Ten Dollar Words

English is such a cool language. It is chock-full of words that are fun to say. We have the benefit of absorbing words from all the different cultures that make up America. Kind of like America's fabulous cuisine, where every meal in a day may originate in different country.

We have words that we made up right here, too, like y'all (y'all come back now, ya hear?) and lyrical native American words like mahnomen and tatonka (my favorite part of "Dances With Wolves" is where Kevin Costner's character tries to communicate with his new friends, he speaks english, but LOUDER).

A lot of words I like come from Greek or Latin. After I read seed catalogs, my brain whirls with the great names: Delphinium, Ranunculus, Foetida. Science is full of fancy words like hibernaculum (where snakes sleep in winter).

Some words are inspiring like "resolute", "ascendant" or "evanescent". They just roll around in my (admittedly empty) head. I like "whimsy", "Lalique" (french glass or porcelain) and the name "Jethro". Nate likes "diabolical", Nick likes "badger" and "Lithuania". I also like "hobnob".

They don't even have to be real words for me to like them. I read a series of books by Michael A. Stackpole in which he MADE UP great words like, "Preyknosery"(the name of a character), "Gyrkyme" (Preyknosery's race), "Temeryx"(a critter) and "Sullanciri" (a dark elf). It was days before I could get these words out of my mind!

Some words are silly, like "Tallywhacker". One of my very favorite things to say (or hear) is "Knickerbocker Liquor Locker". It is a liquor store in Fargo that I heard about in a radio ad. It just rolls off your tongue. I'm not the only one who likes this name. My niece, Mac, (who lives in Fargo) tells me that the phrase "Knickerbocker Liquor Locker" was banned in her middle school english classroom because of overuse!

Cooking words are so good, you can almost taste them. "Chiffonade", "shish kabab" and "ravioli" make me hungry. A really fun word is, "Spatchcock". This means a chicken is opened up flat by removing it's backbone. It is cooked flat, which makes it cook more evenly. Some people put something heavy on it, like a brick. Then it cooks flat and from top and bottom. That's a different recipe.

Spatchcocked chicken

1 whole chicken
2 garlic cloves
1 pint ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 Tbls each chopped fresh oregano and parsley

Spatchcock the chicken by removing the backbone with a big scissors or knife. Press it flat on a cookie sheet or other shallow pan.

Mince the garlic and saute it in olive oil. If you have any roasted garlic, mash that up instead and mix with the ricotta, egg, parmesan and herbs. Stuff about half of the cheese mixture under the chicken's skin. Squish it to make an even layer. Rub the chicken skin with salt, pepper and oil. Bake at 400 degrees until chicken is 170 degrees. Chicken may also be grilled. Bake extra stuffing until golden and puffy.