I think there’s nothing
better than having a restaurant quality pasta dish on the table
within minutes! This creamy chicken pasta recipe comes from the New
Orleans restaurant “Brennan’s”. Originally the cream sauce was
served very spicy, here a horseradish mustard is substituted. We
named this after Phoebe Couzins. Read about this dynamic woman after
the recipe.
Creamy chicken with
broccoli and pasta. One pan to wash. Just sit back and enjoy the
compliments.
Ingredients
2
tsp kosher (coarse) salt
2
Tbs horseradish mustard
1
lb uncooked chicken breast
1
jar mushrooms
4
tablespoons unsalted butter
8
ounces thin spaghetti noodles
Directions:
Slice
the chicken into half thickness.
In
small bowl, stir together 2 teaspoons kosher salt and 2 teaspoons
garlic powder. Sprinkle over 1 lb uncooked chicken on both sides.
In
large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add
chicken; cook 2
to 3 minutes on each side or
just until browned. Transfer chicken to plate; set aside.
I,
unfortunately, crowded the chicken in the skillet so I could not get
a good browning.
In
same skillet, empty the drained jar of mushrooms. Sprinkle with 1
TBS cornstarch and stir.
Add
the can of evaporated milk, scraping up any brown bits from bottom
of skillet. Reduce heat to simmer. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons
unsalted butter. 2 Tbs horseradish mustard. Season to taste with
salt.
Add
the pasta and broccoli. Stir until all of the pasta has been covered
with liquid. Let simmer for 15
mins. Or
until pasta is soft and sauce is thickened.
Return
chicken to skillet. Let simmer for 5 mins.
Sprinkle
with chopped fresh parsley if you like.
Sprinkled
a little Parmesan cheese on it before eating.
So
happy to serve this one dish meal. If you wish, serve with a green
salad.
For
our music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOp04pxm7ro&list=PLMATWUx3t7L8QeY5IrBhRmQk0pXJTN3tB&index=176
Phoebe
Couzins
Phoebe
Wilson Couzins (September 8, 1842 – December 6, 1913) was one of
the first female lawyers in the United States. She was the second
woman to serve as a licensed attorney in Missouri and the third or
fourth to be a licensed attorney in the United States. She was the
first woman admitted to the Missouri and Utah bars, and was also
admitted to the Kansas and Dakota Territory bars. She was the first
female appointed to the U.S. Marshal service. After her career in law
she played an active part in the Suffrage movement.
Usually
I reserve this space to write about LGBT heroes. Now after more than
a hundred years after her death, we have no way of knowing her
sexuality.
I
can not proclaim that she was a lesbian. I can say that what history
we can find about this woman, there has nothing that would refute her
being gay.
In
a larger sense Phoebe Couzins had a profound impact on the history of
our culture. She defied many of its traditions and showed that women
can be more than “married to the house”. She is nearly forgotten
today and that is sad. If we do not remember her, who will?
Couzins
was born to Adaline and John Couzins, who was the chief of police
during the Civil War in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1884 he was appointed
U.S. marshal of the Eastern District of Missouri by President Chester
Arthur. Her mother was active in charity work and volunteered as a
nurse.
During
the American Civil War, both Phoebe and Adaline helped organize the
Western Sanitary Commission, which offered medical aid to wounded
soldiers in places without hospitals. During St Louis's 1849 Cholera
epidemic, both Adaline and John lead relief efforts. Adaline also
actively contributed to the movement for women's suffrage. Phoebe and
Adaline were both members of the St. Louis Woman Suffrage
Association, where Phoebe drew attention as a public speaker.
Couzins
submitted an application to study law at the new Washington
University in St. Louis. Her application was accepted by all sixteen
members of the Application board, and her historic acceptance opened
the gates for women to study law in Washington University. In 1869,
Couzins began her studies at the university's law school, and earned
her L.L.B degree in 1871, as one of only nine people in her class.
Couzins became the first woman in the United States to graduate from
a law school. She was also the first female graduate of Washington
University. Couzins was licensed to practice law in the federal
courts, Missouri, Arkansas, Utah, and Kansas. However, she chose a
career in public speaking.
Even
before starting her studies, she was the Missouri delegate to the
American Equal Rights Association meeting in New York. Couzins was
described as a riveting orator and lectured across the United States.
In 1884, she testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on
the legal status of women.
In
1884, John Couzins became U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of
Missouri and he made Phoebe one of his deputies. As his health
failed, Phoebe started taking over some of his duties. After his
death in 1887,
Couzins became the first female U.S. Marshal in the country, a
position which she held for two months. Upon Phoebe's father's death
in 1887, President Grover Cleveland appointed Phoebe interim marshal.
However, two months later, Phoebe was replaced by a man.
Couzins
served as commissioner for Missouri, on the National Board of
Charities and Correction. She was also on the St. Louis World's Fair
board of directors. She had written a number of books during her time
as Marshal, regarding law and governance. In 1882 President Chester
A. Arthur considered her for a position on the Utah Territory
Commission.
Couzins
contributed to "The Revolution", a women's suffrage
publication. She served as a delegate to the American Equal Rights
Convention in 1871, which was attended by Susan B. Anthony. After
the convention, she aligned causes with Anthony and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton to form the National Woman Suffrage Association(NWSA), and
toured extensively around the country. .
Couzins
was outspoken in her support. She believed in the rise of a new type
of suffragist- one who was young and wealthy, and was fighting for
suffrage for reasons that opposed her own.
Phoebe
later changed positions and renounced woman suffrage and temperance,
which was widely publicized in 1897.
