Veteran's Day fun!

Sorry about the long time without posting. I've had a cold and been bumming around the house more than usual, so didn't have much to write about. I'm feeling better now though (with a runny nose still of course...) Anyways, Nathan had school off for veteran's day and thursday is my day off too, so yesterday we went on a little bike adventure along the Burke-Gillman trail, which is a lovely paved bike path that travels along the water and is mostly flat. First stop was Gas Works Park, which has lots of old industrial structures in it.

Nathan looks over the (canal?river?lake?) at the houseboats on the other shore.

Me on this giant hill. You can't see how big it is here.

The view of downtown seattle from the park!

This was a really neat bridge we passed on our way.

 This sculpture was by the rail bridge in freemont.

We make it to our destination--Golden Gardens Park! I'm sure it is busy and lots of fun in the summer, but november is pretty chilly. Nathan tries to fiddle his glove lining back into place.

Me on the beach!

We stop here to get a little lunch. Nathan gets clam chowder of course.

Then we return home as our old friend Staci is coming over for dinner! I made Chicken Pot Pie from this recipe (sort of):

http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/07/chicken-pot-pie.html

From FOR THE LOVE OF COOKING BLOG

Filling:

• Meat from one small roasted chicken, shredded
• 1 tbsp butter
• 8 oz of button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 4-5 red potatoes, diced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas, thawed
• 4 cups of Chicken Broth
• 4-5 tbsp corn starch
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• Thyme, to taste

Add the potatoes and carrots to 3 cups of broth and boil for 10 minutes. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add onions and sauté for 3 minutes then add sliced mushrooms. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until softened then add minced garlic, stirring constantly for 60 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside. Add the chicken to the skillet along with the carrots, potatoes, broth and peas; bring to a boil. Mix the cornstarch with the remaining cup of broth and mix thoroughly. Once the filling is boiling, add the cornstarch mixture along with sea salt, pepper and thyme. Stir well. Taste and re-season if needed. Remove from heat. Pour filling into a large baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out. Place dough on top of the filling, pressing to the edge of the dish. Cut 4-5 slits in top of crust to allow steam to escape.

Cover the edges of the crust with tin foil to prevent burning. Bake for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy.

But I omitted the mushrooms of course and ended up using the pie crust recipe from The JOY because when it comes to pie crust, you need to go with a trusted source.

Here is my pot pie! It turned out delicious. Yum yum. And perfect for a chilly wet day! Staci brought along a very fun card game called "Once upon a time" in which you use cards with fairy tale tropes on them to tell a story semi-competitively. Then we played some Settlers of course and fun was had all around. What a lovely day!