Dear fellow readers of Betsy’s Blog:

Do you ever find yourself mentally writing a blog entry as you try out a new recipe? Or purchase an unfamiliar ingredient at the local farmer’s market? Or just think “What Would Betsy Do?”

As a frequent reader of Betsy’s awesome site, I confess that I have started an internal monologue around meal preparation that sounds an awful lot like Betsy’s postings.  Has she infiltrated my psyche? Am I alone – or has this phenomenon happened to you as well? I mentioned this to Betsy last week – hoping that speaking to her in the physical world would remove her voice from my head (at least temporarily!) and she suggested that I write a guest blog about my experiences this week. So here goes…

Dinner for 28

Last night it was our turn to host a varsity boys’ high school team dinner – 28 ravenous 17 and 18 year old boys, coming directly from practice. The challenges included preparatory (how far in advance can I purchase ingredients? Where will I store them?), logistical (where will they all sit? How many canisters of Febreeze will it take to recover my new-furniture scent?) and of course, culinary.

The decision to include a grill component to the menu was an easy one – we set up two grills, with my husband and his friend acting as grill masters, and fired up the traditional burgers and dogs. Luckily the weather cooperated, so in addition to rain-free cooking, we were able to seat all the boys outside on the deck with the help of many borrowed white resin chairs.

The final challenge was timing – having most of the food ready the moment the boys arrived from practice, which would be sometime in a 45 minute window.  I decided on a two-fold approach – lasagnas cooked and warming in the oven served double duty as an immediately-available food source as well as vegetarian option.  And, as it turned out, the simplest and by far most popular dish – bbq style pulled chicken.

I started the slow cooker at 6:30 am, and let it cook on low heat all day. The boys couldn’t eat them fast enough – the sliders disappeared before the serving trays hit the table.  At the next day’s game, the parents confirmed my suspicions – the boys all raved about the dinner, and several moms asked for this recipe.

I hope you enjoy this simple dish – I know it will become a staple at our house.

Very Simple Pulled Chicken

4 – 6 pounds boneless chicken (combination of white and dark meat pieces)

40 ounces Barbecue Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Award Winning Barbecue Sauce)

2 chopped onions

Coat the bottom of the slow cooker with non-stick spray.

Place in chicken and onions.

Cover generously with barbecue sauce.

Set slow cooker on low heat for 6 – 10 hours (the longer the better!)

Before serving, separate chicken pieces with a fork to get that nice shredded consistency. Serve hot on small rolls (my family prefers Slider style).