No Matter How You Say It, It Means the Quapaw People

How many of you girlfriends out there had to, at one time, be corrected for your pronunciation of Arkansas? We remember thinking, since when does an “s” make a “w” sound? 

Seems like the people of Arkansas had a little trouble themselves! In fact, so deep were the disagreements that legislation had to be passed to finalize the pronunciation! Here’s the story. 

Arkansas derives from a French term, Arcansas, the French plural term for the transliteration of akansa, an Algonquian term for the Quapaw people. Over the years, the name was pronounced and spelled in a variety of ways. This was such a contentious issue that in 1881, the state legislature defined the official pronunciation of Arkansas as having the final "s" be silent (as it would be in French). 

Let’s Eat…in! 

Since we’re here to talk about food you can make on your girlfriendships® getaway, you may be surprised to know that Arkansas leads the nation in poultry production! That may be in part because Tyson Foods was founded, and is headquartered, in Springs, Arkansas. 

The thought of all that poultry makes me hungry for the easiest chicken recipe we have ever made: Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken.

Ingredients for 6 | Multiply by degree of hunger, divide by number of girlfriends!

Ingredients

•     1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

•     1 envelope Good Seasons® Italian Salad Dressing Mix

•     1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

•     3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved (chicken thighs work well, too)

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400º F.

Step 2

Mix cheese, salad dressing mix, and garlic powder.

Step 3

Moisten chicken with water

Step 4

Coat with cheese mixture.

Step 5

Place in shallow baking dish.

Step 6

Bake 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (internal temperature should be 170º F)

Jazz it up:

For a golden appearance, after the chicken is cooked through, set oven to broil. Place 6 inches from the heat source. Broil 2 to 4 minutes, or until chicken is golden brown.

Let’s Eat…out! 

In Little Rock or Siloam Springs and looking for a place to gather with girlfriends for a dinner night out? Here are two great options when planning your next girlfriend gathering:

• Brave New Restaurant | Headed to Little Rock? Stop at Brave New Restaurant. It’s a  casual, warm environment with delicious food, excellent service, at a reasonable cost. Their goal is to have every meal a celebration of food, and to keep an edge of “new” to their work. 

Here’s something we really liked—they have an all-to-yourselves private dining area for My Girlfriendships® to culminate a girls weekend where we can laugh, share stories, and be ourselves. 

We saw the Pecan and Parmesan Encrusted Trout and decided that we would love to partake in that dish!. Boneless, 8 ounce trout filet topped with lump crab and oven-dried tomatoes, then served with a beurre blanc and artichoke vinaigrette. Sounds amazingly scrumptious!

• Pour Jon’s Coffee  |  Pour Jon’s Coffee (get it? Not Poor, but Pour?) is a specialty coffee house, located in beautiful downtown Siloam Springs in a historic former Pontiac dealership. 

Pour Jon’s is all about the experience! The baristas are all trained in the history and origin of their coffee and brewing methods (in-house at the downtown location, guaranteeing that their beans are fresh). They want to get to know each customer, what they order, and help in the quest for great specialty coffee. 

"Where, besides home and work/school, do we spend our time?" To answer that question, Pour Jon’s created a “Third Space”—the in-between element for social interaction. Maybe we’d like to surf the web on their wifi and listen to music while sipping espresso. Us? We’d be there to catch up with a friend (or two or three, or our whole crew) over a foamy cappuccino. 

Someone in your group not a coffee drinker? The hand-made tea shelf holds a variety of loose-leaf options from Savoy Tea Co. Just as with their coffee, they search for the best brewing method to bring out the purest and most full flavors from these specialty teas, as well as presenting them in a variety of delicious ways. 

In spite of their name, Pour Jon’s offers more than just their delicious coffee and tea. A wonderful selection of sandwiches (all available on gluten-free bread) and sweet treats will satisfy everyone in the crew. Sticking with the chicken theme, our choice will be the Chicken Salad Sandwich: cool, crisp classic chicken salad with sliced grapes, diced apple, walnuts, and bits of celery, fresh greens on sourdough (our bread of choice), chips, and choice of pickle or fruit mix. Fruit mix for us! How about you?

Recipe source:

https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=315069

Photo credit:

Trout

Chicken Sandwich