Roses and pot pie

Check out what I scored at Kroger on Monday:

Valentine's Day leftovers for 75% off! First I saw the "Valentine's Day"-specific rose bouquets, and was going to buy 3 roses with some filler for $3.25 (originally $12.99), but then I saw, over by the regular flower display area, that ALL the roses were 75% off, so I got these beautiful terracotta-colored ones for $3.75 for a DOZEN, no filler (originally $14.99). Sweet!

They were kind of cruddy looking, but that's where working at a florist in college comes in handy. With some love, some lukewarm water, sharp scissors, and some floralife, they perked up immediately, and bloomed beautifully. The fact that they were already "past their prime" when I brought them home was OK, because they're all maximally open right now, and I'm leaving tomorrow morning for a long weekend, so I was able to enjoy them to their fullest potential.

And then, check out what I made on my (unexpected) day off yesterday:

Chicken pot pie, inspired by this Real Simple recipe:


The only thing that could have made it better (other than a little more salt; I didn't season it enough) would have been a cute casserole dish like the one in the magazine. I need more pretty baking dishes. NEED. On Sunday when I was cleaning out the refrigerator, I salvaged some almost-bad chicken breasts by poaching them in water, then stuck the cooked chicken back in the fridge (I intended to cook this recipe on Monday after I got the pie crusts, but things got put off...). I wasn't able to salvage the already-bad chicken thighs, so those got tossed. I hate wasting money like that.

Here are some action shots for you:
First step: Sauteeing the mirepoix (the celery was my addition, since I had some; but why would you write a recipe with just onions and carrots and not make it the full mirepoix?).


Last step: Eating! It's a store-bought frozen pie crust (the package came with two and I used them both) and I also added frozen peas, as per the recipe. We discussed pot pie today at work and decided potatoes would also be good in it (although I hardly ever buy white potatoes any more; what do you think of sweet potatoes in a pot pie?). If you added bell peppers you'd have a mirepoix AND a trinity!

As I was cooking it, I realized I was making a "lite" version of a regular white sauce, and I was annoyed I hadn't read the instructions a little more closely before starting to figure out what their method was. No butter?! Give me a break. I have to admit, though, that the pot pie was very good, aside from my too-little-salt error, and WAS very rich-tasting. And then I looked back at the recipe and saw the butter omission was on purpose. They meant for it to be a "lite" pot pie. Oh well. At least now I know that I know the method of making a pot pie sauce the right way -- BUTTER and flour, then some wine and stock and milk :)

Now I have a confession: A mere 24 hours later, that entire 9x13 pan of chicken pot pie is gone. I had it for lunch yesterday immediately after it was cooked, as a snack a little while later because it smelled so good and I'm a pig, for dinner last night while watching Lost (OMG, what happened to Aaron?!?), for lunch today, AND for dinner tonight. If I weren't leaving for 5 days tomorrow morning I might have let it last longer, but really, it was THAT GOOD and I didn't at all mind eating it so many meals in a row. I already said I was a pig, so we're covered there.

And with that, I'm off to Snowmass, for one final year of skiing -- I mean, learning how to be a better student leader. My goal: black diamonds without shaking in my boots! And since I'm a lazy fourth-year medical student with growing senioritis, I hope I DO get snowed in on Tuesday morning and have to stay an extra day... or two!