First snow of the season

It was cold, windy and drab again Wednesday morning. There were no predictions for precipitation around here, but at lunch, I was sitting at a stop light and it was snowing on my windshield!

I should add that, according to the weather, there was accumulating lake-effect snow where my daughter Melissa used to live (pat yourself on the back for moving, babe... or, at least until the next hurricane, lol!) and also some lake-effect snow in Port Huron (where my son Jeremy lives), but no word on accumulation there.

When I got home I found the ill-winds had deposited a big pile of leaves against the garage door. So, I drove through it and then wentinside. I treated the cats (no way to get out of that) and then did the two standard Wednesday night chores: filling the bird feeder and starting the mid-week wash.

But, before even taking off my shoes, I went back into the garage and got the blower. I blew the leaf pile back out into the driveway, where the north-west wind kept it moving away from the house. Back inside, I warmed up my hands (its only 41 degrees out there, BTW) and finally changed clothes.

Speaking of temperatures, I do have a setting in Yahoo that shows the temps at all of my kids houses, Luanne and Sadie and my friend Canada Cathy up in Alberta, Canada. I was surprised to see that the person with the highest temperature today was Cathy!

So, onto dinner. Let's talk about casseroles, for a minute. In this "gourmet" world, I think they get a bad rap. I have certain members of my immediate family (who shall not be named) who wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole. But, I still remember fondly the green bean casserole that my Mom made every Holiday (it seemed). Sure they were all canned ingredients, but they tasted good! And they had "comfort food" written all over them! What's not to love?

So, tonight, I need to use the last chicken breast. I came across a tuna casserole that I thought I could adapt, so I did. I made three cups of cooked pasta (I used Rotini, with the usual conversion - 1 cup dried equals two cups cooked). Instead of the one can of drained tuna fish, I cut up the chicken breast into 1/2 inch chunks. I did use the one can of condensed cream of chicken soup and one cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, but I also added some leftover sliced scallions (topping for Sunday's chili) and a handful of frozen green peas. I mixed it all together and put it in a buttered casserole dish.

I put that into a preheated 350 degree F. (175 degrees C.) oven for 25 minutes, or until it was bubbly. I topped that with about 1 1/2 cups of those old-time canned French fried onions and baked it five minutes more. I took it out to rest while I put the wash into the dryer.

I ate dinner watching TV. It was pretty tasty, BTW and a great way to use up the chicken. i went to sleep just after 10:00 PM.