My best friend has three boys, bless her heart, and we recently got together with a couple of friends on a Friday night to eat, drink, and do what we do best—talk!

We may or may not have discussed you, your mama, and quite possibly your cousins and second cousins or your high school math teacher who hasn’t changed one lick since they taught you in the mid-1980s and who they are married to, divorced from, and/or dating.

With ten kids between us, ages ranging from 4 to 21, to say we needed a break at the end of the week was an understatement. One friend’s mom had recently had knee surgery, she works full time, and has a son in basic training for the Army. I need a drink just typing that.

Add wine, good conversation and great food, oh and a little more wine, and you can pretty much describe the evening. We all graduated from the same small high school (cue John Mellencamp Small Town) so most of the conversations started like this..

“Do ya’ll remember so and so? You know, so and so? They grew up down the road from me.”

OH YEAH yeah yeah!

…well you’ll never believe it, but…

Noooo!

Just think of it as six degrees of separation hometown style. Everyone knows everybody. Don’t believe me? Just go to any small town Walmart on pay day or better yet (SCANDALOUS) the liquor store. You’ll see your mama, your friend’s mama, or some guy you slow danced with at homecoming 20 years ago. Same thing goes for church on Sunday mornings. You get your weekly dose of small town gossip, and some spiritual guidance for the week. Bonus!

It was fun and a much needed girls’ night in. I hope next time we don’t wait so long to get together.

Gossip may be tacky, but, like wine, in small doses it’s good for the soul.

Here’s a yummy recipe from our girls’ night in. They’re on the spicy side, so be warned. They’re also messy, so make sure you have plenty of paper towels.

Buffalo Chicken Jalapeño Poppers from Rachael Ray

Ingredients
18 – 20 jalapeño peppers
1/3 cup hot sauce, such as Frank’s Red Hot
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups of rotisserie chicken, skin and bones removed, shredded
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
Yields: Serves 4 as an appetizer

Preparation
Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Working lengthwise, slice off the top quarter of each jalapeño. Using a small spoon or paring knife, scrape the seeds and ribs out of each jalapeño.

Place a small saucepot over low heat. Add hot sauce and whisk in the butter until melted. In a medium size bowl, combine the pulled chicken, celery, Monterey Jack cheese and half of the blue cheese.

Scoop some of the chicken mixture into each of the peppers, filling them all up. Lightly mound the chicken into each pepper. Place the peppers in a baking dish and top with the remaining blue cheese.

Bake the peppers until tender and heated through, about 15 minutes. Serve.

Have you had a girls’ night in lately?

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