Filed under: tidbit
I really do. Today when I got out of the library the sky was this uniform dull gray and it looked so much like snow was on its way. Being away from Tennessee for five years has really done wonders to make me forget what the winter is like around here. The jacket I wore almost all winter in Portland is already looking like it’s gonna be far too light to get me through. My ‘heavy’ jacket might not even be enough.
Still, I can’t wait for that first morning when I wake up and the whole parking lot outside my apartment is white and pristine, no tracks, no footprints, nothing. I know I don’t get snow days anymore, but I can pretend.
Winter is coming, and I feel ready.
“What? Another recipe?” I hear you cry. Yes, it is the truth. Once again I have conquered the demons of the kitchen and returned triumphant with a tasty dish fit for two guys to eat on a Tuesday night.
I’m trying to make Tuesday be my “cook for the parents” night, and so far it’s working, though this week Mom’s out of town visiting relatives and so it was a guy’s night … um … in, I suppose.
Before I get too far into this, I have to brag on my dad – he’s pretty much the best kitchen help I could possibly hire. Considering I don’t have any spare cash, my help would have to work for free, and you just can’t find good employees for free anymore. I guess that’s what’s at the root of the word employee, after all – the word employ, from the French, trompe l’oiel, which means to pay people to sit around in such a way that it appears they’re actually working.
Anyway, Dad’s a great help in the kitchen because he and I seem to know how to work without getting in each others way. He has a knack for knowing what I’ll need next without me even having to ask, and he’s a pro at cutting tortillas into 1-inch strips. That’s actually what they had him doing in the Army for three years. He has war stories about guys losing fingers during the Corn Tortilla Conflict, dull knives, stale tortillas … it’s horrific.
I guess I should get around to the recipe part, yeah?
Oh, hey, but listen – I have pretty much decided that I hate corn tortillas. The soft warm and almost sweet goodness of flour tortillas wins out every day, in my not-so-humble opinion. Next recipe in which I am involved that calls for corn tortillas is gonna get a rude awakening when I mix it up all crazy-like. I found that the corn tortillas in this recipe detracted from the flavor of the rest of the dish so TO HELL WITH CORN TORTILLAS, I say, AND DAMN THE TORPEDOES.
This Recipe Had Some Interesting Name But I’ve Lost The Link So I’m Gonna Call It … Tortilla Madness
1 cup onion, thinly-sliced
5 garlic cloves, diced
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (that means pre-cooked and THEN shredded, people, you can’t shred raw chicken, or at least not easily and without grossing someone out)
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup chicken broth
1 can (~7 oz) salsa de chile fresco (I could find nothing of the sort at Food Lion so I made do with some green chiles and mild salsa)
15 (6-inch) FLOUR tortillas, cut into 1-inch strips
1 cup shredded white cheese or maybe if you’re me you opt for Mexican 4-cheese blend, which tastes just like all the other bagged pre-shredded cheeses at the grocery store.
1.) Sautee the onions in a little bit of oil until translucent, maybe 3-4 minutes.
2.) Throw in the garlic, cook for 1 minute.
3.) Add the chicken, cook for 30-45 seconds to warm it up a bit.
4.) Put chicken, garlic, and onion in a medium bowl and stir in the black beans.
5.) In the skillet, bring the broth and the salsa to a boil, and then turn it down to a simmer for a few minutes. Stir occasionally.
6.) Grease up a 9×12 baking dish.
7.) Make a layer of tortilla strips, using half the strips at your disposal.
8.) Make a layer of chicken-bean mixture, using half the chicken-bean.
Mmmmmm. Chicken-bean.
9.) Repeat steps 7 and 8.
10.) Pour the broth-salsa mixture evenly over the casserole.
Mmmmmm. Broth-salsa.
11.) Top this with the cheese.
12.) Bake at 450 (you pre-heated your oven, right?) for 10 minutes, or until cheese is all golden and bubbly.
Eat eat eat eat eat. I served with corn, because black beans and corn entered into an alliance in the year 450 CE and declared that they would always taste great together and work as a team on any plate.
Man, I totally need to go to bed.
