My First Attempt at Indian Food !

Ok, I lied.  I tried making channa masala once without actually having tried any Indian food and hated it.  I wanted the first… I mean second… Indian dish I attempted to be simple and quick.  …that way, if its destiny was the trash can, I could quickly start over.  One of my favorite things about Indian food is cardamom and lentils.  I love that warm, almost chai tea like sweetness cardamom has.  I found this recipe online with both lentils and cardamom and decided that I must give Indian Dal a spin.  I was pleased to see that red lentils would cook in about 15 minutes. Perfect!  I think adding deeply browned chunks of tofu would be wonderful in this recipe.  May have to give that a try tomorrow.  I didn’t have cilantro on hand… and am happy to report that this recipe still tastes fabulous without it.  I’m also thinking this might be good in the slow cooker… What about you ?



  

Mary's Slow Cooker Chili Re-Made on the Stove

On this dreary, misty fall afternoon, I decided my turkey chili needed to be re-made for consumption purposes and photographs.  I paired it with a whole wheat serrano pepper and smoked cheese corn bread.  I used the recipe on the bag of corn meal, using serrano peppers in place of jalapenos and whole wheat pastry flour in place of white flour.  I also added a fresh, diced jalapeno pepper into the chili for an added kick.  This recipe is extremely filling and could easily serve from eight to ten people especially if served with corn bread.  If you don't have a slow cooker, simmer on stove top for one hour covered and then an additional forty five minutes uncovered.  If you think it tastes good the day you make it... just wait for tomorrow!

Garnish with hot sauce, diced avocado, diced red onion, smoked cheese and Greek yogurt.



Serve with corn bread...



...on a chilly Fall afternoon with family and friends.



Home Sweet Home

Being ever so optimistic, I thought I’d be able to work on some recipes and get a post ready to go for today AND restock the pantry AND get all our camping gear and clothes cleaned, organized and put away… But alas, I am still working on it… Hoping to have my sun dried tomato basil recipe ready for Saturday. I hope that I still have readers by then. ;)

I wanted to share some of the camp cooking pictures, a few others shots of things we did and also a picture of the 200 pound black bear we attracted while making balsamic grilled chicken breasts the first night there!! I was TERRIFIED to say the least, but all she wanted was my hot chocolate… Thank goodness, because when we locked eyes, she was FOUR FEET away from me riffling through the food that was about to be put in the bear box. As I turned my head away from the food, she had ninja-ed into our camp site in total silence… all I heard was the food crate crashing to the floor. SCARY.

Lesson learned:

Use the bear box like a refrigerator!!! NEVER ever leave food out that you are not using, EVER. Period.

The Cook Has Left the Building !

As you read this, I'll be taking my planned siesta from blogging :)

Here are a few pictures from camping in King's Canyon, Ca. 

See you next week!

Mary