Here it is- the recipe you've all been waiting for! Here is my Grandma's basic recipe for chicken pot pie.
You Will Need:
1 small rotisserie chicken, de-boned and cubed
1 small can of cream of mushroom or chicken soup (do not dilute)
1 or 2 cans of chicken broth
1 medium size onion, chopped fine
2 stalks of celery, chopped fine
2 medium sized potatoes, cooked and cubed (if not available, bake)
1 1/2 cup of fresh mushrooms, sliced and pan fried
1/2 - 1 tsp of thyme or sage for flavor
Prep:
Place all ingredients into a fairly large pot, and gently heat. Thicken if needed with cornstarch mixed with cold water, about a 1/4 cup. Bring everything to a boil and add slowly the corn starch. For crust, I recommend Pilsbury. They are already pre-made, rolled out, and are really delicious. If you can't find them in your local grocery store, pick them up online from Buy-Buy Mama.
P.S. Crust may be brushed with an egg wash for a more golden look.
Bake at 350 for a half hour and let stand for 20 minutes before serving.
So there you go- there is the recipe. Let me know in the comments how your pot pie turned out, if you decide to try the recipe. I apologize for the wait.
Maddie
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
A Sneak Preview of My Baking Site
I have not forgotten about my baking site that I promised would be put up a while ago... It is just that with everything that is going on, it has been hard for me to make progress with it. However, I am going to be working on it a bit more soon, and wanted to give you a sneak peek at one of the articles I did. Here you go!
"Today, I'd like to talk about CAKE MIXES. The base of all that is fluffy and good, the type of cake mix you use is very important for good results. So today I am going to go through the list of cake mixes that I know of, and rate them, on a scale of one to ten- ten being AWESOME! and one being HORRIBLE.
PILLSBURY- Pillsbury is my personal favorite when it comes to cake mix. They put pudding in their mix, and it makes the cakes I bake come out very fluffy and light. I have never had a bad cake come out when I use Pillsbury. I also prefer to use Pillsbury frosting- I sometimes feel awkward buying one type of product and then not buying the other type of product, because it might not taste right. SCORE: 10
DUNCAN HINES- My LEAST favorite brand. YUCK. Duncan Hines cakes always come out dry and tasteless, except for their butter cake. The butter cake really surprised me- most cakes from this brand, even if you mix for EXACTLY the right amount of time, come out dry and disgusting. BLEH. Their frosting doesn't taste very good either. Now, you probably think I tried JUST the cake mix from Duncan Hines. But if so, you thought wrong- I also tested their brownie mix. It was worse than the cake mix. The brownies I made using the mix were rock solid and almost chipped my tooth when I bit into one. NEVER AGAIN WILL I USE THIS BRAND. SCORE: -1
BETTY CROCKER- Betty Crocker- I have never used this brand for my cakes. I don't really like the flavor of the mix- no matter what type you get, the flavor is always off. However, Betty Crocker has the BEST brownie mix. I always use Betty Crocker Brownie Mix for my brownies. But, as this post is about cake mix and not about brownies, I am only going to give Betty a score of 4.
That's all for today's tips!
Maddie"
So there is my post from the baking blog! When it opens, there will also be a baking store along with it where you can pick up all kinds of bakeware and food so that you can make the recipes with me. The money I make from it will be going into a college fund, so I hope that when it opens you will buy your cookware from me.
Well, I have a ton of work still left to do, so I am going to say so long.
Maddie
"Today, I'd like to talk about CAKE MIXES. The base of all that is fluffy and good, the type of cake mix you use is very important for good results. So today I am going to go through the list of cake mixes that I know of, and rate them, on a scale of one to ten- ten being AWESOME! and one being HORRIBLE.
