Mid-life, what ifs, and do overs.....how did I get here?

I've been thinking a lot about my life lately.  I'm the happiest I've been in a long time.  My best long-time girlfriend, Linda, says I am the happiest she has seen me since my move to Charlotte in 1991.  Would I be this happy if my life had gone in another direction?  How can a wrong turn, 35 years ago, alter your journey and path in life...for the good!  What if I had gone to college instead of getting married so young?  What if I had married the 'right' person the first time?  What if I had accepted that job transfer 21 years ago to move to Aiken SC instead of Charlotte?  What if my mom was still alive. All of these 'what ifs', had but one of them come true, I wouldn't be sitting here writing this new AHOP blog post -- there would be no AHOP.  My journey would have taken me elsewhere.  I wouldn't have moved to Charlotte.  I wouldn't have been victimized twice in 2008, and I wouldn't have the pleasure of cooking for these wonderful officers that I am so deeply fond of.  I wouldn't have the joy and anticipation of seeing my friends again on Saturday.  My wrong turn at 17 brought me here.

Seldom are people lucky enough to have a career 'do-over', but I came across a delightful (and inspiring) blog a few weeks ago about a woman who did just that. I was immediately drawn to it because of her occupation -- she is a police officer. Her story made me think about all of the 'what ifs' in my own life.  Her blog is called "The Bad Luck Detective." Written by Suzie Ivy who, at age 45, was going through her own mid-life crisis when she submitted an application to her local police department to become a police officer – and she was ACCEPTED!  In addition to being a police officer (now detective), Suzie is a writer and has published two books, based on her real-life experience in the academy and her occupation -- "Bad Luck Cadet" and "Bad Luck Officer."

You can read 10 chapters of the "Bad Luck Cadet" on Suzie’s blog.  She is my hero!

Not too many years ago, my job was eliminated.  I worked three jobs for a while to stay afloat and (not) lose my house. I went two years without health insurance and just prayed real hard I wouldn't get sick. It was a really hard time for me, but here I am...happily working one job and for a great company, blogging my little heart out for my boys and girls in blue....and for you. My life has been perfectly imperfect. 

My long-time friend also said, and she can't remember where she heard it, but she said..."We haven't had a perfect life, but we have had a perfectly good life." That says it all right there.

I boxed up all of my 'what ifs' tonight.  I'm not questioning them anymore.  I am where I am meant to be....and it's wonderful! 

Drama, drama, drama....

Okay, so everybody knows police officers are calm in emergencies – even in AHOP kitchen emergencies!

A few months ago on an AHOP breakfast Saturday, apparently for the first time, I tried to use the electric pancake griddle AND the electric skillet at the same time. In doing this, the power surge from using both appliances simultaneously popped the breaker in my 51-year-old house and all of the power went out along my L-shaped kitchen wall. The coffee stopped brewing and my pancakes and eggs stopped cooking. My entire breakfast came to an instant HALT! A moment of terror for any cook.

While I was having my panic attack, my officers jumped into action. Sgt. T assessed the situation and decided what small appliance needed to be moved and to where; Ofc. G moved the electric skillet to the kitchen table and stirred the eggs; and Ofc. J went outside to the utility room and flipped the breaker. 

I totally freaked out while they were calm, cool and collected. The delay was less than 5 minutes, but to me it might as well have been 5 hours. I was so embarrassed. I was like a deer in the headlights. I didn't know why this was happening, but they did. It must be a guy thing. 

As quickly as the drama came, it left....thanks to my friends in blue. It was simply no big deal to them.

I have since rewired the kitchen to prevent a future nervous breakdown.

While I was at it I purchased a new oven. For the 15 years I have owned my home, I have cooked casseroles, biscuits, cakes, cookies, bacon, and I can't remember what else, in a small 24” 'clean-it-yourself' single oven that came with the house. My 30-year-old oven lost a knob at least 5 years ago and I've had to use a wrench every time I needed to change the knob from 'bake' to 'broil'. Now my beautiful 27” self-cleaning double oven will crank out twice as much of everything! 

You know how new tires make your car feel brand new? That's how my small kitchen upgrades were to me. Just enough to make me feel like Paula Deen for a while....and it sure did feel good. ♥  

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Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Days to all….and a special Happy Mother’s Day to all the brave police officer moms out there.

You have a stressful and, often times, thankless job. You wear your badge and uniform with pride, and leave your family each day never knowing what danger may come your way. You serve and protect our community to keep us safe from harm's way .... then at night you're attending soccer games and helping your kids with their homework. I hope your family spoils you rotten today....you deserve it!  

