Karen’s Opinion

My daughter was telling me about the blue moon that appeared this past Monday evening. Have you heard the phrase, Once in a Blue Moon? That is because a blue moon doesn’t happen very often. Once in a blue moon, I feel like cooking. Once in a while there is a blue moon.

Most years have twelve full moons that occur approximately monthly. In addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains roughly eleven days more than the lunar year of 12 lunations. The extra days accumulate, so every two or three years (7 times in the 19-year Metonic cycle), there is an extra full moon.

Why is it called a blue moon? I don’t know! The most literal meaning of blue moon is when the moon (not necessarily a full moon) appears to a casual observer to be unusually bluish, which is a rare event. The effect can be caused by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, as has happened after forest fires in Sweden and Canada in 1950 and 1951, or after there has been a volcanic eruption. Red moons are far more common than blue moons. The difference in the coloration is caused by the size of smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere. When there are particles slightly wider than the wavelength of red light (0.7 micrometre)–and no other sizes present a blue moon is present. Particles smaller than 1 micrometre, tend to scatter blue light and cause the moon to look red.

It is that time of year again. Time to think about what kind of pie to make for thanksgiving dinner. In my case, the pie will be for dessert later in the evening since we are going out to eat at a restaurant this year.

I don’t have any great pumpkin pie recipes so I am going to share my chicken pot pie recipe. It might not measure up to the pot pie my mom had in Houston but it is still yummy.

Ingredients

* 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cubed
* 1 cup sliced carrots
* 1 cup frozen green peas
* 1/2 cup sliced celery
* 1/3 cup butter
* 1/3 cup chopped onion
* 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
* 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
* 2/3 cup milk
*
* 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

My family has had two weddings in the past year. It has been such an exciting time with buying new clothes and making hotel plans. The best part for me was getting together with extended family. We don’t get to see my nieces and nephews very often so when we can get together it is fun. I hope that when they grow up, they will still make an effort to get together. Do families have reunions any more?

We used have a family reunion with my husband’s relatives every summer. The older people were the ones who organized the get together with a big picnic at a park. Those folks have passed on and the younger family members don’t seem interested in getting together. So sad.

Anyway, back to my thoughts on weddings. Do you watch the television program What Not to Wear? Today’s show was a little different than the usual program. The girl who was receiving instruction on how to make herself look better not only got a new look, she got a proposal. Yes, her boyfriend proposed to her. It was so romantic. I noticed that he gave her a very traditional ring as far as diamond engagement rings go. It was beautiful yet very plain.

My nephew took his mom and future mother in-law with him as he checked out the possibility of
engagement rings design your own. He didn’t take that route but he did choose a style I had not seen before. It looked antique because of the flat shape of the setting. There are so many styles that it would be a difficult decision to make. I have noticed a trend that I tend to like. It is when there are different colored stones set along side the center diamond. I think that is a beautiful way to incorporate birthstones of children when a bride and groom are blending their families.

My husband and I celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary this past summer. I had always admired diamond eternity rings and a few years ago, received one for myself. I know, I am a lucky gal to have such a great husband who I still love after so many years and that he buys me jewelry!

While visiting Houston, we ate at the Grand Lux Cafe, the sister restaurant of the Cheesecake Factory. I don’t think I have ever eaten a more delicious pulled pork sandwich than the one I ate at the cafe.

It was moist and full of barbecue sauce, just the way I like it. It was topped with coleslaw, which I am guessing is a southern thing. The coleslaw had macadamia nuts in it! The whole meal was wonderful.

The rest of my family liked their food too. Look at the size of my mother’s pot pie.