PILLSBURY- Pillsbury is my personal favorite when it comes to cake mix. They put pudding in their mix, and it makes the cakes I bake come out very fluffy and light. I have never had a bad cake come out when I use Pillsbury. I also prefer to use Pillsbury frosting- I sometimes feel awkward buying one type of product and then not buying the other type of product, because it might not taste right. SCORE: 10
DUNCAN HINES- My LEAST favorite brand. YUCK. Duncan Hines cakes always come out dry and tasteless, except for their butter cake. The butter cake really surprised me- most cakes from this brand, even if you mix for EXACTLY the right amount of time, come out dry and disgusting. BLEH. Their frosting doesn't taste very good either. Now, you probably think I tried JUST the cake mix from Duncan Hines. But if so, you thought wrong- I also tested their brownie mix. It was worse than the cake mix. The brownies I made using the mix were rock solid and almost chipped my tooth when I bit into one. NEVER AGAIN WILL I USE THIS BRAND. SCORE: -1
BETTY CROCKER- Betty Crocker- I have never used this brand for my cakes. I don't really like the flavor of the mix- no matter what type you get, the flavor is always off. However, Betty Crocker has the BEST brownie mix. I always use Betty Crocker Brownie Mix for my brownies. But, as this post is about cake mix and not about brownies, I am only going to give Betty a score of 4.
That's all for today's tips!
Maddie"
So there is my post from the baking blog! When it opens, there will also be a baking store along with it where you can pick up all kinds of bakeware and food so that you can make the recipes with me. The money I make from it will be going into a college fund, so I hope that when it opens you will buy your cookware from me.
Well, I have a ton of work still left to do, so I am going to say so long.
Maddie
Friday, July 26, 2013
Robert Frost Poems- SEE THIS AND MORE ON MY SECOND BLOG! LINK IN BLOG POST!
A Prayer in Spring
Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.
Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.
And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.
For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.
I feel that while the poem is in itself a "prayer", I think it is also the poets description of what he feels heaven will or should be. It sets a haunting yet strangely happy tone. At the same time, it gives a very powerful description. I picture, while reading this poem, a large meadow with rolling green grass up to my knees, a bright sun, and a blue sky dotted with a few clouds. There are flowers all over the field of all kinds, and trees whose branches crack in the wind.
The Vantage Point
If tired of trees I seek again mankind,
Well I know where to hie me—in the dawn,
To a slope where the cattle keep the lawn,
There amid lolling juniper reclined,
Myself unseen, I see in white defined
Far off the homes of men, and farther still,
The graves of men on an opposing hill,
Living or dead, whichever are to mind.
And if by noon I have too much of these,
I have but to turn on my arm, and lo,
The sunburned hillside sets my face aglow,
My breathing shakes the bluet like a breeze,
I smell the earth, I smell the bruisèd plant,
I look into the crater of the ant.
To me, it seems that the poet feels shielded and invisible to the outside world- like he has something to say but can't say it. This poem gives me a sense of sorrow and a little bit of anger. If I could rename this poem, I would call it "The Hermit's Poem". That is what I feel the man in the poem is-a hermit.
Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
This, to me, is a haunting poem. A man seeking solitude and seclusion loves the woods... But at the same time it sounds like he has a family and loved ones waiting for him at home, and his duties to them are greater than his duties to himself. This poem makes me think of a dark cliff with tons of tall pine trees on it, looking down over a small town. It seems to me that the man writing the poem didn't care for the cities or towns, but for the secluded forest life... but he has family waiting in a city, and he cannot stop for his own desires.
The Pasture
I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.
I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.
This poem makes me think of a young boy initially. On the surface, it sounds like a list of chores, but if you look more deeply into it, it is more a comforting poem to say to a child- "I shan't be gone too long- you come too". The more and more you read it over and over again, the more it sets in not as a list of chores but perhaps a mother telling her child she will be right back.
Stars
How countlessly they congregate
O'er our tumultuous snow,
Which flows in shapes as tall as trees
When wintry winds do blow!--
As if with keenness for our fate,
Our faltering few steps on
To white rest, and a place of rest
Invisible at dawn,--
And yet with neither love nor hate,
Those stars like some snow-white
Minerva's snow-white marble eyes
Without the gift of sight
This poem is a bit mysterious to me. I think that he is trying to relate to the different constellations and how they each tell a story, and how we each in our own way have a story in the stars. It also seems to hint that sometimes, a good life is right in front of us- we just fail to see it in our own stupidity.
If you liked this post, and want to read more like it, you should check out my second sight, The Book Stack! I post all of my book reports and large writing projects there- so you don't have to go searching around my site for it! If you'd like to check it out (and maybe become a follower), please click here.
Thanks,
Maddie
Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.
Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.
And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.
For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.
