quickie

-Budget still isn't set. We had a whole meeting about how the higher-ups have no clue about what they're going to do to balance the budget. So, we're all waiting for the state to finish waiting for the federal government to make decisions.
-I wore my Shakespeare shirt today because a) it was Friday, b) I finished reading Macbeth with my 12th graders today and c) I'm starting A Midsummer Night's Dream with my 10th graders. (YAAAAAY! NO JULUS CASESAR THIS YEAR! You have no idea how happy I am!) Some of them laughed, some of them didn't get it.
-We just finished our taxes because my W-2 from NPS finally arrived. It was originally sent to my parents' house because when I left there I couldn't remember our new zip code, but it was returned to sender, but the postal system caught it and forwarded it to us.
-I did a really fun and funny activity with my 10th graders to introduce a theme from Midsummer. I don't like to tell my students we're going to do something "fun" cause they're definition of fun is way different from mine. So, I told them "I don't want to say it's fun, let's just say it's more interesting than usual." One kid leaned toward me later and asked, "I thought this wasn't supposed to be fun?"
-I promised myself that starting Feb. 1st, I'd write something every day. It may not be here, but in a written journal I keep. Either way, I'll try and write more here.
-We made sweet potato stew today! Most of you don't care, but I love it (and those of you that have made/ate the stew, you understand) and I've been looking forward to it all day.

recipe time!

One positive of having so much time to spend at home and wanting to save money is that I get to finally try out some recipes. I made this one tonight and it was incredibly tasty and easy (once I got used to folding the pie crust over). I know many people that would enjoy this dish as well, so I figured I'd put something that wasn't job related or me whining about not having a job on the ol' blog. I got this recipe out of this aaaaaamazing little magazine I picked up. David and I can usually come up with suggestions to change the recipe to make it better, but we couldn't really come up with anything.

Cheesy Corn and Chicken Turnovers
(Makes 8 turnovers)

2 cups chopped cooked chicken (about 2 chicken boneless breasts)
1 11 oz. can whole kernel corn with sweet peppers, drained
1 10.75 oz. can condensed cream of chicken and herbs soup
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
1 15 oz. package rolled refrigerated unbaked pie crusts (2 crusts)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, mix together chicken, corn, soup and cheese.
2. Unfold pie crusts and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll each pie crust into a 13" circle, then cut into quarters. Spoon between 1/3 and 1/2 cup of chicken mixture along one straight side of each triangle, about 3/4" from edge. Brush edges with water & fold other straight side over. Seal, fold, do whatever you like to try and keep it closed. Prick pastry several times with a fork. Repeat with remainin pastry and filling, then place on a large baking sheet (or two small-medium ones, if your oven is tiny like mine).
3. Recipe says to bake 15 minutes, but mine took about 25-30 minutes to get brown around the edges and the crust baked enough to eat. Serve hot to warm.

The toughest part of this recipe is getting the hang of closing up the crust in a way that doesn't rip or tear the crust or make it become a totally different shape. We had two that had wonky crusts and became really strange looking turnovers, but they were still as delicious as the others. Oh! And make sure you put a good mixture in the turnover, I got one that was a lot of chicken and not so much of everything else.