Buffalo Chicken Cups with Celery Blue Cheese Relish

Ever have a recipe just wander around in your mind and never really work it's way out?  Well, I've had this one going on for a LONG TIME.  The other day Bobby emailed and said that we would be attending a "Hail and Farewell" (my first) in a couple of weeks.  The invite says "bring an appetizer or dessert to share", so I decided it was time to get this recipe out of my head and see if it works.  It does.  I don't know if this will be what I take to the party but I'm glad I figured out that this works and is yummy so that I can make it again and so that I could share it with you!

There are pictures with this recipe, but they are courtesy of my phone so they are not excellent quality, I think you can see what's going on though.

What you need:

Pre-baked mini phyllo cups (my box had 15 and since I was just making them to try this was enough)
2 stalks celery, cleaned, dried
1 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 cup bottled blue cheese dressing (use the stuff in the refrigerated section, I used the WalMart brand)
3 Tablespoons whipped cream cheese (cold)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cooked shredded chicken
1 Tablespoon cream cheese (whipped is fine)
1 Tablespoon butter
1/4 cup of Frank's Hot Sauce (more to taste)

How to proceed:

Pre-heat oven according to directions on your phyllo cups.  Dice celery very small (almost a brunoise).  Put celery in a bowl and add in red wine vinegar, toss to coat.  In a separate bowl combine dressing, 3 tablespoons cold whipped cream cheese and garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste.  Pour dressing over celery and stir to combine.  Add chicken to the bowl you made your dressing in (no need to clean it) add in cream cheese and butter, microwave 30 seconds, stir, if needed microwave another 30 seconds and stir again, you want the chicken, cream cheese, and butter to be well combined.  Add in the hot sauce, stir, taste, add more hot sauce if desired.

Place phyllo cups on a baking sheet, fill each with chicken mixture (enough to fill, but not over fill the cup).  Bake according to package directions (mine said 5-8 minutes).  Remove from oven and top each cup with a generous helping of your celery "relish".  Serve immediately.

These were super easy and super yummy.  Even my two year old Bug liked them...of course he will kind of eat anything...My husband liked them too and he's more picky (and doesn't really like blue cheese like I do).

Boston Cream Cupcakes

My husband is a huge fan of the Boston Cream Donut.  So much so that there are some little jokes about it at work and he has on occasion been sent into the office with the promise of said donut only to be laughed at a little when he finds out there are no Boston Creams available.  I often send treats into work with Bobby (typically because I like to make treats, play with new things and try new things out and we can't eat them all for obvious reasons), so I thought it would be fun to send a "Boston Cream" something into work with him, I have been playing with cupcakes a little lately and I came up with these tonight.  It's my own recipe, but it is a mash-up of things I have gotten from cookbooks (the cupcake itself is a mix up of the Death By Chocolate recipe in 101 Things To Do With a Cake Mix) and around the internet (the frosting is a change up of the recipe I got here).

Interested in making them yourself?  Here you go:

Boston Cream Cupcakes:


Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt (or sour cream)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
4 eggs


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Ready 24 cupcake liners in cupcake pans.  Mix cake mix and dry pudding mix together in a bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Fill cupcake liners 1/2 - 2/3 full (this should make exactly 24 cupcakes).  Bake 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees or JUST until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean or with just a very few crumbs sticking to it.  Leave cupcakes to cool.


Filling: 
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
2 cups cold milk


Make pudding as directed on package with 2 cups milk.  Let pudding set up 5-10 minutes in the fridge.


Fill a pastry bag with a #10 tip (large round tip) attached with the set pudding.  Place tip into the top of cooled cupcake and pipe about 1 tablespoon of filling into each cupcake (you won't use all the pudding probably).  This part just takes a little practice and patience.  Make sure you get the tip well into the cupcake (about 3/4 of the way in for sure) and pipe slowly.  They won't all have exactly the same amount of filling, NO ONE WILL CARE, so don't stress it.


