Snow in the desert? Nah...

Yes, all you non-desert dwellers are looking at this photo and thinking "So?"  This kind of stuff is what makes desert dwellers go crazy.  Literally.  Suddenly, sane drivers become lunatics.  Half the drivers slow down to 15 mph certain that if they apply their brakes they will go into tailspins.  The other half of the drivers speed up to 60 mph frantic to get around the slow ones.  Honestly people.  It's just some hail.

Last Wednesday we had rain showers/thunderstorms on and off all day.  For once I was working from home and could enjoy it all.  At 5 I took off to get a new phone (love my new iPhone!) and while waiting for them to transfer my contacts the big black nasty-looking cloud in the west snuck up and decided to dump its load.  First a huge boom of thunder and then heavy rain began drumming down.  A lady ran into the store and shouted "It's snowing!" and ran back outside.  It wasn't snowing, not even hailing, perhaps a small amount of sleet.  But 30 seconds later it began to hail - pea-sized stuff.  And it was REALLY hailing.  Withing 2 minutes about an inch of hail had fallen and the parking lot indeed looked like it had snowed.  People were running all over.  The store came to a halt as everyone came to look.  I reached for my phone to take a picture... oh yeah.  They have both of my phones.  Rats.  So this picture was taken about 20 minutes later when the hail had started to melt from the warm engine.

Next morning I still had a bunch of ice on the car.  About a foot square chunk on the hood that hadn't melted.  And after I stopped at the first streetlight I discovered that I had a large sheet up on the roof.  It broke into a few pieces and one came sliding off as I took off.  It slid off onto the hood of the idiot that had pulled up within 2 inches of my bumper.  I'd like to think it taught him a lesson, but I'm sure he won't stop pulling up so close.

We desert-dwellers don't get a huge amount of wild weather so we always freak out/enjoy what little we get.  Today it is very windy - 30 mph.  It feels cold though it is in the 50's.  My wind chimes are dinging out a regular song on the front porch.  Trees in the back are flapping and swaying.  My eyes are itching like crazy - allergies have begun to torment me this year.  Some new pollen or industrial pollutant.  But hey - it's weather!  I'm off to enjoy.

Changelings...

I have been watching quite a few movies lately since the TV shows have been so abominable.  I have been amazed by a couple of actors that happened to be in several movies lately - the parts they have played are extremely different.  The talent necessary to conform to such different parts is exceptional.  Guy Pearce is the first on my list.  On New Year's Day we watched the movie "Lawless" in which he plays an evil government anti-bootlegger.  Slicked back hair, straight-faced, and causes chills when he looks your way.  2 nights later we watched LA Confidential in which he plays an up and coming police detective.  Straight-laced (instead of faced), squeaky clean (instead of greased back) and near sighted.  Very different.  Today we happened upon one of my all time favorite movies - Adventures of Priscilla - Queen of the Desert.  I suddenly realized that he was one of the actors.  So now he plays a not-straight, superbly made-up, happy drag queen.  He plays this part equally well.  Talk about a chameleon.  I checked IMDB( IMDB-Guy Pearce) and found out he's also been in some other good movies that I've watched, like "The King's Speech" and "The Count of Monte Cristo".  He's got 5 movies coming out in the next 2 years.  Someone to definitely watch.

My daughter was watching Priscilla with me today and suddenly gasped - "Mom!  That's Elrond from Lord of the Rings!"  Yes, Hugo Weaving is in Priscilla and in all the Hobbit movies.  IMDB - Hugo Weaving  He is in a myriad of other movies - including one of my daughter's favorites "V is for Vendetta".  Another chameleon.  And I so love his eyebrows.

Tom Brady is another from Lawless that keeps popping up.  Something about him is very appealing - even when being evil/bad.

However, tonight shall be a Downton Abbey night.  It starts the new season tonight and is very addictive.  I think this may be a rerun from last season unfortunately - the last episode in which Shirley MacLaine makes her appearance as the American MIL.  Still, glad it's back onto my Sunday evening schedule.

Winner of the Chili Cookoff

Yes, I know... I repeated the same picture but it's the only one I had.  This shows the first step, before the meat gets added.  The recipe came from Stephanie Anderson's "Killer Chili" and is originally from Cesare Casella's Maremma restaurant in Manhattan.  I think the Garam Masala and chocolate are the key ingredients.  You can't place them in the final outcome, but they give the unique flavor.  Don't let the long list of ingredients daunt you.  It's not a difficult recipe.  I changed up the wording of the directions a little for brevity purposes.