I’m a bit down lately because it doesn’t matter which day of the week it is, whether or not I’m getting out of class or out of work, there’s no daylight left. It seems silly for an amateur to say something so pretentious, but my photography is stagnating. I currently have one day a week when I can go outside and enjoy the daylight (that’s Sunday, for those of you keeping track) and I can’t just force inspiration to strike. Sometimes I’m too busy on Sundays even to just run around looking for photographic opportunities. There are only so many pictures I can take at night in Cookeville before I start to get a bit worn out, and only so many times I can take photos of sitting around a friend’s house doin’ nothing. I’m gonna have to start doing self-portraits against the blank white walls of my apartment or something.
I realize I should view this as a challenge instead of a detriment, but it’s hard to think that way. I walked to the square tonight to see what I could find, and the answer was NUFFIN.
Well, um, let’s see. Past that, I’ve decided that Tuesday night is Cook for the Parents Night. It’s an excuse to go use their sweet kitchen setup and not have to clean up afterwards. Tonight’s experiment was a FANTASTIC success, a solid keeper vote by all three parties. Cooking Light is to thank for this recipe, though I will post my ever-so-slightly modified version. Seriously, this one’s a keeper and it’s also stupid simple.
I Don’t Remember What They Called It – Italian Sausage Soup or Something?
3 links Italian sausage
2 cups chicken broth (for this I do recommend broth, not water + bouillon)
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano (see how easy? all y’uns’s ingredients is already in the can)
1/2 cup uncooked small penne pasta (or shells, or bowties, or whatever)
2 cups bagged baby spinach leaves
Lotsa grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2-4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1.) Heat a large saucepan over medium heat.
2.) Remove casings from sausage.
3.) Add sausage to pan, and cook about 5 minutes or until browned, and make sure to break it into bite-size pieces (or smaller)
4.) Drain; return to pan.
5.) Add broth, tomatoes, and pasta to pan, and bring to a boil over high heat.
6.) Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until pasta is done.
7.) Remove from heat; stir in spinach until wilted.
8.) Sprinkle each serving with cheese and basil.
See? Stupid easy. It doesn’t even have 10 steps, and it’s delicious. I’d make the Rachael Ray face here, but you can’t see me over the internet.
Though maybe I just got an idea for one of those self-portraits …
Just like that Burden Brothers song, it’s a beautiful night. Tonight’s the first time I’ve ridden my bicycle since I moved to the apartment – actually, the first time I’ve ridden it since I left Portland. It felt great. The whole town is asleep at 8:00 on a Sunday night and no one got in my way. It was lonely, cold, quiet, and blissful.
I just did some quick errands: depositing a check, turning in my time slip, grocery shopping. It felt really good to be going to the store on bike again, and Kroger isn’t very far from my place. It is, however, going to piss me off if they don’t grow a bike rack soon. I realize this is Cookeville, not Portland, and there aren’t bike commuters at every intersection. Still, one bike rack is not too much to ask, I think.
I shall have to write them a letter.
I’m constantly finding myself more and more motivated to do something, something important, but I don’t know what my cause is. I thought about getting myself banned from Wal-Mart but that just didn’t seem right for me. It’s not that I shop there often, or would even miss it, just that it seems a pointless gesture to make in the middle of Wal-Martburbia.
I know that I’m only one voice, I know that someone hearing my words may not make a difference. I realize on the other hand that if I say nothing and stay silent then there’s not even a chance to make a difference.
To what cause should I apply my voice? I can’t make the decision, maybe because I can’t even come up with interesting prospects.
Ah, well, the entirety of my time is occupied with school, work, and red beans ‘n rice anyway. Right? No? That’s a cop-out?
Hey, speaking of red beans ‘n rice, and of Kroger, i.e. food in general, I have a recipe that I’ve forgotten to share with you. It’s an old one from the parents’ food library. Let’s see if I can remember it off the top of my head.
B. Rhea Memorial Soup
You need a crockpot to do this correctly (in other words, with the minimal amount of effort) though I suppose you could do it in a large stock pot.
