meal to the field #12

if I’ve decided I’m going to fight with you on the phone… nothing you do or say will stop it… no amount of patience, reasoning, intelligence or common sense will quell my anger…

over the past few weeks I have been blogging and posting pictures of either myself or my food… and my internet has been so painfully slow that I’ve resorted to turning it off completely and linking my phone to my laptop to write my posts… this took considerable effort seeings how a 36 year old like myself has no idea the difference between ‘hotspot’ and ‘bluetooth’…

the farmer would tell you that I like to let my anger get to a level where I can’t be reasoned with, before I start a fight… this allows me to always win… because the other person gives up…

I make the phone call… I am on hold for over four minutes… this only fuels the fire… when Trevor finally gets off his coffee break and can field my call, the first question he asks me is my phone number… I give him my cell number but no he wants my old land line number… which I can’t remember due to the fact I have a poor memory… he was kind enough to ‘dig around’ and found my account which I have been paying $74 a month for…

I tell him my side of the story… “I’m trying to download 6 pictures and it takes me 3 days and I eventually just shut off my internet and hook my laptop up to my phone because your internet service is so horrible”…

Trevor pauses and then says in his nerdy, cocky, early 20’s voice… “our internet service looks like it’s functioning well in your area”… I said “how would you know? I’d like you to send someone out here to check on it”… Trevor replies “I can check on it from here and everything from our end is functioning well but you are completely tapped out for uploads and downloads on your end… do you have other devices running in your residence?”…

Sienna… crap… she has three iPads and two mini iPads… before you judge… they are all hand-me-downs and out of date… only one doesn’t have a cracked screen… and we won two of them at prize tables at hockey tournaments… whew… I can sense the judgement going away…

and she loves Netflix

but I found the next words out of my mouth to Trevor were “no… I put all devices in the house on airplane mode already… I think it is something on your end”… he paused and his next words had a bit of a scorning laugh added to them “I can see our end and your end and it definitely is your end that is the problem”…

I did not go down without a fight… I stuck to my story… told him I was possibly going to cancel my services with them… told him I felt like he could work on his customer service…

as soon as I hung up… I went and looked at all of her iPads… she has them stashed all over the house so it took me a bit… I turned them all on to airplane mode… came back to my laptop and ‘waa-laa’ (the farmer tells me that’s not how you say it)… pictures downloaded or uploaded… not sure which… and everything working at lightning speed…

in that moment I just about called Trevor back… but I couldn’t (even though I knew I was wrong) apologize to a early 20’s cocky nerd… it wouldn’t be good for his ego…

cauliflower taco salad

Ingredients:

3 heads Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
2 green peppers, small dice
2 cups mayo
2 tbsp sugar
1 head cauliflower, cut into small portions
6 green onions, diced
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
1 bag Doritos

Directions:

in either a large bowl or in individual containers, place lettuce and green peppers
mix the mayo and sugar and spoon and smooth over the lettuce and green peppers
add cauliflower, green onions and cheddar cheese
chill for at least 2 hours
when ready to serve add crushed Doritos on the top
if serving in a large bowl, mix ingredients together before serving
if putting in containers to take to the field, leave unmixed

chicken pot pie with biscuits

Servings: 10-12
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Ingredients:

Chicken Filling:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
5 cups chicken broth
1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, cubed
salt and pepper
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
8 cups shredded chicken
olive oil
2 white onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups carrots, small dice
3 cups celery, small dice
3 cups frozen peas

Biscuit Dough:

5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp baking soda
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onion or chives
1/2 cup cold, cubed unsalted butter
8 oz cream cheese, cubed
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg, for egg wash

Directions:

in a saucepan, thicken buttter, flour, broth, cream cheese, salt and pepper and lemon juice
add the shredded chicken and pour into a large mixing bowl
in the same pan, heat olive oil and add onions, garlic, carrots and celery
cook until softened and add to the chicken mixture
add peas to the chicken mixture
in two 9×13 inch greased baking pans, spread out pot pie mixture
for the biscuits, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and pepper
add green onions and mix
cut in with a pastry blender the butter and cream cheese
add buttermilk and combine
turn out onto floured surface and knead very lightly
roll out till 1/2 inch thick and cut with biscuit cutter
place biscuits on top of chicken filling
beat one egg with a splash of water and brush on the biscuits
bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until chicken filling is bubbling and biscuits are browned

apple crisp with pistachios

Ingredients:

15 macintosh apples (washed, cored and cubed – peel on)
1/2 cup brown sugar
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
2 cups oats
1/2 cup shelled pistachios

Directions:

put brown sugar, lemon juice and zest and cinnamon in a large bowl
add apples and mix
pour into a 9×13 baking dish
in a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and butter
blend with a pastry cutter
add oats and pistachios
sprinkle evenly over the apples
place 9×13 on a baking sheet in case of it spilling over
bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until bubbling and browned
serve warm and with vanilla ice cream if possible