Hello friends! Guess what? I'm working from home again! Can you believe it? I'm so lucky! Apparently the client only expects me to be in the office a couple of days a week. So, here I sit, watching the View again. Although, I did have to make a change. A few minutes ago I realized the craft room is NOT conducive to being productive. I love my new stool, but I just can't sit on that thing for 9 hours. So, I've drug my modem and a ton of cords into the living room and am actually using my new desk! This is SO much better! I've gotten more work done in the last 30 minutes than I have in the last 2 months!

Today I'm trying to develop a project plan for an ENTIRE HR/Payroll implementation. Why on earth did I want to be a team lead? The pressure is killing me. I've developed project plans in the past for little projects. But, I've never been responsible for creating a plan for a six-month project for a team of a dozen resources!!! AAAGGGHHH!!!! Thank goodness someone has offered to do a reality check whenever I get this thing done.

So, you want the chicken pot pie recipe?!?!? Hmmm...that's a top secret. It's my signature dish. However, because I love you all, I'll post it. However, I'm a little like Rachael Ray when making the chicken stock. It totally depends on my mood. So, here's what I do....

Fill an 8-quart stock pot with water about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full. No, I don't measure the water.

Add a medium, yellow onion, chopped. Slice 3 or 4 carrots (unless I'm really in the mood for carrots and about 5 or 6 go in). Slice up a couple of stalks of celery. I don't like celery, so I usually only put in 2 or 3. Then you add salt and pepper to taste - whatever that means. I usually just shake the stuff in until my arm gets sore. Or, throw in whatever looks good. I know, this part's not helping, is it? Next, I throw in the chicken. I only use drumsticks. I have no idea how much. I usually buy a package that has 8-10 legs. I leave them on the bone, but I do remove most of the skin before they go in. Yes, I say most. The first drumstick usually gets really de-skinned. By the time I get to the last one, I get lazy.

Okay, boil all of that goodness, uncovered for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The water should be pretty yellow and the chicken should be falling off the bone. The water should be about a little more than half the volume you originally threw in. Fish out the chicken and veggies and set them aside to cool.

Next come the dumpling things. Here's where I can give you more specific ingredients. When I made the pot pie for all of you on Saturday, I doubled the recipe - including all of the stock. I think I probably threw in 4 pounds of chicken to Saturday's batch.

4 cups of flour
1 1/2 - 2 tbsp salt (depends on how salty the broth is)
2/3 cups shortening
1 1/3 cups water

Healthy, huh?

Okay, so I stir it with a wooden spoon, but usually just mix it with my hands. It's close to impossible to mix with a spoon. I then split the dough into two balls. I roll them on a floured surface until it's about 1/4 inch thick. The thickness really doesn't matter. However, the thicker you make them, the longer you'll need to cook them. I then take the dull side of a butter knife and cut 2x2 inch squares. I get sloppy. Perfection really doesn't matter. Then I repeat the steps with the second ball of dough. I then drop the dough piece-by-piece into the boiling broth. I don't know if it helps, but I think it keeps the dough from clumping together if you don't throw it all in at once.

Hopefully by this point the chicken is cool enough to handle. I then de-bone the chicken and throw it back in the pot with the dumplings then add the veggies and bring to a boil. The longer you cook it, the better. Sometimes I cover it, sometimes I don't. If you cover it, the dumplings get a bit fluffier. If you don't, it doesn't. I did not cover the batch I made on Saturday. You'll want to cook it a minimum of 30 minutes more. However, I love it if it can cook 2 hours more. Even better, cook it completely the night before and serve the next day. Pot pie is ALWAYS better the next day.

Good luck!!!!!