If you read my entry on Kim's chicken potpie, this is a continuation on that recipe. Scroll down a bit to find it. Last night I made it again, but with a few variations. (I love variety, actually crave it.)

I used lean ground beef instead of chicken and mushroom soup instead of chicken soup. I boiled a couple potatoes, cooled then cubed them, and added frozen veggies to make the 30 ounces called for. It was just as scrumptious as the original chicken potpie!

This picture reminds me of shopping for fruit and vegetables in Kenya. My husband and I were missionaries in Nairobi, capitol city of Kenya, and visited a market like this once a week (minus the hanging displays and lighting), carrying our own straw baskets.

We would "hire" a little street urchin to guard our "motokaa", paying him when we returned if he had kept the other kids from stealing our mirrors. One of the fruit stand's employees would tote our baskets to the car, again receiving a tip for service. I asked the head of our favorite section of the market how he kept people from stealing in such a large, open area of displays. He said his people kept a close watch on the people moving to and fro, and watched how they walked away to see if they were stealing. It reminded me that people "watch how we walk" all the time.

WHITE LIE CAKE - sent to me by my sister,Trish (this is wonderful!)

Have you ever told a white lie? You are going to love this, especially all of you who bake for church events.

Alice Grayson was to bake a cake for the Baptist Church Ladies' Group in Tuscaloosa, but forgot to do it until the last minute. She remembered the morning of the bake sale and after rummaging through cabinets, found an angel food cake mix & quickly made it while drying her hair, dressing, & helping her son pack for Scout camp.

When Alice took the cake from the oven, the center had dropped flat and the cake was horribly disfigured. She thought, "Oh dear, there is not time to bake another cake."
This cake was important to Alice because she did so want to fit in at her new church and in her new community of friends. So, being inventive, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake.

Alice found it in the bathroom - a roll of toilet paper. She plunked it in and covered it with icing. Not only did the finished product look beautiful, it looked perfect.

Before she left the house to drop the cake by the church and head for work, Alice woke her daughter Amanda and gave her some money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the moment it opened at 9:30 and to buy the cake and bring it home.

When Amanda arrived at the sale, she found the attractive, perfect cake had already been sold. She grabbed her cell phone and called her mom.

Alice was horrified - she was beside herself. Everyone would know! What would they think? She would be ostracized, talked about, and ridiculed! All night, Alice lay awake in bed thinking about people pointing fingers at her and talking about her behind her back.

The next day, Alice promised herself she would try not to think about the cake and would attend the fancy luncheon/bridal shower at the home of a fellow church member and try to have a good time. Alice did not want to attend because the hostess was a snob who more than once had looked down her nose at Alice because she was a single parent and not from the founding families of Tuscaloosa, but having already RSVP'd, she couldn't think of a believable excuse to stay home.

The meal was elegant, the company was definitely upper crust old South and, to Alice's horror, the cake in question was presented for dessert! Alice felt the blood drain from her body when she saw the cake! She started out of her chair to tell the hostess all about it, but before she could get to her feet, the Mayor's wife said, "What a beautiful cake!"

Alice still stunned, sat back in her chair when she heard the hostess (who was a prominent church member) say, "Thank you, I baked it myself."

Alice smiled and thought to herself, "God is good."

Last night I had dinner with a sweet lady from a church where Jim was holding special meetings. She treated us to Red Lobster, one of my all-time favorites. Somehow we started talking about pie, (not hard for me to do) and she mentioned "condensed milk pie" which was new to me. It is scrumptious and E A S Y !!

Doris' Quick Lemon (or Lime) Pie

1 small cream cheese (3 oz.), 1/2 cup lemon or lime juice, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 of 8 oz. tub Cool Whip - Beat

Bake a pie crust using directions on package

After cooling, pour pie filling in. Put the other half of the Cool Whip on top. Voila!

Labels: Doris' Quick Lemon Pie

Self-Rising Flour - who knew?

My last post called for self-rising flour in the chicken pot pie crust. I found I didn't have any, so Jaime looked it up on the internet. (How did we survive before internet? How did we learn ANYTHING??) HERE'S HOW YOU MAKE YOUR FLOUR INTO SELF-RISING FLOUR! :)

FOR ONE CUP OF SELF-RISING FLOUR:
one cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 t. baking powder
pinch salt

Voila! that's it! If this bit of knowledge changes your life, leave a comment!





I spent Mother's Day weekend with my mother and two of my three sisters, plus a couple of the grandchildren. There is nothing quite like family togetherness! We were hosted by my sister Liz and Tom in their Bowling Green, Kentucky home right on a golf course. Long, grueling hours Tom has spent facing the sides of the house with beautiful grey Kentucky stone. And Liz's creativity is everywhere inside, creating an oasis of peace and beauty for the weary traveler.

Her neighbor makes a mean chicken pot pie. Liz asked if we could go over and watch how she made it, so Mom, Lizzie and I trouped next door to observe, and it was just like being an audience for our own private cooking show! Here it is, quick, easy and delicious:

KIM'S CHICKEN POT PIE

cooked chicken (Kim's hint to save time: buy an already cooked chicken at your grocery store deli and remove meat from bones. Discard fat and skin.)
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 cups chicken broth
2 15 oz. cans "veg-all" veggies, drained (I used 30 oz of frozen veggies, warmed 5 min. in microwave)

Stir all this together in a Pam-sprayed 9 x 13 glass baking dish. For the crust:

1 1/2 c self-rising flour
1 1/2 c milk (Kim tried buttermilk; delicious!)
1 stick butter (1/2 c) melted
1 1/2 t baking powder

Whisk this together in a bowl, then pour over top of chicken and veggies. Spread out evenly with spatula. Bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes. Golden brown crust, bubbling goodness inside!











Happy Mother's Day, from a proud mother!

Sunday is Mother's Day, to any of you who might have missed the constant TV ads, newspaper inserts,radio spots and schmalzy movies on Hallmark channel.

Thought I'd take this occasion to thank my family for many wonderful Mother's Days, starting with cards where Jim signed their names, as they were too little to even hold a pen.

Then there came breakfast in bed, then breakfast at the dining room table, with good china, brewed coffee, maybe frozen waffles, raspberries and whipped cream. It was kids and Daddy, mother called when everything's ready. This has always been a day of pampering: "Sit down, read the paper with coffee while we do the work."

You can't beat that for a fabulous mother's day present.

Speaking of fabulous, I want to share my best-ever present. One year our laundry was down steep steps in a creepy, spider-infested, damp, moldy basement. (Old house, built in 1915.) I was having a hard time right then, can't even remember what the issues were, but I got so I could hardly go down into the basement to do laundry. And then of course it piled up.

(Ever notice that anything you put off always gets worse??)

The day before Mother's Day I saw Jim conferring with our two girls, about 14 & 16. Next thing I knew, the three of them were toting all the laundry out to the car. They took it all to the laundromat, did it together in a couple hours, and brought piles of clean, folded clothes back to me. WOW!

Best Mother's Day present I ever got, bar none. So here's to my great husband and four kids - thanks for all the happy mother's days you have given me! Love you.

Labels: Recipe

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Name:Marg Marshall

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