Chicken Pot Pie

Ill just put it out there right now.

"Southern food" aint my thing. Now, Im aware that I live in the "south"... ok, maybe not the South in the sense that I live in Georgia and talk with a cute little twang, but Florida is by all means... the south. My soul relies on country music for soothing, and in my single days, I loved to kick up my heels and do some good scoot bootin boogie. Ive seen a gazillion country concerts, and sometimes I make people laugh, because as non-country as I may look, I say a few words a little funny, even kinda twangish.

Anywho, Country food is not my thang. Ya, ya.. fried chicken and mashed potatos are pretty fabulous. But when I recieved the challange to a chicken pot pie.. I was floored. What in Gods name was I going to do?

Chicken and dumplings? Chicken Fried Steak? Collard Greens?

Umm.. what? Never in my life.

And a Chicken Pot Pie is no exception. My mama just didnt cook that kind of stuff when I was growing up.

But, I NEVER turn down a challange.
(Disclaimer- Yes, I do. But only if its going to make me look like an idiot or make me break a sweat)

Chicken Pot Pie.

What makes it a Chicken Pot Pie?

It was my quest to figure it out.

And my quest starts with this. Chicken. A whole freakin chicken. In a pot. Are we done yet? I mean.. its Chicken, a pot.. and oh crap. I guess that "pie" part is pretty important, huh?

1 whole fryer chicken. Stuck it in a big pot full of water, and brought that baby to a boil.

When the meat was cooked, I stuck it on a dinner plate so that it could cool. In the mean time, I made baked doughnuts. Ill get to that soon enough!

When the chicken was cooled, I pulled that sucker apart. From what I have found, having a nice mix of white and dark meat is ideal. I pulled the chicken apart until I was left with a heaping pile of meat, and a stack of bones.

I then cut the chicken up into bite size peices.

Then it was time for the veggies.

1 medium onion, diced.

3 carrots, peeled and diced

4 stalks of celery, diced

Melt some butter in a deep pot, and throw these veggies in there with a few handfuls of frozen peas.

Stir around until the onions start getting that clear look about 'em

Mmmmm!!

Next throw in your cut up chicken chunks, and mix in about 1/4 cup of flour to thicken up those veggie juices.

Stir until the flour is mixed in good, then stir in 2 cups of low sodium chicken broth and a splash of white wine.

Then add 1 cup of heavy cream

Oh, sweet Jesus!!

Now, its time for the spices!

3 tablespoons of Thyme, salt and pepper.

Mix that all up nice and good, and taste taste taste. Make sure its salted pretty good.

Pour the yumminess into a dish, and cover with pie crust.

Stick in the oven, ON a baking sheet. Just trust me. This thing leaked like crazy!

Make sure to cut slits into the top to allow the steam to come out.

And what we have here is a finished, super filling, wonderful,

CHICKEN POT PIE!!!!!

Im guessing that if you know and love Chicken Pot Pie, you will be able to see the yumminess of my final product.

Chicken Pot Pie is just one of those things, that just doesnt know how to sit still and smile pretty.

No matter how I couldve served it up, it was always going to look... well, messy.

But you Chicken Pot Pie lovers know the truth.

Mmmmm Mmmm mmmm... Southern goodness.

Ya'll come back now!!

Stupid Easter Egg Cake Truffles

Dear Readers,

I promise that everything I post in this blog will taste phenomenal. I refuse to post a recipe that doesn’t make me say "wow".

What I cant promise is that everything is going to be pretty. I will spend hours trying. But patience is not a virtue I was blessed with.

And this leaves me sitting here dumbfounded as I have just spent half my day making Cake Truffles. Now, I have made Cake Truffles before and they were amazing. And today’s were amazing too. They just weren’t pretty.

HOURS. HOURS. H O U R S. Spent on these "Cake truffle pops" as I have dubbed them. In the shape of Easter eggs. Covered in colored chocolate. And then decorated. What in God’s name was I thinking? As I write this, my kitchen table is a hurricane of melted chocolate, messed up cake pops, and madness.

But what’s even more annoying then all of this?

My failed cake pops.

They taste wonderful, but as I said before... patience is not my thing. And neither are things that make me concentrate too hard.

Ill give myself an A for effort though!

Beware- The following images are NOT pretty.

Are you impressed? Because I feel like these little eggs of non-cuteness have just slapped me, pushed me down to the ground, and then laughed in my face.

Stupid Easter Egg Cake Truffles.

I would yell a few explicates right now, if this wasn’t a "family friendly" blog.

&*^#&*^#*#(&!! (There!)

Now, if you want to see my inspiration, you can go here.

And if you want to check out the true cake pop queen, you can take yourself there.

I have failed you, my readers.

Please forgive me. Just this once. =)

Cultures collide

Red sauce and black beans are a huge part of my being. They are as important to my genetic make up as my X and Y chromosomes. Italian and Cuban. A tantalizing combo that makes me who I am. It gives me my louder than life persona, my amazing hair, the olive in my skin, and my hips! Oh, these hips!

Back to red sauce and black beans....

Last weekend, I decided to make a big batch of each. At the same time.

Hard work I tell ya.

