Boilermaker Tailgate Chili

This is a good chili recipe. I mean, for me, I feel like chili has to have serious substance....not just meat and chili powder :) This certainly has it all!!! The link and recipe can be found here. Check it out. It's a great make ahead meal too, and it is oh so perfect for a chilly autumn night. Serve it with Fritos Scoops and you're good to go!!
Also, for dessert, I made Brown Sugar Apple Cake. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart Living a few years back, and it is one of our favorites!!!! I had to make it by memory this time, because I left my copy at Meg's house and I can't find it anywhere online!!! It tasted ok. But I don't remember enough to post the recipe here. Soon!!!

Here is the chili cooking on SUNDAY night! That's right. NOT Monday :) Much less stress.


Add sour cream, cheddar cheese, and Fritos. Yum.



Margie dear.



The Apple Cake.




The kids eating apple cake. They probably would not appreciate this picture, but then again, maybe they wouldn't care at all. They're kids. It's the mature adults who are outraged by unflattering pictures of themselves ;) They were simply having a good time digging into the cake!


We had a great time.
Not much else exciting going on. Other than the fact that I am dressed like a cross between an eggplant and a carrot today. That's right. Eggplant purple shirt with burnt orange corduroys. Despite the vegetable resemblance, I am still holding out hope that it looks ok.
Prepping for New York on Friday. Mike is on Priceline as we speak looking for rooms in Philly (we are heading there after NYC). It'll be nice to get away this weekend. I feel like I need it!! So excited to celebrate our first year of marriage!!!! Can't believe it's been an entire year already.
Oh and yes. Last but not least: Phillies game tonight. Which means that either I will have an extremely ecstatic husband.....or a miserably moody (i mean DEVASTATED, of course) one... ;) You know I love you, Mike :)

Going Orange.

1) Because it is Orange Day at GSK today and Mike is out volunteering in a prison-orange t-shirt. He said, and I quote:
"We are getting a nature talk. Not sure when we’ll do actual work. I feel like I’m on a homeschool field trip.”
It's ok. Don't feel too bad for him. He got free lunch.

2) It is the color of pumpkins. I love pumpkins.

3) I messed up the colors on my blog, and this was my attempt at recovery. When I have more time, maybe I'll make it more appealing to the eye.

How to get a moccasin. Or two if you're lucky.

This weekend was a good one.
Why?
Here are some reasons. In random order.

- The weather is cooler. It finally feels like Fall.

- The Eagles won. I love DeSean Jackson. It’s ok – Michael loves him too. And every time he crosses (or should I say flips into?) the end zone without prematurely disposing of the football, I rejoice that he is not the idiot we all thought him to be.

- Mike told me I can get a garbage disposal installed in my sink. Currently there is not one, and it is causing many drain jams. Mike did the dishes on Saturday morning and realized what a headache it is ;)

- Mike took me on a wonderful date to Wayne. We went to Saxby’s (one of my favorite coffee shops – their spiced caramel hot apple cider is amazing), finished up our thank you notes, and did some reading. Here is Michael finishing his half of the thank-yous. We made our 1 year deadline!


And then we did some shopping. I convinced Mike that we should park in the Anthro parking lot because it was free as opposed to meters. I was solely interested in conserving quarters, of course. And just by pure coincidence I found some beautiful knobs for my hutch (once it is painted….which will be….when???). But, really, it was merely by coincidence…….


And after that we went to Chili’s and stuffed our faces. Their 2 for 20 deal is just too good to pass up. Too bad the calories included aren’t such a great deal. Oh well. We worked out that day.

- Meghan and Heidi and I went to DSW. And I found new moccasins :)

Plus I had a rewards coupon….which, technically it was Michael’s coupon….but we’re one now….so really it was just as though he was using it…which is the explanation I gave him. Don’t they just look so comfy and inviting???? I was so excited I had Matt check the weather.com to make sure it was going to be cold enough to wear them this week. Today failed me. But tomorrow is looking good.

- I cleaned my house. Trust me. This is cause for great rejoicing.

- We finally cleaned our apartment and turned in our keys. So I no longer have that hanging over my head :)

- And finally I did some Sunday prep for the week. Real Simple has helped me learn how to streamline my life (ha!) so that I’m not running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Simple things such as laundry, meal prep and just starting the week with a dish-less sink can produce amazing results! I cooked Monday’s meal because thankfully chili is something that tastes better the second day. I washed the fruit we’ll be eating this week so I don’t have to as we’re rushing out the door in the mornings. I packed my gym bag the night before so I can just grab it and go. I got laundry going so it won’t pile up as much during the week. It took a couple of hours of my time, but I anticipate it saving me both time AND stress throughout the week. Thank you Real Simple (and Mom, since I know you’ll read this and be flabbergasted that a magazine gets all the credit for things you’ve been telling me for years, I also extend my thanks to you :)

