"Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle."
- Amy Bloom
The Poolboy and I have reached a new stage in our relationship.
One we haven't experienced in about sixteen years.
TH - who is now driving - works weekends and evenings, plays rugby, makes a daily appearance at school, and has a social life the likes of which I never knew at his age.
In other words, he is seldom home.
Which has given the PB and I a new lease on married life.
Don't get me wrong, we love our son madly, but the beginning stages of the empty nest feel more like a natural progression than a loss.
We've had all these years to season our relationship, and now are faced with the good fortune of spending time together as best friends and partners.
I read somewhere that even the worst marriages, if given time, will mellow into something around which both partners will come to feel gratitude.
So the good news is that if your relationship is already somewhat happy, your slow climb into old age will be that much better with a loving partner by your side.
"Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century."
- Mark Twain
Being that we were faced with another night of eating dinner alone, I got it into my head to prepare one the PB's favourite dinners: Chicken Pot Pie.
The perfect blend of ooey gooey comfort, creamy mushroom gravy, and golden flaky pie crust, my chicken pot pie has been a family favourite at Sunday dinners for more years than I can count.
But it's one of those meals that requires a lot of love.
Remember, good things take time.
If you're willing to give this recipe the attention it deserves, I promise, you won't be dissapointed.
"Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry."
- Tom Mullen
To begin, you will need
* 3 boneless chicken breasts - cubed
* 1 cup diced carrots
* 1 cup frozen green peas
* 1 cup diced white or Yukon Gold potatoes
* 1/2 cup sliced celery
* 1/4 tsp garlic powder
* 1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
* 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add chicken broth to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain broth into a bowl and set aside. Set vegetables aside in a seperate bowl.
Next gather
* 2/3 cup butter
* 2/3 cup chopped onion
* 2/3 cup chopped mushrooms
*2 cloves minced garlic
* 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 2 1/2 cups chicken broth (you will use your chicken broth from above)
* 1 1/3 cup milk
In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions, and mushrooms, in butter until onions are soft and translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook until garlic smells good and is starting to incorporate with the other ingredients. Stir in flour, salt, pepper.
Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Add the chicken and vegetable mixture to your gravy.
Add 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)
You can set all this aside until you're ready to bake the pie.
I usually do my pie crust and filling in the morning and then let everything sit in the fridge until I'm ready to build the pies later in the day.
When ready to bake, place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Using a fork, make several small puncture marks in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated 425 oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Twenty is even better.
This recipe will make two gorgeous pies.
These freeze beautifully.
Bake from frozen at 350 for app 30 min.
For PRINTABLE RECIPE click here***
In the spirit of "Good things take time," the same principal applies to marriage or any long term relationship.
Like the humble chicken pot pie, the recipe for a long term marriage often requires more effort than many cooks intially anticipate.
But when the flavours and textures are given the love and attention to meld together just so, what you are left with is a masterpiece.
That being said, every good masterpiece needs the proper setting around which to be appreciated.
Because we live in a small cottage style home, I have become big on moving things around and creating new looks in unexpected places.
And what could be more romantic than dining by candlelight in front of the fire?
So that's just what we did.
I have several inexpensive round glass top summer tables in varying sizes that I keep in storage for these kinds of dinners.
Like I always say, life is in the details.
You don't have to leave home and spend a whole bunch of money to have a romatic candlelit dinner.
Don't be afraid to shake things up every now and then and create a new space in an old room.
When all is said and done, that's the true secret to a long and lasting marriage.
***
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