Must be Santa and a Chicken Pot Pie

If you know me at all, you know I LOVE Christmas! I always have. I would beg my Dad to get the decorations out as early as possible and spend all day placing the little trinkets, and wreaths, and angels, and nutcrackers around the house. Growing up we had a hodge podge of old decorations from before I was born like a ceramic white tree with blue plastic pieces that you stuck in the branches and then it lit up,  handmade ornaments, paper angels with ripped wings, smooshed wreaths that needed sprucing up every year, and I didn't care how new or old it was, the more decorations the better. I would personally thumb tack lights around my sister and I's windows and climb on chairs to hang plastic mistletoe. I was only satisfied when the house was covered in a Christmas explosion. Every year my poor Dad would spend hours outside wrapping lights around bushes and climbing the ladder to hammer lights across our roof just for my sister and I to delight in. Finally we would journey out to a shopping center Christmas tree lot and pick the perfect tree. My parents were all for a nice big tree but our downstairs ceiling was only so tall and the goal was to get one so the angel almost touched the ceiling....or at least that was my goal. So we would pick our tree, put it in the pick up truck and head home. Once home my Dad would eye up the tree and the ceiling situation, then trim some more, eye up again, and trim some more. Then he and my Mom would try and get the tree in the stand while they bickered about how someone wasn't holding it straight. Once the tree was finally placed we could add all the ornaments. Of course the good ornaments get front and center placement while the older, uglier ornaments go in the back...of course.

I loved these traditions. It was always such a magical time of year. We would bake cookies with Mom in the kitchen and wear aprons that were too big for us and make a huge mess. I would lay in bed every night and pray to Santa and Jesus to bring me all the gifts I wanted. Then that amazing day came....Christmas Eve!!!
We would eat cookies and my Mom would go pick up wings and a party sub and we would munch all day on sweets and snacks, watching movies, and listening to Christmas music. My sister and I loved "sleigh ride" and would gallop around the house like we were horses over and over and over listening on repeat and cracking imaginary whips.
One Christmas eve my sister and I were attempting to fall asleep in her room together but we just couldn't sleep. It was the same thing every year. We would stay up talking about what gifts we hoped to get and couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard we tried. We are laying there and begin to hear a sound coming from the air duct in the floor. It is a rustling sound and some low voices. All at once we both sprung up out of bed and ran over to the vent and put our heads on the floor listening. It was paper, paper rustling and being cut. Who was down there? Was is Santa? Was he bringing our gifts already?
We listened some more and heard the voices again. Very familiar voices. It was Mom and Dad! What the heck were they doing down there?! Don't they know Santa could be here any minute!
So I yell down the vent; "HEY! MOM AND DAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
silence. then "uh we are just watching TV"
"BUT I HEAR PAPER AND CUTTING?!"
"oh we are just helping get things ready for santa. he can't wrap everything all by himself."
"REALLY?!"
"yes - go to sleep!"
"CAN WE COME DOWN?"
"no go to sleep"
"OK"

I think the conversation through the vent went on a bit longer than that because I was one stubborn kid...but at some point my sister and I looked at each other a little confused and crawled back in bed.
I think that was the beginning of realizing that Santa might not be real. Either way we tried to accept that Mom and Dad were just doing a little prep work, closed our eyes, and waited for morning and all those wonderful presents Santa (or my parents) was bringing.

So I made this recipe several days ago and wanted to share. I have been in the mood for comfort food with the snow we have already gotten and it being the holiday season and all. So I found this awesome recipe for chicken pot pie casserole. I added a half cup of diced carrots and a half cup of diced celery too. I highly suggest doing that, but here is it.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie Casserole Recipe

By Peggy Trowbridge Filippone

• 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1-1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2 large chicken breast halves)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried sage, divided use
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme, divided use
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, unthawed
• 1/2 cup finely-chopped sweet onion
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups homemade biscuit baking mix, (or Bisquick®)
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1-1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup strong chicken broth
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1 cup fine-shredded Cheddar cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Pour melted butter into a 9- by 13-inch glass casserole dish and swirl to evenly coat the bottom.

Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch chunks. Spread evenly over the bottom of the casserole. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of the sage, 1 teaspoon of the thyme, then the pepper. Top with the frozen mixed vegetables, onions, and roasted red peppers.

Whisk together baking mix, onion powder, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon the sage and 1/2 teaspoon thyme. Using a large dinner fork, stir in milk just until combined. Slowly pour over the chicken and vegetable mix.

Whisk together chicken broth and condensed chicken soup until combined. Again, slowly pour evenly over the baking mixture. Finally, top with the Cheddar cheese.

Bake the casserole for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings 

Holiday Edition: Its Thanksgiving Dah-Blame-it!

