The Cook-Off Chili

So every year my church has a Chili Cook-Off (for whatever reason), and this year when they announced it my first thought was "Freak, I cook now, I'm making chili," and freak, that's what I did. I went searching high and low, (which means foodgawker), for chili recipes, and I found one that was delicious beyond belief. It took a little tweaking but it came out amazingly. And to top it all off today it sleeted (yes, it sleets in Texas), and viola, no school, so this was perfect chili weather. Lol, get it? Chili weather...chilly weather. Yeah.... Anyway, I started this chili early in the morning and seven hours later the house smelled amazing, the kitchen was covered in the remains of failtastic macarons, and I could barely keep my step-mom away from the crock pot. So without further ado here is the (hopefully) award winning chili, which by the way I will keep you updated on how my chili does in the cook-off.

Chili Yum-Yum

adapted from Marzipan

- 2 pounds ground beef

- 1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, undrained

- 1 cup onions chopped

- 1 green bell pepper, chopped

- 1 jalapeno, chopped

- 4 garlic cloves, minced

- 2 16-oz cans kidney beans, undrained

- 2 teaspoons salt

- 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

- 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Add any other spices you want that will make it spicy or just yummy. I added some weird chicken fry spice hiding in my pantry and it was delicious, but this was because we couldn't find any paprika.

Start by chopping your veggies.

If they still look like this, they're not chopped...

There you go.

Next brown the beef, when you're finished siphon off the fat and transfer the rest into the crockpot.

Next, get someone (like Cicely, who doesn't even like chili) to sniff it...because it smells good.

Cut the tomatoes inside the can with a clean pair of kitchen scissors.

Add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot and cook on the low setting, covered for 7-10 hours. If it gets too thick you can add water, or if it's too thin let it cook uncovered towards the end.

When it's done it'll look something like this.

Or this...

Make yourself some cornbread and you can enjoy this deliciousness too! Along with your cornbread you can make honey butter to go on top, which is just 1/2 cup of butter and 1/4 a cup of honey and it makes for something delicious and sweet to go right along with the chili. Eat it plain, add some cheese and sour cream, put it on a hotdog, or dump it on someone, but whatever you do, enjoy!

Atomic wannabe housewife, out.

Potato, Leek and Shallot Soup

Hey guys, sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been going through a

process of making new things and waiting to see if its good to blog it, but by the

time I find out whether or not it's worthy, it's not pretty anymore.

That is my explanation for why there is still not any pie on this blog.

I'm sorry, my 50s Me is failing you. I know.

But let me redeem myself with this lovely little recipe that I am

deeming my magic recipe. It is magic because I actually got my

step-sister to eat it. Let me give you a little background on Cicely.

She refuses to eat anything new. It doesn't matter what it is.

It could be sunshine and rainbows and she would say "gross" and go

make herself some frozen chicken nuggets. So I have been trying

with all my might to find and make things that I have a chance of

getting Cicely to actually eat. I figure I'm making progress though.

This is my step by step process on how stubborn people will eventually

react to the new foods you want them to try:

1. They turn there nose up at everything you make.
2. They "promise" they'll try the things you make, and then don't.
3. They promise they'll try the things you make, and then actually do.
4. Love and acceptance.

This is the process I followed and it's pretty awesome. Anyway, here is the recipe for this magical soup. The Nectar of the Cicelys. (Because not only did she try it even though she claims to hate soup, but she ate almost a whole bowl and couldn't stop talking about how good it was.)

Potato, Leek, and Shallot Soup
from Sauce and Sensibility

Yields about 12 cups

- 5 tablespoons butter
- 4 leeks (white part only), cleaned, halved, thinly sliced
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and diced
- 4 shallots, peeled and chopped
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chives, chopped (optional for garnish)

Alright so after you've done all of your slicing and dicing, or if your chopping is anything like mine, your Texas chainsaw massacring, start by melting the butter in a deep pot or a dutch oven. (Since I'm pretty much oblivious to what a dutch oven is, I just chucked it in a deep pot and it worked. It's got to hold at the very least 6 cups for all of that chicken stock.)


After the butter is melted, throw in your leeks and shallots and stir them frequently until tender, about 10 minutes. Should look something like this:

After that's done, toss in your potatoes and do a little shake, rattle and roll to get it all mixed together and then repeat the process of frequent stirring for another 10 minutes, so that your potatoes have a chance to get a little tender.

At this point I started wishing I could send smell-o-grams to my sister and mom because it smelled like unicorns and happiness. Actually I'm not sure if unicorns just smell like horses...if they do that sucks and I'm sorry, this shouldn't smell like a horse. After your 10 minutes of cooking the potatoes, add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Once it starts boiling turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. I covered it, so if you want to go for it.


It gets all frothy like so. Once this is done all your veggies should be nice and tender so go ahead and start pureeing it in a blender or food processor small amounts at a time and once it's all blended it send it back into the pot for the heavy cream and Parmesan. Also the original recipe doesn't say where to put in the olive oil so I threw it in in this stage. Once all of that's nice and blended add salt and pepper to taste and ladle it into bowls with chives as a garnish if you wish. 'Tis quite yummy. I hope you enjoy this creation of yummy that is The Nectar of the Cicelys.

