Panoply has been featured in the January 2014 issue of "DIY Decorating Addict". My featured post is "It's Not Easy Being Green...." (from Panoply archives, original post appeared October 15, 2013 here). It was the post I wrote about walking the neighborhood and finding great scores on the day prior to trash pickup.
The magazine is available now, exclusively in the iTunes newsstand from Apple, at this link:
Dianne is offering a special
subscription running through the end of January - 6 months for $5.94 (99 cents per issue, 66% off regular pricing). You can download the subscription easily to your iPad, iPhone or iPod through your iTunes account. Dianne Corriere, Publisher/Editor/Writer of "DIY Decorating Addict",and Happy DIYer, contacted me along with several other bloggers/writers to compile this great resource of a magazine, full of fun projects and ideas, all centered around DIY.
This month's issue has several great projects: a bathroom vanity sink from a flea market chest and barn gate for backsplash; how to update inexpensive brass doorknobs; a Land of Nod knockoff pouf, and several other can't miss DIY successes. Be sure to check them all out in "DIY Decorating Addict"! Thank you, Dianne, for the feature!
POSTSCRIPT: As of January 19, 2014, all water bans have been lifted from the areas which serve the more than 300,000 affected water customers in WV. However, there are still reports of an odor, along with effects after use, of the water. The CDC still advises pregnant women and small children to not drink the water, but that advisory came only AFTER the 'flushing' for resuming water usage began. The long-term effects of this disaster, unfortunately, will only play out in time. The company responsible for the leak, Freedom Industries, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 17, 2014 - just a little more than two weeks after the company was formed, one week after the leak.
In case you haven't heard (or you live under a rock), we have been under a "DO NOT USE WATER" notice since January 9, 2014, around 5 pm EST as a result of a Chemical Leak in WV Water. This affects our household and a total of 300,000 people in our state of West Virginia - approximately 15% of our state's entire population. We have been declared a national emergency. There is no timeline for resolution as of this writing, although today's new conference was promising.
Here is a summary of events since January 9, 2014:
7,500 gals of the chemical, 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol (MCHM), leaked into the Elk River in Charleston, WV, just a little over one mile upstream of our water company's treatment plant, contaminating all water in the system's approximate 1,700 miles. Little data was known on the chemical, used in coal processing, which was being stored in tanks by Freedom Industries, the company responsible for the leak. The material safety data sheets (MSDS) were not written for consumer applications of this chemical, so toxicity protocol had to be written and tested as a first step in mitigating the problem.
Water can only be used for flushing commodes and fighting fires until further notice. This has been in effect since January 9, 2014.
Homeland Security, FEMA, the National Guard, Coast Guard, US Army Corps of Engineers, CDC and OSHA offices have all been called to action. In addition, our state's Health and Human Services, Department of Environment Protection and State Emergency Services are in action. Many scientists are also on the scene, learning the chemical's properties, the toxicity levels, and how to react in a state of emergency such as this.
The Health Department immediately shut schools, restaurants, daycares, and even hospital [scheduled] surgical facilities were all shut down as of last Thursday evening. Many of these facilities are still waiting for temporary solutions to enable operations and end further economic losses.
There have been over 1,000 calls to poison control, reporting symptoms possibly caused by exposure and/or contact with the chemical, including nausea, vomiting, headaches, and contact burns.
Grocery shelves were emptied of water, ice, baby wipes, paper products and frozen foods almost immediately following the ban. Police were called in to help patrol scenes. That situation improved by today (Sunday).
Once the chemical breach is corrected in the water company's system, there will specific instructions, along with a zoned approach, for ramping up consumer service again. Everyone will necessarily have to purge their water lines - tanks, icemakers, humidifiers, and any other water source that may have been used after the leak occurred and prior to the ban for use. The water company has stated they will credit each homeowner with a 1,000 allowance for water to be purged when the time is announced.