My mother was notorious for forcing second and third helpings on guests at dinner and at times on my Dad, sister, and I. She wouldn't boast about her food or put it down like some adorable plump Grandmas do.."oh now this isn't my best pudding but I guess its edible"....she just wanted you to eat and eat a lot of it. ....And she wondered how I became so round as a kid.....
Now one of her specialities was her mashed potatoes. She really made some creamy, fluffy, wonderful mashed potatoes. She used to make a really lovely spread for Thanksgiving actually.  Of course we had the turkey and stuffing, but we always did stove top. I don't think she liked the idea of stuffing the dressing inside the bird. We usually had some simple corn from a can, probably green giant. There were always rolls in one of those big clear plastic bulk bags from the grocery store and she would warm in them in the oven and it was a good as fresh baked bread to us. Gravy of course but she always got several jars of turkey gravy from giant and we didn't care, we always loved all of it. OH OH cranberry sauce from the can in that slimy jelly cylinder, which I loved. I started bringing my green bean casserole and if you remember my post from last year, apparently I was the only one who liked that one. Lastly was Mom's mashed potatoes. That was one of the only things she did from scratch and like I said, she did it well. That big beautiful yellow tinted glass bowl would come out on the table just steaming with its white fluffy buttery peaks of potato glory.
We all sat down at Mom's big oval wooden table, where she probably laid out some festive fall place mats with pumpkins and leaves on them, which we were NOT allowed to get one drop of food on. Fresh baked cookies and a pumpkin pie lingered on the edge of the table teasing us. We got out Mom's yellow ceramic plates with the brown painted flor de lis on them and started piling on the food.
Sometimes it was just the four of us and we would sit and eat all fast and furious and be done in 15 mins and Mom would always comment about how it took all morning to make this silly meal and 15 mins to eat it and would huff at Dad for finishing first.

Well one year she was determined to serve Dad some more mashed potatoes after he had finished his meal. I don't know what got in to her, but she was just funny like that sometimes and she probably just found it amusing to force some more food on him. I remember her asking if everyone liked the food and wanted more and I remember her asking Dad a few times if he really liked the potatoes. I don't think she was very proud of them that year. She either made them runny or lumping. Now of course Dad said he liked them, that he liked them a lot. The next thing I know Mom is up at the stove grabbing the pot of extra potatoes and walking over to Dad with it. She says "well have some more then". I think she was convinced that he didn't really like them. He said he was fine and he did like them. She has the spoon full of potatoes now out of the pot and hovering over his plate. "well then you should have some more, are your sure you liked them" she said.
"Yes Connie, I liked them, they were just fine, I liked them fine."
"Well then have some more if you sure you really did like them."
And finally Dad exclaims...
"Connie! I liked the Mashed Bah-Dah-Blame-Potatoes!!"

Now my Mom wasn't the only one with little sayings. When Dad wanted to curse so bad but couldn't because little ears in the corn field were near, then Dah-Blame-It was his go to. My sister and I even wrote a song called "Dah-Blame-Daddy" once after he accidentally backed into a parked car at the Burger King in the Manassas Junction and yelled; "Dah-Blamed-it, Where'd that car come come!?"

Well to drive home his love, on this day, for my Mother's mashed potatoes, Dah-Blame had to come out. I I think everyone at that table knew once and for all that he liked those potatoes.
He got an extra helping, Mom sat back down, and we all finished our meal.....Dah-Blame-it!

In honor of the holiday I made an interesting turkey meat loaf that I am calling Thanksgiving Meat Loaf.
I made it with a really nice homemade and simple squash casserole. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Turkey Meatloaf

1lb Ground Turkey
2 med mushrooms (baby bella is best)
1 Tsp fresh rosemary
2 fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup small diced red onion
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
salt and pepper

Lily helped

mix all ingredients together and make into a loaf. Place on a baking sheet or roasting pan and cover with tin foil. Cook at 350 for about 30 mins. Check and give more time if needed.

I also made a simple country gravy with bacon grease, flour, and milk and poured that over top.

Squash Casserole

3 med yellow Squash chopped
1/2 med red onion chopped
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup light cheddar
1/2 cup light mexican blend cheese
1 tsp minced garlic
salt and pepper

Saute Squash on med with olive oil until barely soft. Add onion and cook till all are nice and soft. Turn off heat and mash a little with a potato masher. In a bowl mix the rest of the ingredients and then add veggies from the stove. Pour mixture into a casserole dish and cook on 350 for about 25 mins.

Lily says "Cheese! I liked this casserole!"

Honey Brine Chicken with a Mohawk

So I kind of have a Mohawk now and the decision to do this was a scary one.

 Ever since watching a the season of Project Runway with Anya who was the gorgeous beauty queen from Trinidad turned fashion designer who had the sides of her head shaved, I was very intrigued by this style.

