Friday Morning

[wsantia1]

Good morning everyone. Hopefully you are all well. Barb you are especially in my thoughts. It is colder than I like this morning with the temp at 25 degrees when I woke up. The sun is out now and we are supposed to get to high of 50F this afternoon. Winter is already here folks.

I have lots of work to do in the fishroom where things are a little out of control. I need to do water changes and move a bunch of fish around so I can get these small tanks really clean.

With the Christmas season upon us I've been invited to several Christmas parties that unfortunately I won't be able to attend. I am going to NYC for Christmas and I can't afford to get sick by being around people that I don't really know so I am being extra careful.

I am getting ready to start working on these tanks now so I will check you all out later. Have a great day everyone.

[Ron Sower]

Good morning Willie, et. al....

We got busy yesterday...we cleaned house first thing, then I went to the grocery store to pick up some more items for making our green chili chicken soup for dinner after our card game in the afternoon.... I have to say the girls ruled yesterday and the boys drooled... But then we played a consolation hand and we boys beat them nicely on that one... however, the soup made up for our loss... It was delicious...after our friends left, my business partner came by and we chatted for a long time...he left at about 10pm...

Today, Lucy and Barb are going to pick up all the fixings for the holiday meal at our club meeting on Sunday... And I'll be working on some finishing touches and things for the meeting... It looks like we're going to have close to 100 people show up which is our max This time... They can't cook anymore than that in the ovens we have at our clubhouse... Also today, I'll go by one of our pet stores and pick up donations they're offering for our raffles and auction... Two other council members have been going to all our other sponsor LFSs and getting loads of items that are donated to us...

Our temp right now is 61 and will reach 67 or thereabouts today...the light cloud cover will make us feel cooler than if the sun were out...I know, you think I'm whining...! I'm just stating facts! ...I'm certainly glad we don't get the low temps you guys over there get!...

After the meeting Sunday my shrimp buddy is coming to the house and we're going to discuss how to do more business together with his shrimps and my plants...he brought it up yesterday, although I'd been thinking about it...he has a strong local reputation in our area for his shrimp and is now developing a piscatorial move into the nano-tank field...we'll see where this might lead...

I hope all of you have a great day...I'll look in later to see what's up with Barb, Liz, and anyone else who drops in for a chat!...
Happy aquariuming!...

[LizStreithorst]

Hi gentlemen.  Today is a another good back day.  When I went to the supermarket I didn't even use their electric cart.  I did get a little more cleaning done yesterday.  Nothing big, but progress nonetheless.  I've decided to just be lazy today and enjoy a good back day rather than seeing what I can to without turning tomorrow into a bad back day.

I win the prize today as far as the weather.  It was chilly this morning but it will hit 70 later.  Only a few clouds in the sky.  My kind of weather.

Ron, I'd like your recipe for the green chili soup.  I'm thinking of making a Thai green chili chicken recipe later in the week.  The chili with beans I made yesterday is to die for.  I added so many extra veggies that I had to add 2 more cans of beans to balance it out.  I'll post the recipe, but I wouldn't mess with modifying it like I did unless your pretty good at playing with recipes. 

Barb, you'll have your normal life back after tomorrow.  We all have you in our heads and hearts right now.

3 pounds stew meat (beef, pork, and/or lamb)

2 teaspoons peanut oil

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 (12-ounce) bottle of beer, preferably a medium ale

1 (16-ounce) container salsa

30 tortilla chips

2 chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce, chopped

1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin
Directions

Place the meat in a large mixing bowl and toss with the peanut oil and salt. Set aside.
Heat a 6-quart heavy-bottomed pressure cooker over high heat until hot. Add the meat in 3 or 4 batches and brown on all sides, approximately 2 minutes per batch. Once each batch is browned, place the meat in a clean large bowl.
Once all of the meat is browned, add the beer to the cooker to deglaze the pot.
Scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the meat back to the pressure cooker along with the salsa, tortilla chips, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, and ground cumin and stir to combine. Lock the lid in place according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the steam begins to hiss out of the cooker, reduce the heat to low, just enough to maintain a very weak whistle. Cook for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully release the steam. Serve immediately.

[Barb]

Hi folks, thank you all for thinking of me. There have been more glitches, hope they are all taken care of by tomorrow at noon.  And to make matters worse I had to take one of my 4 girl cats to the vet this morning to be euthanized.  No need to go into it all now, but she is now buried in one of my flower gardens, 2' deep and will always have flowers planted over her each spring.  This was my Sadie.  I  miss her already even though she had many problems in her 12 years.

I am dog sitting my grand dog Chihuahua, Oliver, right now while his parents are out eating dinner downtown and having some fun.  Son and his GF get here tomorrow before the funeral at noon.  I am OK, just rather overwhelmed right now.
Barb