September 2013

Oh gosh, it’s that time of year again, isn’t it?

The time of year when my Facebook feed fills with the catty banter of, “my team is better than yours therefore you suck”,

when every server in every restaurant on Sunday dons their favorite teams’ jersey,

& when you can find me planted firmly on my couch any given Sunday…& Thursday…& Monday

(wow, that sounds like I have a problem).

It’s Football Season!

And I’m hungry.

There’s just something about watching the game with cold beer makes me crave chili.

Hot, delicious, spicy, meaty, saucy, chili.

It’s kind of sad to admit but I actually use it like a topping…on everything…

Hamburgers, hot dogs, crackers, biscuits,

rice, cornbread, zucchini (yes, I said zucchini. Don’t knock it until you try it!)…

Nothing is safe in my kitchen from getting chili-fied!

Bwahahaha!

The problem is that making good chili, I mean really great chili, takes allllll daaaayyyy.

And I don’t know about you, but I just don’t have the time for that…so I cheat…kinda.

I usually make it halfway then throw it in the slow cooker so that I can go about my day & not have to worry about my stove being on if I leave the house.

A little bonus is that slow cooking your chili also gives the flavors a chance to really develop & meld together leaving you with one delicious ol’ bowl of goodness!

The chili I am sharing with you today has to be one of my absolute FAVORITES!!

(and not just because I make it).

But be forewarned: It is not for the faint of heart.

I use roasted poblano chiles, jalapeños cayenne pepper, chili powder, & ground chipotle peppers to really layer the spicy flavors. Sounds downright ulcerative, right?

But I find that by adding all the different chiles to it, you don’t just get a mean burn on your tongue when you taste it. You actually get a smoky, roasted spiciness that lingers on your tastebuds just long enough for you to enjoy it.

That being said:

I cannot stress enough that this WILL be spicy.

You may NOT be able to handle it.

You may need something to DRINK.

To this I say :

Grab a beer.

Put on the game.

MAN UP

& eat some damn chili.

ENJOY!!

(more…)

I don’t really care for goodbyes.

It might just be me but I think they are kind of awkward & sad.

The worst part is that there are so many ways to accomplish this sad awkwardness:

There’s the weird hug that lingers just long enough to make you drop your arms hoping it signals “let go of me” but the other person still keeps on hugging…so you slowly raise your arms back up to keep hugging them only to have them pull away and leave you there with your arms weirdly outstretched….

There’s the weird “handshake-hug-high-five-confusion” that happens with people you kind-of-sort-of-know just well enough to be confused as to where your relationship stands at this very moment…

There’s the uncomfortable “waving-goodbye-from-a-foot-away” which I feel is like a slightly less bitchy way of saying, “I’d really prefer if you wouldn’t physically touch me as we part”…

There’s the “oh-yeah-and-one-more-thing” goodbye which leads to the “saying-goodbye-five-times-before-you-actually-leave” goodbye.

There’s the “I’m-saying-goodbye-to-a-kiss-on-the-cheek-goodbye-kinda-person” that leaves you feeling like you are either better looking than you thought you were or like someone just over-shared about their last OB/GYN visit.

Yeah…I don’t really wake up in the morning missing that one.

Lucky for me, I chose friends that are none of the above.

For instance, when a friend recently left on a trip to Ireland for 6 weeks, not one person shed a single tear or waved goodbye 6-inches away from my face.

Yup, my friends are pretty awesome & socially appropriate.

So in order to thank my Ireland-bound buddy for not being weird & never ever kissing me on the cheek, I made her these Guinness Irish Cream Cupcakes!

They are a delicious mix of Irish whiskey, Irish Cream, Guinness,
chocolate & buttercream.
If you don’t happen to have any store brand Irish cream on hand (for example, the Bailey’s I pictured above), you can make your own using my Homemade Irish Cream recipe. This recipe will make more than enough liqueur to make the frosting with leftovers for Irish Coffee’s all week long.
Who said St. Patrick’s Day can’t be St. Patrick’s week?

Even though these cupcakes were pretty boozy, I promise no one over-hugged each other & there wasn’t even one Irish goodbye said that night (google it!)

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Month: September 2013

Slow Cooker Roasted Poblano Pepper Chili

Guinness Irish Cream Cupcakes