A Darling Bull Moose!

Yesterday I arrived home from a foray out of the house...though at the moment I cannot remember why I had ventured out...and checked the mailbox for a parcel that was supposed to arrive over the weekend and did not.  There was nothing in the mailbox.  I asked Dear One if there was any mail...sometimes mail comes in when I am gone and is not easily visible...!  He told me a couple of ads came in.  There was a box at the table with a brown something wrapped in plastic.  He said it had his name on it but it was clearly mine since it was yarn.

WELL!!!  Wrong on all counts!  I could not remember ordering anything brown yarn, though I really do love brown yarn and fabric.  As I started to take the plastic off to unroll the brown yarn (I would rather spin brown yarn!), I noticed the word "moose" on the label and instantly I remembered the adorable moose our daughter-in-law had given our oldest son for Valentine's Day...and handed the package to Dear One to continue opening it.  He was mystified.  I pointed out that our son frequently sends birthday gifts and the lightbulb went off!

Here is that darling bull moose Dear One received as a birthday gift from our oldest son. 

Here he is outside on the front porch.  I wonder if we will have a name soon.  Bullwinkle is a bit...cliched...I suppose.

You will fall over dead if I tell you the next thing...but I have to let you know again what a kind loving generous man I have been married to for almost fifty-two years.  He said to me after seeing his moose and holding him for a moment, "You need to make a chicken for our son."  I believe I will!

 

Munchie Monday: Food Success:

 On Sunday there was to be a Linger Longer at church.  This is basically a potluck meal that is shared as some people have set up dining tables and other people have set up food table and everyone there sits down to eat.  Except the kind people who are in charge of seeing that all goes well; that food is set up on serving able and water pitchers set on the dining tables.  Those people not actively helping are chitchatting and being neighborly, a nice thing to do.

For our Linger Longers, which usually happen the last Sunday of the month, there is often a theme.  This month the theme was "New Recipes" to go along with  a new year.  I had just seen a recipe reel on Facebook then saw it again and again and thought it might work.  It seemed about as easy as could be so I decided to give it a try.

This is the recipe:

Chicken Cobbler

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3-4 cups cooked then chopped chicken--can use a rotisserie chicken
12-16 ounces frozen mixed vegetables or just frozen peas and carrots if you can find them. (In the store where I shopped there were no peas and carrots)
2 cups milk
2 packages Cheese Garlic Bisquik mix
2 cups chicken broth
1 can Cream of Chicken  Soup With Herbs

Get out your glass 9 by 13 casserole dish and place the butter inside.  Turn on the oven to 350 degrees and put the pan in the oven to melt while the oven preheats.

When the butter is melted, carefully bring the pan out of the oven and place on hot pads.  Sprinkle the cooked, chopped chicken evenly over the butter.  Next sprinkle the frozen vegetables over the top of the chicken.  

In a four-cup measure or a quart bowl place the Bisquik mix and the milk an stir until fairly smooth,  Pour evenly over the vegetables.  DO NOT STIR IN.

To the same bowl without washing add the Cream of Chicken soup and the chicken broth.  Stir well then pour that over the Bisquik/milk mixture.  ALSO DO NOT STIR.  I say this but do not know why.  I did not stir or mix our two concoctions and the recipe turned out perfectly...so Do Not Stir!

Bake for 50-60 minutes.  Or more, depending on your oven.  It took 65 minutes in our oven.

Remove from oven when the top is nicely golden.  Put on hot pads and let sit at least 10 minutes before serving.  Purportedly this time is mean to help the sauce thicken up a little.  We did let it sit so I cannot swear that it would work otherwise.

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Since it was a new recipe, I decided to make it on Saturday and give Dear One a serving to get his opinion.  If it was garbage, I did not want to take it to church and there would be time to go with some tried and true recipe.  You may think I was being defeatist but I have found good-sounding recipes on the internet before and have been burned.  Badly burned, so I have become a little cautious.

Dear One ate his small serving and said, "Why don't we have good food like this at our house?!"  You can imagine my delight!  Truly.  He thought it was good. I did point out that since he does not like leftovers, if I made it for just our family, he would be buying into days and days of leftovers...

After letting the dish cool for a while I put it into the refrigerator to rest until morning, then rested myself.

