The Hodgepodge is A-BRU-ing

1. It's that most wonderful time of the year...tax season! Do you complete your own returns or farm that job out to the professionals?

I farm that job out. . .to my man! LOL Actually, now I am responsible for my sister's taxes, also. I am fortunate to be able to farm those out to the Mission Board but there's a lot of information I have to provide to them. And they are surprisingly complicated. (The taxes, not the people at the Board!)

2. This next question comes from Kansas Bob...he posed it in his response to something I asked in an earlier Wednesday post and I asked him if I could add it to the Hodgepodge some day. Today's the day....

Which do you think has changed you more-love or pain?

Oh I think pain, definitely. Like the sand in the oyster's shell that becomes a pearl, or the sandpaper on a piece of wood, pain smooths our rough edges and grows us in ways that nothing else can.

3. Tangerine Tango has been named color of the year for 2012. Your thoughts? Would I find this color anywhere in your house? How about in your closet? If not, will you be adding this color to your life in some way in 2012? If you're not sure what tangerine tango looks like click here.

Seriously?! Somebody got paid to come up with that?! You know, the little Publish rectangle at the top of this post almost looks a bit like tangerine tango. Or is it a shade closer to, oh let's say, Mandarin Minuet?! Actually, that is an awful color for me so I will not be sporting it in my house or on my body.

4. Are you a collector? What do you collect and does it get admired, used, and/or dusted regularly?

I mostly seem to collect books! I used to collect mugs but that quickly took up way too much room so I got rid of them. Now I like to get a Christmas ornament if we go somewhere on a special trip. But I'm really becoming less of a "stuff" person and more about collecting memories.

5. February is National Heart Month...besides a green salad what is one tasty heart healthy dish you like to prepare?

I have a salmon topping I really like that's super healthy. Can't put my hands on the recipe last night. I made this just last night. It's not super heart-healthy, but it is lighter. It makes a lot so I "built" it in two smaller dishes and froze one of them.

CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 - 1 c. chopped onion
1 1/3 c. fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 can Rotel Original diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 c. fat-free sour cream (I used light)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 (10 1/2 oz) condensed fat-free cream of chicken soup
Cooking Spray/small amount of cooking oil
24 (6-inch) corn tortillas
4 c. shredded cooked chicken breast (I used 4 breasts)
2 c. finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. Saute onion and garlic in large saucepan in oil (or cooking spray) until soft. Add next 7 ingredients (thru soup), stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Spread 1 c. soup mixture in a 13 x 9 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 6 tortillas over soup mixture, top with 1 c. chicken and then 1/2 c. cheese. Repeat layers 3 times, ending with cheese. Spread remaining soup mixture over cheese. (NOTE: Soup mixture will seem scant and you will think this will be a dry dish, but it will spread and get nice and creamy when it cooks.)

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Makes 12 servings.

Adapted from The All-New Complete Cooking Light Cookbook

6. When was the last time you had car trouble?

Except for my wreck when a teenager pulled out in front of me last February (talk about TROUBLE!) I honestly don't remember. My vehicles have been really reliable and I am diligent about taking them in for the routine maintenance so the extended warranty stays in affect.

7. Have you been more demanding on yourself lately or less? Is that a good trend?

I would say less, and that's mostly a good trend. There are a few areas I could step it up.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

What month starts today? Say it out loud. How do YOU say it? A few years ago a friend started calling me on February 1st just to hear me say the month because I was the only person she knew who actually pronounced it Feb-roo-ary, not Feb-yoo-ary. I'd never noticed! It cracked me up because it's the first time I've been teased about saying something properly! For years I was teased about my Southern accent - in college my "northern" friends (from Dallas!) would get me to count to ten so they could hear me say nigh-yun (nine). Now it's become a joke, and yesterday I posted an "It's coming!" warning on her FB page. It's really hard to say the first "r" and most people don't. So just for fun, weigh in with your pronunciation in the comments, and put what state you're from so we can see if it's a regional thing!

In his Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations (2005), purist Charles Harrington Elster defends the "traditional and cultivated pronunciation." February, he says, "is a different word and a different month, with a peculiar spelling, a peculiar pronunciation, and a very peculiar number of days, all of which adds up to the fact that we must treat the creature with particular respect."