"Bowl of Red"

The title is homage to the Good Eats episode of the same name.

I had originally planned on making this on a Sunday morning and having it that night for dinner.  A 14-hour power outage changed those plans, so I threw it together on a Monday night.  I hate cooking stuff that takes a while on a weeknight.  But do you know what?  Dinner on Tuesday was just a quick warm-up, and there's plenty of nice things to be said about that.

Also, I don't utilize a chili recipe.  I just throw it together, based on what I have and what sounds good!  This one started with sauteed minced pepper and onion, and then added ground beef, beef chuck, a spice blend that I make up on the fly, tomato paste, a can of crushed tomatoes and a can of drained kidney beans.  This was one of the best chilis that I ever made, allowing it to simmer for 90 minutes really breaks down the meat into soft, wonderful bits of beef chuck.  And the skillet cornbread that Brian made (with my own grown anaheim peppers!) hit the spot.

British Delicious

You know, the Brits have a bad rap when it comes to food.

Sure, they make some strange things, like beans on toast and steak and kidney pie.  (eat a kidney?  No thanks.)  However, they have some good ideas too.  Especially when it comes to pub food.  Jacket potatoes (loaded baked potatoes to us Americans), potpie, chips, pudding, etc.  Toffee.  British chocolates like Cadbury.  (OMG, real British Cadbury is out-of-this-world good!)  And don't get me started on the little slice of heaven that is warm scones and clotted cream.

In our house we have a tradition of going out for dinner after the boys (Brian included) pass their monthly "stripe test" for karate.  We were on our way to a noodle place when I was talking about the new British Beer Company.  Brian looked at the kids menu and the kids were game.  So off we went.

First of all, since it was Happy Hour we got $5 appetizers.  Soft pretzel dippers!  I know, not British but that didn't make them any less tasty, let me tell you.  Then Brian ordered a burger that actually came out cooked medium.  It doesn't happen often.  (I almost said "that's rare" but that's too big a pun, even for me)  And I ordered this thing, called a "New England Pasty."  I'd heard of pasties in reading Harry Potter and other Brit Lit, and good Lord, are they fantastic.  Basically it's like a meat pie, only this one contained hot turkey and cheddar mashed potatoes.  Excellent!!  I could only eat half, so the rest was for lunch today.  And it was every bit as good.

Livin it Up

The boys went to visit their grandparents in PA for a week before the four of us headed to Virginia for vacation.  Sadly, both parents had to work that week.  But night can be fun, especially when there's no kiddie restrictions to dinner!

We stopped at the grocery store on our way back and picked up some live lobsters and fresh corn on the cob.   So delicious, and yes, I'm convinced now that steaming is better than boiling.  The plate doesn't get all waterlogged while cracking for lobster meat.  So, so good.

On Monday,  we fixed Brian's "I've never had a margarita" problem by heading to Mezcal in Worcester.  Upon hearing that held never had a margarita, the bartender asked to make us something special off-menu.  We were not disappointed!!!  Add some tuna tostada, chicken mole and steak chimichanga, and of course, their famous homemade guacamole and it was a great night.  No "ew, what's that" or tears.  Just full bellies and happiness. 

Tuesday was some of the biggest stuffed chicken breasts that I've ever seen.  Filled with spinach and feta cheese, they were dinner for TWO nights.  Thursday brought us to pork lettuce wraps with veggies, ginger, garlic,  housing, spicy peanut sauce, along with almonds for crunch.  Oh, and the second trip for ice cream that week.  Followed by a ton of packing for the trip.

On Friday, we began the drive down. But as a last hurrah, we went back to a special place:  Paul's Pasta in Groton, CT.  We hadn't been on about six years, and some of our early dates were there 18 years ago.  Still delicious, relatively inexpensive and so tasty.

So, our week of Food Comas was complete, including a few trips for ice cream.  It was worth it.  

The Salad Blues

I go to Panera Bread every Wednesday to meet up with my knitting group, and if I eat dinner while there, I usually order the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad.  It's been my favorite for a long time.  Sure, I eat other things there, but keep going back to the salad.

Well.  Imagine my surprise a couple of weeks ago that the salad, a long-time menu item, has been discontinued!  I ate my last Asian Sesame Chicken Salad and I didn't know it.  The restaurant has switched over to "all-natural" ingredients in everything and apparently, there's something in the salad that doesn't make the cut.  (My friend Rayna is bummed about no more pepperoncini in her Greek salad, apparently they didn't make the cut either.)

I'm bummed.  I get the desire for natural ingredients but sheesh!  Let people decide for themselves.  Although, I guess they ARE letting people decide, in terms of deciding to eat at Panera or not.  Since it's still a super-convenient place to hold knit night and was tough to find a new location in the first place, we'll be staying.  And most nights, eating.

So to satisfy that craving, I vowed to make an Asian Sesame Chicken salad myself.  Sauteed chicken breast, greens, cucumber, cilantro and toasted almonds, topped with a little homemade Carrot-Ginger dressing.  (Recipe courtesy of America's Test Kitchen's "Light Cooking" cookbook.)  It wasn't the same.  However, it was still very good.  All of those flavors worked well together and made for a filling, healthy lunch.  And homemade dressing always beats the pants off of bottled store-bought, in terms of flavor, fat AND calories.

Hmmmm.   Maybe if it had tortilla strips next time, it'll be a closer match.  Probably not, but I'll keep trying.

A Nostalgic Tuesday Treat

I have a soft spot for scones.  One of my favorite memories is eating them with English clotted cream in a park in London with my friend Alexi.  I'd just finished college, gotten engaged and landed my first job out of school.  Lots of things to be happy about!  I still remember the warm sunshine, the comfort of our rented lawnchairs and this incredible feeling of happiness and satisfaction.

So when I discovered that we had a ton of blueberries in the fridge and Brian suggested scones, I was all for it!  These are from Cooking Light, so there's no sugary glaze.  I like them better that way.  Lemon would also be a good addition here.

After baking I sent Lexi a text and said "I made scones, now I want clotted cream."  She texted back a selfie of her holding a big jar of the stuff, with a huge grin on her face.  Apparently there's a British goods store not that far from her.  I know another shop besides the local yarn shop that I will be visiting the next time I'm in the area!

Care Package

I'm going to a friend's house tomorrow to see her new baby and visit for a bit!  And of course, bringing the new mom of two some goodies......chicken tortilla soup and a pan of brownies. 

The great part is, I made the soup a couple of weeks ago and froze half of it, and still have some homemade tortilla strips.  Add a sandwich bag of shredded Mexican cheese an an avocado, and that's one less meal thst they have to make.  Because really, not much cooking going on for the first month of having two kids.  Ask me how I know.  ;)

Savory Cupcakes

My neighbor and I were talking about food on the bus stop last week and he was raving about his wife's "chicken pot pie cupcakes."  Well, I couldn't stop thinking about them even a day or so afterwards so off to Pinterest I went!  Turns out they're pretty easy:  some veggies, cooked chicken, canned biscuit mix and cream of chicken soup.

They came out a little brown but were still good.

Will was a bit disappointed to look at the menu board and see cupcakes, but have them be chicken pot pie cupcakes.  He was amused at this though, so points for that!

Oh, and if you are interested, here is a link to the recipe that I used.  It's from a blog called "Cupcake Fanatic.  http://cupcakefanatic.com/recipes/chicken-pot-pie-cupcakes/