We do not know how long this emergency will last, but the latest news conference today indicates that the end may be in sight within the next few days. Lab test analyses over the last 24 hours indicate all readings of the chemical ratio are within the CDC's acceptable recommendations, so zoned purging should begin as early as tomorrow. A computerized program has been written and communication will be rolled out in a 4-pronged approach: computer access (self-serve), automated call-out system, telephone hotline call-in, and local media.
We have received so much help in helping ourselves from so many other states! Thank you, all! West Virginians are a proud, hard-working, and resilient people, but it's certain that we could not have recovered to the extent we have in such short time without the help of our neighbors. If you would still like to contribute to our aid, we could still use your prayers in our situation. The magnitude of this emergency, practically and economically, not to mention physically and emotionally, just gives us a glimpse of how easy it would be to disrupt our worlds and everyday lives as we know it. Prayers that we will be protected from any kind of event like this, unintentional or intentional, will always be welcome.
(Note to readers: This is a rather long post, an exercise in reflection and healing, recounting a significant few days in my life. It's okay if you don't want to read it, but please don't judge me for writing it.)
I've allowed myself some quality cozy time in January, I have to admit. I've been catching up on subscribed magazine and books tossed aside since November (yes, I'm still reading about Christmas inspiration). I watched the entire 5th season of "The Good Wife" last weekend. With my daughter's wedding last October and holidays immediately following, I just never had time. Hallmark Christmas movies are finally caught up.
Mr. P. and I have also started watching syndicated episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" since Christmas. We began watching the show sometime in the 2nd season real-time (or close to it). Anyway, in the early part of Season 2 there was the episode "It's the End of the World", where Meredith (Ellen Pompano) senses something bad is going to happen that day before going to work. Meredith's first-person narrative at the beginning of the episode (standard for the show's writing) asks, "What would you do if you had one day?"
January 27 will mark the 7th year anniversary of a motor vehicle accident my mother had, at a spunky age 86, that led to her death four days later. It was a very mild, sunny winter day (a Saturday), and Mr. P. and I had gone for a walk around noon. He would turn 60 the next day. I carried my cell phone, but when we walk, I usually don't feel the vibration in my back pocket. That day was no different.
When we got home, there was a message on the land line, from my sister M, saying mom had been in a wreck, and sister M took her to the ER. It was around 12:30 pm. We hurried over to the ER where mom was, with sister M.
When I walked in, and saw my mom sitting in the waiting area, watch her take the ice bag off of her forehead, I just said, "Oh mom, I'm so sorry". She had a huge hematoma in the center of her forehead, and her eyes were both black and blue. My sister looked frustrated, and Mr. P. asked what happened. Mom: "I wrecked my car coming out of the bank". Sister M: "She refused to come to the hospital in an ambulance. She tried to call you, but you didn't answer, so she called me. When I got here, she kept yelling at me to call you (with mom's cell phone; sister M didn't even have a cell phone back then), but you didn't answer. The ambulance driver tried to convince her to let him bring her, but she refused. So I brought her myself". Mr. P.: "Where's the car?" Sister M: "At the bank on 38th Street, where it happened". (The accident was six blocks from where I live). "She was in the drive-thru lane, and her car accelerated. She came across the road, hit a parked car across the street, and then her car made a u-turn toward oncoming traffic, and she hit the utility pole at the corner of the bank. Thank God there was no traffic coming. [Electric] lines were down over her car, and she was screaming, literally screaming, that she couldn't find her gloves. I was looking for them on the floor, but couldn't find them, and then I lost it, and started screaming back." (We are Italian and we don't do calm. We talk and others think we are yelling. When sister M said she was screaming, I knew it was true. I could tell by the remorseful look on her face.) Mr. P. (to my mom): "Norma, we're probably going to have to take your keys from you, you know". Mom: "Oh NO (while holding ice pack on forehead)! How will I get my hair done?! I have to go to Florida." (She was planning a trip that coming March, to see her terminally ill brother, 11 years younger).
What happened during the next eighteen hours was pretty much the end of my mom's life, and none of us knew it until early the next morning, in the 18th hour, when the nurse on duty called to say mom had had a bad night. Not even the four long-term medical professionals in our family - three pharmacists and one nurse - knew the consequences of the events that day until it was pretty much too late.