I feel that while the poem is in itself a "prayer", I think it is also the poets description of what he feels heaven will or should be. It sets a haunting yet strangely happy tone. At the same time, it gives a very powerful description. I picture, while reading this poem, a large meadow with rolling green grass up to my knees, a bright sun, and a blue sky dotted with a few clouds. There are flowers all over the field of all kinds, and trees whose branches crack in the wind.
The Vantage Point
If tired of trees I seek again mankind,
Well I know where to hie me—in the dawn,
To a slope where the cattle keep the lawn,
There amid lolling juniper reclined,
Myself unseen, I see in white defined
Far off the homes of men, and farther still,
The graves of men on an opposing hill,
Living or dead, whichever are to mind.
And if by noon I have too much of these,
I have but to turn on my arm, and lo,
The sunburned hillside sets my face aglow,
My breathing shakes the bluet like a breeze,
I smell the earth, I smell the bruisèd plant,
I look into the crater of the ant.
To me, it seems that the poet feels shielded and invisible to the outside world- like he has something to say but can't say it. This poem gives me a sense of sorrow and a little bit of anger. If I could rename this poem, I would call it "The Hermit's Poem". That is what I feel the man in the poem is-a hermit.
Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
This, to me, is a haunting poem. A man seeking solitude and seclusion loves the woods... But at the same time it sounds like he has a family and loved ones waiting for him at home, and his duties to them are greater than his duties to himself. This poem makes me think of a dark cliff with tons of tall pine trees on it, looking down over a small town. It seems to me that the man writing the poem didn't care for the cities or towns, but for the secluded forest life... but he has family waiting in a city, and he cannot stop for his own desires.
The Pasture
I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.
I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I shan't be gone long. -- You come too.
This poem makes me think of a young boy initially. On the surface, it sounds like a list of chores, but if you look more deeply into it, it is more a comforting poem to say to a child- "I shan't be gone too long- you come too". The more and more you read it over and over again, the more it sets in not as a list of chores but perhaps a mother telling her child she will be right back.
Stars
How countlessly they congregate
O'er our tumultuous snow,
Which flows in shapes as tall as trees
When wintry winds do blow!--
As if with keenness for our fate,
Our faltering few steps on
To white rest, and a place of rest
Invisible at dawn,--
And yet with neither love nor hate,
Those stars like some snow-white
Minerva's snow-white marble eyes
Without the gift of sight
This poem is a bit mysterious to me. I think that he is trying to relate to the different constellations and how they each tell a story, and how we each in our own way have a story in the stars. It also seems to hint that sometimes, a good life is right in front of us- we just fail to see it in our own stupidity.
If you liked this post, and want to read more like it, you should check out my second sight, The Book Stack! I post all of my book reports and large writing projects there- so you don't have to go searching around my site for it! If you'd like to check it out (and maybe become a follower), please click here.
Thanks,
Maddie
Thursday, July 25, 2013
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
I saw the collage on the left and decided to also make one for Mom. Here it is. I have faith that my mom will make it through this... heck, she is already 11 days in and its her birthday!Another person I feel super bad for right now is Dad. He has been traveling back and forth to and from the hospital to see Mom and right now is snoring behind me.... up, he just woke up.
He is heading out now. It is a one and a half hour trip to the hospital and he has already made 2 trips today. He leaves at 8:30 in the morning, comes back at 4 in the afternoon, leaves at 6, and then is back at 1:30 in the morning... poor Dad. Dad, this message is for you... YOU BETTER GET SOME REST!
I will end my post here. I want my dinner.
Maddie
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
ALMOST THERE!!
WE ARE 70 PAGEVIEWS AWAY FROM HITTING 5,000 PAGEVIEWS!!!! THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT ALL MY READERS :)
The Tale of Swan Song
Today I wanted to tell my readers about a very special animal. It's name was Song. Song is a swan. I cannot remember much about the swan, since I was only about 5 or 6 when she came around, but I remember enough to tell her/his story. I am just going to refer Song as a her for this story.Song's story starts off in spring of 2007 (or 2006, I don't know.) It was pretty early in the morning, and we still lived in NJ. We looked out the window, and we saw a beautiful swan walking around our yard. Figuring it had only landed for a little, we tossed some cereal out the window for it to eat. Then, we went about our day. Presently, the swan disappeared, but at night, it came back.
