Friday friend recipe number 348

 

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook? I once had about 50 of my closest friends and family (from all over the county) on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends. At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 21 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday. (plus, so much more....)  

AND we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who thinks he knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself? Said, "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to recipes 348.

My

Pollo En Mole Verde

This is a really good green sauce to put over chicken or anything at all.

I had some leftover and put it in a jar in my fridge and used it over other meats and I did put it on my rice.  It's really good. 

I got this recipe from an old friend, Letty Rodriguez, whom I have lost touch with--which is very odd for me.  I am a keeper of friends.  I've only lost contact with a couple of people in my 64+ years on this planet.

This friend group below (the one I'm showcasing even though they have nothing to do with this recipe )  is very important to me-- I will never lose touch with them, altho we aren't as close as we used to be--for a good many years we did everything together (one example, every Friday at 10am, coffee at one of the local coffee shops, then lunch, then cards in the afternoon.--We were like the Yayas from Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood, but we were more like Yoyos 😁), then time and life happened, as it does, and we slowly stopped doing everything together. Kids grew, jobs changed, people moved.... life happened. 

We are still great, great friends, we just don't see each other as often.  Isn't it funny how that happens in life?

Oh, sure, tell me you are great friends with everyone in your past, and nothing has ever changed that!

I love these friends!

Neither, snow, nor rain, nor heat nor dark of night will keep me from them.

Just some time, distance and lifestyle changes is all.

 Photo from left to right

standing: Mitzi (who moved away to Minnesota 9 years ago) Lisa, April, Cindy (who moved away to Colorado 3 years ago)

sitting: Gina (has dual citizenship, Idaho where they have a 2nd home and here in Nevada), Shelly (who moved to Idaho 2 years ago), Me and Julie.

Whenever we had a dinner, or a get-together, we would do a group photo. 

This was in April's backyard--her husband was building a shop (background)

We had a pajama birthday party at Lake Tahoe when we went to the Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor. 

For some reason Mitzi forgot to pack underwear and had to go commando all weekend. 

Ahhh---the things we remember!

She also said, "I can't wait till Debbie dies and we can read her journals".

I think this was a compliment that I was keeping track of our lives and not a wish/threat for my death. 

I hope so anyway.

It's fun to see the hairstyle (and color) changes over the years!

Super bowl parties at Shelly's were always a big thing!  One time, Cindy won the football pool every quarter.  We always wanted to take her gambling with us after that.

(that is, if any of us went gambling.  When you live in Nevada, that's usually the last thing you want to do!)

Not sure why I am giving the finger.  It had to be an accident!

There are 17 kids between us all--- we went thru a lot of ups and downs with them all.

Now there are 29 grandchildren (so far) and this time around, we get to have all the fun with them and not the stress and worry.

Right?  RIGHT?

Christmas was always a fun time--GIFT EXCHANGE from friends who knew you well was always a blast.  

(sometimes girlfriend gifts are better than husband gifts--shhh, don't tell)

For a while there, someone's kid was always graduating (or getting married), and we had many parties to go to. 

 April was staring in a community theater play--Arsenic and Old Lace.  Or maybe she was turning 50 here.  And her husband bought her a cemetery plot for her birthday.

  (this is not a joke--but it was funny)

And one of us got married!  Gina!  It was Gina. 

Here we are with all of our husbands.  

Gina's new husband, Mark looks so happy--but I'm sure he was wondering what he got himself in to.  Not with Gina, but with us!

(also Mitzi was 8 3/4 months pregnant here)

And then--just us.

I think we were heading out to dinner one evening.

We did lots of diners--lots of lunches. 

Food and friends--they go together somehow. 

You laugh at lot over a meal with friends and I loved laughing with these women.

We still do whenever we get together--even if it's not as often as it was. 

I 💖these people!

So, friends, My friends!  This is recipe #348 out of 361. 

Look how close I am!

2023 will be the year!!

Will it really tho?

(I'm slow going) (soooo  slow)

But maybe, I am feeling the challenge!

That above ꜛ I copied and pasted it from my last post.  

As you might have guessed, it won't be a goal that I'll meet this year. BUT--January?  You betcha!

And the extra special good news is---that again I have counted wrong and only have 358 in the cookbook, SO only 10 more to go after this!!

Ten!   10!

Wow!

I never went in a linear fashion--but jumped all over the place, so tonight when I was mapping out how many more to make and the timeline of when I should make them, etc.  I only had 358 in the cookbook.  

I've counted again, and again and again.

10 more to go!

Friday Friend Recipes #345, 346, 347, Barb's Chicken Penne, Cheese Chicken Enchiladas and Easy Oven Lasagna.

I must get this done!  At least to prove something to myself if not the Handyman...

 because...

...about 23 years ago, 50 of my closest friends and family, who had been on an

  e-mail forum with me, sent in recipes in different categories and we compiled a cookbook.

I decided to count those down!

Why?

because one night I was looking thru the cookbook and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."

The Handyman/Mayor, who thinks he knows me better than I know myself, said "you'll never EVER do that."

Well, maybe I will!  Maybe I'll show him!

Which brings us to recipes #345, 346 and 347 

 Barb's Chicken Penne di Genoa

Cheese Chicken Enchiladas

and

Easy Oven Lasagna

(and please remember--I'm NOT a food photographer.  And it's not about the photos but about the friends.)

Pasta is my friend.  My heart's friend anyway--- not my thighs friend OR not my literal heart's friend---but my emotional heart's friend. 

Pasta is my emotional support food!!

Yeah, that's it.

Moving on to some cheesy chicken enchiladas. 

