Random Thoughts

Good Afternoon from a very cold Ennis, TX. Thirty five chili cooks braved the cold weather this morning to cook at Rahr Brewery in Ft Worth. Congrats to everyone that placed - ya'll are some brave souls for being out in the cold...or fools...or both. I think we chili cooks are a combination of both. And I say that with a lot of love :0)!

When I decided to start a blog, I thought I'd write about food, wine...tattoos, of course and my cracked out family and work life. Interestingly enough, I've found that this blog has become an outlet for something I try not to discuss too much in a less than positive light: the chili world. Most of you know I ran for a Director's position at the last GP Meeting and I was not elected. Looking back, I believe that was an invaluable experience and I can say whole heartedly I'm glad I was not elected to the Board. Chili politics are insane. It baffles me how worked up people can get over a friggin bowl of chili. It was a real eye opener to see all of the personal agendas floating around out there. I cook chili for a lot of different reasons. It's something my husband and I enjoy doing, we can take our kids, we've met some wonderful people and made some very dear friends. One of the things I don't like about cooking chili is that sometimes you go to a chili cook off and it's a non stop bitch session. Everyone is quick to complain; few have any alternate solutions to back up their complaints. I have always liked that old, cliched line, "Be a part of the solution, not the problem." As corny as that sounds, it's true. Why bitch and moan if you can't back up your complaints with a solution? Sometimes there aren't solutions, I realize that. I'm certainly not telling anyone that they can't bitch about CASI unless they know how to fix the problem. I'm not delusional. I just wish their were more solutions being discussed instead of problems. I wish we weren't wasting a perfectly good chili cook off arguing about CASI and how it does things...or doesn't do things. I had a situation last year with a cook off being scheduled in our area without contacting me or the RR by someone who knows the rules. I addressed the issue with her and a CASI official. Guess what? The same person scheduled the same cook off and didn't notify us in advance. What does that say about that person? She knows she can get away with it. She helps CASI out quite a bit...what are they going to say? What does that say about CASI? It tells me, and plenty of other people who have similiar issues with CASI, that the rules only apply to certain people...and when CASI feels like enforcing them. Am I being a little presumptious with my opinion? Probably. Am I pretty much right on the money about the inconsistencies within this organization? Hell yes I am.

I don't want this blog to become an anti-CASI page. I'm very much a supporter of CASI. I believe in CASI's mission. I think CASI is out to help people less fortunate than ourselves through Chili, Charity, and Fun. I can't think of a better way to support those in need by cooking chili with my friends...circling the motorhomes with my buddies and putting out snacks to share. There are many positive things about CASI. However, I'm a rules girl....(seriously, I am!!), I believe in all people being treated equally and rules being applied to everyone the same way. CASI has a hard time applying the rules equally and without prejudice. I'm sure it's difficult to do so when you are overseeing a bunch of rednecks who cook chili in the summer in TEXAS in 120 degree heat!!!! You're dealing with thousands of people and all the personalities, drama and baggage that come with every damn one of us. Could CASI make more of an effort to see that the rules are followed consistently? Absolutely. But who's going to make them do that? See...that's where being a part of the solution comes in handy. We need to quit the decisive bickering that goes on at our cook offs. I'm not talking mutiny here...but lets put our personal chili agendas (that even sounds ridiculous, but they exist) aside and focus on the big picture. We elect these officials, we spend our money supporting these charities...AND the many sponsors. We have a right to have our solutions considered.

I've carefully climbed off of my soapbox - still have that pesky head injury that I wouldn't want to aggravate with a fall off of my high horse....LOL!!! See...I've got a sense of humor about this stuff, really! I'm thinking about getting my sexy Eddie and relaxing on the couch for a few minutes. There's a party at the KJT tonight and we've got to get there early so we can get a good spot at the bar. We have priorities, you know?

I promise this isn't going to be some lame, complaint ridden blog! I've got some recipes to try out tomorrow and if all goes well, I'll post them tomorrow night or Monday. I love cooking. I was very particular about my kitchen when we had our house built...so I like putting it to good use. For me, this is the best time of year to get lost in cooking. Lots of soups, casseroles, roasts...you name it. My husband requested a roast earlier in the week....maybe I'll put that one the menu for tomorrow.

I'm off to enjoy a cocktail and snuggle with my sweet puppy. Have a great Saturday everyone!

