Party!

Now that our house is done, almost done, acceptable, it was finally time to have our housewarming party! Because we know that having a house full of people you’re trying to impress is the perfect time to try brand new recipes, right?

Our new chalkboard wall serving as menu!

So, I'm sorry I didn't get a better picture of them, but in the very front you can see my Drunken Gummies! These babies were a huge hit. They take a bit of time (a little over a week to come together), but are definitely worth it! High Schoolers have all the best ideas!

Drunken Gummies at the booze table, and a fridge full of beer.

Chips and Dips in the Living Room

Cheddar Bacon Dip (Crack). Dayum.

This tasted exactly how it sounds. Cheesy, salty, bacon-ey (why not). It made a ton, and I through the rest into mashed potatoes the next night.

Hummus (store bought) and Veggies

Caprese Skewers

Sliders

Which tasted freakishly like White Castle's sliders!

And Veggie Sliders

There was also Mini Spanakopita which I failed to take a picture of--they were good, but IMO not worth the effort... just buy the things from Costco--and the Satan's Blood Chili from my previous post.

For dessert Dan made a Hot Chocolate Ice Cream, and a Cranberry Pomegranate "Sweet Tart" Ice Cream, which didn't survive for pictures.

I *think* everyone enjoyed everything. There was a ton of leftovers, but I chose to think everyone ate beforehand. I know the booze was a success =)

And a huge thank you to Dan, for cleaning everything up after I fell asleep the minute the last guest left.

Chili

Knowing how we love all things spicy, our good friends brought us back a special treat from their Honeymoon in Miami.




Yup, this is the stuff that rates 800,000 Scoville units. The stuff that idiots eat and post YouTube videos of their reaction.

So you know we had to use it. We made a chili (the worlds BEST chili), figuring we could freeze it to serve at our party later in the month, for everyone to try. This stuff is hot, like CRAZY hot. I tried a tiny little droplet of it on a bite of bread, and felt it for at least an hour. But, when we added the recommended 3-4 drops to the pot of chili, and it was the perfect amount of heat.


I'll admit I'm a chili novice. I usually just use canned beans and tomatoes, tossing a crumbled veggie burger in there from time to time if I'm feeling fancy. So cooking a real chili, a meat chili, was a departure. I googled "world's best chili" and came up with this recipe. 2,372 people can't be wrong.

It was the bomb. The big fat chili bomb!

Here's just a cut and paste of the recipe. We followed it to the letter, except we used regular canned beans because we have no flippin clue what "chili beans" were, and neither did our grocery.

2 pounds ground beef chuck
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup beer
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese


Directions

1. Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.

2. Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

3. After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.

4. To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Yes there is a LOT going on. Just do it. It's totally worth it.

It's not easy being green

(green) Poached Chicken with Spinach and Couscous

A tad of a mishap adding Rosemary to my poaching liquid resulted in a rather green meal. Very tasty, and easy, but no exactly something I'd serve to company.

The chicken was poached in water seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and a crap-ton of Rosemary.

The spinach was sauteed with garlic and oil, and I added the water couscous directly to it. Easy cleanup!

Crockpot Chicken

As you can see I've been getting a ton of use out of my crock pot. I like to run it during the weekend to cook up an extra meal for the week.

This one really was just a "dump and run".

I chopped an onion and green pepper and tossed them into the crockpot, and topped with chicken thighs and jarred tomato sauce.

I left it on high for about four hours, then shredded the chicken.
Served over pasta topped with cheese.

Cauliflower Leek Soup

We are officially moved into our new home, which means back to grocery shopping and back to cooking more "me" foods.

Here's one of my first creations: Cauliflower Leek Soup

(because apparently Dan likes to pick up produce that I've never cooked with before). Leeks? Really?

Well, leeks are delicious!

I sauteed one bunch of leeks with one head of cauliflower (both roughly chopped) with garlic in olive oil until they were soft. Added 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of white wine and let it simmer until it came to a boil. I used my new favorite thing ever, the immersion blender, and pureed until it was smooth and creamy.

Voila!

Very tasty, and a beautiful color! I imagine it would be even better if I Paula Deen'ed the damn thing and added a ton of cream and butter.