2006-01-08 - 7:20 a.m.

Mrs. Pam wrote in my guestbook and asked me to tell how to make Chicken Pot Pie. You aren't going to believe how easy it is!

For the crust, just remember 1:1:1 is the ratio. Ratio is if you have this many of this, then use this many of that. So, for most people it would be 1 stick of melted butter and 1 cup of self-rising flour and 1 cup of milk. Since we make two 5qt casserole dishes for our family, it is four times that which is 4 sticks melted butter, 4 cups self-rising flour, and 4 cups of milk. Just whisk it up until there aren't any lumps. You can make pie crusts that you roll out, but this tastes better.

To make the insides:

In the morning, before the sun comes up, put two chickens in your biggest stock pot that has a collander that fits down in it. You can put chopped up onion and carrots and celery and bay leaves or whatever you want to flavor the broth. Fill it with water and put it on high until it bubbles good. Turn it down low, put a lid on it, and do something else for awhile. When the meat starts falling off the bone, lift out the collander pot with the chicken in it and let it cool and drain it in the sink or in a pan. Save the broth in the pot because you will need it. You can also cook the giblets in another pot if your chickens came with them. They add flavor and make really good gravy.

Once the chicken is cool enough, put on disposable latex gloves from Sam's and take all the chicken off the bone. Throw the bones and skin away. Take out the chicken you will need, and save the rest for chicken salad or chicken bog or chicken noodle soup or white chili or whatever you like.

To make the creamy sauce, melt butter in your biggest frying pan with the high sides. Sprinkle all-purpose flour in the pan and stir it with a whisk and then add chicken broth from your pot and half and half or milk or cream or goat milk, whichever you have. Cook it until it thickens up and add salt and pepper... more pepper if you like Mrs. Marie Callender's style. You can use cream of chicken soup in the can if you have it. We use six cans for two 5qt casseroles, but wash the tops with a soapy sponge before you open them.

If you save the leftover vegetables from suppers in Ziploc bags in your freezer, now is the time to get them. You can also slice leftover mushrooms, onion, and celery, and cook them up in a little puddle of olive oil until they soften up. Add it to the leftover vegetables. You can also add chopped up hard boiled eggs if you want. Just look around in your refrigerators and see what you have.

Now, mix up the chicken and vegetables and cream sauce in a bowl. Add enough sauce to make it really wet but not too drippy. It shouldn't be too dry, either. Pour it into your flat casserole dishes. It should sound schloppy like your clogs in the garden mud after a big rain. Pour the 1:1:1 crust batter on the top and put it in your ovens preheated to about 350-425 degrees. Cook it until the crust gets brown and the insides are bubbly. The crust around the edge is the best part. It is buttery good. You have to scrape it off with the spoon.

Make sure to save the broth you made for soup or to make rice and all sorts of stuff. Once it cools in the refrigerator, you can scrape the fat off easy and throw it away. You can freeze the broth in Ziploc bags or tubs.

Normally I don't get help with my journal except for spelling, but this time I needed help from Mom with the oven temperature, and which kind of flour to use, and ratios. She doesn't always use a recipe because she tries to use up whatever we have around before it goes bad, so some of it doesn't really matter. Self-rising flour for the crust does matter.

Last night we watched the Redskins v. Tampa Bay. We usually pull for Tampa Bay because it is a Southern team and we love that mean-faced Coach Gruden, but this time we pulled for the Redskins because of Mrs. Semmel.

Mrs. Semmel is the lady that served us at the hotel restaurant in Washington DC almost every morning. She loved us very much and she fixed us a beautiful table on our last day with big fat strawberries and melons and cookies and danishes and we ate all we wanted from the breakfast bar and guess what? She and the manager paid for it because they loved us! Mrs. Semmel is a big Redskins fan so we pulled for them for her sake. They won! We sent Mrs. Semmel flowers for Christmas.

A lot of people at the hotel loved us! They didn't charge us for our refrigerator or the roll-away beds. All the servers smiled happily and talked to us so friendly. They said we were very well behaved. We aren't loud and rambunctious and we use our manners. I hope I had good manners there because I wanted to.

We also watched the Patriots game last night and most of us pulled for the Patriots even though Jacksonville is a Southern team. Dad grew up in Florida so he was hoping they would win but he wasn't sad when the Patriots won because we like them, too.

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