Capturing December: Day 22

{ Christmas Tradition }

Something I always try to do each Christmas time, is to make chocolate fudge!  Yum!  My grandmother used to always make it, and since it is chocolate, how can I resist to carry on that tradition?!  =)

I follow the Original Fantasy Fudge recipe...with the exception that I use a bag of mini marshmallows instead of the marshmallow creme and I don't put in the walnuts.

Capturing December: Day 11

{ A Recipe }

It's that time of year again!  The cold, dark, wintry nights just beg for some slow cooked comfort food!    And chili is one of the best!  Of course, we don't mind eating it year 'round even when it's hot!  And I've even heard recently, that many people eat it for Christmas because it's no-fuss and enables you to spend more time with family!  We also like to make it for Sunday dinner.  This slow cooker recipe is perfect for putting it in the crockpot on low, leaving for church, and then coming home to an instant yummy lunch!  But for whatever the occasion, I hope you find it delicious!

• Crystal's Chili

• 
  

  1 lb. ground beef (the more lean, the better)

  1 cup diced onion

  3 cups water

  3 beef bouillon cubes

  * Boil the above ingredients together until the meat is cooked through. Transfer to a crockpot, then add:
  
  1 can (15 oz.) pinto beans (optional)
  1 can (8 oz.) of your favorite salsa
  24 oz. of tomato sauce
  2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
  1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  
  Next add these spices:
  (which could also be made up into packets to always keep on hand)
  
  3 Tbsp. brown sugar

  3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

  2 tsp. cornstarch

  1 tsp. garlic powder

  1 tsp. cinnamon

  1/2 tsp. ground cumin

  1/2 tsp. salt

  1/2 tsp. ground pepper

  1/4 tsp. ground cloves

  
  

  * Mix all ingredients well in the crockpot. Cook on low for 4-6 hrs. Top with shredded cheese and/or sour cream along with some oyster crackers. A side of garlic toast made from french bread goes great with this dish too! Enjoy!

  
  

  

A New "Tasty" Tradition

There are some simple pleasures of living in Mexico...and 'tacos al pastor' is one of them! In fact, it has become our new Wednesday night tradition.

We eat on a entirely different meal schedule here. I'm not even sure it's entirely Mexican time, but it's just how our meals have evolved while living here. We eat breakfast between 8-10 am, lunch between 1-3 pm, and supper usually between 7-9 pm. So with this schedule, Wed. night church kind of comes in the middle of our supper time. But, we found a great solution! Enter, 'tacos al pastor!'

- Yum! Just add some onion, cilantro, pineapple bits, and salsa. -

After dropping people off from church, we just swing by our favorite taco stand, order some 'tacos al pastor' to go and then head home. For less than $10, our whole family can eat some of the best food ever created...and the best part, I don't have to prepare a thing for it!

I have tried making them once myself, with okay results. I will definitely keep trying different recipes until I find one that works for me. Obviously, most of us don't own a spit/rotisserie to give the authentic taste, but below I listed two different sites that give some background on the dish itself, and then includes a recipe if you would like to try this deliciousness at home!

Link 1 for 'tacos al pastor' recipe

Link 2 for 'tacos al pastor' recipe

Let me know if you try them, and if you can find the dried chiles in your local stores. Oh, and I would definitely recommend the longer marinating time.

Celebrating the 4th

I hope y'all had a happy 4th of July! We spent a very relaxing day together. Of course, the day would not be complete without trying to get some pics! =)

I gave the table a little patriotic love.

Time to eat! While listening to the a cappella group Voices of Liberty, we enjoyed grilled hotdogs, mac-n-cheese, chips and dip, and of course, some good 'ole Mexican coke!!!

I even tried my hand at making cake pops! I followed the directions from this blog. They were surprisingly good, but very rich!

And, we ended our day by making smores with our charcoal grill!! The kids loved it!

Even though we're celebrating July 4th this year far from America and family, we're PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!! May God Bless the U.S.A.!!!

Valentine's Day Cookies

A Time To Celebrate

Yesterday was Michael's birthday!
We had a special day together as a family.

We started our day off with a breakfast/brunch of homemade sticky buns, fresh pineapple, and a creamsicle slushie. Yum!I used this recipe here for the sticky buns (minus the orange zest and chopped pecans) and then I added an icing glaze for on top. Below is my recipe for the Creamsicle Slushie.