Frosting (this is where it is at with this recipe, this frosting is ridiculous!):
8 oz dark chocolate (you can use semi-sweet chocolate chips here)
4 oz cream cheese (that's half a regular package)
1 cup heavy cream
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip (just use the Cool Whip and don't ask questions, okay?)


Place 8 oz of chopped chocolate or chips into a glass or metal mixing bowl with 4 oz of cream cheese broken up with your hands (I use the mixing bowl for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer).  Put 1 cup of cream into a pan and set on the stove over medium low heat and place mixing bowl with chocolate and cream cheese over it (you are creating kind of a double boiler).  You want your chocolate and cream cheese to start to melt, BUT you don't want to scorch your cream so watch them both closely.  When the cream starts to boil pour it over your chocolate and cream cheese mixture (it won't be fully melted, but make sure you cover it) and let it set to cool for 20-30 minutes.  When that time has passed add in your pudding mix and mix for two minutes with either the whisk attachment on your stand mixer or a hand mixer.  Now mix in 1/2 of the tub of Cool Whip then fold the other 1/2 of the Cool Whip in until the frosting is uniform.  Using your favorite tip pipe the frosting onto the top of the cupcakes (I like a giant tip like the 4B star tip I used for these today) and ENJOY!


Bobby and I have both tried them and they are pretty excellent...hopefully they get good reviews at his work tomorrow!

Update

Just a quick update on our family logistics...

We are all in WA.  Not in Bremerton where we lived for the last 5 years, but in Arlington (north of Seattle and Everett).  Bobby is no longer stationed on the USS John C Stennis, he is now on the USS Abraham Lincoln (which is currently stationed in Everett, WA).  The ship will be leaving at the end of the year to move over to the Norfolk, VA area.  During the move time I will be in AZ (for a few months) then I will meet Bobby and the ship in VA.  We are looking forward to that time when we will be able to live together as a family for longer than six months at a time...

We are renting and living down the street from Bobby's mom and the kids are LOVING having "Gramma Di" so close, they love spending time with her and she has been great to take them and let Bobby and I have quite a few dates since we got here (something that has been in short supply for us since the kids came along).

I am working on being a better housekeeper (I'm still no good at it, but baby steps, you know?).  We live a long way from town and I'm trying to save miles on my new Ford Flex, so me and the boys hang out here a lot.  We don't have a TV, but we do have computers (although the internet can be tricky), the boys are getting acquainted with some of the great kids movies of my time (Punkin fell in love with Sesame Street's "Follow That Bird" just yesterday).

Our new ward (Arlington 2nd Ward) is great.  The people have been very welcoming.  Punk LOVES his nursery class and has a cute little blonde girlfriend there already.  Bobby has been called to work with the young men, and while he feels a little overwhelmed by the calling at times I think it is awesome that he gets to work with the youth.  The ward has an active weekly playgroup (that meets with two other wards in the area) and a monthly "ladies night" that is really NIGHT, we meet at 9:00p.m. for dinner/dessert and fun conversation.  I have really felt welcomed by the women in the ward and already know I will be sad to leave here when the time comes.

Hoping to be a better blogger again.  Not that a ton happens here, but the kids are growing fast, Bug will be walking soon, and Punkin says/does totally cute/funny things everyday and I am doing a lot of cooking and crafting, so maybe I'll get some pics, recipes, etc up at some point.

Fair Winds and Following Seas...

This morning Capt(Ret) Bradley Eugene Johanson was taken from this earth. His battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) began shortly after his retirement from the US Navy in 2008 and he succumbed to pneumonia and ALS today. Captain Johanson was the Commanding Officer of the USS John C. Stennis when Bobby reported to the ship in 2006 and performed Bobby's re-enlistment ceremony on the bridge of the USS John C Stennis is 2007 while the ship was on deployment in the Persian Gulf. I was lucky to serve as an ombudsman under Captain Johanson's leadership for twenty-two months.

