An Okapi at the San Antonio Zoo last week. The Okapi's tongue is long enough for it to wash it's eyelids and clean its ears (inside and out). I wish my kids could do that! This one was clearly proud of his tongue.
Archives for March 2011
Beef Chili with Bacon, Black Beans & Corn
Posted by on March 17, 2011 Leave a Comment
I originally posted this on CraftyFarmGirl.com in April of last year. The circumstances under which I cooked the chili was a little different though, as we’d had a huge storm that knocked out power for 5 days so I cooked it outside over a fire. I decided I would re-post it cooking it in the more traditional, stove-top way.
Beef Chili with Bacon; Black Beans & Corn
Original recipe published in Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, March 1, 2003. Revised by Crafty Farm Girl, 2010 and 2011
Makes about 3 quarts, serving 8 to 10
Adding the spices to the pan with the aromatics boosts their potency. For this chili recipe, add the beans with the tomatoes so they cook enough to absorb flavor but not so much that they fall apart. Cooking the chili with the lid on for half of the cooking time resulted in the best consistency.
Good choices for condiments include diced fresh tomatoes, diced avocado, sliced scallions, chopped red onion, chopped cilantro leaves, sour cream, and shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese. If you are a fan of spicy food, you can use a little more of the red pepper flakes or cayenne — or both. The flavor of the chili improves with age; if possible, make it a day or up to five days in advance and reheat before serving. Leftovers can be frozen for up to a month. This is one of the only chili’s that I make that I use no toppings whatsoever on; no cheese, no onion, nothing — it’s great just the way it is.
Ingredients
- 10-12 ounces bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 medium onions, chopped fine (about 2 cups)
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 6-8 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 pounds 85 percent lean ground beef
- 2 cans (16 oz. each) black beans, drained & rinsed
- 1 (28-ounce) can petite-diced tomatoes, with juice
- 1 can (28-ounce) tomato puree
- Table salt to taste
- 1 bag frozen corn
- Beef broth (for thinning if needed)
Instructions
- Fry bacon in large heavy-bottomed nonreactive Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring frequently, until browned, about 8 minutes. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat, leaving bacon in pot.
Add onions, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, pepper flakes, oregano, and cayenne; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.
Increase heat to medium-high and add half the beef; cook, breaking up pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink and just beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add remaining beef and cook, breaking up pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add beans, tomatoes, tomato puree, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Remove cover and continue to simmer 1/2 an hour, then add the bag of frozen corm and cook 1/2 hour longer, stirring occasionally (if chili begins to stick to bottom of pot, stir in 1/2 cup or more of beef stock or water and continue to simmer), until beef is tender and chili is dark, rich, and slightly thickened. Adjust seasoning with additional salt. Note: If you can’t get your stove-top heat to a really-low-barely-simmering state, then you can put the entire oven-proof pot into the oven for the same amount of time at 325 degrees F.
Serve with condiments if desired.
Flowers on Fence
Posted by on March 17, 2011 Leave a Comment
This was a fence in the King Charles Historic District of San Antonio this past weekend. Spring had truly arrived in Texas and all flowering trees were in full bloom and so were the early flowers.
Slab Apple Pie
Posted by on March 16, 2011 Leave a Comment
I really thought that I had posted this on my old site, but in searching through the archives I see it is not there. This is a great recipe from Cook’s Country Magazine that I changed up a little. It’s a terrific thing to make for a bake sale or a pot-luck dinner as it travels well, is easy to serve, and makes enough to feed a crowd. I made it for last year’s 5th grade fundraising function at the school and they asked me to make it again this year since it was a best-seller last year.
Unlike a traditional apple pie, slab pie is made in a baking sheet and can feed up to 20 people. Its filling is thickened to ensure neat slicing, and it’s topped with a sugary glaze. Use store-bought pie crusts and glue two of them together with water, rolling the dough out into a large rectangle that fits into the large sheet pan.
Apple Slab Pie
Original recipe printed by Cook’s Country Magazine, 10/2007. Revised by Crafty Farm Girl, 2011.
The recipe calls for a 18 by 13-inch nonstick baking sheet for this pie. If using a conventional baking sheet, coat it lightly with cooking spray. The original recipe used 1-1/2 cups of ground up animal crackers in it. I didn’t like animal crackers as a kid, my kids don’t like animal crackers, and I didn’t want animal crackers in my slab apple pie. I’ve made this recipe in my modified form several times, and I don’t recall ever saying to myself “Gee, this sure would taste better with some animal crackers in it.” I also finish it with an egg wash on the crust before baking, where the original recipe does not.
