The strange after Christmas days...

I have been catching up -- on sleep, mostly -- since Randy's brother left Christmas day. I've had a horrendous case of bronchitis, and I didn't do the math until yesterday when I realized it has been two weeks since I first got that sore throat. I feel almost human today. But I was on the go and sick for two solid weeks, including the entire time Ron was here. And I never really slowed down.

I thought I'd share with you a quick, easy recipe for those after-Christmas days. We are plum full up of leftovers, and we'd had out fill of rich food. With me trying to cut my portions sizes in half, it has been a challenge.

So tonight I made drunk chicken, with a twist.

Drunk Chicken was my friend Susan Holmes Brown's (from Mississippi) recipe in graduate school. She would make it for "company," so I enjoyed it at her apartment a couple of times. I always found it comforting.

Drunk (Garlic) Chicken

One half chicken breast for each person, up to eight halves
One can GF Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup sour cream (light is OK)
6-8 smashed cloves of garlic.
Salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash garlic herb seasoning, and Tony Chachere's

Season breasts with seasoning of choice *but season them well. Lay in a casserole dish and throw the garlic cloves around the breasts.

Mix together soup, wine and sour cream. Pour over.

Bake at 375 degrees for one hour and 10 minutes, basting once or twice (but it should cover the chicken). Let sit for 10 minutes out of oven before serving so juices gather in the chicken. Place chicken on plates and smash soft roasted garlic into the sauce, stirring briefly. Spoon sauce over chicken and rice.

Serve with rice (we used Minute) and a fresh steamed green vegetable (if you have one around.)

OK, I leave you today with the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me in a grocery store. Yesterday we were buying sodas in Publix, and after Thanksgiving, I'd noticed that the turkeys were marked down. So I looked yesterday and sure enough, the Butterball Fresh Turkeys were about 39 cents a pound.

Me: Holy crap, Randy. This turkey is just $3.95
Randy: Do we want one?
Me: (silence, thinking about work involved and lack of freezer room)
STRANGE LADY TO MY LEFT: You can raise a turkey for less than $3.95.
Me: (looking at her doubtfully but not saying anything...)
SLTMY: Really. You can raise a turkey for less than $3.95. (She wanders off toward produce.)
Me: Confused and surprised, I move away from the cheap turkeys toward the deli section...

CURTAIN on Theater of the Non Sequitur

Much love, and more later...I want to share my Christmas Prime Rib rub and recipe....
Ging

Happy Christmas to all

I am not kidding when I say I haven't had a second to post this past week.

With the medical drama over (yes, I have pernicious anemia, and yes, I have to take B-12 shots. but my Celiac panel/biopsy showed good villi and good numbers, so YAY for all of that. I have also been down since Dec. 12 with a growing case of bronchitis. I'd like to say that is on the way out, but I still feel like crap.

OK -- ao Jeffrey and I filled with sleigh, I mean car, with toys and headed south to Tampa, where we're happily enjoying big stores to shop in and the company of my wonderful brother in law Ron (and Randy, of course). We've had friends over for a spaghetti feast (wouldn't be Christmas without one in my family) and went to a lovely party last night at the home of Roxanne, who's from Jamaica. Delightful!

And now, on Christmas eve, I'm washing clothes, wrapping presents, and planning for an evening of party food, luminaria in the neighborhood, and Christmas lights. Randy and Ron are out shopping, and Jeffrey is counting the minutes and trying to peek!

Tonight's Christmas eve dinner is a tradition, of sorts. We're having a buffet full of wonderful hors d'oeuvres, all purchased, and all gluten free. It will be Aidells spinach and feta sausages with grainy mustard, aidells sun dried tomato meatballs, spinach and artichoke dip, and a big pan of macaroni and cheese. I also made a Chocolate Pecan Pie.

For breakfast, I'm baking a sausage and cheddar quiche (so easy). And later in the day we're having prime rib with roasted carrots and potatoes (and leftover everything else).

I wanted to take this time to tell you all, my friends and GF family, how blessed I am to have you all in my life. Like Mariah Carey sings in one of my favorite Christmas songs, "ALL I want for Christmas is YOU." Lucky me. I got that already.

Blessings, peace and MUCH much love, to all of you.
Ging

Chocolate Pecan Pie (from Paula Deen)

One GF pie crust of your choice
2 cups pecan halves
1 cup milk or dark chocolate chips GF
1/2 cup butter melted
three eggs beaten
2 T. spiced rum (or bourbon) or vanilla if you're boring
1 cup white sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place nuts and chips in bottom of pie crust (no need to pre bake it). Mix other ingredients and pour over the nuts and chips. Bake for 35 minutes until the middle doesn't jiggle any more.

Cool and serve. VERY rich and decadent, and the spiced rum....Randy really loved this pie. He said it was the best.

Perniciously Intrinstic, and all that jazz

I don't know what the heck is going on with me, but there has been a cascading effect with my doctors over the last week.