Chili, Chili, Chili

Well, I survived!!! 2009 is in the hands of our CPA. I didn't think I would make it. It took much longer than it has before and my concussion did not help things one bit. I'm just glad it's out the door and someone else gets to deal with it now! I finished up just in time to start finalizing everything for the 9th Annual Gingerbread House CCO February 5-7th. This is a three day cook off held at the Ellis Co. Expo Center in Waxahachie, TX. I will post a flyer this morning with all of the information.

Speaking of chili....a few items of note have come to my attention the past few weeks. First of all, the CASI BOD held their winter board meeting at the Irving Elks Lodge. As I had a prior commitment that day, I sent Gary in my place to take notes. Do any of you know that only FIVE Great Peppers (I may be off by one or two) attended that meeting? I felt that if I couldn't be there, I should send a representative of the NOW Pod to show the Board that we do care what goes on at the meetings and that we are concerned with the direction CASI is headed. I know many GP's live outside of Texas, outside of the DFW area, and just can't make it. However, there are plenty that do live close enough to the Elks Lodge and in my opinion, should have made their presence known at that meeting. How can we expect the Board to take our comments, complaints and suggestions seriously when we don't show up to meetings? How can we know what that Board does without our knowledge (and we know this goes on!) if we don't show up at the Board meetings and let them know that we are there to question them and hold them accountable. Complaining about the Board's decisions once a year at the GP Meeting...or at our cook offs throughout the year...does NOTHING for our need to be heard or taken seriously. For every cook and GP I hear complain about something the Board is doing, wants to do, or has done, I see one person actually step up and do something about it. Come on Chiliheads - this is just as much our organization as it is the Board's...and the Sponsors. Let your voices be heard! Provide solutions to the problems - not just empty complaints. If we join together as a team and present a strong, competent voice, they'll have no choice but to listen to us. We can only hold them accountable for so many things. At some point we have to hold ourselves accountable for not speaking out about the issues facing CASI that we don't agree with. This leads me to an issue I have some very strong feelings about: how cook offs are scheduled. I don't believe that the current "system" (if there really is one) is working. CASI faces a tough choice when it comes to scheduling cook offs the same weekend as ones that are close by or well established. You run the risk of pissing of the sponsor or charity by putting your foot down and telling them they can't have a cook off 30 miles from the established one because you probably won't make 15 cooks. Or, you piss them off when you let them have the cook off and no one shows up - and having a chili cook off to support your charity looks like a waste of time. We've got to come up with a hard and fast rule, a system EVERYONE abides by, and put it in place. What do we accomplish by letting a Pod or a Sponsor/Charity have a cook off 30 miles away from the Gingerbread House Cook Off, for example? What is the harm in telling some of these people, "No, that date is not available because of the cook offs in that region that are already scheduled and the fact that these are established cook offs that are going to pull most of the cooks. Let me help you find a better date to help you maximize CASI's assistance to your charity." How hard is that? How difficult is it to put a mileage rule in place when scheduling cook offs? It's not. What seems to be difficult is CASI's inability to say no, or follow the rules. As of now, RR are supposed to be put in contact with the potential charity or sponsor. RR's know more about what's going on in there area than anyone. If we could really open the lines of communication, and have some rules in place, I think that a lot of these smaller cook offs that happen only once because of poor participation, could be moved to a better date and become more successful. I would like to see this issue addressed at the 2010 GP Meeting in Salado.

I'm off to work on our cook off items so that I'm not running around like a crackhead next week. Please, please, please tune in to KBEC (am station) Wednesday February 3rd around 8:10 am to hear me promote our cook off, as well as The Ranch 106.9 Friday morning, February 5th. We are poised to have a GREAT cook off and I look forward to seeing a lot of you there.

Stay warm :0)

Good Morning....this is such a crazy week and I feel kind of bad for my blog :( It's year end time here at T & B Demolition and I'm up to my eyeballs in financials, bank statements and other insanely boring, yet necessary tasks. Once I complete my duties, I'll be back with a vengeance. I need to figure out how to post some additional pictures on my blog, besides the ones I put in my posts. What would the Cadillac Cowgirl Blog be without a pic of the Cadillac Cowgirl (not me...but sort of...you'll see!) and her Cowgirl Cadillac????? I'm still trying to get to that pot of chili, too! I think we're cooking this weekend, so if we do, I'll take really great pics and get them posted.

