So, I was on a roll with all my soups, and I realized that in September and October, I tend to make the same soup recipes fairly often. Then, there were three birthdays to celebrate. I am officially one year older. Yay me! For my birthday I took a break from soup and my family took me and one of my daughters (who is my birthday buddy) out to Japanese hibachi, my favorite. One of my favorite dining experiences is when I get to watch the chefs cook my food right in front of me. I find it fascinating to see how they prepare and present each dish with such precision and artistry. I am always amazed by their skills, particularly when they perform fire tricks that add a touch of excitement to the meal. After birthday fun, there were doctor appointments, work, and decorating. Halloween decorating in my house is a whole month process as my house and yard turn into cobwebs and skeletons. There are black holes from rips in the fabric of time and space with monsters peering through on my ceilings. There are ghastly ghouls hanging out in my Dogwood tree. My entire front yard is littered with graves, some freshly dug and others with residents attempting to escape. You know, the typical Halloween scare stuff.
There is one more thing I have done in the past couple of weeks. I have officially put my picture book out there into the world by sending my first query letter to an agent. Talk about nerve-wracking. Eventually, I just took a deep breath, reread it to make sure I wasn't too embarrassing, and hit send. I know that this is my first attempt, and probably not that great, but I did my research. I researched "querying an agent" quite a bit in the last 6 months as I waited for the illustrations to be finished. I know that this is a process- both in writing and rewriting a query letter until it is excellent and in finding the agent that's looking for my story. I have a limit of 100 queries. If I write 100 queries and do not get accepted by an agent, then I will either bury the picture book in the back of my closet or I will rewrite the book. Of course, a lot of that will depend on what any agents may say about the book. I don't expect a high critique rate as much as I expect a "this isn't what I am looking for at this time" kind of answer. I have read that sometimes an agent or two will bother with constructive criticism. And that's where I'm at with my writing. I have a couple more agents in mind right away and will continue to grow my list and write personalized letters for each.
After all that great excitement, I have a new recipe to share today. It's a chicken pot pie. I don't remember liking the chicken pot pie very much that was made at home. And when it wasn't made from home, it was one of those single-serving pot pies from Banquet, I think. I would be so happy to eat one. It was like a treat when I was little. Now, the look of it makes me sick. With the weather cooling down, I wanted a nice comforting dinner that takes very few ingredients that most people have lying around the house. With today's recipe, it's very easy to simply use any leftovers you have lying around the house. We bake a lot of pies around here this time of year, so pie crust is normally on hand. If not in your house, you will find that it is very, very easy to make from scratch. Just give Google a little search and you will find a million recipes that are relatively the same.
Chicken Pot Pie
6 Tbsp Butter
3 carrots - cut into circles
1 onion- diced
4-5 garlic cloves- minced
5-6 portabella mushrooms- chopped
1 c. chopped broccoli florets
1/3 c. flour
2 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 Tbsp. Oregano
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1c. frozen peas
2 chicken breasts-cooked & cubed. I oven-bake mine at 375°F for 25 minutes after bathing them in Season All.
2 pie crust circles - 1 ~12 inches in diameter, 1 in ~10 inches diameter
1 beaten egg
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Leave the pie crusts in the fridge for now.
Melt the butter in a large pot.
Add the onions and carrots. Saute for 6-8 minutes. This is when I roll out the 12-inch pie crust.
Add the mushrooms and broccoli. Saute for 5 minutes. Lay the 12-inch pie crust in your 9-inch pie pan. I prefer a glass pan.
Add the flour. Stir continuously for 2 minutes.
Add chicken broth, heavy cream, and seasonings.
Continue to stir for 2-3 minutes until the liquid thickens up like a gravy.
When it begins to boil, add the chicken and peas.
If the sauce isn't very thick, add 1 Tbsp. cornstarch.
Spoon the mixture from the pot into the prepared pie dish until full. I only leave about a half inch, maybe, to the top.
Remove the second pie crust from the fridge and roll it out about 10 inches. Lay that pie crust on top. Pinch the edges together. Brush the beaten egg over the entire exposed pie crust. Cut 5 slits in the top for steam to escape.
Put the pie in the oven for 30-35 minutes. The crust should be golden brown but not burnt.
Once out of the oven, wait 15 minutes before cutting the pie to allow it to cool. Enjoy!
If you have any leftover meat and vegetables in the fridge, you can easily adapt this recipe based on what you have available. Simple.
I can't wait to see what kind of exciting things will be happening in the next couple of weeks. See you later!