Pie
- 8 Granny Smith apples (about 3 1/2 pounds), peeled, cored, sliced thin and halved)
- 8 Golden Delicious apples, (about 3 1/2 pounds), peeled, cored, sliced thin and halved)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 (15-ounce) boxes Pillsbury Ready to Roll Pie Crust
- 6 tablespoons Minute Tapioca
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
Glaze
- 3/4 to 1 cup reserved apple juice (from filling)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter – softened
- 3/4 cups confectioners sugar
Serves 18 to 20
For the pie:
Save those apple peels & cores for the chickens & goats if you have them! Combine apples, 1 cup sugar, and salt in colander set over large bowl. Let sit, tossing occasionally, until apples release their juices, about 30 minutes. Note: I weigh mine down with a plate and some canned tomatoes to help extract the juices better. I’ve also let this sit overnight and for several hours like this without a problem.) Press gently on apples to extract liquid and reserve 3/4 cup juice. You can use as much as a full cup of extracted juice for this recipe, you will just have to reduce it down a little more and it will be more flavorful.
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Brush half of one pie round with water, overlap with second pie round. Roll out dough to 19 by 14 inches and transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Roll out top crust in the same way.
Toss drained apples with remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon, tapioca, and lemon juice and arrange evenly over bottom crust, pressing lightly to flatten.
Brush edges of bottom crust with water, and arrange top crust on pie. Press crusts together and use a paring knife to trim any excess dough. Use fork to crimp and seal outside edge of pie, then to pierce top of pie at 2-inch intervals. Brush top of pie with beaten egg. Bake until pie is golden brown and juices are bubbling, about 1 hour. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 1 hour.
For the glaze: While pie is cooling, simmer reserved apple juice in saucepan over medium heat until syrupy and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 6 minutes. Now I don’t necessarily stick to this 3/4 cup measure and tend to use whatever it is I got out of the pressed apples, which will depend a little one how long you left them pressing. This time I had about 1 1/4 cups. And you will need a minimum of 3/4 cup, but regardless of what you start with, you will still reduce the liquid down to 1/4 cup. The more you start with the more flavorful the glaze will be. Stir in lemon juice and butter and let cool to room temperature. Whisk in confectioners’ sugar and brush glaze evenly over warm pie. Let pie cool completely, at least 1 hour longer. Using a ruler, divide pie into even pieces. I cut them into pieces 3.6″ wide along the 18″ side and 3.25″ along the 13″ side, providing 20 very generous portions. You could make your slices even smaller providing even more pieces if you needed to. Serve.
Make Ahead: The pie can be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Rusty Car and Cactus
Posted by on March 15, 2011 2 Comments
I practically sent my kids through the windshield as I slammed on my brakes when I saw this rusty car against this barn. When I saw the cactus next to it I think I may have jumped for joy. It's crazy beautiful out in the Hill Country of Texas, or at least it is to me. But I have a penchant for rusty old cars, trucks and barns and lots of open spaces.
Day One in Texas – San Antonio
Posted by on March 14, 2011 Leave a Comment
San Antonio's Riverwalk, right outside our hotel
Our first day here in Texas was a bit disjointed. By the time India and I arrived in San Antonio Friday night around 7:00 p.m., got our bags, rental car and waited the additional hour for Amanda’s flight to arrive, drove into town and checked into our hotel, we were all pretty exhausted. We got room service and fell into bed.
Our sleep was disrupted by 3 loud drunks partying to loud music in the room directly next to us. Finally in desperation I called the front desk and they promptly sent somebody up to put an end to the partying. It didn’t completely stop, but it did get much quieter.
I awoke to housekeeping knocking on the door at what I felt certain must have been 7 a.m. but turned out to be 10 a.m. to an empty hotel room. I quickly showered, dressed & located Amanda and India, who were off on a brief walk in search of coffee and sniffing out the city. Apparently several weeks of excessive amounts of lack of sleep and incredible stress levels had caught up with me.
We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Yummmmm.
It was a beautiful day as we set off to go to the San Antonio Zoo, but by the time we actually arrived there the parking lots were so full and the entrance line was so long we decided to abandon that plan and come back again earlier the next day.
This is where things fell apart – just a little bit – but this is a pretty typical first day of a vacation for me and the kids.
First we went out in search of the Cavender’s Super Western World, or at least that’s what I thought we were in search of, as I had researched it before I left. It turned out to be a Shepler’s Western World, but hey, it was late when I was looking this stuff up. Unfortunately their boot selection wasn’t what I was hoping for, but India did manage to get some new western shirts for camp this summer and I got myself a new belt and India and I both got a new dress, which is, well, just really odd because we both don’t ever wear dresses. These were just too perfect for both of us, so we’re stepping out of our comfort zone on these.
