A Few General Questions, Food, and Other Ramblings....

Is it possible to have a normal week? Seriously - can I just have ONE WEEK in which nothing bizarre, stressful or dramatic takes place? I can't remember the last time I made it through five days without a Xanax, a bottle of wine, or a complete nervous breakdown. It's just Tuesday and I'm beginning to fear the rest of the week.

With that said, I'm only going to work through tomorrow. I'm going to take Thursday and Friday off and who knows - my kid may not even go to school either. We just may play hooky and have mommybaby days at the house. I need to get an AC cover for one of my trailers and straighten up another one. I also need to clean out the silver one so that the girls can have a redneck playhouse in the backyard. This week might not end up sucking after all.

I'm going to make a delicious King Ranch Casserole for dinner tomorrow night. It just sounds good. Below is the recipe:

Cadillac Cowgirl King Ranch Casserole

1 Rotisserie Chicken, skin removed and chicken shredded
2 Tbsp Butter
1 Medium Onion, diced
1 Medium Bell Pepper, diced
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
2 Cans Rotel, drained (use mild if you're feeding kiddos or wimps, regular for adults or people who can handle the heat...LOL!!)
3/4 Cup Chicken Broth
2 1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Mild Bills Cumin
2 tsp Mild Bill's San Antonio Original Chili Powder
3 Cups Grated Cheese (I use a mixture of Cheddar and Colby)
10-12 Corn Tortillas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat, melt the butter. When melted, add the onion and bell pepper and saute until tender; add the garlic and saute for a few minutes. Add the next 7 ingredients (Mushroom soup through Chili Powder) and stir to combine; check for seasoning and adjust to your preference. Simmer over low heat for a few minutes. In a lightly greased 13x9 casserole dish, add your first layer of corn tortillas, shredded chicken and grated cheese (which will be about 1/2 of each) and half of the soup mixture. Repeat with the tortillas, chicken and remaining soup mixture, then top the casserole with the rest of the grated cheese. Bake covered for 45 minutes and uncovered for 15 more minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Goes great with refried beans and Cadillac Cowgirl Mexican Rice!

Feel free to substitute a diced jalapeno for the bell pepper and Monterrey Jack cheese for the Cheddar and/or Colby.

My Juicy of Love and Deliciousness is so ready for school to be out. I think most of her friends are ready, actually. I've had some whiny baby issues with P this past week. You can tell she's just tired, burnt out and ready for a break. I take that into account, but still. The drama that goes with just the simplest request is almost too much. I'm sure she's looking forward to summer as much as mommy is. I went to Petsmart yesterday to pick up a few items for Gilbert and they had a really cute Guinea Pig there. For a nano second I considered buying him, but I think I'll wait. He was pretty cute, though....

Speaking of pets, Eddie apparently shot blanks back in March when he hooked up with his ladyfriend. I guess we'll have to stud him out again.....he couldn't get the job done the first time. Maybe it's cause he's used to humping Waylon all the time and actual male/female action was just too much for him to handle.

I read the ED's Blog this morning. Jenny Windsor has decided to not seek re-election to the CASI Board this year. While I completely understand her decision and absolutely do not blame her, it kind of left me wondering, "where does that leave CASI?" In no way am I insinuating that if CASI fails, it's all Jenny's fault, so let's get that out in the open now. Let's also make sure everyone understands that this is coming from a sponsor and cook who wants to see CASI succeed - not fail. Even though I've just said that and mean it, I won't be able to control the opinions of those who read my blog (even though it angers them to no end) and accuse me of being difficult, hot headed and hard to deal with. So, with that said, allow me to voice my concern about the state of CASI. Who is going to replace the experience of three Board members (Renee, Dorathy and Jenny) not seeking re-election this year? And these are just the ones we know about. And what do we do about what so many of us feel is a stagnant environment for our organization? Is it the fact that we are electing people via a popularity contest and once they are on the Board they are either incapable of making progress because of lack of business experience or unable to do so because of the way things are set up to run? Each year, we listen to candidates give us their resume and tell us what they are going to do to make CASI better....yet nothing seems to change. Our membership is still at practically a standstill for an organization that is nationwide and has chili cook offs all over the country! Why doesn't our Board, or at least the Director handling the membership, facilitate a membership drive, or actively solicit new members? Why can't we advertise CASI and what we do by sending out Trails to City Chambers, for example? Just relying on cooks and the locations hosting the cook offs to advertise enough for a whole region to learn about us is asking a lot. I've asked and asked why we don't have a budget and why we don't have dollars dedicated to promoting CASI to prospective members and charities. I have yet to get an answer that goes beyond, "that is something we'll look into." I know I'm not the only one asking - so that means I'm not the only one scratching my head in confusion, either.

