Chili/Rolls Part 2

Not exactly a lack of inspiration for a blog this week - like usual - there is always more to the story.

Kearneygirl was right - she was my inspiration for the chili and cinnamon rolls of last week because it was her posting of a successful cinnamon roll experience that provided the trigger to my culinary experience of last week. Interested-in-law is quite right in there is more to the story.

Admittedly in a response I did state that I miscalculated. That is just a way of glossing over my culinary screw up with words. I thought I had figured the math alright in trimming down the recipe but in further reflection and taste testing - well... I forgot one ingredient. Yes, it is vital in the making of sweet dough that you remember to put in the requisite amount of sugar. DUH!! And to top it off, I had all the ingredients sitting out on the counter that I needed. Just skipped right passed the sugar apparently.

The first batch of cinnamon rolls tasted more like bread dough with cinnamon, butter and sugar in the middle. But none-the-less, I had to get this right. HA Again, the next evening, I got out the handy-dandy Good Housekeeping cookbook for the sweet dough recipe. Lo and behold, when you add the sugar the dough actually tastes sweet!! Go figure. (And has anyone figured out that home-ec was not on my radar at any time I was in school.)

I will admit in the process of two batches of cinnamon rolls, I discovered I love the button on the stove which says - "Keep Warm". Both batches of dough raised quite nicely having been put in the stove under the keep warm setting on the lowest temperature setting. I put the dough in the big metal mixing bowl. You know, the biggest bowl in the cupboard which you actually have to hand wash since the bowl will not fit in a household-sized dishwasher.

At any rate, the other miscalculation (ha) came when making chili. When purchasing the ingredients, I purchased the canned diced tomatoes which were "chili ready." Chili ready means they are packed in chili sauce. (Might help to read the labels more closely.) Naturally I had already put in the kidney beans and chili seasoning called for together and I was just adding the tomatoes. Let's say - this was one of those things you kind of stumble on by accident. I had anticipated ultra-spicy but the end result was tasty. The chili fans in the family thought it was good also. I will most likely use the chili-ready tomatoes next time.

This morning I found myself trying to decide what sounded good today. Today - chicken/vegetable noodle soup - the not-so-homemade way. Purchased all the ingredients, pulled out the big stock pot, melted the butter, pressed the garlic, sliced and diced the veggies, added

the chicken stock. Twisted in some sea salt and peppercorns. I baked the skinless chicken breast in EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) with sage and paprika. Put everything to simmer a bit in the stock pot and then transferred it to the crock pot to finish out the day. Will add the store-bought noodles about a half an hour before supper time. Going to try multi-grain crackers with this as well.

Younger daughter is correct - I do need a hobby. LOL