Back-up Plans

*So we had guests over for dinner last night. 5:00 sharp.

And unfortunately they had to run at 5:45, so it was critical we be ready on time. And yes, you can probably see where this is going.

At 4:55 we pulled the (whole) chicken out of the crockpot. I whipped up the gravy while Darling Husband cut the thing.

The door-bell rang. Our guests came in. We smiled and ushered them to the table when my husband uttered those dreaded words.

"Uh-oh."

Yep. Bad news.

Chicken NOT cooked.

My face turned red, but I smiled graciously at our guests and apologized (which they waved away very graciously as well).

"But no worries!" I said. "We'll just move on to our back-up plan. Which is . . . ummm . . . . which is . . ."

Uh yeah, I had nothing.

And then I remembered the frozen homemade soup. Not enough for everyone, but enough for them since they couldn't wait.

"Soup! Our backup is soup!"

Of course everything was fine. We still had the rolls which went perfectly with the soup, and they didn't utter a single protest as we sat there and watched them eat (in truth, we had pleasant conversation about Christmas traditions -- and I didn't have to worry about talking with my mouth full!).

So the point of all this? This is the second time a meal has gone wrong on me, and both times soup came to the rescue. So the point?

Always keep a container of frozen soup in your freezer, and everything will end well. :)

And maybe keep a notebook handy to record the fodder for a scene in a future book. Who knows, It just might save you one day!

P.S. I will be taking a blogging break over the Christmas holiday and will see you all back here in January. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

*Yeah, the picture has nothing to do with this post, but I liked it and wanted to use it. Isn't it pretty? :)