Wednesday, April 27, 2011

An Owl!!

I woke up this morning to the fluttering of wings outside the window.  A minute later one of the birds landed in a nearby tree and I saw that it was an owl.  It sat there for quite a long time, moving only its head.  Owls can swivel their heads quite a ways.  At times it looked like it had turned its head completely around to look behind it.  This owl blended into the tree so well, that at one point a blue jay landed on it's head.  The blue jay moved on quite quickly!  The picture was taken through the window, (and in the rain), so it's not the best, but you definitely see that it is an owl.

Friday, April 8, 2011

More finished Projects

I am still using up that lilac Caron pounder.  I used an H hook for all three projects.  (And there is still yarn left....)
The dress pattern is here.  I didn't use a pattern for the hat and booties.  As usual these items will be donated.



Recipe: Black bean and Corn Chili

Black bean and Corn Chili

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef, browned, and drained
I medium onion, chopped and browned with the beef  ( optional, I omit this, since  I have an onion hater here, but I definitely think that an onion would improve the dish)
I can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
I can (15 oz) corn, drained
1 1/2 cups salsa
2 cups water
2 chicken boullion cubes
(or substitute 2 cups of chicken broth for the water and boullion)
1 package chili seasoning mix
1 Tsp.  brown sugar
1/4 tsp dried minced garlic

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a crockpot.  ( I use a small 2 quart pot for this so I don't know how it would work in a larger pot)  Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.  It won't hurt it to cook longer.
If your crockpot is a newer one,I'd cook it for less time, since the newer ones seem to cook at higher temperatures than my old one.

This makes 5 or 6 servings and could easily be doubled.

The heat of the dish can be adjusted by the type of salsa used, (hot medium, or mild), and can also be kicked up by adding some chili powder.  This is more of a soup-like chili, rather than a thicker chili like a tomato based one would be. 

This dish reheats well, but I've never tried freezing it.

This recipe was improvised from one my sister in law, Laurie, shared with me. The original recipe called for  beef stew cubes, and instead of the chili mix, a variety of spices were used.