I want to see CASI grow. I want to see more cooks at cook offs, more charities receiving proceeds from our hard work, but it is going to take money and effort from the Board as well. Keeping CASI alive can't be a burden for the cooks alone to shoulder. Look around people, we are an AGING population and I am not trying to offend anyone - I'm no spring chicken myself! But the indifference and laissez faire attitude that seems to have invaded some of the BOD isn't helping things. As Tally Master, I can only imagine the headaches Jenny suffered because of software updates on the 15th of each month - the deadline for the Trails. Or the cumbersome process for logging cook offs, money and sending payments to the Treasurer. There has got to be a better, more efficient way to run CASI. We have PayPal for memberships, why not utilize it for cook off payments? We ALL have access to printers, fax machines and scanners - why not send paperwork in that manner? Hell, we could send cook off packets the same way! There's a reason these electronic devices are so popular - THEY WORK! There are so many ways for us to save money so that we can spend our dollars on advertising. We can't keep focusing on TICC or the Scholarship Fund as the only areas of CASI that need attention. We've got to get people on our Board to run our "hobby" so that it can function like a business, advertise it's mission, and stay around long enough for our kids to enjoy cooking chili. I love to cook chili - and I know a lot of other people that do, too. I don't think anyone wants to see CASI wither and die. We have to be responsible as a collective group - and not as two separate factions, the BOD and the membership - in order to ensure that we continue to grow and succeed. I feel like there are several cooks who would love to be a part of a committee dedicated to making CASI bigger and better; instead of sticking members on committees that basically argue the politics of CASI instead of proactively solving problems. I guess it all boils down to I don't want to find another hobby because this one allows me to drink beer and wine before 9 am if I'm cooking chili and no one looks at me weird :)

So, here's my bottom line: We need people to run for the Board that can run CASI the way it deserves to be run - like a business! We've got to continue to grow or we are going to face the possibility of losing some of our bigger sponsors. If they don't see the benefit of their sponsorship, then they make think twice about sharing their dollars with us - especially in this economy! And no...I am not talking about Mild Bill's. I'm talking about the Bruce Foods and McCormick Distilleries of the CASI sponsorship universe. We need to be able to show them that by sponsoring us and taking an active role in our events, they are getting exposure to more and more people who will buy their products as a direct result of cooking CASI chili!

So, think about what I've said. Make a Kelly Brignon Voodoo Doll and poke it if it makes you feel better. I know that I mean well and want only the best for our hobby, our bowls of red and our cooks parties and all of the other fun things we do as chili cooks. We have to be realistic, though....if we don't take responsibility for our future, then no one else will!

I was going to have a dear friend proof this blog posting to make sure I didn't offend anyone, but I'm just going to go with it and hope that all of you wonderful people that read my blog know where I'm coming from. This isn't some venomous, mean spirited post meant to humiliate and embarrass board members that I think are incompetent. Quite the opposite, in fact. I want to highlight the people who do take the time out of their lives to run CASI and encourage those with strong convictions, a loud voice and business experience to run for the Board and help CASI become bigger and better than ever. We're losing some key people this year and we're going to need strong personalities to get in the mix and make a difference in the years to come. Wouldn't you agree?

I guess that's all for now. I like blow through like a tornado sometimes :)

Spreading my own special brand of joy and kindness......

Kelly