What would you do if you had one day?
Back in the ER, I immediately went into business mode, my most natural and best way to be. I had been going with my mom to all of her Dr. appointments for the previous year, taking copious notes, tracking blood results in Excel spreadsheets, communicating with family, and advocating for her, in general. She had a near-death experience with a bleeding ulcer the year prior, and she had also been diagnosed with MDS - myelodysplastic syndrome (the blood disorder Robin Roberts of "Good Morning America" made famous before her bone marrow transplant in 2012). In short, MDS causes a mutation in red blood cell production such that, instead of the normal 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. cell division, you may get 1, 4, 5, 7, etc., and your red blood count decreases, causing low hemaglobin readings. Mom had already received red blood plasma infusions at least twice previously for her low hemaglobin during the course of her MDS treatment.
I immediately advocated for my mom to get a speedier admission due to her blood disorder, and the fact that she was losing blood (the hematoma was growing). It was around 2:30 pm before they got her into a bed, and a string of nurses and doctors filed in, each doing their own verbal intake. I scrambled to contact immediate family members, one by one, on my cell phone (this was 2007, and not everyone had cell phones, and I certainly didn't have all the numbers in my "dumb" phone (no smartphone) at that time. I have 8 brothers and sisters, and mom had 2 brothers).
By 5:30 pm, doctors ran a battery of test and x-rays, and later ordered a CT scan. Nothing was broken, but there was an indication of a possible subdural hematoma, yet mom was still very alert. She still kept asking about her gloves, and her car, and talking, in general. Blood was ordered for mom, as her hemaglobin was dangerously low, and I kept updating family.
The weather turned snowy that evening, but sister J and her husband left their OH home to travel in, about a 4 hour drive. Somewhere along that drive, J realized that if mom received blood infusion the combination of the subdural and underlying MDS could prove deadly - she would likely just bleed out any infusion.
By 10:30 pm that evening, mom was being admitted on a floor, and the night nurse did a full intake with me, sister M, and one pharmacist brother and his pharmacist wife (who both worked at that hospital and knew that nurse). Mom seemed to be resting comfortably, getting sleepy. Her conversation was getting a little tired, too. I remember her saying, "He'll know what to do". When I asked her "who, mom?" she only repeated the statement, "He'll know what to do". I asked if she meant brother J, the other pharmacist, who normally filled her prescriptions (he was in retail pharmacy and had not been to the hospital yet). Mom just nodded. The nurse stated she would call us if anything changed significantly for mom through the night, that the nuerosurgeon would be consulted in the morning. We went home to regroup.
What would you do if you had one day?
At home, Mr. P. said she (mom) would be fine when he could see I was visibly upset. The next day was his birthday, and I had planned to cook dinner for all of his family, ten of us in total. I immediately got on the computer and googled "subdural hematoma". Not good. Acute subdural hematomas are among the deadliest of all head injuries, with a greater than 60% mortality rate in people age 60 or over is what I read. Mom was going to die. Needless to say, dinner was canceled. So was Mr. P.'s birthday.
What would you do if you had one day?
Sister J arrived late that Saturday of the accident, and stayed at sister M's house. They called me around 5:30 am that next morning (after the nurse on duty had called them in the 18th hour). We got to the hospital by 6 am, and went in to see mom.
By morning, Mom couldn't speak. It appeared she had had a couple of mild strokes in the wee hours of the morning, just before we got the call, and her left side was affected. Sisters J and M let me go in (they arrived before me and had already been in), and when I sat next to mom, I took her right hand in mine. Her forehead looked frighteningly misshaped, and when she looked at me, her eyes looked as if they had some weird, prosthetic contacts on them. I was scared, and upset, but didn't want her to see me cry so I tried my best to hold back the tears, lips quivering and swelling, eyes welling. I tried to be calm while I said, "I'm not very good at this". What she did next left an indelible mark on my brain that I will never forget, and always cherish. Mom raised her right index finger to my cheek, and grazed it downward, from my temple down to my jawline. She spoke to me with her eyes, we both spoke, silently, heart to heart, soul to soul. She slipped into a comatose state almost immediately after.
