Snow, Memorial Day, Crock Pot, Supper

Woke up to snow although it didn't seem to be much but it continued to snow and snow, a very light but continuous fall. In the end the roads, locally, where white as anything and Matt was quite certain we shouldn't go bowling. He does seem to get in a tizz about driving in the snow, particularly because of other drivers. I was actually not feeling all that brilliant in the morning anyway, so we didn't go. Not the only ones, about 10 people didn't turn up we were told.

Poor ladydog, she belongs to a band (actually a couple of them), plays the French horn, and they were due to play in a local township for Memorial Day at their cenotaph. Outside of course, I have no doubt she froze as it would have snowed right through the time she was outside.

Later in the afternoon, one of the owners of the bowling alley called to pick up my crock pot for his son. I was glad to give it to someone we know. Apparently son and girlfriend work different shifts so it will be great for them to come home to a hot meal. He told us this morning there had been an idiot driving at 50 mph around a roundabout in the snow.

Made chili in my Instant Pot - so easy - and we enjoyed it for supper. Then, after Jeopardy we watched The Dirty Dozen which is a favourite movie of mine. Have you seen it, if not you should.

Easy Instant Pot Chili

Cook time

Total time

This Instant Pot chili is amazing! Just dump all the ingredients in the Instant Pot and have this mouthwatering chili for dinner 25 minutes later! EASIEST CHILI EVER!

Author: MelanieCooks.com

Recipe type: Main Dish

Cuisine: American

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef or turkey
• 2 cans (15 oz each) black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (14 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1½ tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup water

Instructions

1. Put all ingredients except water in the Instant Pot. Mix with a spoon until the meat is broken up and all ingredients are combined.
2. With a spoon, make a well in the middle of the meat mixture so the bottom of the pot is exposed, and pour ½ cup of water there.
3. Close the Instant Pot and turn the valve to a Sealing position.
4. Press the "Pressure Cook" or "Manual" button and set the time to 20 minutes on High pressure.
5. When the Instant Pot is done cooking, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then quick release (QR) the remaining steam.

Notes

If using frozen ground meat, dump all ingredients in the Instant Pot and skip the step of mixing them (since you can't mix a frozen solid block of meat). Add 5 minutes to the cooking time. After the chili is cooked, break up the meat into small chunks and mix everything together.

Have a great day

Calais, Allergies, Book

I was looking at some pictures on my bedroom wall the other day - you know how you suddenly "see" things which have been there for ever. They are of scenes painted in Paris, France and I was remembering how I bought them. We were in Calais, France at the time and wandering around a market and fairground when I saw them and decided to buy. I had to have them framed and whilst we were waiting I remember riding a chairoplane (I don't suppose there are such things these days, way too tame); the friends I was with were all trying to scare the Bejasus out of me by grabbing my chair from behind. I certainly wouldn't ride on one today, I would be scared the thing would break. The prints were from paintings by, I believe, a fairly well known French artist. Strangely enough, I saw one of them on the wall of a bedroom in a scene in our favourite English comedy "As Time Goes By" and I saw another of them in something else from the UK recently, don't remember what it was. This is one of the pictures and as you can see, I couldn't manage to take it without the flash, it came out black, and with the flash you lose some of the river. But you can see what the picture is about. Well, what a lousy day Sunday turned out to be. As I said, we were going out for a dim sum lunch. About 6 a.m. I started sneezing and snuffling and by the time I got up I had a full blown allergy attack and was feeling pretty rough. At 10 I had a phone call from the friends that we were going with and they were in the same boat. So, no dim sum this weekend. I was told by someone, many years ago, that Ontario was the allergy capital of the world. These days I believe it. I never used to have allergy attacks like this, I used to feel superior to those who did and think it was nonsense. Did I ever get my punishment for that. I forgot to mention I am reading the rest of Marcus Herniman's Trilogy, the one I am reading now is The Treason of Dortrean and it is a good book. It is even signed "To Jo from Marcus" which is really nice to have. I was annoyed I couldn't read last night, but my eyes were streaming so badly I couldn't see. I am still suffering a bit today, but not nearly as much as I was. I thought I might not be able to bowl, but I should be OK by the afternoon. Because I thought we were going out for lunch, I just threw a few things in the crockpot for supper. Lots of veg and some stewing beef with appropriate seasonings. It wasn't bad, Matt enjoyed it, by then I would have enjoyed a plate of carboard as much. Here is another recipe from my Hot and Spicy Cookbook. We get catfish in this part of the world, if you don't get it where you live, I have no doubt you could substitute with other fish. Fried Catfish Fillets with Piquant Sauce Spicty fillets of catfish are fried in a herby batter and served with a wonderfully tasty sauce to create this excellent supper dish. Serves 4 1 egg 1/4 C olive oil squeeze of lemon juice 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh dill 4 catfish fillets (cod or haddock would be good) 1/2 C flour 2 Tbs butter salt and freshly ground black pepper For the sauce: 1 egg yolk 2 Tbs Dijon mustard 2 Tbs white wine vinegar 2 tsp paprika 1 1/4 C olive oil 2 Tbs prepared horseradish 1/2 tsp chopped garlic 1 celery stick, chopped 2 Tbs tomato ketchup 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 1/2 tsp salt. For the sauce, combine the egg yolk, mustard, vinegar and paprika in a mixing bowl. Add the oil in a thin stream, beating vigorously with a wire whisk to blnd in. When the mixture is smooth and thick, beat in all the other sauce ingredients. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Combine the egg, 1 tbs olive oil, the lemon juice, dill and a little salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Beat until well combined. Dip both sides of the fish in the egg and herb mixture, then coat lightly with flour, shaking off any excess. Heat the butter with the remaining olive oil in a large heavy based frying pan. Add the fish and fry until they are golden brown on both sides and cooked, for about 8-10 minutes. To test they are done, insert the point of a sharp knife into the fish - the flesh should be opaque in the centre. Serve the fried fish hot, accompanied by the piquant sauce in a dish. Have a great day.