Captain Johanson was a true leader, a man who believed in his mission and lead by example, he was honest with his sailors, he trusted them and they trusted him. He ended his 30 year career with the Navy after a very successful 2007 deployment with the USS John C Stennis, a deployment spent mostly in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Persian Gulf (the Stennis did not loose a single sailor during that deployment), and a docking planned incremental availability period which was completed EARLY and UNDER BUDGET in the early part of 2008, a pretty much unheard of feat in any government agency.

In a Navy where no less than fifteen CO's have been relieved of duty this year, many for inappropriate personal conduct, loss of confidence in the ability to command, or problems with their temperament and demeanor, Captain Johanson had been a ray of light in our Naval adventure. He was a man who was fair, honest, and judicious when he was put in a situation where it was necessary to discipline his sailors.  He believed in the good in people. Captain Johanson was an amazing sailor, he believed in the Navy, in their mission and purpose, and he worked hard to bring out the best in the sailors around him.

I knew Captain Johanson as a sweet natured man, one who always greeted us with a winning smile and a firm handshake and always left us with a hug when we met with him, whether that was on board the ship or in his home. Captain Johanson wanted to know that the families of his sailors were well taken care of, he wanted those families to have all of the information they could regarding the whereabouts and well being of their sailors and he was honest with his sailors and with their families, something I am finding is scarce in today's Navy leadership.  Under Captain Johanson's wing mediocre sailors became good sailors and good sailors became great sailors, his people wanted to be better for him (I am reminded of a quote from A Knight's Tale, when Prince Edward says to William Thatcher (speaking of his knightly qualities), "Your men love you.  If I knew nothing else about you that would be enough").  Captain Johanson's sailors loved him, if I knew nothing else about him, that would be enough.

Captain Johanson was married to an amazing woman, Junay, a woman he met in the Navy and who stood next to him, tall, proud, and an amazing example to all the spouses she mentored, throughout his Naval career.  She, too, believed in the job that her husband had to do, she cared about the sailors doing that job with him, and she was an amazing example to the spouses who were lucky enough to make her acquaintance.  Today is a sad day, indeed, and through my personal sadness, my prayers have been with his family, I hope that Junay is lifted up by the thoughts and prayers of all those who were lucky enough to know them.

The Navy is better for having employed him, the sailors who knew him are better for having known him, I am better for having had the wonderful opportunity to work with him.  Fair winds and following seas Captain Brad Johanson, you will be sorely missed.

I have made a donation in his memory to the MDA for ALS research, and you can too.

The Kitsap Sun article regarding Captain Johanson's passing, it includes information on the public services for Captain Johanson.

Day Twenty-Five - My Day in Detail

Good thing this topic landed on today...as we actually DID something today.

Got up this morning, got Punk out of his crib and put him at the table with a bowl or yogurt and a "circle toast" (Eggo waffle), put "Yighting Keen" (Cars) on the TV, got Bug and nursed him, put Bug in the swing. Put a load of laundry from the washer into the dryer (a good Oxyclean soak does amazing things to small children's clothes), started a load of colors (so we would have something to wear. I took a shower then put this new product on my hair, got Bug out of the swing, got Punk out of his chair to let him play, moved the laundry. Got back in the shower to rinse out my hair, put part two of the product on my hair and then blowdried it. Put Punk in the shower, checked on Bug, then straight ironed my hair. Bobby got home. Dressed Punk, dressed Bug, dressed me. Left for the Naval Hospital. (Oh, FYI the hair product worked okay so far).

Got to the hospital, parked, went up to the seventh floor. Checked Punk in. Waited in the waiting room to be called (pleasantly surprised that they now have a well baby waiting room at the hospital) while I filled out the.longest.survey.ever about my big kid's development. We were called, Punk was weighed and measured (26lbs, 2'11.75", 24th percentile for weight, 78th percentile for height). Doctor came in, checked Punk out, talked to us about his development, declared him practically perfect (apparently I need to work on his fine motor skills, we've never had him stack blocks or string macaroni and these are apparently important developmental tasks, who knew?).