The neurosurgeon arrived shortly after, and upon a quick responsiveness exam, came back to the hall to confer with sisters J, M, and me. Sister J (the nurse) took the initiative to engage with the Dr., and then translated to us. Sister M was the legal and medical power of attorney, and a decision would soon need to be rendered. Meanwhile, mom was being transported to ICU while results of the CT scan from the night prior were delivered.
The diagnosis was confirmed as an acute, subdural hematoma, and mom's brain was almost entirely engulfed in a flood of blood. Given mom's age and her blood disorder, the neurosurgeon did not recommend surgery. The decision for palliative care was made (easily), because we knew mom did not want extreme measures to stay alive. Additional family members arrived by late that afternoon (a Sunday), and the priest was called and administered her last rites. Mom was moved to a semi-private room, and the hospital staff moved the 2nd bed out, and more chairs in for the family to stay with mom.
Mom was so strong otherwise - her heart, lungs - and she rested rather comfortably for the next 24-48 hours while we all kept vigil. Other siblings were making inevitable arrangements for bereavement time, traveling home, while we waited and watched mom slip away. We kept applying her lipstick (she always dressed to the nines, and wouldn't be caught without her lipstick!), and it became a quirky family thing, later memorialized by one sister who bought us each this little plaque:
Mom's skin and manicured/pedicured nails continued looking better than most of ours, but by Tuesday, other signs were beginning to surface - her urine output was less and getting darker, she was experiencing labored breathing more frequently, and her legs began to have a mottled appearance - all signs of the end being near. Mom was made comfortable in her last days, with the help of Ativan and Morphine drugs, in rotation, to ease pain and labored breathing. We kept written notes on the whiteboard so we could know when to alert the nursing staff.
On Wednesday morning, a nurse aide gave mom a sponge bath, and washed her hair. It was Wednesday afternoon, just minutes past 3:30 pm that mom passed. We lightheartedly said she waited for "General Hospital" to be over (which she loved and watched until it went off air).
Mom's funeral was a beautiful celebration, put together in collaboration by almost all her nine children. We selected everything from the casket, her clothes, the readings, and the songs. The choir sang "Be Not Afraid", "On Eagle's Wings", "Ave Maria", "Bread of Life" and "Let There Be Peace". As a prayer of commendation, we had a special tribute song, "Mama", by Il Divo, played in our co-cathedral at the end of the funeral mass over the speakers.
What would you do if you had one day?
Having the four days post-accident was time borrowed to help each of us wrap our heads around the fact that mom was going to die, but if I had only had one day, I would not have left mom's side that first night. It saddens me greatly, still, to listen to "Mama", to remember the vision of mom touching my cheek that last time, to write this, to read this.
My dad passed away when I was 28 and, although it was also very sad, it is just different when one's mother dies. Or, maybe it's the fact that she died after dad, and now there are no parents. Love transcends time, though, so to have just one day is irrelevant. I know I will see them both again.
Mom, (with her long-time companion), wearing the dress we buried her in, dressed to the nines
(Thank you, Cindy at Dwellings, Marty at A Stroll Thru Life, and Debra at Common Ground for featuring this post!)
As much as I love Christmas decor, I do love the clean slate of putting it all away after the holidays. This year, I had everything completely stowed by New Year's Eve and I'm planning to enjoy some time catching up on reading and planning throughout January. Here are some before and after shots of holiday decor/quiet winter in my sunroom, my favorite place to be.
I switched out my holiday reds and greens for some soft neutrals throughout the sunroom. The Christmas wreath was replaced with a handmade, natural twill, rose wreath. The Pottery Barn holly & berry lumbar pillow on the chaise was replaced with a Frontgate after-summer clearance, a fringed lumbar in greens & greys. The throw is now a cozy, faux fur score from Big Lots - $14!
The center table in the sunroom has gone from a holiday centerpiece to an all-natural, woodsy appearance by simple removing the greens and reds, and clustering all the loose pine cones in the room into the tray. Gone are the plaid throw and holiday toss pillows on the chairs in the background, replaced by pillows covered in all neutrals.