Cesare Casella's Tuscan Chili

1 red onion, quartered
1 small carrot, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh sage
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic
2 oz pancetta, chopped
8 strips bacon
3 tbsp olive oil
2 lbs beef chuck or skirt steak (I used a flank steak)
1 tbsp garam masala
1 16 oz can tomato puree
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 small potato, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 cups water
1 cup brewed dark-roast coffee
5 cups beef broth (I ended up using 4 cups)
2 cups canned red or kidney beans
3/4 oz unsweetened chocolate (I used 1/2 oz)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish
1 small white onion, coarsely chopped for garnish
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped for garnish

Cook the bacon.  (Cesare does it in the oven - I did it in a pan because the oven was in use). 

In a food processor, chop the onion, carrot, jalapeno, rosemary, sage, celery, garlic and pancetta.  In a large, heavy pan combine the olive oil and chopped vegetable mixture and cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, season the meat with the salt, pepper and garam masala.  Add to the vegetables in the pan and cook for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the tomato puree, cumin, fennel seed, chili powder, potato and water.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add the coffee and 2 cups of beef broth and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (Cesare says constantly... ).  Add the beans and 1 more cup of broth and simmer for 30 minutes.  Add the remaining broth and simmer 15 minutes more.  Grate in the chocolate and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Serve the chili garnished with Parmesan, crumbled bacon, onion and avocado.  Serves 6

December Wrap-up

December has been a busy month.  It's almost finished and I have yet to think about New Year's resolutions...other than the annual "I WILL lose weight".  Still have to pay my car registration fees as well.  I still have a day!

My son turned 21 this month.  I still think of myself as about 27 so how can I have a 21 year old kid?  We had all the birthday hoopla - he had more than us as it should be.  He celebrated for about 4 days between friends and family.

And someone who is ALWAYS underfoot in the kitchen got in the way during birthday cake decoration - or at least that's the story.  He did eventually manage to lick off all the frosting.

We dog-sat twice in December for my son's rambunctious puppy, much to the dismay and disgust of our 2 cats and the old-man Jake dog.  Puppy-ness is cute, but it sure takes a lot of energy out of everyone else!







 We had all of the usual Christmas activities.  I feel as though I spent the month listening to horrendous music in stores, shopping, cooking, washing dishes, planning, planning, planning, more cooking, more shopping and GADS!!!  More dishes!  I also managed to fit in my job.  I'm sure they were happy about that.  Why do retailers play the worst renditions of Christmas songs?  Do we REALLY need to listen to the latest singers trying to fit 15 warbles into each word of "The First Noel" or shall we say "The first ir ir ir ir ir ir ir ir ir ir ir st No o o o o o o el el ele elelelelelelel".  My ears hurt.  And if I have to listen to Jingle Bell Rock one more time someone might get hurt.


We wrapped up the festivities on the 26th with a Chili Cookoff.  Chili chefs were myself, my daughter, and my brother.  The rest were either working all day or scared of the competition.  Some fierce competition...














This one was a chicken based chili.  Lots of cumin and jalapenos.

 

The others were a beef based one with toasted cumin - excellent flavor.   And I'm pleased to say that I had the winning chili... thanks to my room-mate's new cookbook.  But they were all worthy of winning!  I'll post the recipe separately so that it will print better.
 

Winter in the Desert

Two years ago, or was it three, I spent the day at a rugby festival held locally.  My daughter and I and the occasional rugby boy manned the T-shirt booth all day.  It was COLD!  We were both in multiple layers, gloves, hats... she melted my fleece gloves getting too close to the propane heater.  This year is a completely different story.  It's a beautiful morning.  I'm not at the rugby fest...though it's going on today.  That's my boy in blue in the photo.  Rugby is a wonderful sport if you haven't ever seen it.  Once you get the hang of the rules it's great!  But not for today... we have other plans.

 I've been outside admiring my salad greens growing on the front porch, petunias of deep midnight purple and burgundy on the back porch and the orange bell peppers ripening on the bush in my garden.  T-shirt weather.  T-shirt and shorts and bare feet weather.  I love it.  Mooch has grabbed "the kitty chair" in my bedroom and is taking his morning bath prior to a long nap.  Peaceful day.  It's a day for a good long book read on the back porch but I think it will end up being a day of shopping, putting up a christmas tree and baking (there's a birthday going on tomorrow!)

May your Saturday be as peaceful as I feel right now!