up on the watershed

Thursday, October 25, 2007

overheard in gmail

Me: It's so cold here I think I'm going to die.
Matt: You're a fucking Wisconsinite. Don't embarrass us out there.

Monday, October 22, 2007

time keeps on ticking

I spent the past two weekends having loads of fun. Last last weekend, I went to the apple farm with some friends here in Indy. There was a corn maze and, as usual, the corn maze was fun for the first 15 minutes until we got tired of wandering around, lost among the corn stalks. Still, it was a blast of a day:

Al, B, Melissa

Last weekend I was in Madison for the food and wine show on Friday. I count myself among the luckiest to have spent time with my friend Sh3nery before the show, my cousins and their partners during the show, and Matt and Courtney after the show, on Saturday. I also got some baby therapy on Sunday, when Miss Hannah E turned 1:

Take 3

Beautiful.

I know; I'm pretty much in love with her, too.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Most days, I think I did okay with what I had and what I was capable of doing. Then there are mornings like this one, when another piece of evidence surfaces, and I realize that I not only had no clue what I was doing, but had no idea it would all end up like this.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

more cooking with alison

If you haven't caught on yet, my "cooking for one" philosophy centers around the idea that there should really only be one pan involved. And often, sour cream and cheese also need to be involved. Hence, Spicy Chicken Skillet, a recipe I developed several years ago.

first the sautee

The first step is to slice some sweet peppers (green here, but red is wonderful), onion (red here, but I typically use yellow), and dice a hot pepper (jalapenos aren't hot enough for me, so I like to use habaneros, but the market was out). Sautee in a wee bit of olive oil til everything begins to soften.

then add the black beans

Black beans are a reason to live, so I drained and added a can of them. I've made this successfully with pintos, though, too.

then the shredded chicken

Then add about a cup, maybe more depending on how many servings you want, of shredded chicken. This was 1.5 large breasts, which I'd cooked in the crockpot all day. This works wonderfully with rotisserie chicken if you're short on time.

finally, add quality salsa and heat through

Finally, add 1/2 to 1 cup of salsa of your choosing. The salsa will make or break your dish, so choose wisely. Pace and Tostitos? Yuck. Pick something good, like Muir Glen or any of the fancier brands. Heat through.

Garnish with cilantro, shredded cheese, sour cream.