Pictured above is the side server, an old washstand which I scored at auction, that sits just inside the sunroom wall. Beneath the shelf you see pictured here, we gather recyclable newspapers and magazines in a wire basket, so it's a multi-purpose piece. I've switched out all of the dessert displays (long gone!) for a winter-fresh potted freesia plant I picked up at the grocery. It smells SO good to walk past it and have that faint fragrance linger (which, btw, Mr. P. has not detected, so you know it's faint)! The copper watering jug is an antique find, and the framed photograph (hard to see for the light glare from the sunroof windows) is a local park scene, in each of the four seasons.
In the opposite corner of my sunroom stands a wrought-iron baker's rack, on which I store books and magazines on the lower shelves, and some sort of seasonal display on the top. I switched out my garland and woodland Santa for my doorknob rose garden and 'Marguerite' statue after Christmas. The wooden bowl displays my flint stone treasures uncovered in my landscape renovation, relics of pre-historic Native American inhabitants.
Right next to the french doors that lead from the sunroom to the courtyard outside, I switched out the holiday scene of poinsettia and lighted logs to a much more quiet look of all neutrals. Although the lights are a welcome sight, I really don't like putting one or two leftovers away out of sync with the rest of my holiday decor. It seems to disrupt my organizational aura, and I despise stacking and unstacking the tubs numerous times in the basement. So out the lights went, along with the poinsettia, which still had some life in it. For some reason this year, the poinsettia plants I bought had extreme shedding of the little buds - what a mess! I was glad to see those go, too!
This is my stack of Christmas decor all tucked away in the basement.
And here's my tree, until next year.
And here's where you'll most likely find me during January, catching up on reading, enjoying a long winter's nap, and planning things like what to purge, and to how to restyle our booth spaces at the antique mall. I've got a few finds I'll be sharing soon that were too late to classify during the holiday rush - some great purchases at auction and estate sales. Hmm....what to keep and what to sell...that is the question.
2013 - It's about to be a wrap. The urban dictionary defines "it's a wrap" as a successful task or something that's over. For me, the best way to recount the year is to do it in my accounting speak - by the numbers - and it feels really good to check these items off. So here we go, Panoply's year in review:
January 6th was my very first blog post (this recap is my 75th). Serendipity would have the first one be on the feast of the Epiphany. Here's a link to that post: Into the Land of the Blogosphere. I simply cannot go without acknowledging all the help I have received, as well as new friendships struck, while blogging in this first year. Five different bloggers even featured different posts of mine, and three magazines (Romantic Homes, Cottages & Bungalows, and Flea Market Style) noted various submittals of mine, with relatively little invested energy on my part, merely comment and email interaction. The power of social media is incredibly rewarding - it just depends on the amount of energy one chooses to invest. To date, my blog is ad free - it is my avocation (hobby), not vocation.
Throughout the year, I managed ten major projects (see link for post beneath each photo below, where applicable):
My chaise lounge finally got a neutral slipcover and readers met the amazing, 88-year old Doris Dilly in the process. Apparently, folks are still learning some great tips, as this post still gets continuous viewership.
I planned and hosted both a wedding shower (August) and a casual, homemade wedding (October) for my younger daughter, with the help of my older daughter and one of my two antiquing sisters, M.
....and our sunroom was re-caulked (it's all glass, and was beginning to leak).....
and the landscape was treated to new, coated steel edging after being cleaned up in Fall.
Once the wedding was over and the outdoor projects were completed, I then planned and hosted another wedding shower (mid-November), this time a virtual one via Skype for my niece in Texas.
And from that point, I shifted right into Christmas planning, which is a huge project for me. I decorated the entire house and some in the garden, planned and hosted a buffet dinner party for all family who were in town. This year was a smaller than usual crowd of twenty-one (!!) Shopping and wrapping pale in comparison to my prep work in decorating for and hosting Christmas Eve.
In 2013, I completed eight Federal tax returns, nine State returns, and two FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) applications. Blah. Let's not even count all the paper and Panoply inventory organization that goes along with the finished products of submitted forms.