Went down to the second floor, checked Bug in for his well baby appointment, checked Punk and me into immunizations. Punk got his MMR shot, I got a Tdap (pertussis [whooping cough] booster).

Were called back for Bug's appointment. Bug was weighed and measured (10lbs 13oz, 22", again, tall and thin). Doctor came in and checked him out, he's perfect.

Back to immunizations for Bug's turn. The second he got the first shot he turned red and screamed forgetting to breathe (no worries, I'm a mean mommy and blew in his face to make the breathing resume). Nursed Bug in the waiting room while we waited out the required 10 minutes post shots.

Visit to the Naval Hospital, two well baby appointments and six immunizations between three people, about 3 hours.

Back out to the car, and back home...

Punk was asleep when we got home and is exhausted, but still up because we are going for an early bedtime tonight rather than dealing with the aftermath of a late nap. Bug is a miserable little monster, so he got his first Tylenol and is FINALLY sleeping in the swing as I type.

Oh, we ordered Papa Johns for dinner (because Bobby said, "It's been a long day for us all, let's order pizza so you don't have to make dinner").

Tonight is the premier of Biggest Loser (which I will probably watch from my couch with chocolate ice cream), and (not the premier of) Parenthood. Should be a nice relaxing evening from here.

Day Twenty-Four - Where I Live

Well...vaguely here...


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Bremerton, Washington...for now.

Interesting facts about Bremerton, WA:

Sir Mix A Lot (of Baby Got Back fame) sings a song about the special class of women here in Bremerton occasionally referred to as Bremelos.

MXPX (a punk indy rock group from Bremerton who had some sucesses a couple of years ago) sings a song called "Move to Bremerton"

There are four "mothballed" aircraft carriers here at Naval Base Kitsap Bremerton...it's a very strange sight to see them all parked together and eerily empty...I don't have a picture though...hmmm...I should take one before we leave.

Bremerton is a small town with BIG Navy influences. When the carrier that is stationed here is gone the traffic is lighter and there are a lot more women alone in WalMart at two in the morning (huh, Rachel?).

I haven't always loved living here (and as such have spent much of our time here in Phoenix when the ship is gone), but if I'm honest, it is a beautiful place. The people in the Manette Ward (the ward we attend) are amazing people and have had an amazing influence on my life (and I'd be willing to bet they have NO IDEA the influence they have had), and if we found ourselves here again...that would be okay.

Day Five - Favorite Quote

"We are up against people with absolutely no conscience, no regard for life - people with an entirely different vision of the future than the one we embrace. They are not just our enemies, but the enemies of all who cherish freedom and liberty. Theirs is a small world, let by small-minded men."

~Admiral Mike Mullen (Currently Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but said when he was CNO of the United States Navy)

RANT

Okay, Navy bases still require that vehicles have DoD tags in order to be driven on base...fine, stupid, but fine (Air Force Bases no longer require this and it's a stupid thing to require, I mean they require that the driver have military ID, do we authorize PEOPLE to have access to Navy bases or to be authorize vehicles, but I digress). If you are driving your vehicle you have to take your registration, insurance and driver's license in to get a DoD tag, if you are driving a rental they only need the rental agreement and your driver's license, if you are driving a borrowed vehicle (as I will be when I go to San Diego next week) they need some mysterious form, no one seems to be able to give me the number of the form so that I can try to find it online, so I call the phone number on the Naval Base Coronado website for Pass and Decal...it goes straight to voicemail for the supervisor (what are the odds that guy is really going to call me back), so I call the general information line...they give me a number for pass and decal, that number is not pass and decal BUT they know what I'm talking about, they give me a number for pass and decal, no one answers that number the first 10 times I call it (and there is no voicemail) when I finally get someone they are NOT pass and decal either and they have NO IDEA what I am talking about (in fact they tell me that I cannot get a temporary pass for ANY vehicle unless I am the military member, even though I am a dependent with a valid ID, but whatever) she does give me ANOTHER FREAKING NUMBER for pass and decal...which I call and I get a guy who knows what I'm talking about and has access to the form but acts like I am asking for him to email me his arm when I ask him to fax me the form so I can get it filled out and notarized before I get there...hopefully he faxed it (it's going to my mom's work and I don't have any idea if he actually got it to her yet or not)...ETA: The form was actually received by my mom...yay.

