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It is a piano all right—and a beautiful one, after Olmstead refinished it. The fact that Lacey can play it reveals a lot about her: Nine years ago, at age 20, she decided she was going to learn to play the piano. “I bought Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat major. It was seven years before I was finally able to play it.”
Lacey’s self-discipline extends to her dinner table each night. “I always take the time to make a balanced, healthy meal, always set the table, always take the time to enjoy my meal.” Not that she has all the time in the world, mind you: Though she lives in Brownville, Johnna Lacey works as marketing director for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, requiring an hour commute each way, five days a week
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She credits her mother for setting the healthy-eating example. “We weren’t your typical hot-dogs-and-beans family,” she says. “Mom taught us about color, how to keep things low fat and low calorie, and about serving sizes.” (When Lacey eats cereal in the morning, she actually pours one serving in a measuring cup before she puts it in her bowl.)
Because time is at a premium, Lacey has developed some strategies to keep herself well-fed without eating up her entire evening with food prep. “I usually cook on Sunday nights so I can just heat things up in the microwave during the week. I looove the microwave!” She makes a variety of dishes ahead of time, usually involving chicken and pasta, and augments them with salad, steamed or stir-fried vegetables, and whole grain bread or rice. “Maybe it’s the Italian in me, but I have to have a full meal.” She also always has a pot of tea on hand, whether she’s alone or entertaining guests, which she loves to do. “When you come to Johnna’s house,” she says, “you can be sure you’re going to have tea. It’s a given.”
Today, Johnna’s house smells like fresh-baked cranberry scones. “We’re going with a cranberry theme,” she says. “Both the baked stuffed chicken [see recipe on page 48] and the salad include dried cranberries.” She shakes the bag. “I love these things.” She also loves spinach—and was a bit lost during the E. coli scare this fall. “I’m so glad spinach is allowed back in stores. I missed it. Spinach is my friend. It’s because it’s so green. The greener the better.”
While she’s a purist when it comes to designing meals with nutritional balance and proper portion sizes, Lacey is not afraid to take advantage of time-savers—like the King Arthur mix she used for her delicious scones. “Just add milk, and we’re done!” she says. “Why make it from scratch if you can find something just as good from a box?”
Like many professionals, Lacey is often time-poor, especially during the symphony’s concert season. Again, she credits her mom for teaching her how to eat well with minimal effort. “I’m a planner like my mother. I always go to the grocery store knowing exactly what I’m going to make, and what I need to buy.” She hates spending money on food—”I’d rather spend it on shoes”—and has learned she spends less by shopping only twice a month. Some of the staples in Lacey’s kitchen include lots of fresh and frozen veggies, plus flavor-packed pantry items like spices, orange marmalade, stewed tomatoes, nuts, and prepared sauces and glazes, which she uses to jazz up her staples of chicken and pasta. “I eat very little red meat,” she says. “And I’ve never found a fish that I like. Yet.”
She finds that her two favorite recipe books, the Betty Crocker Cookbook and Weight Watchers’ Quick Cooking for Busy People, provide the fundamentals she needs for most recipes. “If you find the Weight Watchers book, buy it, because it’s out of print.”
Another kitchen staple is music: “I like to listen to jazz while I cook, or, of course, classical.” Her favorite ingredient, however, is experimentation. “I’ve never been afraid to try new things. I learned that from my dad, actually. He loves to try cooking exotic things, like Thai food.” Perhaps that’s also where she gets her patience with the two hours she spends on the road each day. Lacey’s father was a supervisor at the regional mail processing facility in Hampden, and commuted from Brownville for years. “I don’t mind it, either.”
Despite her long daily drive, she usually finds time, after her evening meal, to practice the piano. These days she’s working on Beethoven’s Pathétique. “It’s going to take a while to master. But I’ll get it.”
Career Woman’s Stuffed Chicken
Serves 44 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 3-oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup chopped almonds, pecans, or walnuts
1 small apple, chopped or grated
1/4 cup dried cranberries
Cranberry glaze
Apple cranberry chutney
Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix cream cheese, nuts, apple, and dried cranberries. Slice a pocket into the chicken breast. Stuff the pocket with cream cheese mixture. Put in the oven. After 20 minutes, remove from oven, brush on cranberry glaze. Bake 25 to 35 more minutes, for a total baking time of 45 to 55 minutes, until juice of the chicken is no longer pink when the center of the thickest pieces are cut. As a side, add apple cranberry chutney.
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