Hazel Marie Abernathy was born on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022, at 11:43 AM, at the military hospital at Twentynine Palms, California, weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces, with brown eyes and a scream that could wake the dead and the tiny, furious face of a person who did NOT appreciate being evicted from her warm home.
The labor was eight hours. Faster than Caleb (fourteen hours). The midwife said second babies are usually faster. She was right. Everything about the second time is faster — the labor, the pushing, the moment they put her on my chest and I looked at her face and thought: there you are. I've been waiting.
Ryan was there. Holding my hand. Not the first time this time — he was there the whole time, start to finish, not a deployment, not a red-eye from Okinawa. Just there. Present. His face when Hazel came out: the same crumple. The same destroyed Marine facade. A man holding his daughter for the first time.
Mom was at the hospital. In the waiting room with Caleb, who was apparently 'very patient' (Mom's word) and 'climbing the furniture' (Elena's word — Elena watched him for a few hours). When they brought Caleb in to meet Hazel, he looked at her with enormous eyes and said, very seriously: 'She's small.'
'She's a baby,' Ryan said.
'She's VERY small.'
'She'll grow.'
Caleb considered this. Then he leaned over and kissed her forehead and said: 'Hi, Hazel. I'm Caleb. I have dinosaurs.'
I lost it. Ryan lost it. Mom lost it. The nurse lost it. Everyone in the room was crying because a three-year-old introduced himself to his sister by listing his assets.
Mom brought food to the hospital. OBVIOUSLY. Chicken broth in a thermos. Cookies in a bag. And a container of her chicken and rice casserole, reheated, for me to eat after delivery.
I ate the casserole in the hospital bed with Hazel on my chest and Ryan in the chair and Caleb on the bed and Mom standing in the doorway with her phone taking photos.
The first meal as a family of four: Mom's chicken and rice casserole. In a hospital room. At the Twentynine Palms military hospital. In the godforsaken desert.
'The only good thing that happened in that godforsaken desert,' I'll say someday.
I'll mean Hazel. I'll mean all of this.
Welcome, Hazel Marie. You were born in the desert. You were named after your grandmother's eyes. You entered the world screaming, which is appropriate, because Abernathy women arrive loudly and stay forever.
Dinner at 1800. Family of four now.
Four.
Mom’s chicken and rice casserole will always be the meal I associate with Hazel’s arrival — the smell of it, the warmth of the container in my hands, Hazel on my chest and Caleb crowded onto the hospital bed like we’d always been four. But back home, when the dust settled and we needed something that felt just as celebratory and just as gathered-around-the-table, this Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza became our answer. It’s the kind of meal that gets everyone in the kitchen — Caleb dragging a chair to the counter to “help” with the cheese, Ryan handling the oven, me holding a baby who still has opinions about everything — and it comes out smelling like something worth sitting down for. Four plates. Four of us. That still gets me every time.
Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 whole head of garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 lb pizza dough (store-bought or homemade), at room temperature
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- Fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Instructions
- Roast the garlic. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Slice the top off the head of garlic to expose the cloves, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and wrap tightly in foil. Roast for 35–40 minutes until the cloves are soft and golden. Allow to cool, then squeeze the roasted cloves out of their skins into a small bowl and mash into a smooth paste.
- Prepare the oven and pan. Increase oven temperature to 475°F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet or pizza stone with the remaining olive oil and allow it to preheat in the oven for 5 minutes.
- Shape the dough. On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll the pizza dough into a 12-inch round or oval shape. Carefully transfer to the hot baking sheet.
- Spread the base. Stir the mashed roasted garlic into the ricotta cheese until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the garlic ricotta mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border around the edge.
- Add the toppings. Scatter the shredded chicken evenly over the ricotta base. Top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes if using.
- Bake the pizza. Bake at 475°F for 12–15 minutes, until the crust is golden and crisp and the cheese is bubbling and lightly browned at the edges.
- Finish and serve. Remove from the oven and let rest for 2 minutes. Scatter fresh basil leaves over the top. Slice into 8 pieces and serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 520 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 54g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 680mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 307 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.