It was a full but not terribly exhausting weekend, which is just the way I like it. Coming up this week: dinner with Margie, Darren and Lauren, starting GROW at the church, Phillies game, and then NYC on Friday for our anniversary :) Oh, and it’s Fall, if I haven’t already mentioned that :)

I love my crockpot...oh and meatballs...i still love meatballs

Why?
Because I can dump everything in there and FORGET ABOUT IT!
So that's what I did yesterday. The lovely Shelsy sent me this recipe, so I decided to try it! Because I am lazy, and do not feel like typing out the recipe (you'll understand why soon), here is the link for the recipe:
Autumn Sausage Casserole

Here is the only step to this meal. It's called "combine." It's amazing. I just put it in there and turn a knob. Can't beat that!


And this is the part where you get to eat it. Coming home from work and doing NOTHING....it's pretty much the best thing ever.



So, this next part is the recipe for Aunt Rae's meatballs. I know I know....you're sick of the meatballs already!! I get it. But this is for Reenie - she wanted to know where the recipe part was.....
Also, at the bottom is a suggestion on how to change it up a bit when all you've made this week is meatballs and your husband begins to wonder if you CAN cook anything else.....they're really good and all, but it's kinda like the Israelites and the manna.....too much of a good thing can seem eerily like quail coming out of the nostrils. Sorry for that gross mental image. These meatballs are much better than quail.
ANYWAYS, without further adieu, here you go.

Aunt Rae's Meatballs (affectionately known as Deathballs by some)
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
6 eggs
Salt
Pepper
Parsley
Italian Seasoning (if you don't have....just use Oregano, Basil, Thyme, etc.)
1 c. dried Italian Breadcrumbs
1 c. grated Parmesan Cheese
6 slices bread, crusts trimmed
Water or Milk
Olive Oil

Directions:
1) Spread meat out flat in a casserole dish, so it covers the entire dish. Crack eggs evenly over top of meat. Sprinkle with spices (sorry! I don't have measurements!! just make sure it's flavorful!) Next, layer the bread crumbs, followed by the parmesan cheese. Mix by hand until well combined. (No, not with a spoon by hand....WITH your hands. Yes, it's messy. But it can relieve stress.)
2) Spread mixture evenly in dish again. Now, dip each slice of bread in milk or water until soaked. Gently squeeze out excess liquid (but leave enough so it's still moist, just not dripping). Drop bread balls evenly over meat mixture. Mix by hand again, working each piece of bread in so it is evenly incorporated.
3) Roll into medium-sized balls. Heat a few TBSP of olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Cook each batch until browned on each side and cooked through. This usually takes 8-10 minutes per batch, but depends on the size of your meatballs.
4) Serve with sauce and spaghetti. My mother has an amazing homemade gravy (from Aunt Rae) that tastes incredible. I have never had the time to make it, but one day!!! Ask her for it if you're interested!

These meatballs freeze extremely well. I usually double the recipe and just keep extra on hand in the freezer - great lunches as well as a quick weeknight meal.
Also good for meatball sandwiches. This week, I did not have rolls or cheese to make the sandwiches (I was too lazy to go back out to the grocery store...) so I worked with what I had on hand.

I made a quick pasta sauce out of canned roma tomatoes, garlic and spices - just needs time to cook and thicken...


Took some crusty bread, topped it with basil, drizzled with olive oil and broiled until golden.



Topped with halved meatballs....


Followed by sauce and basil....

It would have been better if I'd had cheese.....but...alas...I did not. Tough.

REMINDER - send me any recipes you have!!!! I have to make this project last until November........

Next up - Margie and the kids are coming over for Chili and Cornbread, one of my FAVORITE fall meals. It's a good firepit meal. What are the chances I can procure a firepit by Monday? (sidenote...my cousin Frank taught me the word "procure"....he was threatening Michael that if he did not procure me a furry companion he would have to face the consequences....) Anyways, we'll see if I can get me one of those (both a furry companion AND a firepit).

Aunt Rae's Meatballs

It's one of my favorite recipes ever, and it's one of those that I know by heart. I hope I never forget it, because i don't know that it's written down anywhere at the moment.....
Also, it's straight off the boat from Italy passed down from my mom's Aunt Rae - a true Italian at heart :)
And this is the meal that kicked off Autumn Project. We had Michelle and Alex over to celebrate. And now my house is a wreck. Oh well. It was worth it :)



There are a gazillion eggs in this recipe. Don't be freaked out. It's what makes them oh so yummy.



In the frying pan.



The table pre-destruction (what we call "eating")



Basil Garlic Bread





Alex tried to look normal in this picture.....I think it was successful...no??