Hours and hours of stirring, and boiling, reducing to a simmer, tasting, adding, dashing, and chopping onions and garlic to really make things amazing.

My house smelt... different. But so unbelievably deliciously wonderful.

Onion, garlic, basil, green pepper, Italian sausage, ground beef, tomato, beans...

I can’t explain the smell, but it was decadent.

My Italian grandmother passed 4 years before I was born. And my Cuban grandmother passed when I was just 3 years old. I would do anything to have the opportunity to cook right alongside them. Watching their techniques, learning their tricks, and taking in their personalities to see where I might have gotten some of my traits. I would ask them how they fell in love with my grandfathers. How they migrated to this city, that I call home. What’s their favourite colors? What’s their favourite songs?

And I would ask them the secret.

The secret to a marriage that followed their vows
And raising a family of 5 healthy children.

I would then thank them.
For my olive skin, my wonderful hair, and these hips... ohhhh these hips!
And for black beans and red sauce.

Because I love black beans and red sauce with every inch of my  heart.

Home.

This is where I spent the long summer days of my childhood.

Romping around, exploring, and getting dirty.

And this is where I would tie string to a stick, and then tie the string to half a hotdog bun, and wait for hours... hoping to catch the big one.

And this is where I would stare up at the sky, and watch the clouds go by as they changed shapes from a dinosaur eating pasta to a puppy playing ball.

And this is where I would beg springs newly hatched ducklings to come to shore and say hello.

And this is where I would jump as high as I could on my trampoline to see if I could touch the tippy tops.

And this is where I would be when mom would yell for me to come inside and get cleaned up, because dinner was almost ready.

And while all the fishing, jumping, cloud watching, and getting dirty was going on...

All I wanted, was to grow up.

Boy, was I nuts or what.

It feels good to look at these pictures and remember how easy life was.

It feels just like home to me.

Not so girly but girly chicken salad

Once upon a time...

A bunch of girlfriends decided to get together for a girly dinner. Good times were to be had by all.

And on the menu? Arbor mist and chicken salad. but of course!!! Somehow boys got into this equation, and our girls dinner was no more. Surely, they would not eat any of our girly chicken salad, right??

Wrong. Mouthfuls of chicken salad was devoured in record speed, and seconds were requested. By boys.

"Hey, when are you going to make that chicken mayo stuff again?" I guess my chicken salad ended up not being so... girly. Boys. They not only make us crazy, and forgot to bring their dirty socks to the laundry room, but they eat everything. EVERYTHING!

Start off my chopping half of a red onion, half a green pepper, and as many red globe grapes as your little heart desires!!

Boil chicken breast. ON THE BONE. I usually cook about 3. This is enough for a dinner for 2, and lunch the next day. Remove all meat from bones once it has been cooked, and cut into bite size chunks.

Toss onions, grapes, peppers, and chicken in a big ole bowl.

Now here is the tricky part, and it totally depends on what YOU like. But this is the master mix, a little of each and you are good to go! Oh, and a tiny little itty bitty spoon of sugar. Do it, it’s good.

Mix it all up nice and good, and take a few sneaky bites here and there. Its the law.

Bake up some yummy croissants.

 

And pile on a bunch of this mix of ohhhhh myyyy goddd!

And sit back, and watch grown men moan and groan as they stuff their face with girl food.

And smile in silent satisfaction.

Followers!

Hello faithful readers,

I have decided to take my blogging into a different direction.

Instead of just cooking and baking, I will be sharing my life, past and present. Stories will be shared that have made me smile, and Im hoping they will do the same for you.

On that note, my site manager has informed me that I had a whopping 300+ readers last week! As soon as I reach my first 100 followers, you will be entered into a drawing to win a prize plus my all time favorite cookbook. But, you have to formally FOLLOW me for this to happen!

Thanks for keeping up with my changes! I promise, this will be the final!

Thanks,
Forever Honeymooner

Marlena and Mary

2 weeks ago, I decided to make a very big decision. It was time to put in my 2 weeks at work. I decided it was time to move on, and I am very happy with my decision.

I had the oppertunity to work with some wonderful people. They have made me laugh, and helped to brighten the dreary days of corporate America!

On my last day of work, my 2 favorites decided to play pay back. Pay back for what?? Pay back for making them experiment every single thing I have made in my kitchen for the past 6 months. They have tried and scrutinized all of my creations, and have given me great feedback (Nothing better then a constant thumbs up!) Last friday, I arrived to my last day of work to find 2 things.

Chocolate cupcakes with creamcheese frosting, adorned with grasshappers!

Grasshopper explanation: Marlena was amazing at helping me keep my cool when I wanted to fly off the handle. With the words "Patience grasshopper" I was transformed to a cool, calm and collective grasshopper. And this is where Marlena got her nickname "Wise Owl". Our nicknames stuck and put a smile on my face daily.

And HUGE kisses, filled with an Oreo concoction from Bakerella! Complete with a paper tucked inside saying "We are going to miss you!"

So sweet I tell ya! I love those girls!!

Marlena (Owl) and Mary,

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the super yummy goodies. But more than just that, thank you for being AWESOME!

Love,

Angela

 Otherwise known as Grasshopper.