I logged more than 250 hours with Panoply in 2013, styling and/or overhauling and fluffing our booth spaces at the antique mall with my sister, M. That total doesn't include the hours spent on our buying trips: five out of town destinations, thirteen estate sales (two of which were private), eight additional private purchases, and two public auctions (all styling/buying excludes curbside pickups and other freebies, which usually demand time spent in cleaning up and/or refurbishing). In addition, my two antiquing sisters and I also each prepared (individually) our own items for a local yard sale, purging both Panoply items as well as household things. My Panoply hours does not include my hours spent blogging, which I would conservatively estimate at least 100 hours in this first year, which involved a bit of a learning curve.
Other activities in 2013 included attending my oldest daughter's graduation from Florida State University in Tallahassee May 4th....
....and the entire family (two daughters and their husband & fiance, as well as Mr. P.) immediately flew out to our paradise destination the next day (Grand Cayman), for a week of much needed rest, relaxation and scuba diving.....
Upon my return from paradise, I jumped right into gardening mode (after an earlier jump start in April and a very bad case poison ivy). Still, my garden holds a very special place in my heart, and I always look forward to the birds and blooms the entire year, but especially in late Spring, early Summer. I plant several annual containers, stake two very large groups of hibiscus perennials, and prune and deadhead blooms throughout the summer months. Watering was a lesser task this year with all the rain we had (but proved to be more work for Mr. P., who cuts the lawn), but it was still a necessary chore from early June through September - for my containers and annual beds.
I love piddling in my garden after all the work of the May-June growth spurt is complete. This year, I had a bumper crop of lavender, and I even crafted with it, providing a tutorial for a lavender wand. I have help in putting the garden to bed in Fall, which took three men three full days of work.
From Easter through Labor Day, I have traditionally always planned and hosted buffet-style dinners/cookouts for my husband's family, and this year I hosted three: Easter, July 4th and Labor Day. I always like to have some tried-and-true foods, and will typically do my experimenting with desserts. There were several good ones this year, and I posted some of my winning recipes.
It's been a great year for me, and with no health issues to have to deal with, I feel very blessed. And very accomplished. I challenged myself with learning how to create a blog, and in doing so have added yet another dimension to my adventures in antiquing, gardening and making a home. I also created several photo books through Shutterfly, learning the ins and outs of design layout. I'd like to overhaul my blog design, and need to assess whether I'll tackle that on my own or enlist help to accomplish it.
I plan to keep pushing myself in 2014, but I don't engage in setting resolutions. I just want to remain active - physically, mentally and spiritually. Mr. P. and I estimate that we logged nearly 1,000 miles walking in 2013, and we hope to continue that - it's a great time to talk and decompress - together. In the past, we've ballroom danced, kayaked, bicycled, and worked out at our local gym, but I've been fortunate my entire life in my ability to maintain my weight, so walking has proven to be enough, even if I don't do more than that. There's no doubt in my mind that moving furniture and gardening really do have exercise benefits, too. And I honestly think my mental energy must burn a lot of calories also, because sometimes I feel like I'm racing - with myself - and cannot turn it off. Nonetheless, my first project at the start of each year is always to get organized - clean up loose ends from the prior year in order to have a clean slate for what's to come. That starts with paperwork, but I'd really like to purge more personal effects, as well as more slow-moving Panoply items. So, another yard sale or two may be in the cards. Gardening will be a definite activity, as will antique booth space buying and styling.
Looking back on 2013, I have to sigh a big sense of relief in the fact that I am mostly retired - I can't imagine getting all these projects done while working full-time. I still work part-time with Mr. P. in his consulting business, but I still have plenty of time to do all these activities I enjoy. All in all, Life is Good! And that's a wrap!
Happy New Year to all of my readers! That's me, the little one at the end with eyes closed, and this is my family in 1960.
And here we are now (sans parents)....
My, how we've changed! But change is good. May 2014 be all the change you hope for!