After that season aired I started noticing more and more people with this strange haircut. You leave the top long, in some cases very long like Anya, and shave the sides and back. The next thing I know there is another girl on Project Runway with a similar cut, Pink has a version of that haircut, and then the haircut that shocked the world was Miley Cyrus. Once I saw her version of the haircut, I really wanted to try it. In no way am I a real fan of her or her music, but I do think she looks amazing with the haircut and has some catchy tunes.
So I go to my incredible stylist Vickie at Salon Vie and show her pictures of....Miley Cyrus.

We talk about the cut and decide to take baby steps. No clippers came out that day but I ended up with a pixie on one side and a very textured short bob on the other. As the hair was flying off, I got nervous and my heart was pounding. I wasn't even going for the full shaved sides but it was still scary and that says a lot for me because I am pretty adventurous with my style. I remember watching the transformation in the mirror and nervously joking; "uuuhh wow, I can't believe I am doing this...."
Well that was nothing!
I ended up loving the cut and felt it made me feel younger and prettier and made my face look thinner...
All things that are very important to a woman of course.
I got a great reaction from friends and guests at my current job and so that gave me the confidence to finally, after about 2 years of thinking on it, go for shaving most of my head!
I show up at the salon again with pictures of Miley... again. I sit down in the chair and Vickie says; "OK, what are we doing today". My current cut and color had grown out a lot and was almost unrecognizable to the original style at this point so I had lots of options. I took a deep breath and said; "we are doing it, we are buzzing my head today."
She was instantly thrilled as we looked over more pictures and talked about how this was going to go, what color to dye it, and before I even knew it, the clippers came out and the first row of hair was on the floor. No turning back. Other stylists were coming over to my chair to watch and talk about it. It was the buzz of the whole salon. Patrons were talking about it and watching it all buzz buzz buzz off on to the slick black floor.
We painted on the bleach and now it was time to just sit and wait and hope I didn't make a horrible decision.
It took what felt like forever. Part of me was scared but part of me was really excited. I remember waiting for the color to process and kinda praying that Nick would like it, and that the other Moms at the play ground wouldn't think I was strange.
Why was I even doing this? I guess I am taking this time in my life to really enjoy life. I get to be home with Lily and I have a pretty neat little part time job, I finally lost all the baby weight, and it just felt like why the heck not. I am 33, Im still young and fun, and this is me. Who cares what the Mom's at the playground think. I wanted to try something really different, I wanted a change, I wanted to challenge myself in a way and be brave.
So I did it, and it came out great. People have been lovely about it and although I do think most the Mom's at the playground wonder what type of person I am....and are pretty curious if I am gay. Let them think what they want, and if I were gay, shame on them for judging me for that! Shame! A haircut doesn't define a person, but it can very well express something about them. My lady Mohawk says I am fun, adventurous, and daring....and I like that!

So as part of enjoying life more, I am cooking again and blogging again...yay!!
So in honor of the new do, I wanted to try something new with chicken that I had never done. Chicken can be pretty darn boring but I have created some great marinades that put flavor through all the meat and Im pretty proud of them. However, I usually grill chicken and the weather is turning colder so I thought....whats a way I can get great flavor through the whole piece of chicken, keep it moist, but bake it. So I thought why not brine it. I do that with pork chops and its awesome.
So I looked up a couple things on honey brines and thought, yep that's the ticket.
So I created my own brine and then made honey lemon carrots and simple pan roasted brussel sprouts to go with it.

Honey Brine Chicken
1/3 cup sea salt
1/2 gal of hot water
2 cups vegetable broth
1 1/4 cup honey
3-4 handfuls of ice
chicken breasts ( I used two but you could do up to 4)

In a large bowl combine salt and hot water. Stir until dissolved. After that add veggie broth and honey. Stir.
Add chicken and immediately add ice to cool down the water. Cover and place in the fridge for several hours. I started the brine at 9:30am and took it out at 5:15pm

Pat dry the chicken breasts and place in a greased baking pan. I sprinkled the breasts with garlic powder, parsley, pepper, a little lemon juice, and a little more honey drizzled on top.
I cooked them for 25-30 mins at 375.

Honey Lemon Baby Carrots
2 lemon slices
2 T butter
about 2 cups of baby carrots
honey 1-2 T depending on how sweet you want it
salt and pepper

Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Add carrots and boil about 5-6 minutes until just getting tender. Drain the carrots and add back to the pot. Next add lemon, butter, and honey. Cook on med for about 5-6 mins until nice and tender and the carrots have a bit of a glaze on them. Add a little salt and pepper to finish it off.

The whole thing came out amazing! It was the best baked chicken I have ever made!

