I'm sitting here feeling so very cozy and content at the moment. My house is smelling like a blend of vanilla cookie candle, baking banana bread and taco soup. So yummy. Taco soup and chili are some of my favorites. They turn out a bit different every time I make them, because I don't actually follow a recipe. I throw whatever I have that sounds good into a pot and spice it up to taste. And I have to say, I can't remember a time when it turned out bad. This time I started with about half of an onion, chopped and sauted in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. I added ground venison, 1/2 lb of 80/20 ground beef, and several tablespoons of chorizo. When that was cooked I dumped several cans of chili beans, kidney beans and black beans, a can of stewed tomatos and a small can of tomato sauce and about a half cup of frozen corn. For spices I added half of a packet of StoneMill Essentials taco seasoning mix and then added paprika, chili powder, cumen, garlic powder, cayenne and salt to taste. Pretty darn yummy, if you ask me.
I set my pandora to play Acoustic Eidolon and similar selections and have been enjoying a wonderfully soothing stream of various stringed instruments for the last hour or so.
Among the various goodies that I came home with from our trip to mom and dad's for christmas was a box of Land O'Lakes Chocolate Graham Hot Cocoa.
This was my first time trying LO'L hot chocolate and I was head over heels the second I tore open the first packet and got a sniff of the mix. It really truly tastes and smells like a graham cracker dipped in hot chocolate. I'm not sure I'm even going to be able to go back to regular hot chocolate again. Which is a bummer because I googled this new stuff and couldn't find a 6-envelope box for less than 6 bucks plus shipping and handling. Yikes. I don't know how much it is in-store but I'm not expecting a much better price. It makes me sad.
My timer for my banana bread is about to start yelling at me...
Ugh. Pandora just started a bluegrassy song with vocals. I'd better go kill it....
Mm.....I can almost smell your bread...lol. Sounds Yummy. 2 questions, what is chorizo, and what is a Pandora?
ReplyDeleteCathy R.
Chorizo is a mexican spice. It's like a sausage but it's soft and reddish in color and it crumbles and sort of dissolves when you cook it. You can put it in eggs, beans, fried potatos, etc. And Pandora is an online radio station where you can customize different stations to play only music that you want. :)
ReplyDeleteLOL chocolate mint is the VERY best!!! ;)
ReplyDeleteChocolate mint is my favorite too...and I don't follow a recipe for my chili or taco soup and it's always amazing - I annoy people when they ask for the recipe. :)
ReplyDelete