Recipe Friday

Sorry, sorry, sorry.

I have been so out of touch with blogger lately. It’s not that there hasn’t been anything going on. There’s been LOTS going on; I just haven’t had a chance to sit down and write about it. We’ve had spring sports with LAX for Mo and soccer for Co.  I’ve been lining up summer camps, making vacation plans, hosting my in-laws for a long week-end, hitting the gym and the ‘bells,  and trying to figure out how I can get up to C-ville for a shoot, then boogie down to Chesapeake for Easter and my mother’s birthday, all without having the mother of all temper tantrums.  Yes, I have been known to turn into Rumplestiltskin when things don’t go my way. Shocking!

Add to that I’m coming into the homestretch of pregnancy #3 (9 weeks to go, but who’s counting) and I am ready to throw in the towel.  The aches, the pains, the fatigue, the return of the morning sickness (really?!) — stick a fork in me. I’m so done and ready to meet this bébé.

While I have been eating, I haven’t really been cooking. It’s been more of a daily lunch time pilgrimmage to Martin’s (the local grocery) or the Fresh Market for some Wing Dings, a salad and a slab of cake.  Yes, I’m bellying up to the trough with alarming regularity.  I do console myself with the fact that my biggest meal of the day comes in the middle of the day and pretty much carries me through until I go to bed. I get a “big salad” even Elaine would be jealous of, about 5 hot wings, and if I’m really lucky, a piece of black and white cake that is so good, I want to run down to my parents house, knock on the door and slap my mother in the face when she opens it. Then I’ll hand her a slice of cake that I’ll have brought with me as an olive branch.

When I’m not trying to work through dull throbs in my back, the cramps in my instep, and the over-all feeling of perpetually fullness that has taken over my body, I’ve been reading. Yes, I’ll admit it. I jumped on the bandwagon that is Fifty Shades of Grey.

Usually when a book comes out that everyone and their mother is talking about, I end up waiting until all the kerfluffle has died down before I picked it up. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, et al.? Didn’t crack that until the sixth book was released.  Twilight & Co.?  I think the first movie hit the theatres and a friend of mine gave me a shopping bag with all of the books in it with the following warning, “You won’t be able to stop reading.”  The Hunger Games?  My book club read it, but we mostly read wine labels, so that month, I read J. Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet, Vouvray Loire Valley 2007, and Barefoot Pino Grigio.  When I did pick it up, my sweet, sweet hubs saw how I was burning through it and surprised me by bringing home the remainder of the trilogy as a just-because gift.  I’m real lucky like that. 
As for Fifty Shades, I kept seeing articles on various media outlets that I read describing this book as “mommy porn” – I term I find unflattering and kind of degrading — and women going as far as hiding their e-readers from prying eyes on the subway/carpool line/grocery checkout/doctor’s office, etc.  One woman wrote that she would take her book with her wherever she went and would pray for delays so she could have more time to read. One woman said that Fifty Shades improved her sex life (whoa). That the book is based on Twilight fan fiction gave me pause, but hey, didn’t I gobble up the Twilight series like a thirst deprived nomad finally reaching an oasis? So, I got the book and cracked it open after the kids had gone down for the night.
I want to say the book was good. I mean, I read it all in a matter of days and I’m anxious to see how this whole story is going to culminate as the trilogy progresses, but there were times when I wanted to take a red pen to the pages and do some editing.  Do I think I could have written this. Yeah, kind of.  It’s not complex the way you need a spreadsheet and a flow chart with the Game of Thrones series.  I don’t know anything about BDSM which pretty much dominates –heh heh – the plot; there would definitely be some research involved, but as far as character development goes and character names. . .ooof! let me at it.  
Was it sexy? In parts. Was it raunchy? In parts. Have I cast Hollywood celebs in my head for who I’d like to see when this comes to the big screen? Absolutely, though I’m sure who I picture won’t be who is cast, and that can be disappointing (Exhibit A: Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum in Janet Evanovitch’s One for the Money. It should have been someone- anyone- else).  Am I going to read the other two books? Duh. It’s like literary junk-food. I’m going to have read some Faulkner to exercise my brain back into shape. 
Fan-fic aside, there are other genres that I’ve been exploring.  On the non-fiction side of things,  I recently read was called MWF Seeks BFF by Rachel Bertsche.  In a nutshell, a young newlywed moves to Chicago with her hubs and realizes she’s lonely. She set out to make some new friends by going on 52 girl-dates, one a week for an entire year. She reaches out to people by email, telephone, want ad (seriously), rent-a-friend (who knew that existed), blind date type set ups, and so forth.  It’s candid, it’s funny and totally relatable. It begs the question, why is it so difficult to make friends as an adult? Ultimately, the author’s definition of a BFF evolves and through her experience the read can gain some insight as to how to cultivate and maintain new and existing friendships.  I’ve taken some lessons from the book for sure and find myself actively pursuing female friendships.  It’s kind of like dating, which was never really my strong suit (I hit the jackpot with the hubby), but it’s important to have girlfriends.  Especially when there are books like Fifty Shades to discuss! 
Anyway, I really want to get back into the swing of the blogging thing since I do like to write. Of course, once Amazon mails me books two and three of the trilogy, there may be some radio silence for a bit.   And if you read the book (either book, actually) and want to discuss, girlfriend to girlfriend, let me know! 
Happy Friday, y’all, and Happy Easter!  Here’s a springtime recipe that’s sure to please (you know me and my love of the cupcake tin!)
Mini Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken breast, poached and diced
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 cup frozen mixed veggies
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 Tbs Herbs De Provence
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 2 (10 oz) cans Pillsbury biscuits













Directions

  1. 1Preheat your oven to 400.
  2. 2In a large bowl, combine the cooked chicken, cream of chicken soup, frozen veggies, cheese, herbs and spices.
  3. 3Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin and place the Pillsbury biscuits into each cup, pressing into the bottom and up the sides.
  4. 4Evenly spoon the pot pie mixture into each biscuit cup. Slide into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Check at the 12 minute mark.
  5. 5Let rest for about 3 minutes and dig in!

IN: recipes ON: April 5, 2012 BY: Hilary 4 COMMENTS
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