Have a great day everyone....I'll be back when 2009 is closed and with the CPA :)

Kelly

An Open Letter to Cherry Garcia

Thank you, Cherry Garcia, for being such a good friend when I'm "cranky". Thank you for your non judgemental, unwavering support during my time(s) of need. When I'm pissy and cramping, you're there for me. When I'm sad, you let me take comfort in your chocolate cherry deliciousness. You never tell me no. You don't tell me to stop eating you. Your quiet encouragement always gets me through. You don't sit in the freezer and complain when you hear the icemaker shoot ice out in my glass and the refrigerator open, the wine pouring into my glass over and over again. You sit there patiently knowing that you will soon have your turn to make me feel better. You're a true friend, Cherry Garcia. I love you. You know I don't mean it when I tell Gary I want a double dip hot fudge sundae from Braum's. You know I'm just venting, and that I'll soon seek refuge in your loving pint.

I need help...I know. But I really, really do love Cherry Garcia.

Cadillac Cowgirl Hearty Chicken Soup

Good Saturday Morning! Is everyone staying warm? I know of some very dedicated chiliheads out cooking chili today in Amarillo, Bastrop and Marshall. Good luck to everyone. The cold weather here has stressed out our electric service and we've had power outages out here in the sticks throughout the morning. After three failed attempts at making breakfast, Gary went to Kolache Depot and brought home kolaches. Crisis averted.

Sooo...I made a huge pot of soup the other night and I wanted to share the recipe. It's super easy to prepare and comes together very quickly. You don't have to simmer it all day, but it tastes like you did. The recipe and directions are as follows:

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, diced or shredded (it's okay...cheat...buy a prepared rotisserie chicken at the store)
12 oz package of wide egg noodles
2 48 oz boxes of chicken broth or stock
1/2 stick of butter
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 T salt (or to taste)
2 tsp pepper
1 T dried of fresh parsley
3 Yukon potatoes, peeled and diced
3 carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced

In a large heavy bottom soup pot, melt the butter and olive oil. Add the onion, carrots, potatoes, salt, pepper and parsley. Saute 10 minutes or until soft, but not so much that they are falling apart as they will finish cooking in the broth. Add in your garlic and saute for a few minutes, then add the chicken and cook for a few minutes longer. When it's heated through, add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once the soup is boiling, add in the egg noodles, cover and turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the noodles and veggies are tender. Serve with a salad and hot rolls.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I have cleaning on my mind for the next few days. I need to get my Christmas tree out of the living room and my room put back together after the onlsaught of Christmas. I have laundry to do, floors to sweep and mop and a stinky dog to bathe. I've got to get everything done by 6 pm so we can head to the Hall and watch the game.

Have a great day!

Kelly

Cadillac Cowgirl Turkey Meatloaf

Items Needed

1 or 2 sheet pans, lined with foil
Large saute pan
Large bowl for combining ingredients
A Big Girl glass of vino (optional!!)


Ingredients for Meatloaf

2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Coarse Ground Pepper
1 tsp Dried Thyme
2 T Olive Oil
2 large Onions, chopped
2 T Worcestershire Sauce
3/4 C Chicken Stock
3 lg Eggs
1 1/2 C Bread Crumbs
1 T Tomato Paste
5 lbs Ground Turkey
5 pcs Bacon, diced
Sauce for meatloaf (recipe below or you can use one you and your family like)

Ingredients for Sauce

In a small bowl whisk together:
2 C Ketchup
1/3 C Spicy Brown Mustard
1 tsp Horseradish
1 tsp Tomato Paste
1 T Brown Sugar (more or less to taste)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large saute pan, add the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and onions. Saute until translucent and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Dice the bacon and when the onions are almost finished, add the bacon so that it starts to cook while the onions are finishing. When the onions are translucent, add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and chicken stock. The bacon will finish cooking when you bake the meatloaf. Let the mixture cool for a bit before handling it. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, eggs and bread crumbs. Add the onion and bacon mixture and gently combine all of the ingredients. Make sure you have clean hands - you'll have to use your hands and a large spoon. Once it is combined, you can either make one meatloaf, or divide the the mixture into two so that you can enjoy one now and bake and freeze one for later. Depending on how many you are going to make, place the mixture on one or two sheet pans and shape into a rectangular loaf. Spread the sauce over the meatloaf and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until done all the way through. If you are going to bake and freeze one for later, you can wait and put the sauce on it when you serve it later. Allow the meatloaf to stand for 5-10 minutes, serve and enjoy!