I swear, if I get to San Diego and they give me a hard time about getting a pass for the stupid truck after all the crap I went through to get their stupid form (why isn't this form just available on the website???) I am probably going to loose any semblance of cool I ever had and get banned from Navy bases forever...

Oh, and in case you ever need to talk to an actual person at Naval Base Coronado Pass and Decal...save yourself the telephone runaround and call them here: 619-545-7413!

ETC(SW) Robert Eastman...yummy.

Okay, maybe just yummy for me.

It's been a long road. I'm sad I missed the ceremony (the ship is currently underway), but I am so glad that it is over and my Bobby is now officially a Chief...those of you that are not military would be surprised how excited I am to see him in that silly khaki uniform, those of you that know me well will not be surprised at how excited I am to get him out of it ;-p

It's a good day...okay, understatement a little...

So, Punk is ONE today. Can you even believe it? I can't, the time just flys by. Tomorrow he is getting a job and moving out...I just know it.

Also, we found out today that Bobby made Chief!!! For those of you that are non-military (which is most I think) that is a BIG deal. I am so proud of Bobby and so excited to move forward with this leg of our journey. It doesn't mean a move or anything, just more respect and a little more money, it doesn't even mean that his daily job will change as he has been filling a Chief billet for almost two years, but we are excited that Bobby will finally have the recognition!

Okay, so that is my great day today...it will be even better if the freaking cable guy shows up soon...

The ship is HOME!

http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_071009WAB-stennis-homecoming-LJ.2845d319.html?rss

The USS John C Stennis has arrived home in Bremerton, WA. That means that Bobby is home, however, I am not. I am still in Phoenix and Bobby will be joining me here in a few days. We will then enjoy a few (all to short) days here before we put our vehicle hating baby and all of my STUFF into my dad's truck and drive back to WA. I will miss all of my wonderful friends here in Phoenix so much when I leave that I have honestly been sort of in denial about leaving for a few weeks. Luckily we have the internet to help keep us close and I am going to do everything in my power to visit often (I am even hoping to bring Bobby with me sometimes). I don't really want to face leaving today, so I think I'm going back to my regularly scheduled denial...

Something strange from HI

So this pic is the front of the outside of the church that we attended while we were in HI. It is just outside of Waikiki. We don't have paintings of Christ on our churches normally, so Bobby and I thought this was very strange and went back a couple of days later to get a pic of it (this was actually taken by Bobby from the moving car, but it's a pretty good pic considering). I don't travel outside of the contiguous 48 much (although I have been to AK and never saw anything I would consider strange, but I have heard that sometimes outside of the states there are stranger things at churches, have you seen anything strange like this?

Hawaii - From Home

So, HI was great. We discovered that we are NOT beach people and really only spent about 20 minutes total on the beach the whole time we were there...have you seen us, we are WHITE, it took longer to put on the sunscreen than we spent on the beach! Punk is allergic to Hawaii, so he was a little snot-ball (quite literally) pretty much the whole time that we were there. He was totally worse both during our visit to the Temple and during church on Sunday, so some plant they had at both places was probably the biggest culprit. We had a great time at the Dole Plantation, we went to the USS Arizona Memorial which was a sobering experience for me, we walked the streets and shops of Waikiki together every night, but the very best part was watching my Punk and his Daddy interact together and I am so glad that we are swiftly nearing the end of this deployment.

