Second, my fingers are pruney!!! I've had them in dishwater more times in last two days than I have in all the time since Thanksgiving! Yesterday was baking day and I churned out 6 baked batches of cookies and still have two more chilling in the fridge ready to bake. I made my Mom's A+ English Toffee Bars...
her A+ Snickerdoodles...
Mint M & M Cookies, Chocolate Crinkles, Triple Ginger Snaps and Cinnamon Drops!
I still have to roll out Edna's Eggnog Logs and Crispy Butterscotch Toffee Cookies. I still want to make Oatmeal Raisin, Buckeyes and maybe Chocolate Chip. Oh, and Molasses cookies. The problem is that the cookies I like, my husband turns his nose up and the ones he likes, I'm kind of lukewarm to. So we end up with lots of cookies! He's going to take a big platter to work later this week and we'll send some to California for my stepdaughter and I'm sure the two college guys won't let them go stale.
Tonight I made Chicken Enchiladas for my work potluck tomorrow. I use the rotisserie chicken from our local grocery store, vegan refried beans, corn tortillas and Monterey Jack cheese. I made a batch of homemade sauce with olive oil, a finely chopped white onion, 4 mashed cloves of garlic...sweat those out til soft, then add cocoa powder, oregano, cumin, hot smoked paprika, chili powder, Kosher salt, a large can of Muir Organic Fire-Roasted diced tomatoes and about 1 1/2 c. low salt chicken broth. Let that simmer, taste it and add a little cayenne and black pepper to just give it a bit of kick. You don't want to over power it with heat. I put a little sauce in the bottom of my casserole-just enough to wet the bottom of the dish. Then I heat the corn tortillas in a hot skillet with just a touch of olive oil, stack em up and then, put a stripe of beans, chicken and cheese down the middle of each and roll them up and pack them in. For a potluck casserole, I tuck them in very tightly. Then pour the remainder of the sauce over the top, then top with Monterey Jack and cover. I'll bake it at about 425 in a convection oven tomorrow for 35-40 minutes or until the middle is 170 degrees. I am using a Staub Cast Iron roasting pan, which is like a 9 X 13 on steroids. That sauce smelled fabulous while it was simmering. MMMM Can't wait to dig into those tomorrow!
Don't you just want to stick a fork in these (after baking, of course...)?
I'm actually pretty tired. I was awake early this morning, fearing a case of the Mondays. I was laying in bed and the moment I blinked, our dog was all TIME TO GET UP I WANT TO GO OUT! So, I got up. Shuffled on to the front door. Fortunately our dog is a good boy and doesn't wander off, he knows the yard boundaries and won't take off. Our front door is solid and bordered by two full length window side-lights. I usually look out the front dining room window before letting the dog out, first to make sure the neighbor's dog Finn isn't out (they like to bark HELLO! GOOD MORNING! to each other) and to assure no deer are in the yard. We have a number of deer in our neighborhood (two 8-point bucks sat in our yard most of Saturday) and while Shane doesn't bother them, I've seen Youtube videos of deer kicking dog's fannies. No thanks.
Anyhow, I glanced out and didn't see any deer, so I unlocked the front door and flipped on the light and got the surprise of my life when a deer peeked around the door and looked right in the sidelight window about 3" from my face. We have the Gladys Cravitz of deer living in our neighborhood. We both stood there staring at each other. I stepped to the right and looked out the dining room window and also standing on the porch right behind Gladys was her friend Edna and in the yard lining up to get a look in our window where their two cousins, Eunice and Dorcas. Four deer all ready to come on in and have a cup of coffee with me. Shane of course had his legs crossed and couldn't figure out why the usual routine of unlock-light on-door open-go pee isn't happening.
I ran down the hall to get my husband because I knew he'd never believe that a deer was ready to ring our doorbell or at the very least, check under the welcome rug for the key. So he came out to the hallway and looked, but by now Gladys was off the porch and walking down the sidewalk to the yard. I opened the front door and clapped my hands and rather than flag their tails and take off, they just looked at me. I think they were expecting an invitation in. I stepped off the porch and waved my arms and said.."Shoo! Go on, git!!" (Yes, Minnesotans say "GIT") (Usually followed with a "yah, you betcha") So they sauntered, no, really, it was a stroll, over to the vacant lot across the street. At last I let Shane out and the deer just stood there watching him. I'm sure they are currently plotting how they'll kidnap him and make him give up the secrets of the garage door code so they don't have to fuss with keys.
We suspect they were either trying to eat the fresh greenery boughs we have hanging on our porch railing or nibbling on the cedar and eucalyptus in our wreath on the front door.
Good thing hunting season is over, I can't imagine some hunter bagging a deer with Vicks breath.
Go on, Git, Gladys.
I've kinda faded after I read toffee bars.... recipe??
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