It’s still snowy outside and I have been in a comfort food mood. I am going to share two things that I made in this post. I enjoyed them both.
I have been trying to get used to just cooking dinner for one person but it is difficult. I have gone through all the typical phases you might imagine on my journey. First and easiest, there’s the drive thru phase. It’s quick, you don’t have to make a mess just for yourself but you tire of it. Then there’s always the ever popular bowl of cereal for dinner. It’s nice once in a while but I tired of that even quicker than the drive thru food. Lastly, there’s the sandwich for dinner thing. Again, it’s ok once in a while but as a constant habit, not so much!
All of those things lead me to the current topic of comfort food. My idea of comfort food is something homemade, warm, and by definition, comforting. You must have some things like that in your mind right now. Maybe Mom made something when you lived at home or for some other reason a food evokes warm and pleasant memories. For my brother, Doug, and I one of our comfort foods is goulash. It always reminds us of Mom and home.
This week I made a (semi) homemade chicken pot pie. I say “semi” because some of the ingredients, of which there were only 4, were pre-made. I just assembled them. None the less, it was delicious and I didn’t have to admit it wasn’t all my own doing should I have shared the pot pie with anyone. How are they to know? Ha ha!
Beckie’s Chicken Pot Pie
3 baked, skinless, boneless chicken thighs
2 small cans of chicken gravy
1 can of mixed vegetables (drained)
2 pre-made pie crusts
I pre-heated my oven to 425 degrees. I lined a pie pan with one of the crusts. Then I diced my chicken up into pieces approximately the size of the vegetables. I put the chicken, the drained mixed vegetables (they included potatoes), and both cans of gravy in the pie pan. I gently mixed the ingredients up, taking care not to puncture the crust. Then I topped the pie with the other crust. I crimped the edges to seal and trimmed the excess dough from the lip of the pie pan. Lastly, I poked holes in the top crust for venting. I placed it in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.
*The whole process took 15 minutes for assembling and 30 for baking. As you will see from the pictures below the edges of my pie crust became too dark. This wouldn’t have happened if I had put one of the pie edge guards on. I will do that next time and advise you to do it as well. It was delicious and I don’t mind dark crust. It just might not be visually appealing in the picture. 
Aren’t I brave for posting my goofs? LOL
On to the next new culinary adventure for this week. Don’t turn your nose up or scrunch your face until you read it all!! Grilled Cheese and Pickle Sandwich was on my menu for lunch today.
I had never heard of this different combination until I was watching a show on the Food Network one evening and Rocco di Spirito, a famous chef, mentioned that it was his favorite sandwich which he had been exposed to in England. I set about to do some investigation. I found out that the original sandwich uses cheese and a kind of relish made with several ingredients. The ingredients are carrots, rutabaga (swede to the British), red apples, dates, raisins, onions, malt vinegar, brown sugar, mustard powder, allspice and Worcestershire sauce. This relish can be bought through Amazon already prepared and it is called Branston Pickle. Of course, even in Britain things differ from place to place. There are some recipes with slices of tomatoes and regular pickles. The type of bread used differs also but is usually a brown bread. The pickle, when it is used rather than the relish, is usually a bread and butter pickle. I like dill and sweet so I tried both. I used rye bread and stuck with the cheddar cheese that appears to be the traditional choice “across the pond”.
Grilled Cheese and Pickle Sandwich
2 slices bread
thick slices of cheddar cheese
pickles
mayo and mustard
I spread a small amount of mayo on one side of one slice and a small amount of mustard on the other slice bread. I put cheese on each slice which is my preference since I like the melted cheese to be on both top and bottom of the sandwich. I spread pickles out to cover the cheese. I did this because when you made a sandwich you want some of each ingredient in each bite you take. I made one sandwich with dill slices and one sandwich with bread and butter pickles. Lastly, I grilled them with butter spread on the outer sides of both slices of bread. They were both delicious! I have to say that I slightly preferred the sweet pickle sandwich over the dill. The sweet pickle appears to be the one used in England and there might be a reason for that!
Just A Little Info
I have tried many ways of booking hotel rooms when I travel. I’ve used the individual hotel’s website, motel.com, hotel.com, Priceline, Hotwire, etc. I have found that the site I have the best luck with is booking.com. I seem to always get the best price (I have compared the different sites) and they have free cancellation up to 24 hours. For most bookings you give your credit card to hold the reservation but don’t pay until your stay which I love! I have used booking.com at least a dozen times if not more. Check it out!
Scam Alert
This is not a pleasant topic and I try to be lighthearted but I think this is important enough to share.
Recently I read an article where I was informed that scam artists use obituaries to gather information. They use that info for identity theft, deceptive debt collection, fictitious life insurance, and burglary.
The burglary I was aware of. When we had a parent pass away we always had someone stay at our house during the calling hours and funeral. Your name is listed in the obituary as well as the particulars for the calling hours and the funeral. It isn’t hard for criminals to find you and know that you will not be at home during the hours that those important events are occurring.
However, I really had not thought about the other things that were mentioned. The article recommends that when the death notice is written leave out the deceased’s age, birth date, middle name, home address, birthplace and mother’s maiden name. They further recommend not listing survivors. This is tough, I know. However, I believe this is serious and there must be some creative ways to omit these details and yet have a nice acknowledgement of a loved one’s life and passing.
Collector Extraordinaire
Now onto the lighter side. I wanted to share my latest purchase with you. I love vintage stuff and antiques and have been on the lookout for a treadle sewing machine or at least the base to one. A Singer was the brand I was hoping to get. There’s a sort of collection of sewing machines in my house. I have one in a stand from the 30’s, one in a stand from the 40’s and a Featherweight from 1952. Whoops, I almost forgot the Sew Handy for children that I have. Anyway, back to the treadle machine.
I didn’t find the machine itself but I did find a beautiful base. I brought it home and have placed it in my dining-room. Currently I am displaying some of my other sewing collectibles on it. I imagine that will change from time to time as I like to switch things up occasionally.
Isn’t she a beauty?! On the upper left is the Sew Handy and on the right is the Singer Featherweight from 1952. There are also vintage needle books and sewing thimbles on display just for fun. The little red sewing machine is an KAYanEE child’s sewing machine.
I will leave you with one thought. I love my collections and they give me joy! Do you have any? Let me know in the comments. Also, let me know if you try the sandwich. I know that I will definitely make it again.