It was then we noticed something we hadn't before- the swan had a hurt foot. There was some sort of bump on it and it looked painful. Overnight, we left the lights on outside so that no predators would get the swan, and it slept under our car. The next day, we called an animal rescue to come and take care of her foot. They took her for about 2 days to heal her foot, and then dropped her off at a pond down the road from our house.
However, the same morning she was dropped off, she came back to our house and pecked on our door. We gave her some more cereal, and after that, we never saw her again. I think we have pictures somewhere... I will see what I can find a little later and try to post them in a separate post. For now, I will just put up a picture of an ordinary swan.
Maddie
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
3 Impossible Games
Today I wanted to blog about 3 fun but hard to beat games I discovered through StumbleUpon. For me, they are a fun way to pass time when done with my work. The games are tricky though... so I challenge all of my readers to try to beat the games!Game #1 - QWOP
QWOP is a very hard game. In it, you are an Olympic runner. There is no set end-you are just trying to get as far as you can without falling. You are only allowed to control the calves and thighs of the runner with the keys Q, W, O, and P, hence the name QWOP. See if you can beat my score of 2.2 meters! Click Here to Play QWOP!
Game #2 - The Unfair Platformer
The Unfair Platformer is just that- Unfair. It is a sort of memory game, since you only find out about the traps in the game AFTER you spring them. Then, you have to remember where they are- because unless you've reached a checkpoint, the game starts over. It is a challenging but fun game. Watch your step. As long as you have good memory, this game should be easy! Click Here to Play The Unfair Platformer!
Game #3 - Give Up
Give Up is probably the easiest of these games. It insists on you giving up the whole way through the game- but doesn't really get hard until level 10. Then, the spikes set in and the jump doesn't work right... but you'll find all of that out yourself. Whatever you do, don't click the "Give Up" button. Click Here to Play Give Up!
Well, if anyone gets around to playing these games, I hope you enjoy them.
Maddie
My Mom
On closer examination, they found that she had congestive heart failure and that her liver and kidneys were failing. She caught an infection in the blood stream which caused infection and pneumonia. She needed a balloon and swan pump for her heart and a breathing tube down her throat to stay alive.
For 3 days, she was kept under sedation. Dad stayed right by her side the whole time, only coming home for a few hours of sleep. Her chance of living was 2%. She died 3 times, and each time, the doctors brought her back. A few days ago, the balloon and swan pumps on her heart were removed. No one thought she would live through it.... but she did. In fact, she IMPROVED. She now has a normal heart rate and blood pressure, and is off some of her medications.
Today, Dad is in Concord with Mom, who is doing better. They are holding a conference about her today. I have even seen Mom... she looks good. She can also communicate with us through blinking and hand squeezing. I have talked to her a few times... but it's not the same as talking to her used to be. Regardless of what happens, she is always my mom, and I will ALWAYS, ALWAYS love her.
Prayers are appreciated.
Maddie
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Concert
 |
| This picture was taken at the concert- I am somewhere in the very back of the photo. See how crowded it was? |
I'd like to give him a HUGE thank you- it was complete downpour that day and I cannot imagine walking through that to get to the concert- We would have been drenched! Thank you so much!
The concert was awesome. Even though we had to sit through 2 pretty sucky opening acts, it was worth it. Victoria put on an AMAZING show. She was very energetic and I actually thought she sang better live than on the CD.
Victoria surprised me by doing a cover of one of my favorite songs- 'I Don't Care' by IconaPop. Dad agreed that she put on a good show and said she put good energy into her songs. Well, I have one request for all my readers. Please say a prayer for my mom. I will not say why, but please do. Any will help right now.
Maddie
Thursday, July 11, 2013
NH Trip Tomorrow and CONCERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am very excited, because tomorrow we are taking a trip to NJ.... and then I am going to a Victoria Justice concert on Saturday with Dad and Aunt Michelle! I AM SO HAPPY!!! I already took the liberty of packing my sister's and dad's bags, along with my own.I decided to wear a black shirt with a skeleton and a heart on it with either jeans or jean shorts, depending on the weather, and, of course, my wedge sneakers to complete the outfit. I want to be stylish... but comfortable also.
Then, when the show ended, I sort of lost interest- but then she released a new song that captured my attention once again. It is called "Gold" and is a great song. To hear her new song, please click the word "Gold" at the bottom of this post. I hope that my readers like it- she is an amazingly talented singer.
I will end this post here
Maddie
GOLD
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