You are AMAZING!

Chicken Pot Pie

There is really nothing easy about making a decent Chicken Pot Pie -- I'll just say that flat out!  That is if you want a delicious homemade cream sauce that doesn’t come from a soup can.  The hardest part about this recipe (for me) was getting the sauce to come out just right.  The recipe I adapted my dish from, I didn’t follow closely because I am a picky eater and I didn’t care much for all the stuff they put in theirs, but I followed their recipe for the sauce.  Problem: Their recipe called for 1 cup of flour which had a very floury taste to it, so I added more broth.  When I added more broth (and I had to add a lot more to get the floury taste fixed) the gravy was too thin.  Then I had to add some cornstarch to thicken it back up.  So this you will have to work with….I’m just sayin’.  It wasn’t the easiest recipe I have ever had to follow, but using the canned vegetables was a  huge time-saver and they are good.  Fresh carrots take an unbelievable amount of time to cook, so canned carrots are a must. 

Three 2^nd shift officers came for dinner Saturday night, and six 1^st shifters came for lunch leftovers on Sunday.  I happened to buy three extra pie crust tops so I replaced the crusts (nothing but the best for the best) for the leftover pot pies for 1^st shift lunch, and they were perfect!

(click on picture to enlarge)

Even with the gravy snafu, this dish was well worth making – everybody absolutely LOVED it!  And after the adorable comments I received from both my dinner and lunch visitors, I would not hesitate to make this again!  Police officers have a stressful and, often times, thankless job.  They earn, many times over, every meal I will ever have the pleasure and honor of making for them.     

Chicken Pot Pie

Recipe adapted from this one
Makes 6 individual servings

Filling

3 tbsp. butter

1 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced)

1/2 large sweet onion, diced

1 can carrots, drained (I used the sliced round ones – not diced)

1 can peas (or) 1 can of green beans, drained (or) you can do half  and half  

1 can niblets corn, drained

1 rotisserie chicken

Sauce

8 tbsp. unsalted butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2½ cups chicken broth (buy one of those 6 cup broth cartons – trust me on this)
½ cup heavy cream
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dash of Thyme (not much….just a quick shake)

Note:  I doubled this recipe to ensure I had enough sauce for all the vegetables.  I was able to spoon extra sauce on top of each filled pot pie before placing the crust on top. 

Crust
3 boxes Pillsbury ready-made pie crust (or you can buy two boxes – which I will do next time – and use the scraps of leftover dough from the cut-out rounds and roll out 2 extra dough rounds)

2 eggs / 3 tbsp water (for the egg wash on top)

To make the filling,  melt 3 tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and potato to the pan, and sauté for about 15 minutes or until tender. My potatoes actually browned, which is fine. While the potatoes are cooking, remove the skin from the chicken, pull the meat off the bones and shred or chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. In a very large bowl or pot, gently toss or mix together the chicken and vegetables. 

To make the sauce, melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan.  Add the flour and whisk until smooth.  Whisk in the chicken broth and cook over medium heat until it thickens to the consistency of a cream soup.  Mix in the cream, salt and pepper, and dash of thyme.  Once you get the cream sauce fixed to your liking, pour the sauce over the chicken and veggie mixture and stir to combine well.  Spoon the mixture into 6-8 individual oven-safe dishes (such as ramekins).

For the crust, unroll the pre-made Pillsbury pie crust rounds.  Find a plate around the house that is approx. 1” larger in diameter than the top of your ramekin (or whatever you cook our pot pie in.)  Lay the dough round on top of each ramekin.  Use a fork to seal the edges (refer to picture).  In a small bowl, add eggs and 3 tbsp water and beat with a whisk or a fork.  Brush the tops of each dough round lightly w/ a pastry brush.

Preheat the oven to 375° F.  

Place the pot pie dishes on a baking sheet for easy transfer in and out of the oven.  Bake for 20-25 minutes in a preheated over, or until golden brown.  I let mine sit for about 10 minutes before serving – the filling was extremely hot.

If you have guests coming for dinner, I recommend you make the sauce and debone the chicken the night before.  You could even sauté the potato and onions the night before also.  This will be a huge time-saver for you the day of your event.  

Oh, by the way, I purchased my ramekins at Target for $2.99/each (great price).  They come in three colors (blue, red and yellow.)  They also have white, but the white ones were I think at least a dollar more -- go figure.