boil stirring constantly with a whisk. Reduce heat to low and simmer until it reaches desired thickness, just a few minutes more. Pour over chicken and serve.
Nutrition
“Many people lose the small joys
in the hope for the big happiness.”
~ Pearl S. Buck
Submitted by Jenny. Click here to submit your own.
I just finished the series of Whistling Woman, loved them and love your positive messages every day
I am 56 and my grandmother would quote this many times as “A whistling girl and a crowing hen always come to a no-good end!” (this was usually as an admonishment for those times when I waded in to do things that I was not “supposed” to do -men things like taking the lead and speaking up. I was just doing as I had seen her do. Lord I miss that old gal! She was my best friend ever. I’ve thought of this saying a lot lately. We are leaving on a mini vacation today so I am downloading it on my iPad to read as we travel. BTW I am still a whistling woman, I’ve raised two whistling women and I have a little grand-whistler in the making. Thanks…
…this was delish with my home made dressing and hubby loved it! I used boneless organic chicken breasts and made extra.
I just made a chicken salad with part of the leftover chicken and added nuts, grapes, apples, 2 diced green onion and half a sweet bell pepper in it for color. I forgot my chopped celery! lol We had it for lunch and hubby loved that also! Thanks for the great recipe. Oh, and we had the ‘gravy’ from the Catalina dressing in the crock over the chicken and cast iron skillet fried taters n onions! With fresh garden tomato slices.
I am so glad to hear it was a hit Cassie!!
I always thought the term ‘black dutch’ was a joke my granny came up with! Never even thought about looking it up on the internet. I’m beginning to think we’re long, lost cousins!
🙂
This book sounds like a great read! I am 1/4 Cherokee on my daddy’s side. My grandmother and her family are from the Maggie Valley area of North Carolina. Through research, my daddy has discovered that her particular part of the Cherokee nation used to have the last name of Starr (think Belle Starr) and came from the Cherokee’s in Virginia. However, her family were sort of trouble makers. Before being caught by the law, they scurried to Maggie Valley and changed their last name to Dove. My mother’s side is also some German with Indian (think India) thrown in there. 😉 I found it fascinating to hear you were Cherokee as well as German. As for the recipe, it sounds so simple and yummy! Every recipe I’ve tried of yours has always been a winner with my family. Thank you for giving of your time and talent.
My Mama taught me that saying about a whistling woman and crowing hen. Have you read much about Melungeons? My dad always said his ancestors were Black Dutch and I’ve learned that was one term Melungeons used to describe (or hide) themselves. My brothers and I have many of the physical characteristics common among Melungeons and our surname is listed as one of the “known” names.
Hi Sharon,
A Melungeon character plays an important part in Whistling Woman. Our dad told us almost exactly the same thing about the Black Dutch as your dad told you. One of our many great-uncles mother (blanking on his name right now, dang it!) always told him she was Black Dutch which, of course, really meant Melungeon. They are a very interesting group of people with a lot of mystery behind their origins.
Yup, you’ll learn a great deal about those terms in this book. Both were used to basically create a different race for those of mixed blood to maintain their freedom. Black dutch in particular was a very successful cover for having african ancestry. They were ways to be accepted in society and have more rights.
As the other half of the author team of CC Tillery, I also would like to thank you for the lovely words about Whistling Woman. The book was actually written not only as a tribute to our great-aunt Bessie but also to honor our dad who told us most of the stories when we were growing up. Though she passed away when Christy and I were in our teens, we remember her quite well and as Christy said in her comment, she was a true whistling woman.
I’ll also echo Christy’s comment that we are thrilled you liked the book and appreciate you mentioning it on your beautiful blog (I’m trying your Catalina Chicken recipe tonight! Sounds yummy!)
Again, thank you so much for your lovely words–and the comments from your readers, too! I just know Aunt Bessie is smiling down on all of you from heaven!