1 lb hamburger
1 can whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can green beans, undrained
1 large potato
1 large can (30 oz?) stewed tomatoes
also:
butter
1 whole white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced or minced
2 cups water
2 tbsp beef bouillon
(or instead of the two ingredients above, substitute 2 cups beef broth)
Worscestershire sauce
Salt
Honey
1.) Brown and drain ground beef
2.) Quarter the potato and slice thinly
3.) Put potato, beef, corn, green beans, and tomatoes in the crockpot and get it started
4.) Sweat the onions and garlic (in the butter) in a small saucepot over low to medium heat. Cook for about 10 minutes until translucent and soft, covering if necessary
5.) Add water and bouillon (or broth) and bring to a boil.
6.) Add a pinch of salt, a dash of Worcestershire, and a blop of honey
7.) Once the fake onion soup is hot and mixed, add it to the crockpot.
8.) When the potatoes are soft, it’s time to eat.
That’s it – really easy, and a great hearty winter soup.
Caveat: last time I made this, I didn’t need quite all the tomatoes, so you eyeball it, okay, and make sure it’s as tomatoe-y as you want it to be.
Thassit. I gots to go study some Spanish and think of a recipe for Tuesday. I’ll try to keep you posted.
Mwah.
Filed under: tidbit
After a long day of work in Crossville I got on the interstate and headed west. Sometimes a song calls out to you and you don’t know why – tonight I felt compelled to hear Sunset Road by Béla Fleck. I just knew it was the last song on the album, not even remembering the name or realizing the appropriateness. As I drove I immersed myself in the song, played it loud, felt every sorrowful, melancholy, wistful note. I drank it in until the hair stood up on my arms. The sun, already below the horizon, turned the sky into a muddy orange that diffused into the cold blue above. As I traveled the notes bled through me, the trees turned to dark shadows, the sky transformed to a cold caramel, the stars began to appear. All I wanted was to get home, and I don’t know where home is.
Step right up, folks, and test your Cookeville knowledge. Click the image below to find out more. Answers will be accepted both here and on the Flickr page for this image.
Good luck!
Filed under: tidbit
Last night I went to the free screening of An Inconvenient Truth at TTU. Al Gore himself was there but he was totally worthless because he spent the entire night crying since Trey and Megan didn’t show up. The movie itself was good, though I sometimes grew weary of Gore’s tactic of putting some schlock and ‘aw shucks’ between the scientific bits. I would have preferred a harder look at the science with more emphasis on actual numbers. However, I think it’s a great movie overall, and I of course urge you to see it. That doesn’t mean anything, though – when Jason C went on and on about it I didn’t run out and see it.
What we all need to realize is this: sometimes reading about something in a friend’s blog post doesn’t move you to action. You should change your ways and begin to accept me as your overlord. The sooner you do this the better and the less time you’ll have to spend in the sugar mines.
OKAY speaking of action, I need a yea or nay here. We all know I caved on growing a beard, though I have not discussed all the particulars. Doesn’t matter. Now the hair on my head is driving me crazy. I want to shave it all off. I present the following:
Pros: short hair
-Less work
-Can wear hats during winter without messing up hair
-Currently fairly stylish, or at least popular around these parts
Cons: short hair
-None currently known to science
Pros: long hair
-None currently known to science
Cons: long hair
-Can’t make it do anything resembling stylish
-Requires professional haircuts which apparently cost money
-I look like a doofus
Because I am a kind and benevolent ruthless overlord, I submit this to a vote. You, my people, my army, shall help me decide.
Should I cut my hair all short-like?
Yea or nay, folks?
Where should I start yet another meaningless blog post full of disconnected inane ramblings?
I went by Photographic Services at school today and while they don’t have any pay positions ’till the start of next semester, I have an invitation to play with gear and shoot events (and accompany real employees on events) whenever I want. That alone is worth it – to be able to put on my resume that I took pics not for the school newspaper, but for the school itself. And the thought of getting the peanuts pittance next semester, to actually get paid to photograph things – that’s exciting.
‘Course I still gots to get a real job because I’m planning on taking Jim’s apartment when he moves to Nashville, and rent doesn’t pay itself. If you know of some entertaining and not-mindless student-friendly part-time job that I should be considering, please let me know. I think the employment classified ads in the Herald-Citizen got stuck – all three of them have been the same all week.
