Makeup and Enchilades – the foundation for friendship

We gain a lot from our friendships – not just in the form of support or shared laughter and memories… but crucial knowledge gained.   Take my good friend KP.  I met her when Thing 2 started kindergarten.  Up until that point, I wore the hallowed crown of all things crafty.  She, and another mom, (of Pop Rocks and Goblins fame) quickly knocked that crown off my big fat head.  I had met my crafting match.   KP, who wears minimum and requires minimal makeup taught me how to curl my eyelashes.  What?  It’s not like I don’t know how to put on my make up.  I take pride in my make up skills.  And KP barely even wears makeup!  But she showed me the technique to curl eyelashes.   (Start at the base of your lashes, squeeze, then move out slightly, squeeze, then quickly apply mascara to seal the curl.)

KP also gave me this kick ass Enchilada recipe.  Now, the story goes, the recipe was given to her by another NFL wife.  And she never ACTUALLY had the recipe written down… she just made it from memory.  So when I requested the recipe… it presented a challenge.  She had to wait until the next time she made it to remember how she did it.  When she did make a pan of these bad boys, I was over there to learn the process.  I think I’ve finally mastered the recipe.  The weather’s been really cold (ha ha by LA standards) and with left over turkey, I had all the motivation I needed to make up a family sized batch of tummy warming goodness.

Here’s KP’s recipe with one small modification from me – the use of a pastry bag.  Anytime you have to spoon sticky ingredients into small spaces (think manicotti, baking forms)  get out your pastry bags.  It just makes the process a lot easier and the bags are disposable – no clean up.  You’re gonna need:

• 1 Whole Chicken (or left over chicken/turkey meat)
• 1 package Tortillas (we use whole wheat)
• 2 28 oz Can Enchilada Sauce
• 2 packets of taco seasoning
• 1 4 oz can of jalapeños
• 1 4 oz can of mild Fire Roasted Chilies
• 16 oz Mexican Cheese Mix (I use more like 20 oz)
• 3 Cups cooked Rositas Rice
• 1 1/2 box softened Cream Cheese (12 ounces)

Step 1.
Start by cooking the rice.  Shred the chicken or turkey meat with a fork (or your fingers).

Step 2.

Combine rice, taco seasoning, chicken, cream cheese and chilies.  Load into a pastry bag – no tip is even necessary – just cut off about an 1 1/2″ to give you a nice wide.

Step 3.

Set up 1 pie pan’s (or similar dish) and pour Enchilada sauce into one.
Pour your Wesson Oil into the frying pan and heat.
Set up your cutting mat.
Begin by frying the tortilla on each side until it puffs up (like in the picture below).
Remove with tongs and dip into the enchilada sauce, coating both sides.
Place on your cutting mat and pipe a row of the enchilada mixture.
Sprinkle with cheese, roll up and place it in your cooking pan.
Rinse and repeat. (literally – you’ll want to keep a damp towel handy to wipe your hands)
Once all of the enchiladas have been completed – top with any remaining sauce and sprinkle with 1/3 C of the cheese.

Step 4.

Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Serve and enjoy.

Speaking of make up tips – The day before I made the enchilada’s, I visited my parents in Hellsperia.  My long time friend Carmen came down to visit.  Carmen and I became fast friends in high school typing class when I admired her eyeliner.  Her eyeliner was always a coveted clean and neat black line.  We quickly bonded over the eyeliner application that ensued in the back of typing class.    Now, Carmen and my path has diverged and merged many different times in our lives.  We’ve lost touch, then found each other several different times.  Carmen likes to tell the story when she found me the first time, because she recognized me by my laugh.  We had both graduated high school and moved away from Alaska an on to our separate lives.  This was long before the days of Facebook.  Coincidentally (well not so much, we were both rocker girls) we ended up in Los Angeles.   One night, on the Sunset Strip, I went out to see a show at Gazarris.  I can’t remember who I saw.  It was some glam metal band with big hair and shredded clothing so hell, it could have been anybody.    Carmen likes to tell how she heard this distinctive laugh coming from a few people ahead of her in the crowd.  Instantly she knew it was me but  I didn’t look like the Alaskan girl she had known.  My brunette tresses were blond and teased up high.  My brown eyes were disguised by blue contacts.  But she knew… from my laugh!  Somehow, in the crazy years of our youth, we lost touch again when she moved to the East Coast.  And somehow we found each other again.  But then I moved, just last year.  And she just recently moved back to Los Angeles.  She tracked me down by knocking on the doors of my old neighbors.  Carmen is very sweet and charming and finally convinced a neighbor who had my current info to pass on her number to me.    This past weekend, in Hysteria, I clearly remembered why we became friends in the first place.   It wasn’t because we had some bonding moments at the local Michaels.  It wasn’t because she promised to give me her killer pie dough recipe.  It’s just because sometimes there are people you just click with.  And even when you haven’t  seen that friend in a long, long time, you pick up the friendship, right where you left off, like time had never passed.