Call Me Mulligan

No, I'm not talking about golf today. And I'm not going to talk about stew. Not again. The memory is still to fresh in my mind. No, it actually has more to do with the fact that I put a whole bunch of different things into the same post that don't totally relate to one another, but I wanted to talk about them anyway.

Substitute Teaching

So, early this morning, I received a call to go substitute teach at the high school for one of the language arts teachers, my first opportunity to have my own class. Therefore, in order to arrive a full half hour before the first period was to begin, I shook off the residual slumber haranguing my body and left for the high school around 7:15 a.m. I reported in at the front office where I received a binder with my instructions, and a student was directed to show me which classroom would be mine.

After a good twenty minutes of scrounging for a lesson plan and attendance sheets in the desk whereat I had placed myself, I decided to find someone who could help. I ran into the teacher's aide, whom I had met before, and explained my dilemma. She directed me to the teacher through whose desk drawers I had searched for a lesson plan, who politely informed me that I had been given the wrong room. She soon took me to the right place, we sorted everything out. Despite the poor beginning, I do like teaching language arts.


Recipes

Mom insisted that I write out a couple of recipes on my blog this week for pan burritos and chicken pillows because she is incapable of working from a list of ingredients and needs precise measurements in order to make something. I don't work this way, but I decided to acquiesce regardless of my personal feelings.

Pan Burritos

Meat:
2 lbs. ground beef
1 medium-sized onion
Taco seasoning

Beans:
2 16 oz. cans of refried beans
8 oz. Velveeta
1 large dollop of sour cream
1/4 cup of ketchup
Taco seasoning

Enchilada sauce:
1 tsp. lime juice
1 10 3/4 oz. can of tomato soup
1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce
1/4 cup of sour cream
Taco seasoning

12 medium tortillas
8-10 oz. Kraft triple cheddar cheese
Olives (optional)

Brown the ground beef in medium saucepan on medium heat. Do not drain the grease. Add taco seasoning and taco seasoning. In another saucepan, warm the refried beans. When they are warm, add the Velveeta, taco seasoning, sour cream, and ketchup. Stir and allow the Velveeta to melt. In a separate bowl, mix the soup, tomato sauce, sour cream, lime juice, and taco seasoning.

When everything is ready, put the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan, just enough to cover the bottom. Put a layer of tortillas on and make sure every nook and cranny is covered with tortillas. Rip one in quarters to get the corners of the pan. Put another layer of sauce, then beans, meat, and cheese. Repeat the process until you run out of stuff to layer with or you run out of room in the pan. The top layer should just be tortillas, sauce, and more cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes.


Chicken Pillows
(I will not take credit for this recipe; everytime I have someone else's chicken pillows, they have been variations on a variation of theme. Consequently, this is my recipe, but not completely)


2 tubes of 6 Pillsbury big and flaky crescents
8-10 oz. of swiss cheese, grated
2 1/2 pkg. of cream cheese
2 large chicken breasts
1/2 lb. cooked bacon, crumbled
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. sage
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. of olive oil

Sauce:

3 Tbsp. butter
1/8 cup of flour
1/4 cup of milk
1 can Swanson's chicken broth
1/3 cup of sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Put the olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Fry the chicken until mostly done. Add the celery and seasonings until completely done. Remove chicken and allow to rest for twenty minutes or more before dicing. Dice and put in a bowl with cream cheese, swiss cheese, cooked bacon, salt, and pepper. Allow to sit in the fridge and season. Later, stuff the crescent rolls with the mixture. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes.

In another saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour. Add milk and broth and sour cream. Stir and let thicken. Add salt and pepper. Pour over individual chicken pillows.

Teaser

I have recently finished my first revision of my second book. Just a little sneak peek: it's about a little boy named Abe who lives in Wisconsin back in the 1800s. He meets a girl named Sammy Eames, who tends to get his goat and best him at everything. They have adventures as Abe tries to figure out the complexities of Sammy's personality and overcome his personal animosity toward her. By the way, she's extremely funny.

I intend to let it sit for a little while before I attempt a third revision. After the third revision I will begin sending out e-mails to folks and see if they are in need of some reading material.

Writing
You know, I really enjoy writing. I was kind of sad to hear a bunch of the seniors I taught today complaining about writing. The best part of writing is watching the development of characters unfold during the process of literary creation. The more time you spend with them, the more you find out about them; further, they begin to help you become a better person and see parts of your psyche manifest themselves through characters, often surprising you with their idiosyncrasies. "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together" (from The Beatles "I Am the Walrus"). Writing is an experiment in self-exploration and introspection: as you write, so you think; as you think, so you are.

3:00 A.M. Inspiration
By the way, when do you do your best thinking? I think my best inspiration comes at 3:00 a.m. or thereabouts. Last night, I was brainstorming for a central point for my next project, which is a book of poetry. I think my brain just likes the isolation that comes when everyone else is in bed. No distractions. Nothing at all to disrupt the pure stream of consciouness flowing through the conduit in my mind. Personally, I think everyone should carry a notebook and figure out when their best thinking time is. It's unbelievable what kind of thoughts and inspiration you get sometimes when you're in a place and time to receive it.