Um, um, my MOO cards are not here yet! About this I am livid! I filled out my form about five minutes before Trey did, and he has his already (and so does JC for that matter). Where are my MOO cards? If they never arrive, what will I do? Honestly, I’ll probably end up ordering a pack of 100 since I’ve seen Trey’s and the quality is awesome. They’re just about the best thing ever, and probably going to be totally passé in a week. I should hop on that.
When I get a job.
And money.
Lastly, on the food front, I’ve been moderately active. The other night while discussing with Mom what I was going to make for dinner I realized we had the ingredients for … um … I dunno what to call it. Southwest skillet, I guess. I think there used to be a name for it but I’ve forgotten.
It ain’t pretty, so there’s no picture, but the gist of it is this:
Start your rice (1c rice, 2c water)
Brown ~1lb ground beef
While beef is browning, sautee the following:
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 white onion, diced
As many cloves of garlic as you can stand, finely diced
Once the beef is cooked and drained, and the veggies are nice and soft, combine.
Season liberally with cumin (no, really liberally. Very liberally.) and cayenne pepper and ancho chile powder and chili powder and whatever else you have that’s spicy. Don’t forget salt and black pepper too.
Once that’s all good and hot and seasoned, dump the following in there:
1 can black beans, drained
1 can whole corn kernels, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, not drained
Heat to a simmer, throw in some flour if it’s too liquidy for your tastes, and serve over white rice. Scatter the shredded cheese of your choice on top and eat.
Warning: very filling.
Also, I was asked to make alfredo sauce tonight but we didn’t have any heavy cream. The recipe calls for 3/4 cup heavy cream, but instead I used 1/2 cup cream cheese, whisked into the milk until nice and smooth. If you go this route, leave out the salt, as our end product was a bit saltier than I usually like to make it.
That’s all for tonight, folks! Tune in tomorrow when I clip my toenails.
Filed under: tidbit
I will openly admit to anyone that asks … though, come to think of it, no one ever has – anyway, I’ll admit I’m a Flickr addict. The first thing I do when I sit at the computer is check my email, of course, and then I check Flickr immediately thereafter. I even have a special bookmarks folder that opens four separate Flickr pages:
1. The main Flickr page, showing my contacts’ photos,
2. My pictures page, so I can see image views,
3. My ‘recent activity on your photos’ page (as seen here) so I can check commenting, notes, and favoriting of my pictures
4. My ‘comments you’ve made’ (here) so I can see if anyone has responded to my comments.
It’s ridiculous. It’s a completely unnecessary amount of Flickr-ing and yet I do it at least five times a day. Maybe ten.
I love your pictures is what I’m saying. I wish you’d take more.
Oh, speaking of Flickr, I’ve started trying to map a lot of my recent shots. Of course I’m not putting the location of your house or front yard or anything, but whatever is common or public I’m trying to get on that big ol’ empty map. I don’t think you can see the maps if you’re not a Flickr member (or not logged in) but I have not done extensive testing (read: any testing). But yeah, maps! Like this picture of me in a tree – on the right you can find a link to the mapped location. S’cool and also very nice not to be relying on a third-party geotagging system anymore.
Okay, let’s see. What else? There was something else. OH YES. I attended Burl’s 30th 31st Burlthday and it was entertaining. I gots a few pics and so did Henry. Oh, yeah, about that picture of me that he has up there … I’m trying to invent a new hobby wherein I run off with the cameras of my Flickr friends and take absolutely terrible self-portraits. So far I only have three (1, 2, 3) but just you wait – I’m sure I’ll find someone else’s camera soon. Damn you, Jason Johnson, for not having fresh batteries for your camera at the Burlthday party. You made me miss a great opportunity!
I finally purchased for myself a decent external flash for my camera, and kept the neighborhood awake last night learning how to bounce flash properly. I think I have the hang of it, and everyone within a quarter-mile radius is probably blind by now and has a funky tan. As for my eyesight – I am currently typing by feel alone so excuse any errors, please-and-thank-you.
There was a whole longer paragraph here about me listening to two disparate yet concurrent Indian songs while studying my Spanish homework, but it was way too long for a piece that didn’t have a punchline at the end. Instead, I leave you with this joke:
What kind of bees make milk?