I rarely eat soup in warm weather but with highs in the 30’s (cold for here) predicted for 10 days, we decided to have a soup-a-thon beginning with chili on Friday before the predicted winter storm. We used our normal Anson Peckham’s Chili Con Carne recipe and once again we thought it was delicious. This is Bev's topped with cheese and onion.
We had some sauce and several meatballs left from our recent meal and in thinking about something other than the same meal, I decided to make a casserole dish by cooking additional spaghetti.
We sure dodged the bullet with the winter storm impact here especially compared to Nashville. We had a trace of snow on Saturday then rain which continued thru Sunday (while we made the meal below) then about a quarter inch of snow on ice fell overnight Sunday which made our road too dangerous to drive on so our Monday plans were cancelled. And most importantly, we didn't lose power which I feel very fortunate about since I need it to keep the RV warm.
You know you are a serious Italian cook when you name your blog La Belle Vita Cucina (My Beautiful Life Kitchen), go to Italy to visit and cook with family members, and you attend the famous Mama Agata Cooking Class on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. And so it is with Roz who takes us on her cooking journey via her blog and who recently published a post titled “Secrets For The Best Italian Meatballs.” Since Bev and I had just discussed wanting spaghetti and meatballs, Roz’s recipe immediately moved to the top of the list.
When I saw the recipe for Creamy Tuscan Chicken Thighs on the “Café Delights” blog, I knew I had to make it. But since my ladies prefer breasts to thighs, I made that substitution and I cooked six of them (three for this meal and three for leftovers).
When Pam posted the recipe for Tuscan Gigante Beans on her “For The Love Of Cooking” blog I new I wanted to make it, but I also know that Bev doesn’t like lima beans in any form – it’s the texture and also applies to chickpeas. However, she does like white beans so I decided to just make the dish with Great Northern Beans. Since I was sure we would like the beans, I made a double recipe as shown below. Click on the link above to check out Pam's site for the original recipe and some great pics.
Once again this year, my Christmas gift to friend Kathy was five lunches at the restaurants of her choice and most of the time, she just has me pick one. The adjoining towns of Maryille and Alcoa, TN (county population of 140,000) surprisingly have nine Mexican restaurants and one combination store and restaurant. And for this meal, we picked one of them we had never been to as it was conveniently located for all of us. Las Margarita’s 411 Mexican Grill is located in a building that had been the go-to mom and pop 411 Restaurant since before I came to the area in 1969.
During a recent market trip, Bev picked up two packages of corned beef and I froze the smaller one and cooked the larger one. I decided it was large enough to eat some for supper with still plenty left over for corned beef hash. The size of the ingredients is a matter of personal preference but after eating some Neuske’s Corned Beef Hash, I think I like the smaller pieces better even though they take more time to prepare.