This is what the table looks like after we have doused it in spaghetti sauce. Fun times.
Side note - the lazy susan in the middle of the table proved to be a lot of fun. I am glad we went with it :)

So that was meal #1! Next up: Autumn Sausage casserole - bound to be a favorite if simply for the fact that it is cooked in my crock pot. Can't beat that.

Cloudy with a chance of....

MEATBALLS!!!!

That's correct.
Tonight kicks off the first week of Autumn Project. And I am making Aunt Rae's famous Italian spaghetti and meatballs. Or deathballs...as some call them.....but I assure you...they will not kill you. They may make you feel like you've died and gone to heaven, but you will still be very much alive.

Now, I must make somewhat of a disclaimer here. (This is for Traci's sake.) The food that makes up "Autumn Project" does not have to include strictly apples, pumpkins, winter squash, etc. for it to be considered a "fall menu item." No. While most of the dishes WILL in fact contain those lovely ingredients unique to the autumn season, others will be of the "cozy" category. The type of food that makes you want to curl up next to the fire, or bundle up in sweatshirts by the firepit, or simply be glad that you're inside on such a blustery autumn night. That type of food.
And so, the first dish will be the Lucia family's spaghetti and meatball dinner. Trust me - it's the perfect hot meal for a blustery autumn day. (which, granted, today is not....but tomorrow's the official start of autumn....so we're playing along in good faith...)
Michelle and Alex are joining us for the first evening of this project. Should be a blast.

Pictures and recipe (MAYBE!) to follow!!

Food for thought...

So, my boss recently showed this to me, and I thought it was extremely interesting. And pretty dead on.

Professor Alexander Tyler referring to the Athenian Republic's demise:

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent force of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasure. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasure, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by dictatorship.
The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence:

From Bondage to Spiritual Faith
From Spiritual Faith to Great Courage
From Great Courage to Liberty
From Liberty to Abundance
From Abundance to Selfishness
From Selfishness to Complacency
From Complacency to Apathy
From Apathy to Dependence
From Dependence back again to Bondage."


I do fear for our country. And I don't know what the next years/decades hold. And yet I trust God, because I know that nothing surprises Him. He is the First and the Last, the only One who is sovereign over all, and nothing escapes His notice. But I do pray that we as a country can learn from history and turn and repent before it is too late.

What do YOU think? And I really do want to know!

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, not angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~Romans 8:35-39

Yes I can......

Roast a Chicken.

Let it be known. I successfully roasted this baby without undercooking it AND without burning it to a crisp. (we are not counting the skin....please don't ruin this for me ;) It was, in fact, delightfully moist and flavorful. I feel as though I have achieved a major milestone in my life. Thank you Martha Stewart Everyday Food.
And it was so simple.
1) Buy an oven roaster. Take out the gizzards (Mike tells me the correct term is "giblets". I prefer gizzards. The point is TAKE THEM OUT!) Place on a rimmed baking sheet (or bottom of broiler pan) and rub with olive oil, coarse salt and pepper.
2) Chop up carrots, potatoes, a red onion and 4-5 cloves of garlic (this part goes a lot faster if you have your husband do it ;) Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place these around the chicken.
3) Mix 1/2 c. real (it must be real, people) maple syrup and 1 tsp. cumin. Pour evenly over chicken and vegetables.
4) Roast at 450 for 1 hr. 15 minutes or until juices run clear. Baste chicken as desired and toss vegetables from time to time. (Cooking time will vary depending on how small/large your chicken is.)
5) Eat.



The beautiful maple syrup. Please don't even think the word pancake syrup. There's nothin' better than the real deal.




Here you can see Michael the Husband (waiting for the chicken to cook) furiously combating evil lords and knights in his favorite game Civilization. I don't actually know what era they're from...i'm not particularly fond of the game...but we'll just say they're medieval.




This is a dangerous move, to have an entire pound of salt sitting precariously on a bar stool. I don't recommend it.



Pre-oven



In oven



Out of oven and into mouth. Yummmmmmmmm.



The not-so-fun part of cooking. I wish there were such things as dish fairies.
Fortunately, there are things such as "tomorrow...." :)



Edit - Michael would like you all to know that he nearly chopped off his finger while chopping the vegetables....he is perturbed that I failed to mention this in the original post ;)

Announcing: The Autumn Project

Photo Credit: David Sacks

Fall is my absolute favorite season. Hands down. No contest. If I could capture it in a glass jar and keep it on my bookshelf all year, I would do so in a heartbeat.
I love the apples. the pumpkins. the gourds. the crisp, cool weather. i love the way the wind whips up on a blustery day, swirling leaves into a twister of bright colors. jeans and sweaters and vests and scarves! hot apple cider. harvest parties. fires and jack-o-lanterns. I just love it. It never gets old. On the contrary, I think with each year it gets more and more magical.