Holiday Edition: Grandma's Breakfast

We have always loved breakfast in my family. These days I don't always eat it, even though I know I should, but on the weekends I usually just have to cook one big breakfast. I love the smell of toast in the toaster and bacon sizzling and the color of that bright yellow egg yolk just waiting for a buttery piece of toast to be dipped in it.
When I was a kid my Mom made eggs every weekend too and we always had "dippin" eggs. I had no idea until I was probably 12 that dippin eggs were usually called over easy.
Part of my love for breakfast and I have to assume my Dad's great love for the most important meal of the day, is my Grandmother.

My beautiful Grandma Ruby when she was a young woman

We used to visit my Grandparents in West Virginia almost every Thanksgiving and I always loved it so much. It was exactly how Thanksgiving should be. Driving hours down country roads, over the mountains, and through the woods to Grandmother's house to share a massive meal with our equally massive family.
Before some of the bigger highways were built, our trip was six hours long and involved some of the scariest mountain roads I have ever seen. Barely any guard rail, these steep narrow rounds wound up and down mountains, past rivers and through valleys. Steep grades with runaway truck exits and roads signs warning of falling rocks. I remember always looking up this one cliff to see three crosses in the ground, watching over the farmland. I remember blue skies with huge fluffy clouds as far as you could see and the leaves turning all the colors of the rainbow. It was the longest, sometimes scary, but most beautiful drive.

After a final steep, winding, hilly road, passing cows and sheep and old homes that looked 100 years old, the road would level out, the trees opened up, and there was Roscoe and Ruby Swanigan's home. My Grandma and Grandpa's Lincoln would always be in the drive and sometimes they would even be waiting on the front porch waving a warm welcome back. It was a simple brick front rambler with cream siding and a huge open yard. When we came inside, it always smelled the same, like food had been cooking and I believe my Grandma's perfume. Their favorite cushy rocking chairs were always in their place in the front room and our cots were popped open and waiting for us in the guest room. Kick-knacks were placed on every shelf and dresser. Ceramic men and women holding flowers, or an old coal miner carrying a pick ax.
In the game room was a pool table. all of my Grandpa's guitars and banjo, and a wall of pictures of all of my Aunts and Uncles high school portraits. I used to stare at the soft black and white photos and compare each face, seeing how my relatives looked so alike and marveling in their youth and beauty and thinking how their faces had changed but how beautiful they all still were to me.
We would settle in and hours of looking at old photos, playing under the pool table, and listening to Grandpa's stories and jokes would ensue.
Once all of our cousins and Aunts and Uncles arrived, there would always be the turkey, and stuffing, and my Grandma's amazing home-made mashed potatoes but that isn't my favorite meal or memory.

Two different Swanigan family reunions

I have always been an early riser and never slept well because I was afraid of the dark so I would lay in my cot and pray for morning to come and to hear my Grandma's humming coming from the kitchen.
She always hummed when she cooked and that's how I knew it was ok to come out of bed and join her in the kitchen. She would be up before the sun making fresh from scratch biscuits and would see me and always say/sing something like "good morning, morning glory". It would be her and I sometimes for a couple hours before everyone else rose. I would rattle off all the millions of stories and Ideas that were in my head while she hummed and pat the dough and would say "whew honey, doesn't your tongue ever get tired!".
She would sometimes pull out a coffee can full of change and give me a few coins. I remember being so amazed by all the coins she had. I thought she was rich. It was a tiny little kitchen with one small window over the sink and barely any counter space, but my Grandma made the most delicious food there and I loved our quiet time in the morning together.
Then once everyone was awake, and the coffee was brewed, and the gravy was bubbling, we would eat. In a small dining room with an organ in the corner, we sat around a large wooden table and I would pile eggs, bacon, gravy, and biscuits on my plate. I would mix it all together in one big, messy, gooey, hill of breakfast delight and devour the entire plate.
A big home-made breakfast always makes me think of my Grandmother and reminds me of the holidays, no matter what time of year it is.

So with the holidays fast approaching and for the first time in many years, I made pancakes.
 These weren't just any pancakes though. There were Cranberry Almond Pancakes with Honey Orange Sauce.
Super easy to make and so delicious.
I followed the recipe for thinner pancakes on the Bisquick box but added a handful of dried cranberries, a handful of sliced almonds, and a little vanilla extract to the batter.
It made about 12 medium sized cakes.
Then for the sauce I took about a 1/4 cup of orange juice, the juice from half of a fresh orange, a little orange zest, about 1/4 cup powdered sugar, mixed that, then added honey until it got to the consistency I wanted. It was a little thinner than syrup but the pancakes soaked it up and it was heaven.

I served the pancakes with bacon and sausage and the house was just filled with great smells of breakfast for hours. I thought of my Mother and my Grandmother as I served pancakes to Lily for the first time.

Happy Thanksgiving to you Mom, Grandma and Grandpa. We miss you!