Inane thoughts and insane ramblings

Ok. Like an unattended railroad boxcar or the slowest kid in the playground, I have been tagged. It seems that Kell [All the little things...] and Mrs. Linkletter [Mrs. Linklater's Guide to the Universe] felt it necessary to double team me (ok…..no snickers out there) so I am compelled to play along.

Here are the rules:

1) Go to your journal's archives.
2) Find the 23rd post.
3) Find the 5th sentence in that post.
4) Post that sentence with these instructions.
5) Tag five more people  (I am claiming exemption from this one)

In Chris 23:5, Chris said verily:

That means we took a winding, no passing, no lights, no restrooms, and no civilization route. [Back from a great weekend in the Smokies]

It was interesting that this would be the entry because it was our first road trip alone in years and today, she and I took an unplanned road trip….on our own.

We went for a drive this afternoon so Alexis could show me the areas through which she traveled in her old job and I wanted just to take some photos. The "drive" ended up being an almost 4 hour trip that took us into another state! We left Knoxville and eventually made our way to the Cumberland Gap in Virgina! The very first hints of fall were beginning to show. We enjoyed the time, holding hands, talking, and saying things like "Oooooh, look at that!"

On the way back, I had a great inspiration for a poem, song, or short story about the beginning, middle, and eventual end of a wonderful relationship. I will hopefully be able to post it in a day or two. I need to work on it because right now, it is only conceptually based on three phases of one word.

On our way back, we found out that some friends of ours were passing through town on their way home. We told them we would feed them so we hurried home and I made Chicken and Dumplings for the first time in my life. Alexis made silver queen corn, mac and cheese, and bread for sides. The 5 boys (our 2 and their 3) had a blast playing together for the hour they were here. Everyone loved the food and most folks had a heaping plateful of seconds, so I know it was a success (even though I don’t care for Chicken and Dumplings). Here’s the recipe, courtesy of Bigoven.com. I’ve used Bigoven.com for the past year and it has been the best recipe software/website I have used!

8 Chicken Breasts -- boneless
1/2 cup celery -- chopped
1/2 cup onion -- chopped
1/2 cup carrots -- sliced
1/2 cup parsley -- fresh chopped
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon rosemary -- optional
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
water to cover chicken
--- BISQUICK DUMPLINGS ---
2 cups Bisquick baking mix
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 dash ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon dried or fresh parsley -- minced
2/3 cup milk

Grove notes: First made 09/25/05. Everyone loved it. I used bone in chicken breasts instead, which adds more flavor from the marrow. Alexis also added a teaspoon of chicken boullion. Following the author's suggestion, we found increasing the dumpling portion was helpful. We used 1.5 instead of doubling the recipe.