So here's what I'm setting out to do this autumn. Starting on September 22 (The first day of Fall) I am going to be cooking everything Fall. This summer I cooked vegetables and fruits according to what was in season (with the help of The West Chester Grower's Market), and it was fantastic. I'm going to do the same with this season. Squash, sweet potatoes, apples, cider, ginger snaps, cinnamon and spice, and oh so much more!
In this next week and a half I will be compiling my menu, which will run through Thanksgiving. I have some of my own favorites, but please, if you have any tried and true harvest recipes, please send them my way!!! Email me, post them here, snail mail, whatever floats your boat! I'm gonna need a lot of recipes to keep me going between the 22nd and Thanksgiving. So please share!

So here's to Fall 2009. May it be the best one yet!

Caution: Peppers may be HOT

So last night, I made this:
Thai Beef with Chiles and Basil over Coconut Rice

And boy oh boy is it yummy!! It is one of our new favorites.
There were, however, the usual setbacks which are sometimes encountered when attempting a new recipe. They were as follows:

Coconut Milk. I know what coconut milk IS. But not where to find it. So I traipsed up and down the many, never-ending, very fascinating but equally confusing ailes at Wegman's. Until I found it in some ethnic aisle. My 3rd time at that end of the store. But now I know where to find coconut milk. Well, at Wegman's anyways.

Coconut Milk part 2. This involves dumping half of your entire allotment (which took forever to find, remember) all over the stove, counter, and floor. I trust no more explanation is needed. However, if you find yourself curious still, you can talk to Mike to get his perspective on how the scene played out.

Ok. Fish Sauce. No one ever told me I needed fish sauce. Except in the recipe, but that's besides the point. And actually, had I seen it anyways, I probably would have foregone it in light of the fact that I'm not partial to fish being smashed into a sauce. ANYWAYS, the point is, extra soy sauce works just splendidly :)

Lastly, when cutting hot peppers, please remember that washing your hands does not always remove the oils that cause burning. How do I know this? Well, let's just say I thought my eyes were going to erupt like volcanoes when I put my contacts in this morning. Clearly washing my hands before taking them out last night did nothing for protecting them from turning into coals of fire. Needless to say, I am wearing my glasses today. Also, your hands will hurt too if you don't wear gloves when seeding the peppers. Three fingers on my left hand are on fire at the moment, and I have no idea when they will be put out.

All that being said, though, it really was a great recipe :) I highly recommend it - just learn from my mistakes - ask the front desk where coconut milk is and don't stick fire in your eyes.

Thai Beef with Chiles and Basil over Coconut Rice
by: Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. Jasmine Rice
1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
Coarse Salt
2 TBSP plus 1 tsp fish sauce (or just use extra soy sauce if you don't like fish sauce.)
2 TBSP plus 1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 TBSP canola oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 long hot peppers or red jalepeno chiles, seeded and sliced into 2-inch matchsticks
1 1/4 lb. ground beef sirloin (you can use turkey, lamb, pork or chicken too)
1 c. loosely packed torn fresh basil leaves
lime wedges for serving

1) in a medium saucepan, combine rice, coconut milk, 3/4 c. water, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 25 minutes.

2) When rice is almost done, combine fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl; set aside.

3) Heat a cast-iron skillet or wok over High. Add oil and heat; add garlic and half the chiles. Cook, stirring constantly, 15 seconds. Add beef and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until completely browned. Add soy mixture and cook 30 seconds. Add basil and remaining chiles and stir to combine. Serve beef over coconut rice with lime wedges. Voila!

Labor Day Weekend

And let me tell you....it was full of labor indeed. Hard, back-breaking, grueling labor.
For Mike anyways :)
He was certainly the home-project man this weekend. On Sunday we went to Ikea with Joe and Heidi, and we had a blast picking out furniture and decor and such. That was the fun part. And then came the not-so-fun part: "SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED." Mike assembled every bit of it. Except the curtains - I figured I had better do those. ;) Among the "assembly needed" items was a chandelier that, for several reasons, took about 4 hours to install. At first glance, we did NOT expect it to take that long. But it did. And Mike was a trooper. He is my hero.
So that's how we spent most of the weekend. And then yesterday we went to the Y (yay!) came home and made muffins for breakfast, and then went to the Smiths for a picnic with the Sharps and Gemmells. It was a swell time. (Note - I am going to bring back to the word "swell.")


These beautiful flowers are on my dining room table, courtesy of the lovely Meghan.





Banana-Oat Muffins. MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm.





In process of assembling.





AND THERE WAS LIGHT! (and much rejoicing)




And here are some pics from our picnic









And then came Wiffle Ball.....






Even Dan got in on the action and had a blast!



And this here as been one of the highlights: mornings in our new house. Complete with Fresh Market coffee and banana-oat muffins broiled with just a bit of butter. Divine.



All in all, it was a swell weekend.