Atomic Wannabe Housewife, Out.

Libby's Pumpkin Pie

This is a really east pumpkin pie recipe, and it's on the back of the Libby'd pureed

pumpkin can, so it's just as easy to look at that recipe as this. It's nothing special, I just stole it from them.

Pumpkin Pie

from Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin Puree

Mix in a bowl:

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon ground ginger

- 1/2 teaspoon ground gloves

Mix in a separate bowl:

- 4 large beaten eggs

- 1 can Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin

- 2 cans Carnation evaporated milk

I added the spices before I added the milk because the milk makes it really soupy and it'll be just the much messier trying to mix it when it's water consistency.

This will make two deep dish 9" pies, or 3 not deep dish pies. I just use Marie Calender's frozen pie crusts. That's it!

Stick it in the oven at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.

Christine and Co.'s Nuclear Horseradish Sauce

I just had one of the more exciting cooking experiences I've ever had in my

kitchen. So my dad comes over and goes, "I bought that huge horseradish, can

you find a good horseradish sauce recipe?" Yeah, sure Dad. The only thing is that

I don'tlike horseradish and haven't the slightest idea what it's supposed to

taste like.But wait,I've got a trick up my sleeve! My sister, Ashley!

She knows everything about cooking ever. Here's the thing about

superheroes, somehow their powers always cover everything but what you

really need. So to make a long story short,

Ashley doesn't like horseradish either and we're in the same cardboard boat

up a horseradish river without so much as a stick of celery.

So my dad and I get creative and combine like four horseradish recipes,

then realize they want prepared horseradish and we used fresh horseradish so we

just improvise. Huzzah for creativity, (if I've still got it, I make a quick check for

my thumbs and realize that i still don't like walnuts. I'm not a Twilo-ite, so

I'm good to go.)

This is eventually what we came up with.

BUT A WORD OF CAUTION: for those of you who have never worked

with fresh horseradish before...consider renting a HAZMAT suit...or invest in a

pair of insdustrial strength mad scientist goggles because seriously, I almost clawed

my own eyes out. You think onions are bad? These babies make onions seem

like they hand feed baby does and take in hobos for a new wardrobe and

four course meal. They will sting your eyeballs when you're not

paying attention. One such incident drove me to a squatting position where

I just kind of held my eyes and had a mini seizure on the floor of the kitchen.

SO WATCH OUT. And the other caution is that my dad thinks this stuff is

the cat's meow but you may begin to rend your clothing and tear at your

hair if you eat too much. So without further ado, but with further caution:

Christine and Co.'s Nuclear Horseradish Sauce

from Christine and Dennis Pitt, derived from The Parsley Thief and Melissa's Fresh Horseradish Sauce

First mix:

- 1 tbsp finely chopped dill pickle

- 1 cup sour cream

- 1 teaspoon finely chopped chives

- 3 tablespoon freshly grated horseradish

Then mix in a separate bowl:

- approx. 1 pound freshly grated horseradish (Yes, ONE POUND, I cry just thinking about it)

- 1 cup distilled white vinegar

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 teaspoon sugar

- 1 teaspoon ground mustard

Now I realize that these are astronomical proportions for this second mixture

but we were experimenting so give me a break. If you can find some way to cut

down this second part, go for it. Unless you're making enough to feed a small

family of elephants, in which case put them somewhere where they won't break

the good china when they keel over.

Now spoon 4 tablespoons of the second mixture into the first. It should be creamy

with little chunks of goodness in it, or little chunks of death if you've got my taste

palette. You're gonna have a lot of extra mixture for the second one, but you

can keep it if you feel like making more horseradish sauce or if you just want

to shove it in someone's face and watch their reactions. I'm not saying that this

stuff is bad, because like I said my dad really likes it, it's just really potent. But

I'm not kidding about that horseradish in the eye stuff. It really hurts, it's

gonna feel like something just bit your eyeball. My dad and I both had to

stand at arms length and even then this stuff was brutal. Just remember,

if you're a horseradish fan, it's all worth it in the end.

Also, if you didn't get that creativity, Twilo-ite reference, go watch The Dick Van

Dyke Show, "It Looks Like a Walnut", then i'll get a chuckle out of you.

Vanilla Pumpkin Coffee Cake

So, I was at lunch today with my aunt when I told her I brought over a plate of my chocolate chip pumpkin cookies. Our conversation went something like this:

Did you eat any of those cookies yet?

No, actually, Grandma came in and said that you'd brought some over but then didn't offer us any, so I looked around for them everywhere and couldn't find any.

Well Grandpa put them in the kitchen somewhere.

I think he ate them all. I really do! Before we could get in there I think that one of them just ate the whole plate.

Apparently, one of my grandparents is a pumpkin cookie thief...SO Cherie

(my aunt) said that I should make a pumpkin coffee cake.

Yeah, that was my reaction too; something between "Wha--" and "YUM."