What's on my Christmas Eve menu? Among other family favorites, Cajun Chicken Pasta will be one of the main dishes served, and it's ALWAYS a crowd favorite. It's easy to make, it feeds a crowd, can be made ahead of your event, and it reheats to taste even better than when served just cooked.
This recipe has been passed to various family members numerous times, and has become a favorite throughout with their own families. One sister-in-law even freezes it, and says it reheats great that way, too. When serving as I do, in a buffet style, I can fit two of the half-sized foiled containers (11 3/4" x 9 3/8" x 2 3/16" - steam table pans from Sam's, as shown above) right into my chafing dish, and cleanup is a breeze - just toss the foil liners!
It's not too late to run out and get the ingredients for this crowd pleaser! Recipe takes approximately 1 hr from start to finish: 15 minutes prep, 45 minutes simmering.
Recipe: Cajun Chicken Pasta
Fast
Method
1 box
Fettucine noodles (16 oz)
Total 1 lb
fast chicken strips, grilled (Louis Rich, Tyson’s, or any other brand, usually
in 6 oz pkg, so 3 pkgs)
1 large (32
oz) can diced, petite tomatoes
1 bottle
Chef Prudhomme’s Poultry Seasoning
1 Quart
Heavy Whipping Cream
Photo below shows ingredients enough for 1.5X the recipe ingredients above - see Notes below for more.
In skillet,
pour 2-3 Tbsp olive oil. Add grilled
chicken strips (cut in 1 in pcs), toss with approx 1/3 to ½ bottle of poultry
seasoning. Heat on med for 3 minutes or
so, tossing so chicken covers with seasoning.
Add tomatoes to skillet so that most of the spice will later pour into
large boiling pan once noodles are cooked.
Cook
fettucine according to pkg. Drain, and
place noodles back into large boiling pan.
Pour skillet of chicken with tomatoes into pan with noodles. Add whipping cream, rest of poultry
seasoning, stir and let simmer (med-low heat) about 45 min (until cream is
mostly absorbed by noodles). Stay with
the stirring so the mixture won’t stick to the bottom of pan.
Serve with
fresh, diced tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and green onions as garnish, if
desired.
This dish
can easily be placed into a 13 x 9 x 2 aluminum pan, coated with spray oil (or the half-size pans if using a chafing dish as I do),
refrigerated, and re-heated at 350 for approx 45-60 min (covered with
foil). If texture appears dry, you can add
some whipping cream and stir, but let it heat up first. Like any other pasta, it gets better the next
day. This dish can also be frozen and
re-heated in 350 – check and stir, may take longer than 60 min.
Feeds 8-10.
Notes:
You can 1.5
times the dish by adding another 6 oz pkg of fast chicken, a 14-16 oz can of diced tomatoes, and another pint of whipping cream.
You will also need another half jar of the Prudhomme’s spice. This makes the 8-10 servings well suited for
pigging out.
Slow
method calls for fresh chicken strips, cooked in olive oil, tossed with the
poultry spice. Cook 3-4 minutes each
side.
Many thanks to all of you who may have voted for my board - whether just once, or many times (like the one sister above, second from right). :) My heart and home are happy, filled with anticipation for Christmas Eve and sharing good food, a white elephant gift exchange, and [hopefully] lots of good family time together.
Now, back to kitchen, and baking. Here's what I did last night - Oreo truffles.
I have a list a mile long to cover, as do many of you. My daughter makes fun of me, but here's what I do each year (this is last year's, but I save them, and update each year, since 2006):
I chart out the week prior to the big day, including weather & percent chance of rain (it impacts whether I have to prepare the welcome bags and candles!). I note my chores, and even chart out oven-time sequencing for Christmas Eve final prep. You see, we go to my husband's sister's home for Christmas Eve Day, so I have to be totally ready when I get home around 5pm - and make my assembly line in time for a 7pm buffet. I like my to-do list for Christmas Day best of all. ;)
I know, it's crazy, it's OCD, but it's me. A girl who loves her list, and loves checking it off even more. Organized insanity.
Happy Weekend! Hope you get to cross off lots of things on your lists!
Rita