I do have pictures (Bobby just emailed them to me yesterday) and I will be blogging some of them with more specific stories soon.

Waikiki

We are here! Punk was pretty good on the plane rides considering that he was pretty much forced to sit in my lap for 12 hours. I wish he would go to sleep now (it's 10:30 at home he should be completely wiped, but he's crawling around here bonking on everything he can reach and watching Ocean's Eleven. I'm going to try to go to bed soon...hopefully I'll be able to write a little bit about what we are doing everyday.

Hawaii *Woot*

Going to Oahu this week and I'll be there 8 nights, 9 days. Hopefully I'll get a chance while I'm there to blog some amazing food and maybe even some pretty pictures. If you've been and have a food or activity suggestion you should lay it on me and I'm trying to get things partially planned before we leave.

Irritated...

Not so much for me, but for all the other people who don't have access to the information they should have. The airwing ombudsmen are releasing information, it is tentative, but at least it is information. The ship's ombudsmen are still playing the "we don't know anything" and the "nothing is set officially" lines...which I really am having trouble believing considering that the airwing ombudsmen aren't even playing the "tentative" line (although we all know that nothing is in stone until it's done with the military). I got the information from an airwing ombudsman, but there are a lot of people that would like to be making plans and it's frustrating to belong to a command that seems to think that they only have control if they keep everyone else in the dark...how do you expect people to feel empowered, to BE empowered, if you don't give allow them the information necessary to make decisions? Just grrrr...

Grieving for my Navy/Stennis family...

The Stennis lost a sailor in an accident this past week after they pulled into Singapore. My heart and prayers go out to his family, and to all of the families touched by this saddening accident. I talked to Bobby after it happened, the sailor was not someone he knew or worked with, but any loss hits the ship family hard. It's a sad, sad weekend for all of those affected.

Fair winds and following seas, babydoll...

Video of ship leaving...

Here we go again...The ship left this morning. Punk and I dropped Bobby off at the ship at 01:30 this morning. We will see him again in six or seven months. I'm okay...Punk is a little young to understand what is going on, but not so young that he doesn't know that something is awry. The hardest part is that by the time Bobby gets home, Punk will be a totally different kid...it's my job as mommy and wife to do everything in my power to keep Bobby up to date on his development...what is life if not a series of challenges, right?

I'll be back in Phoenix this week...can't wait to see the sun again.

...Jiggity-jig.

I'm back in WA for a few weeks. Bobby and the ship are HOME, even if it is just for a relatively short period of time.

It's cold here but other than that, I'm mostly glad to be here.

Punk has his four month well baby tomorrow, crazy, I can't believe it's been almost four months since he was born, I feel like he's been mine forever. Punk has changed my life drastically, however, it's almost impossible for me to really remember my life before motherhood.

I feel bad, I'm one of those people I never really wanted to be, I have a dog, I loved the dog like a child...until I had a child, now the dog hair in my house is killing me and I am doing enough traveling in the next year that the dog is becoming a huge issue. Bobby loves the dog (I do too, but I'm more realistic than he is I when it comes to him I think) and all I can think about is finding him a new home so I don't have to worry about him and I don't have to clean up after him...never thought I would not want the dog, but I don't want the dog...

I have been trying to clean up a lot of junk in my life since Punk came. It's funny, other things in my life that seemed important before, now, really seem like they might be more stress and trouble than they are worth. Honestly, I feel a real draw towards focusing on being a better wife and a good mother and doing everything in my power to be a better person to be better at both. Things that were important previously that don't help me be a better wife/mother just seem like they need to go in order for me to focus that energy on being the best me for myself and, more importantly, for my family. I never imagined that being a mother would prove to be such a real change in the focus of my everyday life...I couldn't be more happy about the changes that I have made or the changes that are to come.