Once I got home I called my sister and we started collaborating on

a recipe for a pumpkin coffee cake. There were a couple of problems with to half or

not to half, that is the question, and there were

some moisture issues but eventually

we banged out a rough draft of what looked like it should make a suitable pumpkin

coffee cake without poisoning the household. So I went for it and started to throw

some stuff in a bowl until the batter tasted good.

As it turns out I did fairly good job

of it (until I spilled the nutmeg inside the batter). Even with a nutmeg overdose the cake

looks and smells pretty good. So if you'd like to make your own, this is the

recipe we arrived at.

Vanilla Pumpkin Coffee Cake

from Christine Pitt and Ashley Lee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cook for 1 hour. This is how long you'd normally cook a coffee cake, it doesn't burn the pumpkin because of the yellow cake, pudding, and sour cream.

Batter

Mix:

- 1 box yellow cake mix

- 1 large box instant vanilla pudding

- 1/2 cup sour cream

- 1/2 cup vegetable oil

- 2 eggs

- 3 tablespoons brown sugar

- 1 cup pumpkin

- 1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix in separate bowl:

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 teaspoon cloves

- 1/2 teaspoon all spice

- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

- 1/2 teaspoon ginger

Topping

Mix:

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, with standing mixer, or handheld mixer (or a spoon or spatula if you really feel like going old school.)

Grease a bundt pan, (or a regular flat pan), don't worry about size, just eye it. I believe in you. This cake is traditionally cooked in a bundt pan in my family, alas I am short a bundt pan. Pour in half of the batter and make sure it covers all corners, then pour in half of the cinnamon sugar topping mix. Make sure it completely covers the top. Then repeat with the rest of the batter and the rest of the topping. Then you're ready to rock! Stick in the oven and let 'er rip!

Batter will be thick, make sure to mix completely as to avoid chunks of cake mix, spices, or sour cream.

Once all the layers are in the pan, it will look something like this. (Unless you used a bundt pan in which case it'll just be donut shaped.)

Don't worry, it's not supposed to be pretty, it's supposed to be delicious.

P.S. The reason I call it Vanilla Pumpkin Coffee Cake is because of the vanilla pudding and the vanilla extract. It makes it taste pretty vanilla-y, but it's a delicious kind of vanilla-y...come to think of it, I'm pretty sure there's not a bad kind of vanilla-y. But this ain't called coffee cake for nothing. Get up in the morning and cut a big slab and eat with a big cup o' joe!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Welcome to my newly discovered love of cooking! You can take a hopefully

adventurous journey throughout my cooking life.

I'm only 18 but don't scoff, I can cook like

mad, especially with the benefits of a mom, sister, and grandma that always

know what they're talking about when it comes to a kitchen. Anyway, though I would

have liked to start off the blog with a truly scrumptious pie,

(if you caught that reference kudos to you), like a good little 50s-60s homemaker,

I've been craving these little beauties ever since I was still at art school.

So, get out your pots and pans, A-line dresses, and high heels.

We're gonna do some good old fashion 50s housewife cookin'.

So, ever since I can remember my mom has always made these delicious bits of heaven every fall. Who cares if it's winter, deliciousness transcends all seasons so go for it whether it be summer or spring or you've got a weird Monty Python scenario where

the seasons give spring and summer a skip and go straight into fall.

Anyway this recipe is a sort of hybrid of my mother's own recipe for these

cookies and one lovingly ripped off from my sister's blog Saving Taste.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

From Saving Taste and Holly Whalls

This recipe yields something like 2-3 dozen cookies, it doesn't look like all that much but I promise it is.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cook for 10-12 minutes. (I know this sounds random but I've found that because of the delicate nature of the pumpkin, 14 or 15 minutes tends to take away the fluffy edge and they're just not as good.

Cream together:

- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

- 1/4 cup sugar

First cream these then add the rest of the ingredients starting with the eggs.

- 2 eggs

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 1 cup pureed pumpkin (Make sure not to get pumpkin pie filling, you want 100% pure pumpkin. Unless you're pureeing your own pumpkin in which case you may be a superhero.)

- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix in separate bowl:

- 2 cups of flour

- 3 teaspoons cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 teaspoon cloves

- 1/2 teaspoon all spice

- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

- 1/2 teaspoon ginger

- a pinch pinch cardamom (because this is expensive it's optional; I did not use it this time.)

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Mix both mixtures thoroughly then add 1 cup of chocolate chips. My mom likes to add a whole bag of Tollhouse chocolate chips which is I think 1 1/2 cups, but either way it's delicious. Be careful when baking, the cookies won't change color from the batter so it will still seem like dough even when they're fully cooked.

(TIP: If you find yourself short some of these spices the cloves, all spice, nutmeg, ginger, and cardamom can be substituted for 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice. That's the main differing factor of my mom and my sister's recipes. This time I used all of the separate spices and the cookies were delicious but my mom's were always just as good.)

Your blots of dough can be relatively small because of the fluffy nature of the cookies, I got 16 cookies per sheet.

Hope they're as delicious for you as they were for me. I recommend listening to an array of 50s and 60s music while baking or cooking...it lends a happy tone and who doesn't like to dance while they cook?

The batter should be completely mixed and creamy.

Dough balls don't need to be that large because of the fluffiness of the cookies.