April make this yummy dip. It was a big hit and it is full of protein to keep the party going. The recipe and the photo come from Taste of Home.

*** As an added bonus to these potluck recipes, I’m adding a Little Known Amazing Random Fact at the end of the post. I found these on a page I follow on Instagram and I can honestly say, I knew none of them! Be sure to check them out and let me know if you knew any.

Tuscan Sausage & Bean Dip

• 1 pound bulk hot Italian sausage
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 8-ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 package (6 ounces) fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 15-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup chopped seeded tomatoes
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• Assorted crackers or toasted French bread baguette slices

Until Saturday, November 12th, all of my immediate family were unicorns. Have you heard of them? A unicorn is now what an individual who has not contracted Covid-19 in these past long 2 3/4 years is referred to.

One of our unicorns has fallen. Jeff, who has been going into the office once again, contracted Covid-19. Upon waking up on that Saturday morning with a fever, he subsequently took a test to learn the bad news. He immediately began quarantining in the master bedroom. Marissa tested and was negative. I did not want to waste a test, since I don’t have as much direct contact with Jeff, deciding instead to only test if Marissa or Max came down with it.

Jeff had a rough Sunday, that is until we got him some Paxlovid. He is feeling better each day, told to quarantine for five days from contraction, so he will be testing again Thursday to see if he is negative and able to join the world again. (masked, for an additional 5 days, in accordance with the doctor’s orders)

As I type this, it is currently Tuesday, November 15th, Marissa tests daily, so far, so good! I fly out on Sunday morning to be home in time for Thanksgiving with my fellow unicorns, Connor, Dave, and my dad. Keeping my fingers crossed that all stays well and that M & M and I continue to be unicorns too!

Along with the Shrimp Creole that Connor requested on his birthday, I made him some classic Red Beans and Rice.

My recipe uses three types of pork; a ham hock, cured salt pork and andouille sausage.

The recipe calls for 12 ounces of cured salt pork. You’ll buy a 12-ounce package and trim off most of the fat. As you can see in the photo above, once you’ve done that, you’ll end up with about 8 ounces of pork to use for the beans. Discard the fat.

These red beans are even better if they are made the day before, refrigerated overnight, and reheated before use. Just be sure to reheat slowly and add water, if needed, to prevent them from drying out.

Oh, and I just use a simple electric rice cooker for my rice. Generally speaking, rice will triple when cooked, so 1 cup of raw rice will yield about 3 cups of cooked rice. I used 1 ½ cups dry rice for this recipe.

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My BFF, Peggy, and I try to walk in the early morning hours at least 4 or 5 days a week. Either she drives to my house or I drive to her’s and we walk our neighborhoods.

When I entered her house a couple of weeks ago, I smelled something delicious. She said she had made Green Chile Stew for a family dinner.

From the smell alone, I knew I HAD to have the recipe. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but Peggy’s a great cook. She didn’t have a written recipe but she did share that she’d found a new product at Trader Joe’s that made her stew super easy.

Do Tell!

Hatch Valley Salsa! I’m not sure how long they’ll have the salsa in stores since Hatch chiles are seasonal, so get over there and grab a bunch while you can.

After our walk, I drove directly to Trader Joe’s and bought seven jars of the stuff!

Then … on the morning of the Craft Party, I browned up a bunch of pork and when Peggy came early to help me set up, I made her help me put the stew together. Below is the delicious result!

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While Sheila and I are living it up here in Coronado, this healthy and hearty soup is served as our lunch one day and dinner the next. You do need to remember to soak the beans the night before, otherwise, it is pretty straightforward. Unlike yesterday, this time the photos nearly match how I describe to do it, nearly. I just had to use two baking dishes for the roasting of the vegetables, if you have a dish that is large enough, just use one.

If you have leftovers when reheating be certain to add a bit more water to thin out the soup. It thickens considerably as it cools.

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Earlier this week, Marissa sent me an email at 12:05 PM, asking me to make a pumpkin and lentil chili recipe for the blog.

By 1:17 PM, a mere 1 hour and 12 minutes later, I was sending her a text with a photo of the chili cooking away. Yep, that’s how I roll.