So... as you know, the Handyman had a heart attack in March, and he's been eating a pretty good diet since then.  Mostly chicken, beef once a week, more salads, getting more exercise, etc.

But he sees the word chicken in this recipe and thinks it's fair game! 

It's not Handyman--it's not.

So,

 thanks Barb--- his bad eating habits for the evening are on your shoulders. 

It's really hard when you are not a food photographer--to take food photos in the evening on a cold winter's night. 

Really hard.

But you know what wasn't hard? Eating this lasagna.  It was yummy and went down really easy. 

There are 62 posts with Barb's recipes (you can click here to check them out) but since there are 2 and sometimes 3 (like today) recipes on each post, there is not telling how many recipes you are going to end up with. 

So, imagine trying to come up with 62 or more stories about Barb!

It's impossible!

So, I was looking thru some old FF Forum correspondence and saw this, from Barb's family.   I had asked what everyone was doing for Christmas.  

Christmas 2004

From Mike Erovick, Barb's son: 

This year I shall spend Christmas alone. Thanks for depressing me. 

From Kim Brown, Barb's daughter (who was working at Disney World in Orlando at the time): 

I'll be working 12-8.   And constantly asking, "would you like a pretzel/turkey leg to go with your holiday beer?"   Merry Christmas Everyone!

And from Barb herself, who was working at Walgreens at the time:

I will be working 9 til 5.

Joy to the World.

DO NOT feel too bad for any of them.  They all worked on purpose and then got together for "after Christmas."

Mike would give me a bad time no matter what I had asked. 

Kim LOVED working at Disney World--a dream come true for her.

And Barb?  Barb began working at Walgreens part-time for something to do after she retired.  AND since she and Doug (who must have been golfing and didn't answer me) didn't have any kids at home, VOLUNTEERED to work Christmas Eve and Christmas day, so someone else could stay home with their children.  

*********************

You know... after 62 posts of Barb--and not having seen Barb in person for a few years now--- I don't have many photos that are new or unseen on this blog.  So sometimes I stalk her Facebook page to steal a photo or two.

I've had good luck in the past doing this. 

But now...all I can find are pics like this:

😍😍😍

It's a good thing!  Fun to see her enjoying her cute as can be granddaughter!

So, friends, My friends!  These are recipes #345, 346 and 347 out of 361. 

Look how close I am!

2023 will be the year!!

Will it really tho?

(I'm slow going) (soooo  slow)

But maybe, I am feeling the challenge!

Friday friend recipe #344 -- Gloria's Meatballs (spaghetti sauce #25)

 

and you know all the whys and wherefores of this countdown, right? Homemade cookbook, friends contributed, Handyman said I couldn't/wouldn't do it, I'll show him, yadda yadda yadda....

...and the rest is cookbook history!

Just remember, the countdown is not all about pretty food and food design---it's about the people and the stories.

And (the most important thing) proving my husband wrong--and that I can and WILL make every recipe in this cookbook.

Which brings me to recipe #344

Adria's Spaghetti

And her mother-in-law's meatballs

(This is also Spaghetti Sauce #25)

You all know I have an affinity for spaghetti.  And meatballs are just icing on the top. Or meatball on the top.  Or whatever.

Sometimes when we go to Olive Garden, I will order the spaghetti and meatballs. It's just so--good.

This recipe is good too. 

I always make a cookbook countdown recipe when we go to the cabin in the fall.  I can tell by the dated marbled pink countertops (which are actually updated from the original).  And my favorite wine glass that looks like I'm drinking from a tulip. 

What do I say about Adria?  

Good-bye?  It's sad to me, when I am saying goodbye in the countdown.  It's not like I can't just pick up the phone and talk to her anytime. But still...  we don't do that as often as we should.

Adria did not turn in many recipes for this countdown.

You can see all (3) of them here:  Just click here.

But the ones she did are really good. 

We were neighbors and saw each other almost every day.  We did a couple of field trip chaperoning for 2nd, 3rd, 4th graders.

 We were the cub scout den mothers for our kids -- and only one other boy whose name was Jimmy Jones.  Yes, only 3 boys in our den. 

In the summer of 1994, we decided to be in charge of the cub scout day camp.  We figured what the heck, if we could handle 3, we could handle 33, as more 'dens' joined us for the day camp. 

 Adria and I worked our asses (sorry for the profanity) off and had a dunk tank, platforms in trees (to drop science experiments) and obstacle courses to run, and so much more.

We didn't know it then, but we were preparing to have grandchildren!  Because that's what we do now-- we might as well have a dunk tank, platforms in trees and run obstacle courses. 

Grandkids are more exhausting than running that 4-day day camp in 1994. 

BUT it's a lot more fun too!

But I digress--- Day camp '94 culminated in a sleep out. Neither of our husbands could make it, so there we were on a Friday night after surviving all that 33 10-year-old boys could throw at us (figuratively and literally) ---almost in the dark--trying to put a tent together.  We could handle a dunk tank and platforms in trees--- but a tent?  You would have thought we were the 3 stooges! And there were only 2 of us. 

It all worked out in the end, I guess. My memory ends with all of us sitting around a campfire telling ghost stories. 

I don't see her or talk to her very much lately. 

I need to retire and remedy that. 

Good-bye Adria (and her husband Tim)

So, friends, My friends!  This is recipe #344 out of 361. 

(I'm 99% sure I have all the math down pat now)

 (it would have helped if I had gone in a linier progression instead of jumping all over the place)

Look how close I am!

2023 will be the year!!

Will it really tho?

(I'm slow going) (soooo  slow)