Settling back into Pendleton life. The rhythms return faster than expected — the commissary run, the base loop walk, the potluck group (which has new members but the same spirit: twelve women, twelve dishes, twelve stories).
I rejoined the potluck group this week. Brought Mom's pulled pork. Introduced myself: 'I'm Rachel. I was here before. I went to the desert. I came back. I brought pork.'
The new members had read the book. THREE of them had read the book. They RECOGNIZED me. Not from the potluck. From the BOOK. They said, 'You're the Dinner at 1800 woman!' and I said, 'I'm the woman who brought pulled pork,' because I will always be the food before the fame.
But the book has changed things. The blog was personal. The column was niche. The book is PUBLIC. The book is in stores and on coffee tables and in the hands of women who hold it and say, 'You told my story.' The visibility is different. The responsibility is different.
I'm no longer just writing for myself. I'm writing for them — the women who saw themselves in the pages. The women who made the crockpot chicken during deployment. The women who called their mothers after reading Chapter Three.
Hazel is four months old and has discovered her voice. She coos, she babbles, she makes a sound that's almost a laugh when Caleb makes faces at her. The sibling bond is forming — Caleb adores her with the aggressive tenderness of a three-year-old who doesn't understand 'gentle' but understands 'love.'
The book royalties came in this week. First quarter. I won't share the number but I will say: it's more than the advance. The book is earning. The book is PAYING. The thing I wrote in a three-square-foot desert kitchen is generating income that supports my family.
Mom's reaction: 'It's paying? The book about my casserole is PAYING?'
'The book about EVERYTHING, Mom. But yes. The casserole pays.'
Made the green chile enchiladas tonight — Elena's recipe, in the Pendleton kitchen, with Hatch chiles ordered online (Elena's mother's source, now mine). The desert travels with me. Elena travels with me. The napkin recipe is in the binder and the enchiladas are on the table and the desert is in every bite.
Pendleton. Again. New apartment, same base. New baby, same kitchen.
The circle continues.
The enchiladas were Elena’s—slow, deliberate, a ritual. But on the nights when Hazel is fussy and Caleb needs a bath and the potluck is tomorrow and I have exactly fifteen minutes, this is the recipe that holds the table together. These mini buffalo chicken tacos are what I reach for when the circle is spinning fast: bold, no-fuss, the kind of thing that disappears before you can set down the platter. I’ve brought them to more base gatherings than I can count, and they always, always earn a recipe card request.
15 Minute Mini Buffalo Chicken Tacos
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 4 (about 3 mini tacos each)
Ingredients
- 2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 1/3 cup buffalo wing sauce (such as Frank’s RedHot)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 12 mini flour tortillas (street taco size)
- 1 cup shredded coleslaw mix
- 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
- 1/4 cup ranch or blue cheese dressing, for drizzling
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Sauce the chicken. In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the shredded rotisserie chicken, buffalo sauce, and garlic powder. Stir to coat evenly and cook for 3–4 minutes until the chicken is heated through and the sauce is slightly reduced.
- Warm the tortillas. While the chicken heats, warm the mini tortillas in a dry skillet over medium-high heat for about 30 seconds per side, or wrap them in a damp paper towel and microwave for 45–60 seconds until pliable.
- Build the tacos. Lay the warmed tortillas flat. Spoon a generous portion of buffalo chicken onto each one. Top with shredded coleslaw mix and blue cheese crumbles.
- Dress and garnish. Drizzle each taco with ranch or blue cheese dressing. Scatter sliced green onions over the top. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
- Serve immediately. Arrange on a platter and serve right away—these go fast.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 375 | Protein: 27g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 31g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 920mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 324 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
