Crafting In The Country

I had a wonderful day crafting with friends outside in the country today at Laura's. The leaves were beautiful with the weather in the high 60's. Laura really has the gift of hospitality and has a beautiful setting of an outdoor kitchen and dining area. She also has a large covered area adjacent to that for us to craft. There were eight of us and we each brought a dish to share for lunch. Laura provided gift bags with the cutest aprons inside! Mine was a pink polka-dotted bib apron with with strawberries on it! I brought King Ranch Chicken (recipe below)...later in the afternoon we had a lovely tea. Each of us worked on something different...Heidi made small wreath ornaments with precious buttons of every shade of white to ecru from her mother and grandmother who have both passed on. Laura covered a lamp shade with peacock feathers from her sister Bridget's peacocks...beautiful! Bridget gave us a demonstration of making flower pins with different layers of material pieced together... you slightly burn the edges with a candle...it looks lovely and vintage. Anita showed us poncho's and the pattern she made from fleece. I knitted in short spurts! Nan was crocheting a beautiful afgan for a friend. All in all, it was a good day...Lord thank you for and bless my friends...

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked chicken (I used breasts which I like to buy on sale and cook up and freeze)
  
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers (I used Rotel mild)
  
• 1 large package tortilla chips with lime
  
• 3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 (6 ounce) can black olives
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup cooked chopped onion
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place chicken breasts in a pot of boiling water. Cook until meat shreds easily with a fork, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from water, and cool slightly. Remove meat and skin from bones, and shred.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the cream of chicken soup, 1/2 cup sour cream,Rotel tomatoes, and onion and mix together.
3. Lightly coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. In dish begin layering: 1/3 of the chicken, 1/3 of the soup mixture, shredded cheese, then crumble tortilla chips on top. Repeat layers twice, ending with tortilla chips and a sprinkle of cheese on top. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, until bubbly. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
4. Top casserole with chopped tomato, olives, a couple of dollops of sour cream. Yum-yum good!