At this time Couzins herself was battling health conditions, and was
becoming increasingly weak. She left the suffrage movement in 1897,
and joined the United States Brewers' Association, as a lobbyist
against prohibition and temperance. It is assumed that she took up
the job because her funds were rapidly dwindling. Her choice was
taken as an offense by many suffragists, as temperance was always
looked upon favorably by the suffrage movement. She lost her job with
the Brewers Association in 1908, when she was about sixty-eight. She
then returned to St. Louis, unemployed and disabled. She appealed to
the federal government for a job and to the Brewers Association for
aid. She solicited friends for help, but was not able to garner
enough support.
"I
had met Mr. Fair in the Riggs House, Washington, D. C, in 1883,
while he was a United States Senator from Nevada. I took a liking to
him at once. He seemed to me to be the very ideal of a strong,
vigorous and energetic man, who was created to succeed in life, to be
a prince and a leader among men.
PHOEBE COUZINS AND JAMES G.
FAIR WERE ENGAGED TO MARRY.
The Bereaved Lady Declares
Her Firm Belief That Interested Persons Intercepted Their Letters.
Miss Phoebe Couzins,
the world-famed woman's rights advocate, orator and author, was the
affianced bride of James G. Fair at the time of his death.
Struggling with her sorrow
and her sickness, Miss Couzins started westward and arrived in San
Francisco shortly after the death of the man who had promised to
become her husband. She came and learned that only a few short hours
after Mr. Fair's death a document purporting to be his last will and
testament was filed in court for probate. A document which did not
even mention Miss Couzins' name, although the testator had repeatedly
stated in the presence of witnesses that Miss Couzins was to be
liberally provided for in a financial way and that she was to become
his wife at an early date. One of the witnesses who heard these
declarations was Dr. Vincent Herbert of Chicago, who attended Mr.
Fair daring a season of sickness at the Grand Pacific Hotel in the
spring of 1893. Other reputable and well-known persons heard Mr. Fair
make the same statements!
"Well, Mr. Fair,
accompanied by his ' secretaries, Bresse and Angus, arrived in
Chicago May 7, 1893, and took apartments at the Grand Pacific Hotel.
Mr. Fair immediately sent me his card. I met him in one of the
parlors and he expressed great happiness at seeing me. He told me
then and there that he had come all the way from California for the
purpose of asking me to become his wife. I told him that I would give
him a definite answer within a few days and delicately intimated that
he need have no fear lof ray final decision. He seemed very much
pleased at this and we spent the evening very pleasantly talking of
the present, the future and old times.
"A few days after that
Mr. Fair was taken suddenly and violently ill in a singular manner.
That night he sent for me to come to him. I did as requested. He told
me he was a very sick man and begged' me to take care of him and to
call in my physician. I immediately did so. The doctor prescribed
for him. Mr. Bresse and Mr. Angus tried to keep me out of the
sick-room, but Dr. Herbert interposed and directed that I be
permitted to nurse Mr. Fair. I cared for the sick man until the worst
of his illness was past. He often spoke hopefully of the future.
"And that was the last
evening that we I were together," said Miss Couzins, "On
the following day Mr. Fair was whisked out of Chicago as if he had
been a prisoner or a fugitive from justice. I was permitted to see
him only for a moment just before he went went away. Angus and Bresse
were constantly near him. "While I was speaking to him, just
before his departure, a man, who I think was a hireling of Bresse,
came and interrupted our conversation. Mr. Fair managed to tell me
that he was called away by very important business matters, but that
he would speedily return and make me his wife. And so he left. I
never saw him again.
"I did write, but I
never got an answer after that. I am positively certain that he wrote
to me also, but the letters were unquestionably intercepted. His
secretaries were constantly on the watch. When I used to call on Mr.
Fair in his sick-room at the Grand Pacific his valet or one of the
other attaches used to secrete themselves in the closets in order to
listen to our conversation.
Miss Couzins was the
recipient of many endearing as well as friendly letters from the dead
ex-Senator. After the engagement of marriage Mr. Fair wrote love
letters like an ardent youth of twenty, and these Miss Couzins holds
and cherishes as sacred relics. When asked for a copy of one of these
she slowly but emphatically shook her head.
"No, not for any
consideration whatever," she said. "I hold them too sacred
to be exposed to the ieers of an unfeeling world."
This is the belief of Miss
Couzins. She thinks that he was hedged about with men and influences,
whose persistence overpowered his individual will, and swayed his
moral entity. The facts as viewed by her indicate that in this case
Mr. Fair was dragged by a force he could not withstand from the woman
he dearly loved and had promised to wed. was prevented from seeing
her again, or in any way communicating with her. To this end, the
lady believes, many falsehoods were told, and many letters were
intercepted by enemies, whose selfish and sinister motives were
threatened by the proposed alliance.
When Miss Couzins came to San
Francisco she said nothing of her own individual loss or the pain in
her heart. She delivered lectures and visited her friends and
suffered in silence. At last she became so ill and weary that she
could no longer go on as formerly with her public work. She decided
to take a season of rest.
One of her admiring friends,
Mrs. Knox Goodrich of San Jose, invited her to come and rest with
her. Miss Couzins went and for a time was lost sight of to the busy
world.
Couzins
died in St. Louis on December 6, 1913 in an unoccupied house at 2722
Pine Street and was mourned by only her brother and a few friends.
Her funeral was attended by only six people. She was buried at
Bellefontaine Cemetery on December 8, 1913, with her U.S marshal star
pinned to her chest. At her time of death she was in a state of
poverty.
Couzins’
grave remained unmarked until 1950, when the Women’s Bar
Association of St. Louis paid to erect a headstone in honor of her
achievements on behalf of the women lawyers who were inspired by her.