So early-ish Sunday morning I covered the dish with foil and put it in the oven at 250 degrees F for a little over an hour then put it in the casserole carrier that really does keep things warm, or hot, for ages.  It might be a Rachael Ray carrier but I have forgotten the brand.

When it was time for the Linger Longer there were some issues.  Many people had not gotten the word, or had forgotten, that there was a Linger Longer so there were only two food tables instead of the usual six food tables.  Fortunately, most of the people who had not brought food went home to eat.  Dear One and I were the last two through the line.  There was just enough food for us and for maybe three or four people to have  a small second serving.  

These potluck meals are pretty interesting slices of humanity.  Some people go through the line and pick out a few bites.  Others go through the line and heap their plates so full they can barely carry them to their places at the table.  Interesting.  Years ago when we were in Vermont and Dear One was bishop, he was always in meetings so we were the last ones through the lines then, too.  Sometimes we had to go home for food.  Not a problem as there was always food available at home.  There are those who then and now do not have that luxury.  I am so grateful to be blessed with plenty of everything we need to live and be happy, and pray that others will eventually get there, too.

Here is a picture of the chicken cobbler baking and serving dish:

As you can see, I did not think to snap a photo of the cobbler when it came out of the oven.  Or even this morning when I put it into the casserole carrier.  Many times we bring home some of our food...which also is a blessing...no need to cook the next day.  I am getting a little weary of cooking.  And especially of cleaning up.  Current our kitchen is a hell hole...but that won't last.  But as I sit here writing I am not committed to cleaning out tonight though that could change if I put on my headset and the book "Gather" that I am "reading".  We shall see.

Knitting Today: Completed Mother Hen Kit by Susan B. Anderson

 We have a wonderful granddaughter who loved chickens when she was a child.  A couple of months ago I saw a pattern kit for Mini Mother Hen pattern by Susan B. Anderson at BarrettWoolCo.  It was so cute that I thought of our granddaughter.  I texted to see if she still liked chickens.  She gave me a resounding YES!  So what could I do but order the kit.  It took weeks before I could start but now this bird is completed.

The kit I wanted was sold out.  Several times!  Finally I had communication with Susan.  She told me they could send me a kit that was not quite the regular one. It would have different colors.  I said to go for it!  (As I am writing, it is sold out again!!)

Here is Hennie, the Left-Footed Soccer Chicken, in living color!  Every time I look at her, she makes me smile.  If you want to hear all about her, go to my Ravelry page.  There on Ravelry you will find out how she got her name!

Fun project which makes me want to knit animals.  At least a few animals!

Food Friday: Rosemary Chili Chicken!

It is not often that I cook meat.  Recently I have had better sleep after having a little "meat-y" evening snack.  Last night I was at Safeway and found chicken thighs on sale for 88 cents a pound.  What is not to like about that?!!  So I purchased a package.

This morning I was up early and threw together a recipe from the top of my head.

This rosemary chili chicken was easy to make and delicious to taste!

Rosemary Chili Chicken

In a glass baking dish place your bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs in a single layer.

Sprinkle on rosemary, chili powder, granulated garlic, granulated onion, coarse black pepper and a little seasoned salt if you cannot find your pink Himalayan salt in time.

Bake in a pre-heated 350 degrees F. oven for one hour.

Remove from oven to cool.

Pour the juice into a jar and set in refrigerator so the fat will solidify for disposal...unless you are making some delicious Jewish chicken soup where you will want the fat.

This tasted really good when I had a microwaved russet potato, one Roma tomato, and one chicken thigh for breakfast.  It is 12:30 as I write. I am still not hungry but my mind says it is lunch time...Since I want to continue eating meat sparingly, I did not bring a thigh for lunch.  These were honking big chickens so...one a day is probably enough.

Food Friday: Quick, Easy Beans and Chicken

The last two days we have been traveling.  I have not wanted to buy fast food, so I made my own.  We stopped at a store near our lodging last night and purchased a can of Goya Red Beans and a package of Perdue Chicken Shorts.  This morning for breakfast I drained the beans, chopped up the chicken and put it on some Subway Layered Salad.  It was quick.  It was easy.  It was delicious.  AND there was no fat involved as my health demands significantly less fat than I have been eating.  PLUS there is plenty left over for another two or three meals.  Bonus!

You might want to try this.  I am thinking it would be good with some Spicy Peanut sauce as a dressing....