Creamsicle Slushie
2 cups Orange Juice
1 cup Lemon-Lime Soda
2 snack packs Vanilla Pudding
15 Ice Cubes

Pulse in a blender. Serve.
(Fills approx. 4 drinking glasses)

For supper, we treated ourselves to Pizza Hut pizza, some PA Middlesworth Barbeque chips, Mexican Coke, and I made a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. Aaahhh...such bliss!

Since it was a special day, my camera came out from hiding, and we snapped some other pictures besides birthday celebrations.

Tacos, anyone?

We recently enjoyed tacos & quesadillas at our favorite taco stand in Guanajuato. Michael's favorite is 'tacos al pastor'...pork meat cooked on a spit then shaved off, and then diced pineapple (from on top of the spit), cilantro, and onion are added to small corn tortillas to complete the dish. Served with salsas and guacamole.

Life in our Household

This is what one does when they don't take a pie plate to MX with them, and there's not many cookware options at the house they are staying at...but, they really want a strawberry pie...

...introducing the new "Frying Pie Pan!" (hey, it worked!)

And this is what one child does for play...may I introduce you to "Goliath!" Not only does he use the bat for a sword, but also a pillow for a shield. I do believe he gets his imagination from his Dad...!

Can Anybody Help Me?

Well, by now, most of you know that I enjoy cooking, baking, etc...but, I have a problem! I can bake bread...but, homemade biscuits and me don't get along!! I have tried many, many different recipes to no avail. I currently have a recipe that tastes good, but is not the consistency I like. I'm looking for a biscuit that is light and fluffy (or just something that raises well - unlike mine)!!

So I had this thought. Ask my faithful few blog readers. Could you please leave me a comment with your favorite tried-n-true biscuit recipe? I'll not promise (just in case), but I will do my best to try and make each recipe I receive! I'll definitely let you know how they all turn out! Maybe I'll have to think up a prize or something...is that any inspiration?

I can't wait...my mixing bowl and wooden spoon are ready and waiting for those "delicioso" recipes to come piling into my comment section!! (Oh, sorry! Was that too dramatic???!!!)

Freezing Strawberries

Yep, this is what I've been doing recently...Monday evening, we stopped and got two baskets of strawberries...and I did actually manage to get some froze without eating them all!!!

The Scent of Fall

Fall is probably my favorite time of year!

This picture of my sister and I was taken in the fall...October 2004, I think. Thanks to Doris Hoffman from our home church who took the picture...it will always be one of my favorites!

I don't have many fall decorations...but I do have the above fall swag that I'm using for a centerpiece on our table, along with a yummy apple scented candle!

Another favorite thing about fall is...APPLES!

My mom and sister shared with me this different apple dumpling recipe, so I'll pass it on to you.

APPLE DUMPLINGS

2 apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
cinnamon
1 small can Mountain Dew

Directions: Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9x13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Personally, I'd like to try it a couple of different ways. I don't think it needs quite so much butter or sugar...and I'd like to try it with brown sugar instead of white...? I also used 1 can of crescent rolls and cut them in half. We don't have refrigerated crescent rolls down here, so the ones I bring in from the states, I try to use sparingly!!

They were good though (especially with the homemade vanilla ice cream!!). Leave me a comment if you try them, how you did it, and what you think!

Yummy!

Anybody up for some strawberry shortcake?

We've got tons of strawberries here! I've heard many statistics about this area being the # (?) strawberry capital of the world...but it's never the same number, so I'll refrain from misguiding any of you readers. Suffice it to say, I counted 35 of these little strawberry stands on our way to church the other day.

Come and visit! We'll treat you to some strawberries!

Cookin' Food

Well, not too much going on here out of the ordinary! Actually, that's a good thing! I've been doing some baking recently and thought I would share a few pictures.

The other day, I finally found some 'normal' peaches! The ones they had previously had around here were very small, hard to cut, and extremely juicy! Peach pie is one of my favorite fruit pies, so I thought I would try using those peaches for a dessert. After fighting with the peaches trying to get what little fruit I could, I decided it was hopeless. Now, for whatever reason, they have the larger 'normal' peaches available. So, what did I do? Aaahhh...I made a peach pie!!!

I also made rolls that same day to go with our supper. I used my mother-in-laws recipe. Mmm...Mmm...Good!!

And then yesterday, I made a snack for our weekly Bible Study group at church. I made 60 mini-snickerdoodles.

Hey...I can't communicate very well with the people yet, so for now, I can cook for them!