I like to serve the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and either green beans or a salad. This is a great way to eat a little less red meat and not know the difference. It's really delicious :)

Update

Hello there....did everyone survive the "Arctic Blast"? Suprisingly, Paige did not have school today. After initially delaying classes 2 hours, her school went ahead and closed for the day. It's not too bad now, but it sure is cold.

I have the turkey meatloaf pics and recipe ready to post. I hope to do that when I get home since I left the info on my counter :). I experimented a little and I really liked the results - I think you will, too. Tonight I'm also going to work on a pot of chili to post tomorrow.

I wanted to share my favorite wines with all of you. I love wine...love, love, love wine and fortunately, my hubby shares that love with me! These are in no particular order and tend to run towards the red variety. Take a chance and try one of them...you won't be disappointed!!

1. Seghesio Rockpile Zinfandel (you can find this DELICIOUS Zin at Tom Thumb. They also have a website - www.seghesio.com). This is a really great Zinfandel. It's not dry and if you let it sit open for about 20 minutes, it will really open up and have more of a jammy Cabernet quality.)

2. Mauritson Rockpile Ridge Zinfandel (uuhh...yes...another Zinfandel :). We have this wine at Pappas Steakhouse or we order it from their website as well - www.mauritsonwines.com. It's a lot like the Seghesio, but they have different selections of the Zinfandel. Jack's Cabin, Rockpile Ridge, and Cemetary Ridge. The Cemetary Zin is my favorite. It's very rich and fruity.)

3. Llano Estacado Reisling This is by far my favorite white wine and the best Reisling I've tried. Some Reislings are dry, but this is perfect...not too tart, not too sweet. I love it and besides - it's from Texas. Yee Haw!!

4. Penfolds Shiraz/Cabernet There are a few variations of their Shiraz/Cab blend and they are all good. You can buy Penfolds just about anywhere and it's super affordable. I like the Bin 128 bottle. It's also a well balanced red wine that isn't too dry or acidic. It's got that big juicy Cabernet feel to it, with the lighter finish of a Shiraz.

5. Chillable Red HELL YEAH!!! I bet ya'll thought this was going to be some sort of high class wine list. WRONG!!! I keep boxed Chillable Red and Crisp White in my fridge and I LOVE IT!!! I love Marsalas in Ennis cause they rock the box wine. You can buy it at Wal Mart or HEB and it never goes bad. There is nothing funnier than hauling out a bunch of wine boxes on trash day. Box wine is so versatile. You can put ice in it....7 Up, Diet Cherry 7 up, Sparkling Lime or Lemon water. It's the official drink of the Pink Sirens :-)

I hope everyone stays warms and if you stayed at home today due to the "Arctic Blast" I hope you enjoyed a lazy day of coffee, naps and guilty pleasure tv shows, and a big girl glass of Chillable Red :~D!!

Stay warm :~)

Crazy Ass Texas Weather

I can't tell you how many times I've heard people declare "wait five minutes and the weather will change in Texas." Usually they are talking about how it was 80 degrees at 9 am....raining and 70 degrees at 10 am....and 105 degrees by High Noon. It's been an unusually chilly winter here in the North Central region of the great State of Texas. The high tomorrow will be in the 20's...and the lows the next few nights in the teens....and this is just January! We usually don't experience our "winter" until February. I guess this is what you call the El Nino effect. I don't know...but it gives me an excuse to nest, build a fire, make a lot of comfort food and put the flannel sheets on our bed for more than just one day. The downside of this cold spell is that I do not like to cook chili when it's super hot or super cold. We take a break from chili during the summer to hit Gruene, relax and float down the river every day. I don't have another hobby (besides drinking!) that I can participate in when the weather is this cold. The Tri State Championship Chili Cook Off will take place this Saturday in Amarillo and I will not be there to defend my title. It's just going to be too cold...and I don't really think I should leave my dogs out in the cold while I go cook chili and drink beer and wine in a warm indoor building. The Hubby may take the reigning back to back North Texas Jr Chili Champ with him and go cook...but I think I may sit this one out. There are plenty of cook offs coming up and I won't have to freeze my ass off to get a point.

Tonight, I will be making my delicious turkey meatloaf. I will post pictures and the recipe tomorrow. And, in the interest of keeping up with the name of my blog, I'll also be posting a recipe and step by step instructions on cooking a pot of real Texas Red chili! For those of you who haven't had real Texas chili, I hope you find it easy to follow and make a pot of your own. Who knows - you may love it and find yourself visiting www.chili.org in search of more information about CASI and where the next cook off near you can be found.

