Cranberry Chicken

Good Tuesday morning!

I hope everyone is enjoying spring this week, because as everyone in Alabama knows, this is what we call a "weather teaser." We have a few more days of below freezing weather somewhere out there... we just don't know exactly when it's going to pop up!

I enjoyed 24 and Jon & Kate last night with Austin and Roxie, respectively. And we had an easy dinner of taco salad. Always a five-star dinner at our house (and there are only four things I can think of that all five of us will eat, so that's pretty impressive). All in all, it was a pretty good Monday.

Today begins Blind Date Week and as stated earlier, I had 16 dates to choose my four stories from. I decided my first blind date (which was actually my first date ever) should be Friday's story. And I decided my best blind date (if there is such a thing) should be today's story. If 16 blind dates in one lifetime serve no purpose other than to give me numerous teachable moments with my teenagers, then it was worth all the suffering I went through (not to mention the poor, poor guys).

Story #1 - Blind Date Week - Coach

At certain times in my younger life, I was blessed (or cursed) with friends who had other friends they wanted to "fix up." Although the dread was almost unbearable, I would ultimately agree thinking, if nothing else, one day 20 years from then I would have something to blog about. (Just so you know, I know people weren't blogging 20 years ago!)

This particular story is probably number 11 or 12 in my Blind Date Career. I was, if anything, prepared for the absolute worse date in the history of the world... so you see I had a great attitude going into any and all blind dates.

My friend at work and her husband knew this wonderful guy who "would be just perfect for me." They would come along on the date (a UAB basketball game and dinner) to make things go more smoothly. (Actually, that was great. Having another couple I knew with me on a blind date was something I had never experienced before. No worries about conversation lapses; no talking through an entire date with something in my teeth because my friend would let me know; someone "talking me up" here and there.) This date already had more potential than all of my other dates put together.

I prepared myself for my blind date by buying a new sweater (I love sweaters... always my favorite form of clothing), a new pair of jeans and new earrings to match my new sweater... that I loved. If nothing else came from this date, I would have a new outfit.

I rode with my friend from work to the restaurant where her husband and "the date" would be meeting us. She had told me he was cute, and she had told him I was cute, so neither one of us was really expecting anything great or wonderful. However, Coach (not his real name) was a lot more than cute. Very, very handsome. Wow! I wish I had taken my camera. He was not blind date material at all.

Of course, being cute was not my strong point. I was, on occasion, funny. I was a good listener (if what you were saying was very interesting). I was tall, thin and had the softest hands on the planet because I slept with tons of Vaseline on my hands and feet with socks on them every other night of my life in my 20s. And usually when I first met someone on a blind date, I was wearing a new outfit. Those were my strong points.

I didn't know what Coach's strong points were other than he was very, very handsome. Have I already said that? During dinner, I also found out he was funny, and he thought I was funny (a plus). I'm not sure if he was all that interesting, but staring at someone without blinking because they are so handsome translates into attentiveness, so he thought I was a good listener.

At the basketball game, we talked and talked and talked, and I found out he had gone to church when he was a kid, but wasn't really interested in going right now. Well, I've got to tell you, with an ugly blind date that would have to be considered a "deal breaker." No, no, no. I'm just kidding. With me, that was a "deal breaker" with anyone. My relationship with God came first, and anyone I dated seriously (meaning more than once) had to have that same commitment. It was the number one rule. The big one. Gosh, he was handsome! No. A rule is a rule. So then and there, I "churched" him. I started talking about how I had accepted Christ as my Savior when I was 12 years-old, how much I enjoyed playing the piano at my church, how much I loved being Children's Choir Director, how I used to spend every Saturday in my teens visiting and working on the bus ministry, how my Granddaddy was a minister and my Daddy was a deacon, etc., etc., etc.

On the ride home from the basketball game, it was just the two of us. The conversation was very easy and natural... no awkward pauses. (Very rare in "blind date" circles.) We laughed, we joked, and I "churched" him a little more by asking him to come visit my church with me sometime. At the front door, he looked at me and grinned, "It's a shame this isn't going to work out."

"Yeah, it really is," I agreed. "Are you sure you wouldn't want to come to church with me?" I asked hopefully.

"Maybe sometime," he said.

"Nope. The right answer would have been 'Is this Sunday okay with you?'" I said, only half kidding. He told me he just wasn't interested in church right now, and I appreciated his honesty.

Then he reached out and held my two hands. "Boy, you do have the softest hands in the world." My friend must have told him my Vaseline/sock regimen.

"I know," I said with a sigh. He squeezed my hands, told me he had a great evening and then... drove off.

The next day my boss (a combination benevolent uncle/big brother) asked me how everything went. "Oh, it was fine," I replied.

"I'm sorry. It obviously didn't go well."

"No. It was a great date and he was a great guy... but I had to 'church' him."

"Oh, good grief. Why do you keep doing that?" my exasperated boss asked.

"One, it's important to me... and two, three and four, IT'S IMPORTANT TO ME," I tried to explain.

He shook his head, grinned and walked away. It was futile to try to talk "some sense into me," as he well knew.

My friend who fixed us up knew it, too. She came around the corner smiling, and said everything seemed to have gone well, but she had talked to Coach and he had told her the final verdict (attorney talk). "Well, maybe next time," she said cheerfully.

However, it wasn't the next time... and it wasn't a blind date. I waited patiently on the Lord, and was rewarded with the "whole enchilada" (a/k/a my Mikie). He loves it when I call him the "whole enchilada!"

I endured four or five more blind dates after Coach, knowing that the "right one" would ultimately turn out to be the one God had planned for me all along.

But, I'll always remember Coach fondly, because he was by far my "best" blind date. And having become a "blind date" professional, no one knew better than me that the words "best" and "blind date" rarely go together.

I started with the best, so that means it is all downhill from here. I'll go ahead and tell you none of the blind date fiascoes were the guys' faults. They were all good guys in their own way... we just weren't "meant to be." So don't worry. There will be no "date" bashing on this blog. Come back tomorrow for Story #2 - A Blind Date Should Never Last Over 13 Hours... But This One Certainly Did.

Cranberry Chicken

This chicken recipe has a flavor similar to teriyaki chicken... but a little different. So, if you like teriyaki chicken, you'll like this recipe.

You will need:

5 boneless chicken breasts
1 package Lipton onion soup mix
1 16 oz. bottle Catalina salad dressing
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce

1. Place chicken in a 9" x 13" dish.

2. Mix soup mix, salad dressing and cranberry sauce in bowl.

3. Pour over chicken.

4. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 40 to 50 minutes or until chicken is fork tender.

5. Serve over a bed of rice.

As I mentioned yesterday, it is a perfect "red" Valentine's Day recipe. It's super easy and very, very good.

NOTE: When I was a little girl, my favorite salad dressing was Catalina. I used to tell everyone when I had a little girl I was going to name her "Catalina." Roxie is very happy my favorite salad dressing became Ranch in my early 20s... otherwise she would be "Catalina Lee Faulkner." (Really, that's not half bad, is it?)

Tomorrow's Seasonal Tradition is fun and free, free, free. Tune in for the tradition and Blind Date Story #2.

Have a great Tuesday, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.