Suffice it to say that because of something in my system, I've got horribly low B-12, which might be something called pernicious anemia, because my addled stomach isn't producing something called intrinsic factor. There are B-12 shots in my future at the very least.

Oh, and I'm fresh outta hormones, so now I'm on pills and stuff. Yay for hormones. (reminds me of a dirty joke...but not here. not now.)

But God bless Catherine Roberts, my internist. She takes good care of me. And God bless Marison San Inocencio, my gyno. I am happy still to be in the care of two such wonderful women. Much love to you!

Sigh. All this confusion explains my absence since grades were due. I've had three doctor appointments and 10 vials of blood drawn. Tomorrow I have an endoscopy at the hospital in Atlanta. Thankfully, Daddy and Mary are putting up with us. I'm also glad I set the alarm...



I had a lovely GF Christmas Meetup of my very own Saturday night -- with Lori from the Delphi Celiac Forum, and Julie from Outback. I was so happy to have the chance to eat and talk GF with people who give a damn. It's so refreshing to know that the food before me won't make me sick. It didn't. I enjoyed every minute of it.

And once again, SHOUTOUT at the top of my GF lunch to Crossville Roswell Outback and Julie and Tom and the crew. Lori said she had a coaster that said, of the coconut shrimp, "If you love them so much, you should marry them." I think I am at least engaged to the GF coconut shrimp, but I also bought and froze a GF Bloomin' Onion for later. Lori and I also strolled the Trader Joe's for GF goodies.

So -- the clown fish above is a replacement of the picture of Lori and me. I had a blast!

Much love, and more later,
Ging

A holiday greeting for you

I saw this today on the Delphi Site, and I wanted to put it here. I hope it works for you. In lieu of mailing cards this year, I have made three holiday donations. One, to Baby Chan's Adoption Fund. Two, to Doctors without Borders. Three, to the Life Enrichment Center in Milledgeville.

A holiday card from Ging!

Much Love and happy holidays! I'll write more when I'm done with my last batch of papers!
Ging

Another great online book auction

That crafty Kate is at it again!

This is a great auction, once again, to help out with the expenses for Baby Chan, who is on her way to her loving parents very soon.

Please consider bidding on this book! It's for a great cause, and it's a great book.

Much love, and mo love to you Kate!
Ging

Two spicy mentions from last week...

Yes, folks, I made Randy another pie. We ate both of them. They were both delicious.

I mentioned this to someone on the Delphi Celiac List, and after I made it the other night, I knew I had to post it here.

Jalapeno Corn Bread

1 cup GF corn meal and 1 cup GF corn flour (or your flour mix)
1/2 t. xanthan gum
1 t. baking powder
3 beaten eggs *or sub equivalent
2 ears corn, stripped (or one can Niblet Kernels
1 small can diced chilis
1/2 cup chopped jalapenos (or salsa)
1 pint of GF light sour cream (or cottage cheese)
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded *LF if OK
up tp 1 cup of milk (or soy/rice/almond)

Mix. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Test for doneness with a wooden skewer.
Devour.


Go Tech beat Georgia Cheese Dip
(supposed to also be go Auburn beat Bama, but it was HAHA Auburn...damn)

1 pound mild or hot sausage, browned and drained
1/2 cup chopped celery
One large jar salsa, as spicy as you like it.
2 8 oz blocks of LF cream cheese
1/2 cup cheddar cheese or choice

Brown and drain sausage, add celery. (You could add onion if your husband wasn't MY RANDY). Add the jar of salsa of choice. Stir til warmed through. Put the cream cheese and cheddar on top, cover, and let sit for about 10 minutes. Stir til melted through.

Serve with the GF chip/cracker of your choice.

Much love, and last week of fall semester...

Ging

The three hour, thirty-five minute pie

You all need a laugh before you tie on the GF Feed Bag...

Tonight I got started with our TDay preps, brining the turkey breast, thawing some homemade dressing, baking some jalapeno corn bread, making ambrosia...

I decided after dinner I would go ahead and bake my Randy's requested pecan pie. I dutifully took it out of the oven at 35 minutes and it was still a little wobbly, so at around 7 p.m. I put it back into the 325 (convection) degree oven. I was talking to my sis Janet on the phone, and I mentioned I'd just put it back in and let the residual heat firm it up a little bit more.

But while I had turned off the time, I had promptly forgotten to turn off the oven. And then we all left for Target.

When we got back at around 9:15, the house smelled wonderful, like pralines. The pie. OMG the pie.

Still in the oven. A toasty brown. Like caramel pecans. The GF crust from Whole Foods had shrunk, but it was beautifully browned.

Not burned though. The filling was almost evaporated, but it was NOT burned.

I'm afraid it might be a little crunchy, and I might end up making another one.

But chalk it up - another adventure in baking, courtesy the GF Paula Deen...

Much Love, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Ging

**Pecan Pie
Three eggs
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 T. melted butter
1 t. vanilla
1 cup pecans
1/4 t. salt

MIX all ingredients and pour into prepared crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce and bake for 35 minutes (not three hours and five minutes)until the middle is set.