We also discovered that San Antonio is one big city that is really spread out. There are highways and byways leading everywhere and you cannot even be having a conversation with your kids or you just might miss one little GPS direction and get shot off into some wrong direction. Trust me on this one. It happened many times on Saturday. Needless to say there’s not a lot of loud singing to country music going on in the car like there is at home (where I know where I’m going).
Next Amanda wanted to get some “fishing” shirts at the Bass Pro Shops – who would have thought ever that this Darien-raised-Lily Pulitzer-wearing girl of mine would ever be wearing T-shirts with fish on them or sporting attire of any kind, but I’m not complaining. This was like no other Bass Pro Shops I’ve ever been to – it was their “Outdoor World” and may have been bigger than the biggest Cabela’s I’ve ever been in. Unfortunately, by that point India had pretty much had her fill of wandering the highways of San Antonio in search of peculiar shopping items so Amanda and I had to cut our fun short. There was a shooting range in there that I wanted to try. Alas, another time.
We drove back to our hotel where we deposited India to relax and do whatever it is she does on her computer. Amanda and I went out for a walk along the Riverwalk and along the streets of San Antonio for a little while.
The water in the river along the Riverwalk was amazingly clean and the most beautiful color
A Riverwalk Bridge Statue
Abandoned Warehouse Window along the RIverwalk
I’d planned ahead and made massage appointments for all 3 of us at a day spa. My back has been in excruciating pain for the past few weeks and Amanda gets terrible debilitating shoulder pain from stress. With finals just over I knew that she would be really appreciate this.
As we stepped out of the car in the (amazing) mall where this spa was located — again another terrifying journey on the highways and byways of San Antonio freeways — India quickly noticed that the grass was actually green and lush there. We haven’t seen lush green grass in a long time in Connecticut.
Lush Green Grass
I tried to get something simple for India like a pedicure, but they don’t allow minors to have any treatments without a parent present, so she had to get a massage in the same room with me. She’s incredible ticklish, so I anticipated her giggling throughout the entire session, but I didn’t hear a peep from her and she loved it. Mine was delightful but also somewhat painful as he worked all of the knots our of my back, neck and shoulders. We left feeling a whole lot better than we did going into the place.
Our dinner was at a restaurant literally next-door to the hotel, which was convenient. The appetizers were delicious but the chicken enchiladas in Salsa Verde were pretty mediocre. But it was convenient and we’d had a long day, so were happy to be back in our hotel room within minutes of paying for our meal.
The last few days have been extremely busy. Our next day in San Antonio was much more productive. This morning we left early and drove to Austin for the afternoon and then continued on to Fredericksburg, Texas in the Hill Country. Tomorrow we will spend here in Fredericksburg until early afternoon and then head back to the Hotel Valencia in San Antonio again for our last night in town. Wednesday we’ll have part of the day to finish doing and seeing things we ran out of time to see or do in the first two days before heading back home to Connecticut on a late afternoon flights.
I’ll try to post more tomorrow night.
A John Deere, a Red Barn & a Budding Tree
Posted by on March 14, 2011 Leave a Comment
I took this photo late this afternoon where we are staying in the Hill Country in Fredericksburg, Texas. The sun was just right and the colors are amazing. I've taken some really nice photos on this trip, but I had to post this one today.
So Much Potential
Posted by on March 12, 2011 Leave a Comment
I'm in San Antonio, Texas, for the first time in my life, and what photo do I choose to use as my photo of the day — this house. We passed it on the way to get on the highway passing through some slightly-sketchy-seen-better-days neighborhood. I slammed on my brakes and threw the car in park when I saw this house. So beautiful. Or it once was. I wanted to buy it, throw it on a flatbed truck and haul it home to lovingly restore it. Look at the unusual details of the horse finials and dogs on the chain link fence gate. Look at the old and worn sign hanging on the porch to the right of the door. Look at the color of that screen door. I loved everything about this house.
Fountain at Hotel Valencia
Posted by on March 12, 2011 1 Comment
When you walk into the lower level entryway of the Hotel Valencia here in San Antonio, Texas, there is a very cool fountain.
Just to give you some examples of how a flash can change a picture (usually for the worse), I took the same shot with my flash.
And here’s picture of a bigger area of the same fountain showing the difference.
My point here is when in doubt, I’ll take the same shot twice – one with and one without. I usually end up using the shot without the flash, but not all the time. And you may like the lighter, more grey photos with taken with the flash on. Photography is a very personal thing.
Cannot wait to see what I can find to photograph today in San Antonio!