Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sunday Miscellany

I've had several things I've been meaning to write about and others that I need to update, confirm, deny, etc so today I thought I'd get it all out. Hang on, it could be a bumpy ride.

  •  I'm trying this "jump break" thing in blogger in draft for the first time. Has anyone used it yet? It wasn't up there on Friday when we did Happy Hour. We'll have to see how it works out. Hopefully it's not totally screwing up my post.
  • When I was at Blog Camp Reno I mentioned my Chicken Apple Chili recipe and several people asked me to post it. I should have mentioned that it is a Rachel Ray recipe from the very beginning, but I didn't think about it. I tried looking for it online and couldn't find it anywhere, so here it is right from the magazine:
Ingredients:
1/4 c EVOO
2 lbs chicken tenders, cut up bite size (I buy them already cooked and chopped to save energy)
4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper
2 apples, cut into cubes (I've used both green and red... I think green worked better)
1 onion, chopped
4 tbsp butter
1/4 c flour
2 c chicken broth (of course I use Sweet Sue)
3/4 c milk
2 15oz cans white beans (I usually use Bush's baby butter beans)
2 c shredded jack cheese (I usually use colby-jack)
tortillas for serving (I use crusty bread instead)
chopped scallions for serving (eh, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't)

Directions:
In a large Dutch oven, head 2 tbsp olive oil over med-high heat. Add the chicken (even if you used pre-cooked like me), chili powder and cumin. Season with salt-n-peppa and cook stirring, for 5 min.
Transfer to a medium size bowl.

In the same pot, heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the apples and onion and cook, stirring, til softened (~6 min). Add to same bowl as chicken.

In the same pot (don't you love that?) melt the butter over med-low. Whisk in the flour for 1 min. Whisk in the chicken broth and milk until thickened (~3min). Stir the chicken-apple mixture back into the big pot, stir in beans, bring to a simmer to heat it all back up. Stir in the cheese. Serve and enjoy and send me some too cuz it is t-a-s-t-y!

  • A few people have asked me about my name, Bambi, and how I got it. I wrote about it in an earlier post, but that wasn't all there was to it, so I thought I'd just tell it in a nutshell. First of all, my Mom, although she is an Outrageous Older Woman, did NOT name me Bambi. Not even because of my big brown eyes. When I was an undergrad at UNR my best friend was named Sue. We both worked in the basement of the chemistry building in the Physical Chem Dept. Let me just say here that you have to be nuts to be a physical chemist. I'm just sayin. The basement was usually pretty quiet. It was just the profs office, a few labs, and a big computer room (an SGI 10,000 mini-super computer... if you care). Our lab worked on super-critical fluids and in order to run the experiments we had to use a laser, therefore the room had to be dark. Pitch black except for the lovely green glow of the laser. Add that to the quiet hum of the computers and the warm conditions and soft music (ok usually it was hard rock cuz that's what the grad student liked), it made for ideal nap times. But I digress, that actually has nothing to do with it. Anyway, for a long time we were Sue-1 and Sue-2, but our prof (remember, a little nuts) said we needed nick names cuz that'd be easier. I immediately said I'd be Natasha (you have to say it with a Russian accent). Well, as well as I fit the name, Sue-1 wasn't really a Boris. So either the prof or student suggested Bambi. Sue-1 was happy with Thumper, and the rest is history. Or would be. Bambi and Thumper worked in the P Chem lab, but didn't really work well in the rest of our classes. Unfortunately the alias slipped under a rocked for a while. Fast-forward 10 years, both Sues are pharmacists (although working at opposite ends of the country). I started working at a Medicine Shoppe where everyone has nicknames (Hanky Doodle, Goose, Norm) and they all said I needed a nickname as well. I told them that once upon a time I was known as Bambi. Everyone agreed that was a good name for me, and here I am. If you ask why it's good, my answer is because of my big brown eyes.


 



Which one do you think fits better??

14 comments:

Barb said...

I think Bambi works great for you. And, since my initials are BAM, I just really glad Mom never decided to call me Bambi!!

Mike said...

I call you Bambi because you are deer to me:)

Matty said...

I don't understand that jump break thingy either. If you figure out what purpose it serves, clue me in.

Your nickname serves you well. With or without big brown eyes. You look more like a Bambi than a Natasha.

Carbunkle Trumpet said...

To quote my favorite Chef (Anthony Bourdain) hence the thumb ring; "When do bimbo's have to refer to olive oil with code words?"

Oh and at least your "Superhero" name is a lot better than mine!

Mango Girl said...

LMAO @ Carbunkle...

You, are, of course, an rx Bambi...remind me to tell you the story of my chemistry t/a when I was in college...she literally save my skin!

Michel said...

HAHA! That's a great story. The chemistry part made me have flashbacks - but someday I may get over them!

No matter what though, I will always call you by your real name: pharmacist.

Anonymous said...

As exotic as Natasha (with a russian accent) sounds.

I think Bambi fits you a little bit better. :)

Ice Queen said...

Love Bambi. Once upon a time I had a boyfriend I called Thumper...yeah. =)

JW.BW said...

I think bambi fits great!!! I have a question for you, i have to take doxy over here since i live in the land of maleria, and i was wondering if there is anything i can do about the super fun nightmares ive been having since i started taking it??? HELP!!!!

Medora said...

Rachael Ray freaks me out. She is always so damn happy all the time. She's like a game show host.

Hit 40 said...

I am liking the bangs. I know that you don't. Let us vote on bangs or no bangs. Put up a pic with and one without the haircut.

I have serious college memories of science classes. I have a science minor. I can teach math 7-12 or a general science class which is pretty much just middle school science. No one has ever asked me to teach it. Freaking waste of my time in all the damn science labs.

tori said...

your hair does look a little like Natasha but I like Bambi so much better. Thanks for the recipe! I'm definately gonna try it!

Brian Miller said...

hey there. thanks for stopping by. any friend of otin's...smiles. bambi hasa great ring to it...but beware boyfriends named thumper...lol.

Stacy Uncorked said...

I'm partial to Bambi because deer are my favorite animal. And since you are one of my favorites, there ya go. ;) I promise not to lock you in my display case with my other deer, though. :)