Monday, October 28, 2013

Easy-Peasy Chicken Turnovers (and research trip pictures!)

We'll start with a gratuitous puppy picture!


Puppyhood is fleeting - Thatcher will turn seven months old on
Wednesday. The same day as another famous puppy in Upstate New York!


When I saw Tina's fabulous Easy Crescent Danish Rolls on Friday (click here for that recipe), I remembered my recipe for Chicken Turnovers.

Much to my family's dismay, I don't remember that recipe often enough!

It's another creation with Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - boy, those pastry thingies sure are handy, aren't they?

Chicken Turnovers

Ingredients:

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (or store brand)

1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked, boned chicken (I used canned)

8 ounces cream cheese

seasoning to taste (I used 1 teaspoon Tone's Rosemary Garlic)



So, here's what you do:

Soften the cream cheese, either by warming in the microwave, or letting it sit in a bowl until it reaches room temperature. Mix in the chicken and seasonings, plus a little chicken broth or milk if it isn't mixing well.

A word about seasonings - The Rosemary Garlic was really good. You can also use just salt and pepper, or onion, or garlic, or Parmesan cheese and garlic....  Or go a different route and use thyme, or tarragon....

Experimenting with the seasonings is a lot of fun!

And if you want to make more turnovers, just add another can of crescent rolls and a bit more chicken. Each can of crescent rolls you use makes four turnovers.


Open one can of crescent rolls at a time and divide each can into four rectangles. Press the perforation together.



Put 2-4 Tablespoons of your cheese/chicken mixture on one end of the rectangle. Fold over the other end and seal the edges. 


I like to crimp the edges with the end of a fork....



Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees, or until golden brown.

These are great by themselves, but I really like them with soup or chowder, as an alternative to sandwiches.

Especially tomato soup. Mmmmm..... Now that's a great lunch!


Now to the research trip - you all like westerns, right?



On Saturday, my husband and I took a research trip. I'm taking a (temporary) break from Amish historicals, and am working on a proposal for a story set in Deadwood in the autumn of 1876.


We started our tour by following part of the Cheyenne-Deadwood Stagecoach route from Newcastle, Wyoming to Deadwood, South Dakota.


This cow was hanging out near the scene of a violent gold robbery at the Canyon Springs stagecoach stop back in September, 1878.


We ended up in Deadwood, at the Mt. Moriah Cemetery. It was sobering to see how many of the headstones told the sad story of Deadwood residents who died at a young age. Civil War veterans, doctors, wives.... Many died in their twenties.

And the Potter's Field? Two sections. Huge. Many graves are unmarked.


The saddest were the children. Too many children in a very short time.



And yes, we had to pay our respects to Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Potato Creek Johnny and Preacher Smith.


Calamity Jane's last request? "Bury me next to Wild Bill." And that's where you'll find her.



22 comments:

  1. My lands, Jan, this looks yummy. We make a similar recipe with onion flakes, but now I'm eager to try the rosemary garlic! My poor recipe--someone had the nerve to name it "Chicken In a Diaper." Desperate for a tastier name, we started calling it "Chicken Pockets," but I like your recipe title of "turnovers" MUCH better. Will have to share with the family. ;)

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    1. "Chicken in a Diaper?" I'm SO glad you changed the name!

      I used to make this with only salt and pepper as the seasonings. The original recipe called for chives - but for some reason I never had any on hand when made this. So I started experimenting. They taste a little different every time I make them :)

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    2. LOL, Natalie! I love the name Chicken in a Diaper! :)

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  2. WOW! This is fascinating! We just don't have a lot of history out here on the West side. :) I mean, we have some Native American history. And a few cemeteries. But not so much in one town like that! We have to travel a few hours in every direction to see a few small buildings. VERY COOL.
    And I've made these chicken turnovers before but with home made crust that has paprika. I never thought of using the refrigerator dough. Hmmmmm.... You and Tina just might convert me to using those on a semi-regular basis.

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    1. We have history every place we turn in this part of the country. A lot of it has been built over, but you can imagine, right?

      One big advantage is that the Deadwood days are very early for this part of the world - but cameras had already been invented. It is SO COOL to be able to pour over old photos. You can't do that for most historical periods!

