Happily Wrong

Weather guy said we were going to wake up to a couple of inches of fresh Spring snow, lucky for us , he was wrong. 

There were a couple of flakes this afternoon - but nothing stuck. Was a cold sunny day.

THE THINGS YOU MISS ....

in a day with out blogging.

95 years ago , yesterday - 

SCOTT MARRIED ZELDA.

( fountains were never as safe afterwards )

Chag sameach!

Yesterday.

 Yes , PASSOVER greetings with a bunny and chick cake and a ham - just wrong.

Note to self : DO NOT go to the Pittsford Wegmans three hours before sunset on the first day of Passover. Crazy crowded - and not really restocked yet. Flower section was a man house - and for what ever reason out of Wegmans French mustard ?

today

First really SPRING like day we have had - shirtsleeves warm.

Maybe Koda's last roll in the snow till the fall!

Getting All Sun Tzu on ya'll

Following the full collapse of the far right in Arkansas and Indiana over the last couple of days,  I dipped into the well of pure schadenfreude last night and watched as much as I could of Fox News.

For the most part same old same old " It is so darn hard being a wealthy white Christian in America these days " , intertwined with BE AFRAID! BE AFRAID! BE AFRAID! and iced with " you know the President is a black man, right ? "




It was only on in the background as Sean Hannity came on at 10, I was doing other stuff . I had not watched this show in a long long time, and maybe never from the start. Not starting with the RFRA uproar at all, but going straight into WAR! WAR! WAR! and WAR NOW ! Hannity zipped though like 5 guys telling us that Iran was the great Satan until this segment happened." And now our good pal Pat Buchanan " - wanting to see just how tin foil hatted they could go I paid attention.

A good sign that you have gone to far into bat shit land is when Patrick J Buchanan is a voice of reason.

ooops ...

Last Wednesday was not the last in Lent - Holy Week is still Lent.  Hey, cut me some slack, Im a Druid/Jewish/Zoroastrian who lately has been doing a lot of reading about Sikhism (  it only takes one really cute guy ) this stuff is still fairly new to me.

But I made soup!

( and took really crappy pictures ) 

I needed to make something pretty basic, never knowing who is going to show up and my last one , which was very good to me, may not have been to the masses - and we did have some town folk show up that night. So, basic and also pretty fast : CHICKEN TORTILLA !  

I went with THE PIONEER WOMAN'S recipe and it turned out really well.

Ingredients

• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1-1/2 teaspoon Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 cup Diced Onion
• 1/4 cup Diced Green Bell Pepper
• 1/4 cup Red Bell Pepper
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 can (10 Oz. Can) Rotel Tomatoes And Green Chilies
• 32 ounces, fluid Low Sodium Chicken Stock
• 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 4 cups Hot Water
• 2 cans (15 Oz. Can) Black Beans, Drained
• 3 Tablespoons Cornmeal Or Masa
• 5 whole Corn Tortillas, Cut Into Uniform Strips Around 2 To 3 Inches
•  _____
•  FOR THE GARNISHES:
•  Sour Cream
•  Diced Avocado
•  Diced Red Onion
•  Salsa Or Pico De Gallo
•  Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
•  Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cumin, chili pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on chicken breasts, then sprinkle a small amount of spice mix on both sides. Set aside the rest of the spice mix.

Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Use two forks to shred chicken. Set aside. 

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add onions, red pepper, green pepper, and minced garlic. Stir and begin cooking, then add the rest of the spice mix. Stir to combine, then add shredded chicken and stir.

Pour in Rotel, chicken stock, tomato paste, water, and black beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered. 

Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water. Pour into the soup, then simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Check seasonings, adding more if needed---add more chili powder if it needs more spice, and be sure not to undersalt. Turn off heat and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Five minutes before serving, gently stir in tortilla strips. 

Ladle into bowls, then top with sour cream, diced red onion, diced avocado, pico de gallo, and grated cheese, if you have it! (The garnishes really make the soup delicious.)

This is a most tasty soup! I did not season the chicken - because I did not read ahead on the recipe, so I just added all the spice with the garlic but did everything else pretty much as she told me - I did use three really large chicken breasts - you can use only two , like she says and it will be fine.

KODA AND GIANT BABY

Moonrise over Honeoye Falls

Lester Maddox says it's not about race.... errrr Mike Pence says it's not about the gays.

From JMG : "The only sensitivity training we need is to respect every person. Tolerance is the most misused word in the English language. Tolerance means you can say really horrible nasty things that I hate and offend me. That’s how we get along. You have a right to be mean -- a right to be nasty to people. 

That’s how this country works, because we have thick skins and we aren’t offended.  Should a gay or lesbian-owned printshop have to print signs for the Westboro Baptists that say ‘God hates fags’? Should a Jewish printshop have to make signs for the KKK? Should a kosher deli have to serve non-kosher food? It’s a two-way street. Tolerance is a two-way street. If you’re saying that ‘your religious liberties are not as important as my -- fill in the blank,’ then I’ve got a problem with that." - Rick Santorum, speaking to students at George Washington University.


Seriously, are we as a nation this backwards thinking - I thought we had already covered this ....





This video is just amazing, and it is in my lifetime IN MIDTOWN ATLANTA .