This pumpkin chili goes together quickly and there are very few dishes to wash – a chef’s knife, 1 measuring cup, 1 set of measuring spoons, a strainer, a spoon or spatula to stir with, and the pot it cooks in… not bad for 16 delicious and super healthy servings… for a crowd, a party, or a big family dinner. Plus, if it’s for a little family dinner, no fear, it freezes great!

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This salad comes together quickly. The pasta takes ten minutes to cook and while that is boiling away, you just have to chop up a few things and then toss it all together in a bowl… and you’re done. Easy and quick, right?

You’ll only be using half of a can of beans. Refrigerate the rest and add it to another salad later on or mash with a little olive oil, garlic, minced cilantro, salt, and pepper and you have a tasty little bean dip.

The feta I used is, of course, from Trader Joe’s and I love the addition of the Mediterranean herbs. Oh, and crumbled goat cheese would be a lovely cheese to use instead of feta.

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Succotash is a hot bean and corn dish that was  popular during the Great Depression because of the ingredients were more readily available than most other foods and relatively less expensive. I’m not a fan of traditional succotash… but turn it into a cold salad with basil dressing, and I’m all in!

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It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and the last thing any of us wants to eat is turkey or chicken! In fact, today – the day and night before Turkey Day – is the biggest day for pizza delivery for the entire year! Bigger than Super Bowl Sunday, bigger than New Year’s Eve (we always ordered delivery pizza for our kids that night just as we were heading out the door), and bigger than any other day! Why??? Because everyone is sick of cooking, the refrigerators are full, and we are all anticipating cooking and eating turkey tomorrow!

In honor of the “no poultry” unwritten rule, I’ve got some spicy chili for your dining pleasure. I purchased a package of chorizo bolita at the Mexican market thinking I was going to be trying some new and exciting style of chorizo.  After some internet research, I learned that chorizo bolita is just regular chorizo in little links. Bolita means pellets. Oh well, I tried, and it turns out it is a convenient way to buy chorizo. You can cut off as many links as you need and then repackage and freeze the rest in smaller amounts. I used 3 pellets, or about 5 ounces, for this chili recipe. Plus I really wanted to cook and slice the chorizo as links instead of cooking and crumbling it as I usually do.  Removing the casing very carefully and then cooking the links in a bit of water, gave me the exact result I was looking for.

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Last month my dad was in Colorado visiting friends and shopping for beans. OK, not exactly shopping for beans, but he had offered to pick up some anasazi beans for my cousin, Dennice, and some pinto beans for a friend of his. Dennice was thinking he’d get her a pound or two of beans, but in my dad’s usual style, he brought home a 10-pound bag. Really, who needs 10-pounds of dried beans?  I offered to take three pounds off her hands, at $1.20 a pound, they were a steal. If you haven’t seen anasazi beans before, they are pretty cool looking, but honestly, they taste about the same as a kidney bean, and once cooked, they lose most of their good looks. Plus they are a lot more expensive than plain-Jane kidney beans as you can see from THIS LINK on Amazon.  Anasazi beans have been available commercially only since 1983, check out THIS LINK to learn more about them… and just about every other bean you might be even remotely interested in. So, feel free to substitute kidney beans in this recipe. And if you don’t want to go to the time (overnight soaking) and trouble of starting with dried beans, use three 15-ounce cans of kidney or pinto beans, drained and reserving the liquid. You’ll be adding that liquid (or the cooking liquid from the dried beans) to the chili. If you don’t have a full 3 cups of liquid to add, supplement with either tap water, vegetable broth, or chicken broth.

The thing that makes this chili special is the blend of three pure chile powders; California, ancho, and chipotle. Do me a favor – go pull out the jar or can of McCormick or Shilling chili powder you have in your spice cabinet. Now look at the ingredients; it probably reads something like this – Ingredients: chili peppers, cumin, oregano, salt, garlic, and silicon dioxide. That’s right, plain chili powder is more than just plain. So buy a selection of pure chile powders and you will be able to control the season of things you use chile powder in. If you want to kick it up a bit, add more chipotle chile powder, to taste. Most grocery stores now carry all three of these chile powders, and you can always find them at Cost Plus World Market.

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