Seasonably Warm

A much needed day to sleep in late, drink a couple extra cups of coffee and enjoy some quiet time at home.  Was happy to find out the Son was coming home for a weekend visit.....always nice to see one of our kids come home!   Got a late afternoon run in with my neighbor friend Jill.  Can you believe the temperature was 55 degrees at 4 pm today?

Bike man and the Son got a little fishing in late this afternoon.  Such a great day with the warm temperatures, however, this is short lived.  Much cooler weather is moving in later tonight.  Thanks son for making an awesome warm fire tonight.

If Only I Could Be a Cat

Our cats seem to be happy, content and sleeping wherever they want, but I can't  say the same.  Life has been busy and work has been demanding, but I'm looking forward to a three-day weekend coming up (Veteran's Day).  If only I could find time to read a book!!!!  

Comfort Food

Chicken Enchiladas

Really needed comfort food tonight after a long day at work, which was actually the voting place in the village where I work.  The noise level today was irritating.  People talking, laughing, doors opening, people walking down the hallway......I was ready to leave by the end of the day.  The presidential elections are always hectic in my building.  Came home and decided to make a pan of chicken enchilada, while watching the presidential election results.  All eyes are on the election tonight.    

Annatto Oil

Annatto Seed (oil)

Annatto, also known as achiote, comes from seeds of the achiote tree.  The seeds produce a brilliant orange color and a nice peppery flavor.  I bought the annatto seeds several months ago and surprisingly our son knew how to take the seeds and make annotto oil.  Thanks Son.  So how do you make annatto oil?

Well basically you heat the annatto seeds in olive oil in a small saucepan over low heat.  Slowly, you will see the bright orange color develop.  After several minutes of simmering the seeds in the oil, you turn off the heat and let  the oil cool.  Strain the seeds in a fine sieve and store the oil in the refrigerator.  

So how do I use the annatto oil?  I love to use the oil when cooking taco meat.  Add several tablespoons of annatto oil to ground beef and brown in a fry pan.  Drain excess fat and oil in a colander and return meat to the fry pan.  Add your taco seasoning and voila.......you'll have the best tasting taco meat ever!  If you want to learn more about annatto seeds/oil, Google it and you'll find information, recipes and even a youtube video clip on how to make the oil.  I bought the annatto seeds at Half Moon Tea and Spice in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Two Cooks in the Kitchen

After the end of daylight savings time on Saturday night, I was motivated me to wake up from an extra long sleep this morning, and then scurry off to attend church service at the little country church three miles from my house, then back home for my three mile run with my friend Joan, then a quick visit with our Son who stopped by our house......real quick, like 45 minutes or so.  Our son needed some car parts and then had to head back to St. Paul so he could work on his Jeep.   Eventually , I settled into the kitchen to make a pumpkin pie......whewwwww.  Moved on to some co-op Board meeting homework to meet my deadline.  

Hey, lets use some ingredients that have been in our refrigerator for a while!  Yup, Bike man took over in the kitchen to make a delicious baked rice casserole with lots of vegetables, mushrooms,  and chicken.  He then mixed everything into a creamy mascarpone sauce. Just so you know, it's ok to use expired  food, as long as there's nothing green and fuzzy growing inside.  Found an extra can of evaporated milk that expired in 2010 and the mascarpone cheese expired months ago....oops!   Don't worry, we'll never use expired food if you come over for a meal!!!!!!  Bike man and I just have a hard time throwing out food.   FYI:  bought some 39 cent Vanilla Dannon yogurt recently that expired.  The yogurt was delicious.

Just wondering, would you eat expired food?

Like Glass

Beautiful ending to our day with the return of sunshine around 5 pm tonight.  After finishing a late day run, I grabbed my camera  from the house and ran down to the dock.  The lake was like glass and the glowing light made for a beautiful sunset.

With the beautiful sunset on the lake tonight, it gave me the idea to fry fish for dinner. It seems like we always have a freezer full of lake fish caught by Bike man or the Son.....thanks guys!  Tonight was a combination of perch and a couple nice walleye fillets.  What's my secret for frying fish?  Peanut oil.  I've tried melted butter, margarine, olive oil or canola oil, but peanut is by far my favorite.  I don't use a lot of oil, but just enough to evenly brown the fish fillets.

  

Decided to use the Cajun Shore Lunch spice mix and generously coated each fillet.  Wow, it's was really spicy hot.......like, your face is on fire hot!  Despite our sweaty reaction, the fish was excellent and very tasty.      I guess this is one of the perks to living on a lake.  Fish dinners and more fish dinners!  Maybe next time I'll make fish tacos.  

Candy For Us

Happy Halloween

Was all prepared for trick or treats tonight, but as usual, no children.  Oh well, more candy for us!