Bourban Chicken

Yep. Another recipe. :)  I like Pinterest and I've pinned a lot of recipes. I enjoy trying a couple new ones every couple of weeks and we loved this one.

Here's the link to the recipe:

Bourbon Chicken

I made a few changes. First off, I didn't put it in the crockpot because I started too late and I really don't like cooking raw chicken in the crockpot. I cut the thighs into bite-sized pieces and browned them in a splash of olive oil and about 1 Tbsp of butter, seasoning them with pepper. We like the extra layer of flavor that browning them adds.
I made the sauce following the original recipe although I probably added just a tad less sugar and I didn't have the fresh ginger. Loved the combination of sweet and hot and will be making this one on a regular basis. Think I need to add more pages to my recipe book!

A Rough Night in the Coop

On Wednesday DH went out early to chore, as he always does, and I was 2 steps behind him. He went out to the chicken coop first, which is usually what I do, and found dead guineas...11 dead guineas to be exact:

We were so sad and yes, I cried. We couldn't find any signs of anything digging through and came to the conclusion that something had climbed the chicken wire, clamored across the top, and shimmied down the tree  trunks through the hole in the chicken wire. Someone worked awfully hard to get our guineas. We had patched those holes in June, but the winds make the trees sway and had left enough of a space in the wire for a rascal to squeeze through., but we didn't see any fur or other signs.

DH pulled out traps and set them that evening:

The chickens roost in the coop at night, but the guineas like to roost in the dead mesquite tree in the chicken yard so we herded them all into the coop and locked them up tight. They were unhappy, but safe for the night until we could catch the nighttime marauder.

Nothing for 2 days and then when I went out on Saturday morning, there was a coon:

Yes, raccoon are usually cute. I snagged this photo from Google, and I intentionally chose one that looked angry so you wouldn't feel sorry for it. :)  But cute or not, no coon needs to be reeking havoc in my coop!

What I'm Working On

On Tuesday. I ran off with these two gals for the day. Lord have mercy! These two are a hoot! So good for the soul, but tough on the bladder. LOL

We headed to our favorite quilt shop that is 75 miles from the ranch. It's 50 miles farther for my two partners in crime and we seem to only be able to make the trip once a year.

I meant to take some pictures in the shop, but we ate dinner at our favorite establishment. It's decorated like an antique/junk store and the food is wonderful:

and as soon as we blew into the quilt shop, we were so caught up in our adventure that I completely forgot to take any more pictures. Needless to say, we poked our noses into every nook and cranny, plotted and schemed about future projects, and pulled and contemplated each bolt of possibility.

My little punch card had been filled so I had earned $20.00 towards my purchase. My total bill came to $7.49. Pretty good, considering I could have spent a whole lot more! I just picked up 1/4 yard cuts of some fabrics that I thought would fit into my love of scrappy quilts.

I haven't found time to stitch since since I've been home from my trip to Texas, until today. I was inspired to pull out my Indian Summer quilt project and concentrate on getting the top together:

I'm using the Jewel Box pattern, but I altered it just a tad in order to keep the focus on my inspiration fabric:

All the square in a square blocks are finished:

And I'm piecing the little 4 patches and assembling the alternate blocks:

Our 4-H quilting group, The Quilt Squad, is meeting in town on Saturday to work on this pattern:

But I may be stitching along virtually, because I don't think I can make myself go back into town. :) Hope I don't receive a demerit!

Stuffed Poblanos

I cook a lot and I have collected a lot of recipes through the years, but there are times I feel as if I cook the same thing and from time to time and I end up in a cooking rut. We love our favorites and the kids are always calling and texting me asking for recipes, but sometimes I get a hankering for something different and DH is a good guinea pig. That makes it fun to try new things and mix those in with our favorites.

A while back, I had pinned a recipe for Ground Beef Stuffed Green Bell Peppers with Cheese and since I have an overabundance of ground beef, I thought I'd give it a whirl. When I started looking at the ingredients, I realized that I had a recipe for a similar filling called Texas Hash  (mine used Rotel instead of canned tomatoes) that we've used in tortillas for 20 years.

And then I thought I ought to change out the green peppers and add poblanos into the mix to add that New Mexico flair that we are crazy about. I don't have many addictions, but fresh New Mexico green chile is definitely one of them. These Poblanos are big...about 8" long. Poblanos are a mild chile.

So, I was off and running and before long we had a new favorite! YUM!

Stuffed Poblanos

6 large Poblano peppers
2# lean ground beef
1 diced onion
1 small chopped green pepper
black pepper
2 tsp chili powder
1 can Rotel
1/2 C rice
1/2 C water
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce (also known as rooster juice in this house)
1 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese

*Brown your ground beef and onion and green pepper. Drain if necessary. We have our ground beef processed pretty lean so there is seldom a need to drain. Season with pepper and chili powder. Add Rotel, rice, water, and Rooster juice. Cover and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Mix in cheese.

Boil the whole poblanos in water for about 5 minutes. Drain and slice open each poblano and stuff with filling. Cover and bake for 30-40 minutes. Sprinkle additional cheese on top and serve. I'll be making this again!