      And the main disadvantage of using the refrigerator dough is the cost. Sigh. When my boys were at their teenage-boy-peak-appetites, I couldn't afford to make these! I mean, really, there is such a thing as a budget :) But now that they're mostly grown, a batch like this one keeps them satisfied.

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  3. So cool. Very cool. Can't wait for the books that come out of the research trip.

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    1. Ever since we moved here 2 1/2 years ago, I've been itching to put this country into a story. So when my editor asked what else I had, I pitched this idea to her, and got the go ahead for the proposal.

      I love it. I get to ride in the car and weave plots and situations while my husband navigates the back country roads. We had to avoid one route I wanted to take, though. What might have been a well used road a hundred years ago didn't look too navigable on Saturday - it followed a creek at the bottom of a canyon, and the creek was swollen with snow-melt (remember that storm we had a few weeks ago?). I took one look and said, "maybe not today...."

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  4. sounds good (well maybe not the canned chicken!) makes me hungry :-( and it's only breakfast.

    ended up having to work my 2 days off today and tomorow - but get a break today for the dentist - get 2 fillings and a crown :-( never had a crown and this ain't my idea of being a princess either...just hope the crown stays put bcause I'm bad at c homping on stuff..sigh...

    hmm could probably even sneak in a few english peas or tiny carrots in with this filling...

    Susanna

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    1. LOL - you can use regular chicken :)

      Have fun at the dentist! A crown isn't too bad. I'd rather get one of those than a filling - but I'd rather not have to get either one :(

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    2. thanks I don't do well with dentists/teeth - never have and that's why I put stuff off until I need stuff done. actually went before anything hurt but still...sigh...just hate it. never has hurt really but the sound is awful and don't like the smell either. :-( I'm a wuss

      Susanna

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  5. Thank you for the gratuitous puppy picture. What a handsome little man he is! And he is growing into his ears! (as much as a corgi can!) I missed Tina's Danish rolls recipe so thanks for the link. Friday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for me :-) so I got behind in my blog hopping.

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    1. Oh, Kav, I hate those kinds of days. So sorry you had to go through one. Here's hoping Monday will be better!

      And yes, Thatcher is still cute as a button. It's so hard at obedience school...he turns on all his charm, along with his puppy mischief. But the hardest thing? His legs are so short there isn't much of a difference between "sit" and "down", so sometimes I miss when he's doing it right!

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  6. Jan, these look so good and so easy!! That's right up my alley. :)

    Glad you had a great trip! I was gone over the weekend to Boston chaperoning my daughter's high school trip. It was wonderful!! I hope to share photos in a post soon.

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    1. These are easy! I hope you enjoy them :)

      Boston is a bit farther than I traveled! Our planning consisted of the following conversation:

      Hubby on Saturday morning: "What do you want to do today?"

      Me (knowing the huge to-do lists we both had): "What did you have in mind?"

      Hubby: "Oh, I was thinking of going to Wyoming this afternoon....."

      Me: "That sounds great! I've been needing to take this research trip...."


      We never thought we'd live anyplace where "Do you want to go to Wyoming this afternoon?" would be part of our normal conversation!

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  7. A great recipe! A great research trip! A cute dog! Three for three today Jan! I just hope my fellows can keep their mitts off of the chicken long enough to let me try this recipe....

    Piper

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    1. They'll keep their mitts off the chicken if you tell them what you're going to do with it!

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  8. I agree, Piper. Great recipe. Thank you!!!!

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  9. Thank you for sharing this. I am always needing chicken recipes. This looks easy peasy.

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  10. I am late (always the first two days of the week!) but loving on this chicken recipe... the cute dog? Added BONUS!!!!!

    I always manage to find the baby section of cemeteries. In the days before innoculations, they're so frequent it doesn't take much time.

    Such sadness. Such a travesty, burying your child. And yet I'm drawn to longing to "fix" things for those young people, give them a new tomorrow after a tragic yesterday.

    It's a mom thing.

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  11. I'm playing catch up here, but I cannot wait to try these, Jan. Matter of fact, they just might be on tonight's menu. :)

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