Stay warm everyone!!

Goodbye City Girl

I love Tractor Supply. I grew up in Irving and and we didn't have one...there may not even be one in Irving now. Anyways - it's one of my favorite places to shop. I saw a coffee mug around Christmas time; it said "I'd rather be dumped by a horse than a man!" I told myself I'd wait for it to go on sale...it did and I bought it! Every time I got to TS, I realize how far I've come. I am (was) a city girl through and through. When I first married my husband, we lived in Ferris and the grocery store in town was no Tom Thumb. I freaked out one day at the dirty veggies. My husband was disgusted with me. I told him I was used to the fruit and veggies being shiny...he said they're probably dirty because a farmer brought them to David's from the garden. Oh....huh....I see..... And so my journey from city girl to somewhat country girl had begun. From Ferris we moved to Waxahachie...much larger town, but we lived in a subdivision in the middle of a cornfield. There I could shop at HEB and I was in love! And - TRACTOR SUPPLY!!!! I bought Christmas presents there, dog food, toys for Paige...it was great. I loved living in Waxahachie because we were out in our own little area, but close to town. Then, five years later, we decided to move out of our house. We had outgrown it. We wanted more space (read: no neighbors). So it began...our search for the perfect house. You know what I'm talking about too....you've said it..."I'm never moving again." (Yeah Right!) We couldn't find anything we agreed on and in the meantime, our house sold and we had a month to get out. We moved all of our stuff into storage and moved into our motorhome. We, in our infitinite wisdom, decided to build instead of buy a house only one of us (me..and no I'm not bitter!) liked. We found land and our road doesn't even appear on a lot of Mapsco's and GPS Systems. We are out in the country. I'm still adjusting to how long it takes me to get P to school, get to work, etc. I was used to being 10 minutes from her school and 30 minutes from the office. Now I'm 30 minutes from her school and an hour from the office! Instead of listening to cars, I listen to coyotes, cows and jackasses. Our dogs love it and really, I do too. We built a beautiful house - it's exactly what we wanted and I got my see through fireplace between the kitchen and living room. We have lots of room and we even have neighbors. Nice redneck types - just like us. I sometimes wonder if I was meant to live this life or if I just adapted to it really well. We are nowhere near Waxahachie, or Dallas for that matter, and it's nice. We live outside of Ennis and it's a much more laid back town...we love it. And the Tractor Supply in Ennis...it Rocks!

The Juicy of Love and Deliciousness

The Hubby

The Eddie

New Year.....Old Resolutions

I don't know about you....but the whole resolution thing is just an exercise in futility for me. I try my best to start off the new year right...but it only takes one day of dealing with imbeciles, a cranky six year old (or anything I deem challenging) to knock me off the path to renewed physical, emotional and spiritual enlightment. WTF??? Where did that come from and why am I so philosophical all of a sudden? I see it like this - if I'm going to be healthier, the Monday immediately following a two week bender of holiday food and wine is not going to be the day to do it. And getting to church the first Sunday of January - not going to happen. And being nicer....nope, not a chance. You have to want to be different...and not just because it's a new year. That just seems so lame and overblown to me. Did I eat soup for lunch today? Yes. Did I purchase veggies and fish at Wal Mart in the thriving metropolis of Ennis yesterday? Absolutely. Can I make a go of being a better person simply because it's January 4, 2010? Probably not. I don't know if my improved behavior will last through the week...we have a chili cook off coming up and I do tend to "enjoy myself" at these events! I've had 36 years to get my shit together....I doubt this is the year I do it. I'll try nonetheless, but I won't be disappointed when it all goes to hell in a handbasket :-)

I'm sitting here at my desk watching my husband hold my dog like a baby and talk to him like a baby. It's so sad....and Eddie, my miniature dachshund, is eating it up. I got to the office early this morning and it seems later than 1:00 pm. I don't have to worry about dinner - we are having left over salmon and salad. I don't have a good salad dressing to go with it, though. That may require another trip to the grocery store. Wal Mart's frozen fish selection sucks ass, so a trip to Costco is also in my future. I try to avoid the Waxahachie HEB since they remodeled it...it's a clusterfuck. I refuse to cop to dieting, but considering my pancreas is hanging on by a thread, I will be detoxing and eating "clean" for the next month in an effort to give my craptastic pancreas a break from all of the wine and red meat I enjoy consuming. I will let everyone know how I do....or don't do on this assignment. I've got to run....Eddie has found a wire to chew on.